Input Device Identification - unplug+plug in...rebind, my experience

[=IL2AU=ToknMurican]

Wondering if it's possible to change the way the game identifies controller setups without much of an over working. 

 

I have more pc peripherals than I know what to do with having been a gamer since the 90's when it was just blooming.. usb hubs into usb hubs.  - let's talk about what's out there with joystick parameters.

 

Any xinput controller or d-input controller.. (well duh). 

 

I use them all... m+kb for online shooters (not controller but I'm showing how a player might like options)... xbox controller or offbrand version, logitech g13 (not as much as i used to but it has a joystick axis), HOTAS - 1 ID for throttle, 1 ID for stick,  1 ID for rudder pedals, and then I actually have a second stick I prefer for BOS and heli sims. 

 

I know this makes me not the typical video game consumer.  But.. for anyone who goes to the extent that I would to enjoy their games to the max, here's my dilemma: 

 

 

If i ever have to unplug any of them or all of them for any reason.. it's almost guaranteed I'm going to be rebinding controls for older games like il-2 1946, falcon b.m.s. (which to make work i have to unplug everything but what I'm using).  The list goes on and includes IL-2 BOS/BOM.  There are countless games I could list that will freak out if you have more than one controller plugged in, which is a design flaw imo.    

 

 

I'm mention DCS World here, because - Eagle Dynamics has shown us this isn't necessary.  I don't know the coding involved, whether it's something they were able to do because of switching to newer versions of DirectX, but their software seems to identify devices by their names, and as long as I don't uninstall the game it remembers what I do with my peripherals. 

 

I'm not asking for individual configs for every plane like they do(although I like it)  - but if a future update to the new IL-2 series could include a way to identify controllers by a unique driver signature, I'd be a grateful player. .  I apologize if there's already a thread about this but I'm not the type to spend a lot of time on forums.  

 

I've become more of a master at rebinding controls in flight sims than I have mastered anything about air combat.

 

I mean no disrespect.  

Edited May 20, 2016 by headwarp

[No_85_Gramps]

I'm pretty sure this was addressed in a previous update. BOS/BOM now identifies controllers by their ID names/numbers. It doesn't display them in the menus.

[=IL2AU=ToknMurican]

I'm pretty sure this was addressed in a previous update. BOS/BOM now identifies controllers by their ID names/numbers. It doesn't display them in the menus.

I saw that one of the last two patches addressed something to do with joysticks/input devices but I don't think it really addressed unplugging controllers and their ID changing from joystick 0 to joystick 2.   I just rebound my il-2 BOS controls the day before that patch which says to me the game recognizes the ID that windows assigns them.

 

 

I'm hoping there's a way to identify them by their specific driver or something.. which seems possible based on ED's ability to do so in DCS.

 

I don't know if it's because they routinely check what input devices are available on the market and update some file containing a list or if it's just how the game recognizes the devices themselves.. but it's not based on the ID windows assigns.  It's based on the type of controller you use.

 

Comparing my  DCS control setup with my windows game controller properties - the names of the devices are named exactly as they are in game as they are in the windows properties.  Which leads me to believe it recognizes devices by their given name rather than the priority windows arranges them in when you plug the up.  This could be a feature specific to newer versions of DirectX and not possible with BoS,  I can't be certain - but if not I'm hoping it's as simple as editing some syntax.

Edited May 21, 2016 by headwarp

[SharpeXB]

I had a huge problem with this back when I upgraded to W10. Even if I left devices plugged in, the joy#s would change, almost every time I restarted the PC. But the big November Update to W10 stopped this behavior. That tells me it had something to do with Windows itself.

 

As much as I can determine. The joy# is determined by the order you see the devices listed here

Joy0 - joy3 from top to bottom. That order remains constant no matter what order the devices are plugged in or if they are unplugged or not. So the order Windows assigns has something to do with a device ID of some sort. Now if you remove a device or add one, I'd expect the joy# to change.

That's why games relying on this Windows joy# isn't a great idea

 

BoS fixed this in one of the updates. You don't see anything different on the game menu, but I've seen my device order shuffle when reinstalling Logitech Gaming Software and yet BoS functions perfectly. Eventually after a few restarts the W device order returns to normal.

[Eldur]

I'm pretty sure this was addressed in a previous update. BOS/BOM now identifies controllers by their ID names/numbers. It doesn't display them in the menus.

 

It sure hasn't been addressed. I still encounter stick ID jeopardy every now and then, even though my 7 devices stay in order in Windows, and I plug them in the exact order as always. It's pain in the plot to reassign the whole control scheme all the time just because the devices are just numbered by system that nopony knows how it works, as this definately is a Windows based issue. Basically MS has to fix this. No matter if the sims have other ways to deal with that, it still makes me reprogram my AHK scripts all the time...

I like how this works in DCS though with the unique IDs per device and how it even supports hotplugging without quitting the sim, saves me a lot of time and fuss.

 

€: Looks like there has been worked on actually... so I might just try to rearrange this list I just found (\IL-2 Sturmovik Battle of Stalingrad\data\input\devices.cfg):

 

 

configId,guid,model|

 

0,%223a233d00-a28a-11e1-0000545345440380%22,SideWinder%20Precision%202%20Joystick|

 

1,%22cd3bc820-7cff-11e5-0000545345440380%22,Thrustmaster%20Virtual%20Game%20Controller%20(root)|

 

2,%223a22eee0-a28a-11e1-0000545345440180%22,Microsoft%20SideWinder%20Precision%20Pro%20(USB)|

 

3,%223a2315f0-a28a-11e1-0000545345440280%22,SideWinder%20Force%20Feedback%202%20Joystick|

 

4,%224509bd60-b9cc-11e3-0000545345440180%22,Saitek%20Pro%20Flight%20Quadrant|

 

5,%22fdc97740-b9cd-11e3-0000545345440280%22,Saitek%20Pro%20Flight%20Quadrant|

 

6,%22a00b1390-5ecb-11e4-0000545345440280%22,MFG%20Crosswind%20Rudder%20Pedals

 

Edited September 9, 2017 by Eldur