gamepad question

[Attis]

I have downloaded Starshatter Demo and I really like it. The only problem is that it doesn't support
my gamepad very well. My majos problem is that I can't assign buttons to functions in the control settings. The minor problem is that I can't accelerate or decelerate the ship using the controllers right stick, but this isn't a serious problem because very few games support this anyway.

I'd like to know if gamepads are supported better in the full version?

[Attis]

Sorry, I didn't realize I had to double click on the control to change it's settings. Now everything works fine.

I have one idea for an improvement, though. I need 4 buttons to adjust the velocity: 2 for adjusting thrust itself, one for the afterburner and another one for retros. It would be nice if there were an option to automatically enable the afterburner by pressing A if the thrust is already at the maximum settings, and similarly retro thrusters should be enabled if I press Z if the trust setting is idle. I think it would be quite straightforward, and I could save 2 buttons for other purposes.

[smaff]

I've always found that the afterburners kick in if I push the throttle to full.

As for retro's, well, in space you don't necessarily want to slow down just because your engines are off ;> The thrusters are actually a different system to the main engines, so are controlled sepparately.

[Attis]

ORIGINAL: smaff
I've always found that the afterburners kick in if I push the throttle to full.

As for retro's, well, in space you don't necessarily want to slow down just because your engines are off ;> The thrusters are actually a different system to the main engines, so are controlled sepparately.

I agree, with you in this matter, but don't forget I was talking about gamepads with two sticks, not about normal joysticks with a throttle slider.

I worked as a developer on a game featuring WWII airplanes targeting mainly consoles, where the left stick was used for the usual aileron and elevator controls, the right stick x axis was used the rudder, and the right stick y was there for setting the throttle. Moving the right stick up/down increased/decreased the throttle like the A/Z keys in Starshatter, but since it is an analog axis finer adjustments were possible. When the throttle was zero, pushing the stick back enabled the air and wheelbrakes, too. By setting up deadzones properly it is possible to make sure you can zero the throttle without applying the brakes accidentally.

I just thought something similar would be a nice feature in Starshatter. But again, it would make sense only on a gamepad where there is no throttle, and the number of buttons is relatively low, at least compared to a keyboard.