Hi Charles,

Well, unfortunately we don't know exactly what the problem is with 3D
Velocity. What i don't understand is I'm a game developer and I know
the entire purpose behind DirectInput was to create a universal API or
programming interface for various game input devices like joysticks,
gamepads, racing wheels and because of that design every game
controller should behave exactly the same from computer to computer.
Its not like we have one interface for computer x and a different one
on computer y. DirectInput will handle the input equally between
systems and if the settings, driver implementation, etc doesn't match
it will fake it for the application. So we should end up with a
similar look and feel across the board. That's not happening with 3D
Velocity for some reason. So my educated opinion is that BPC already
programmed the games to work with any generic controller just because
DirectInput is already a global/generic  interface for game
controllers.

I have a possible idea what the problem could be, but there is nothing
to back it up. The BPC games such as 3D Velocity are written in C#
.NET and access DirectInput through a third-party API called
SlimDX.Its possible, all be it not proven, that there is some problem
with SlimDX that causes the game controllers to behave incorrectly on
some machines rather than the controllers themselves at fault.

The reason I say this is that before switching to C++ and DirectX 8 I
was using C# with Microsoft's Managed DirectX for .NET applications
and ran into just this sort of technical issue with game controllers.
In particular with Managed DirectX I couldn't get force feedback to
work in Raceway if my life depended on it. There was something wrong
with the .NET implimentation of DirectX, and Microsoft turned around
and scrapped Managed DirectX and replaced it with the XNA Framework
because of just those kinds of bugs. Point being is because I wasn't
using DirectX directly in Raceway I ran into technical issues that
were not the fault of my controller or even the game. It was the API
that was working incorrectly.

Now, if we assume SlimDX has such problems as well its possible it
isn't BPC's fault or the fault of Ron's Logitech controllers. As I
have said plenty of times I have a Logitech F510, and it works great
with the games I have here. I've played Troopenum, Mysteries of the
Ancients, Alien Outback,and a few others with no issues. So I'm
inclined to believe it isn't the controllers but something with the
game or games he is playing. If so he might end up buying several game
controllers and treating them as the problem when it isn't the case
here. So clearly some testing is in order.

Cheers!


On 6/9/12, Charles Rivard <[email protected]> wrote:
> For what it's worth, here's my thought:  It seems like no, or very few, game
>
> controllers work with the games that Ron wants to play.  Rather than
> continuously searching for one that will work, how about approaching the
> game's developer with the suggestion of making the games compatible with
> most generic game controllers?
>
> ---
> Shepherds are the best beasts, but Labs are a close second.

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