This is for the MK 1 + 2 + 3 and not MK Trilogy?

In the GOG forums it mentions needing to press F10 in Mk1 and 2 and then assigning the gamepad to a player.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-01-04, 23:22:

This is for the MK 1 + 2 + 3 and not MK Trilogy?

Correct, the ports of the first three arcade games, not the home-system remake.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-01-04, 23:22:

In the GOG forums it mentions needing to press F10 in Mk1 and 2 and then assigning the gamepad to a player.

I think I tried that, but the only thing the game would let me do was assign actions to my keyboard. When I tried using the controller, there was no response at all. I know it still works though, because I can play home-system emulators with it just fine. The DosBox mapper instructions were so complicated, and when I tried using a different program like RetroArch, there was an additional problem - not only was the controller kaput, but the game's playback was jittery like someone was rapidly pausing and unpausing it. I really don't know what else to do with this, and when it comes to most tech issues, I'm far from a genius. I figured since the games were so old and my controller was made in 2010, there wouldn't be a compatibility problem. Sadly, the reverse appears to be true.

It's possible you need to configure the joystick before DOSBox reports to the game that there is one connected.

But the easiest way to to just use the DOSBox mapper. It's not that complicated. Just click the key on the virtual keyboard corresponding to a game input, click the add button and press a the button or direction on the gamepad you want to assign to it.

Here's a video covering it's usage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZ63NU7ArI

SScorpio wrote on 2025-01-05, 02:22:

It's possible you need to configure the joystick before DOSBox reports to the game that there is one connected.

But the easiest way to to just use the DOSBox mapper. It's not that complicated. Just click the key on the virtual keyboard corresponding to a game input, click the add button and press a the button or direction on the gamepad you want to assign to it.

Here's a video covering it's usage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsZ63NU7ArI

I've tried that more than once, and it doesn't do jack. I even found out that my controller has a switch on the back that can be used for an XBox or Direct Input mode, but neither one has worked in this case. The one thing with the mapper itself that's concerned me is what I've circled in red below - does this mean the program's not recognizing my controller for some reason?

I found a different video, by a man who showed how to edit some of the files, deleting the unnecessary parts and placing the rest into a ZIP file. When I tried that and then opened it up in RetroArch, I was able to at least get the punch and kick buttons working...but I still couldn't move or block, and I had to use Kano since the nonresponsive D-Pad wouldn't let me choose anyone else. Here's the video about that process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx1Bwt5ben4

OK, I have a small update - I finally got the main controls running so I can play a game against the CPU, but I've hit another snag - I can't seem to pause the game at all. None of the keyboard buttons will do it, and since I have the F1 button for using the Start function mapped to my controller, I don't know what else to try. Does anyone know if the DOS port of this game features a pause function?

Here's the video, in case anyone else needs help. Thanks for your replies; I appreciate it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgQvdMtT-1M

DOSBox has its own pause feature that is toggled with Alt-Pause (default mapping). You can map the "Pause" event in the mapper to a controller button, if desired.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2025-01-06, 03:55:

DOSBox has its own pause feature that is toggled with Alt-Pause (default mapping). You can map the "Pause" event in the mapper to a controller button, if desired.

I tried mapping the Pause button to both the Enter key on my keyboard, and an unused controller button; neither would unpause the game in conjunction with the Alt key. Google said there's supposed to be a "Pause/Break" function, but I couldn't find that either. So unless there's another way I don't know of, I'm in the dark on this. On a slightly positive note, I did learn how to use my controller to take screenshots during gameplay, but they came out pretty small. I looked at the configuration text file, and it didn't have anything about being able to change that.

Based on your description of what you tried, you might be mapping things backwards. You need to bind the "Pause" event (to the right of the "Fullscreen" event in your earlier screenshot of the mapper) to a key on the keyboard or a button on the controller. By default, the Pause event is binded to the "PAU" key (upper right in screenshot) with a "Mod2" (Alt key) modifier. After you've remapped the Pause event, you wouldn't necessarily need to use the Alt key anymore, unless you specified it in the new mapping.

ripsaw8080 wrote on 2025-01-07, 01:30:

Based on your description of what you tried, you might be mapping things backwards. You need to bind the "Pause" event (to the right of the "Fullscreen" event in your earlier screenshot of the mapper) to a key on the keyboard or a button on the controller. By default, the Pause event is binded to the "PAU" key (upper right in screenshot) with a "Mod2" (Alt key) modifier. After you've remapped the Pause event, you wouldn't necessarily need to use the Alt key anymore, unless you specified it in the new mapping.

Hmm...maybe I need to map the "Mod2" box as well, because everything I've already tried hasn't worked. It would be much less of a headache if you could simply map the same key for both functions, like a regular console game. Why do these idiots have to make everything so complicated?!

