Joystix Pro - an Easy-to-Use (albeit less robust) Controller Option

As this blog has grown, so has the complexity of my configurations.  While I prefer the versatility that XPadder and PGP offer, the bottom line is a lot of you guys just want to be able to just plug in your damn controller and play.

To that end, Joystix Pro's developers recently contacted me to get my impressions on their product as an alternative to XPadder or PGP (with my caveat that I'm not going to hold anything back).   The bottom line is while this is the most expensive and least robust program of the three, it is also by far the easiest, most user-friendly option of the lot.  Details after the jump.

REMEMBER: Joystix Pro must be set to run as an administrator to work with SWTOR.

UPDATE: As of May 2013, Joystix Pro has dropped their price for a full subscription to $20, making it a MUCH more affordable option than previously (and as you'll read below, the price was really my only major complaint).  

Peeps Fixes Your Camera (and other tweaks)

Holy crap.  I did it.  I finally cracked the code on smooth camera controls (with a major shoutout to Errol for helping me troubleshoot my mistakes along the way)!

Folks, using Pinnacle Gamer Profiler, I've figured out a way to give you fully adjustable camera control without sacrificing the speed of your mouse pointer's free movement.  Furthermore, these controls allow you to independently adjust how fast the camera rotates vertically vs. horizontal rotation.

Update: I've come up with a couple of XPadder solutions as well, though they're not as robust (details after the jump).

These are extremely advanced settings in PGP, so I advise you to export your current setup to your desktop before attempting this stuff.  That being said, I highly recommend you take the time to explore this profile, as it will make your life so much easier in the long run.  The profile I'm providing after the jump is highly experimental, and is intended as a testbed similar to my XPadder one, so it incorporates a lot of other ideas you might want to look at...I just wouldn't advise that you try to use them all at once.

In my next post, I'll be providing amended details on how to get a PS3 controller to function properly using MotioninJoy and PGP (to include configuring L2 and R2 as axes instead of just buttons), as PGP has proven very finicky when it comes to talking to MiJ.

How much would it suck if free-to-use sites like Blogger no longer existed?

This isn't hyperbole.  US Congress is considering anti-piracy acts that would hold sites with millions - and in some cases billions - of users accountable for the actions of their users.  This can be as simple as a bot posting a link to an illegal download in the comments of somebody's blog.  Websites would either have to employ full-time moderators and security specialists to constantly monitor their users' activities or risk frivolous copyright lawsuits by major media corporations.

You think it's hard to find a job now?  Imagine what it's like when major websites who depend entirely upon user traffic to sustain their business are forced to shut down due to rising operating costs.  Freedom of Information isn't the only thing at risk: can we really afford to increase global unemployment in the name of anti-piracy?

Americans, call and write your congressmen to tell them how you feel.  Then sign Google's petition.  Make the government refocus on the unemployment issue, and stop wasting time on this idiotic legislation.

(Need more info on what this is all about?  Click here.)

Downloadable Files

I've been promising this one for a while, so here ya go: a comprehensive list of files and weblinks featured in this blog.  The profiles offered are intended as examples to help get you started: I highly recommend you tweak them to find a configuration that best suits your playstyle.

XPadder Proof-of-Concepts Profile

After some requests for additional mapping options in XPadder, I decided to create a proof-of-concepts profile that I'm using as a testbed for ideas.  I'll update this post when I come up with new tweaks I want to try.

Everything done here is easily done in PGP as well, but since you're limited to four mappings in that program, I'm sticking with XPadder as my testbed.  Details after the jump.

Updated profiles! New and improved camera controls!

Okay, after someone introduced me to Joystix Pro (which I will blog about soon as another alternative to XPadder or PGP...though I still recommend the latter two), I noticed something they were doing right that I wasn't: instead of setting my right analog to tilt and click simultaneously--which occasionally causes it to unintentionally click on things--why not set a button to lock in the mouse button?  In other words, your right analog is free mouse movement until you tap your mouse button toggle.

So that's exactly what I did, and oh my God why didn't I think of this before?!?!

So here's some new profiles. There's three different styles to choose from after the jump.

HeadbanGER's HandsFree Gaming

I recently discovered a fellow blogger's site regarding hands-free gaming: http://handsfree-gaming.blogspot.com/. If you're looking for/need more versatility in gameplay options, check it out. Also, check out AbleGamers.com for more disability resources. These guys have successfully advocated better accessibility in video games on more than one occasion, and work hard at keeping each other informed on gameplay options.

Peeps' Updated Profile: Explained

After recent discussions motivated me to look over my profiles again, I decided to update them to remove some of the redundancies I'd created that were already covered by my keypad, and take advantage of some of the tweaks offered by Pinnacle Game Profiler.

I also felt it's time to better explain some of my settings, as a lot of the features I utilize are unbound by default.

I've created an XPadder version that's essentially identical to the PGP version (after jamesyfy showed me what I was doing wrong).  My older profiles are still available via previous posts, and I'll create a download page soon with all of this stuff in a single location.  Links and details after the jump.

Side-Topic: Optimizing Windows 7 for SWTOR

SWTOR forum member renegadeimp posted a guide a couple weeks back on how to take all the pretty out of Windows 7 and make low-med range systems run SWTOR ridiculously fast by comparison.  It involves tweaking and/or disabling a lot of system settings and getting deep into the weeds on what services you'll keep running (I didn't go for all the suggested settings, but I did most).

Of course, for those that don't want the permanence of these settings, there's also Game Booster, which takes care of most of the services renegadeimp shows you how to disable.  Game Booster temporarily shuts off the biggest resource hogs not needed during gameplay, then reenables them with the click of a button.

This intrigued me, especially with the resources I'm already sacrificing running two separate programs to use my controller.  And seeing as I play SWTOR on my 2-year-old MacBook Pro, and only use Windows 7 for gaming (and therefore don't care how ugly it looks), I decided to try this out by using both options.

Holy crap.

No really, holy crap.  I went from playing at 1280x800 on medium settings to 1600x1000 on max settings.  And no framerate issues.  Oh good god this is amazing.  I even dialed up the grass and tree quality!  If you guys don't have the most powerful system ever, and you want to improve your performance, at least give Game Booster a shot.

(And for the love of God, set a System Restore point before you try fiddling with your registry!)

Pinnacle Game Profiler works now (with tutorial videos)!

Okay, I figured out what the problem was, and apparently it has to do with how your PS3 controller is configured in MiJ.  Thus, non-PS3 controller users shouldn't have any problems as long as they run PGP as an administrator.

ja_4251 on the PGP forums posted a great tutorial on how to get MiJ properly configured (the only error is you need to have L1 & R1 set as buttons 5 & 6, and L2 & R2 set as buttons 7 & 8.  Then disable the z-axis): http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/wiki/index.php?title=Motioninjoy_and_PS3_Controller

Video tutorials after the jump.
Part 1: Getting your PS3 controller working in PGP via MotioninJoy.
Part 2: Creating a PGP profile for SWTOR (You can download my SWTOR profile here).