OK, I have now hit another snag - the keymapper will no longer open at all when I press Ctrl+F1 like usual. Instead, the game starts running as if I'd pressed Start, and the previously-mapped controls still work, but I can't fix the pausing problem or change anything else from now on. What do I do?

Got the keymapper working again, but I had to completely uninstall and then reinstall the game. Then I had to slightly alter the configuration file per the video I linked to, and then re-map all the controller keys again. But the damn unpause function still won't work, and I'm running the last version of DosBox, which was 0.74-3.

Thanks to some helpful people on the GOG.Com forums, I finally got the Pause function working for the first game (haven't tested it with the second yet). Now though, I have another problem: the third game forgets all my keymapper commands every time I boot it up. Nothing's wrong with the mapper itself; I checked. But so far, I've had to re-assign each of my controller buttons inside MK3's related menu. Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this newest issue?

Moviefan2k4 wrote on 2025-01-10, 01:09:

Thanks to some helpful people on the GOG.Com forums, I finally got the Pause function working for the first game (haven't tested it with the second yet). Now though, I have another problem: the third game forgets all my keymapper commands every time I boot it up. Nothing's wrong with the mapper itself; I checked. But so far, I've had to re-assign each of my controller buttons inside MK3's related menu. Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this newest issue?

Don't configure the controller within the game. Just use DOSBox's mapper to map the controller to the default keyboard inputs.

DOS has very limited controller support, supporting four axis and four buttons total. It was originally targeting two joysticks each with two buttons. If you don't need analog input, there's no reason not to use an external mapper (DOSBox) which allows way more buttons.

SScorpio wrote on 2025-01-10, 01:17:

Moviefan2k4 wrote on 2025-01-10, 01:09:

Thanks to some helpful people on the GOG.Com forums, I finally got the Pause function working for the first game (haven't tested it with the second yet). Now though, I have another problem: the third game forgets all my keymapper commands every time I boot it up. Nothing's wrong with the mapper itself; I checked. But so far, I've had to re-assign each of my controller buttons inside MK3's related menu. Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this newest issue?

Don't configure the controller within the game. Just use DOSBox's mapper to map the controller to the default keyboard inputs.

DOS has very limited controller support, supporting four axis and four buttons total. It was originally targeting two joysticks each with two buttons. If you don't need analog input, there's no reason not to use an external mapper (DOSBox) which allows way more buttons.

You've misunderstood what I'm saying. I have already properly assigned each command to the keymapper - that's not the problem. What keeps happening is that for some strange reason, the game doesn't remember it. For lack of a better word, the MK3 program itself appears to be "forgetting" or ignoring the keymapper, every time it starts up...as if it was never done in the first place.

Moviefan2k4 wrote on 2025-01-10, 15:43:

You've misunderstood what I'm saying. I have already properly assigned each command to the keymapper - that's not the problem. What keeps happening is that for some strange reason, the game doesn't remember it. For lack of a better word, the MK3 program itself appears to be "forgetting" or ignoring the keymapper, every time it starts up...as if it was never done in the first place.

What do you mean when you said:

I've had to re-assign each of my controller buttons inside MK3's related menu.

It sounds like you need to remap something within MK3 itself. If you are using the default keyboard mappings, those should just work when you start the game. Is DOSBox itself losing the mappings, and you need to remap there each time?

SScorpio wrote on 2025-01-10, 20:46:

What do you mean when you said: […]
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Moviefan2k4 wrote on 2025-01-10, 15:43:

You've misunderstood what I'm saying. I have already properly assigned each command to the keymapper - that's not the problem. What keeps happening is that for some strange reason, the game doesn't remember it. For lack of a better word, the MK3 program itself appears to be "forgetting" or ignoring the keymapper, every time it starts up...as if it was never done in the first place.

What do you mean when you said:

I've had to re-assign each of my controller buttons inside MK3's related menu.

It sounds like you need to remap something within MK3 itself. If you are using the default keyboard mappings, those should just work when you start the game. Is DOSBox itself losing the mappings, and you need to remap there each time?

DOSBox isn't the problem, because when I re-assign the inputs, I'm doing so from the screen below, using the arrows and Return on my keyboard, paired with my controller buttons which are already set via the mapper.

Moviefan2k4 wrote on 2025-01-11, 00:00:

DOSBox isn't the problem, because when I re-assign the inputs, I'm doing so from the screen below, using the arrows and Return on my keyboard, paired with my controller buttons which are already set via the mapper.

And my point is don't use the in-game remapper. It's possible it just never saves. Player one will default to some keyboard inputs. Map your controller to those keyboard inputs in the DOSBox mapper and it will keep the mappings.