TUTORIAL!: Xpadder and You

[DrMoney]

"Hey there!

Have you found yourself wondering "Friggin' Xpadder, how does that stuff work?". Well I will try to walk you through the process of setting it up for use with your shiny new HyperSpin setup!

There's a great tutorial on the KeyMapper function in the HyperLaunch 2.xx thread that competently explains how to go about setting that up but I'll summarize some of the points I see people missing a lot:

-In addition to all of your system named profiles you also need one named "Hyperspin.xpadderprofile" in your Keymapper folder or you'll error out when coming back to HS from a sytem where you had to switch profiles.

-You do need to have Xpadder started before HS if you want to use it control navigating through your wheels, you can do this by setting it as a startup program in HyperHQ>Main Settings>Startup/Exit. You can also set Xpadder to start with Windows in it's settings (Upper Rightmost wrench icon in Xpadder.) Instead of pointing it at "Xpadder.exe" I would point it at "Hyperspin.xpadderprofile" just to be absolutely certain you start up with the right profile.

-Be sure to set your Keymapper flags in "Global Settings.ini" and all your system ones too (Nintendo 64.ini) HL should make these for you if you're just now upgrading but it does not default to them being on.

-DO NOT modify your modules to change profiles, there's nothing that the Keymapper function can't do that you would need this for.

Alright, now another question I see is how to setup your controller to use Key Combos or a held Button Press to exit your game. There's two ways to go about doing this:

1. Set Selector (Key Combos)

The above image show the way to setup a Set Modifier in Xpadder. Make sure you select "While Held" and NOT "Two Way". What this basically does is that while you hold that button, it's going to behave as if you have loaded a completely different profile. However it will still be the same profile just a different set, like tabs in a browser. Once you've set the modifier, you need to go to your second set (Click the 2 in the lower left of Xpadder) set your exit key (Usually Esc) to the other button you'd like to use in your key combo so long as it's a different button. It should now show your Exit key and a little "1v" right below it in there. Save your profile and you should be good to go!

2. Hold Button For Exit

The red arrow shows the path to get to the Advanced Assignment window in Xpadder. This allows you to do some tricky things most users wouldn't need but we're gonna go over Hold Zones. This function will allow you to tap a button to send a certain key OR if you hold it X amount of time it will send a different key. This is useful for setups with a limited number of buttons or Xbox 360 Controller users since there's still no good way to map the Guide Button and using another button would feel weird and/or cause some accidental exits.

If you notice there's a Hold Zone (green symbol with a little number in it) instead of a Keypress in this sequence. It says 00.1 which means if I press the button for more than 00.1 seconds (Pretty much a tap) then it will send the next key (Esc in this example). There is another Hold Zone after that which says 1.60. Having these both there means that if I were to hold that button for more than 0.01 seconds BUT not longer than 1.60 seconds it will send an Esc key and if I hold it longer than 1.60 seconds then it will send the rest of the sequence. This is also useful if I want to get multiple uses out of a button such as using Start and Select to also Save and Load States in an emulator.

If you're only using this to hold a key to exit a system, just use the one Hold Zone.

If there's something about Xpadder I haven't covered please let me know and I'll update accordingly.

[djvj]

OOhh oohh, I want to reserve a thread too!

[DrMoney]

Oh I'm not special, I've just been having trouble with my posts getting tied up waiting for administrator approval.

[gadget2k]

Thanks for this. Shouldn't this be a sticky thread?

[DrMoney]

Not a problem gadget. That's for the mods to decide really.

[hiorik]

will be great if we can share our profiles for xbox 360 controller.

by the way, thanks for the tutorial.

[zero dreams]

will be great if we can share our profiles for xbox 360 controller.

Started a little folder of Mame Xpadder profiles for 360 pads. Just got my keymappers working right and I know Mame would be the best place to start. There's only 55 profiles and I like my button setup. Just gonna keep adding them to my folder whenever.

[DrMoney]

Somebody else had started an 360 profile folder on the ftp too, I think I've got some PS3 ones on there.

[SilverVice]

Oh man, I guess I set up my Xpadder the wrong way. I don't even use the KeyMapper in HyperLaunch but everything is working find. I made a Xpadder profile for each emulator, 1 for Hyperspin, 1 for XBMC and another for Windows with mouse control and everything.

[DrMoney]

Oh man, I guess I set up my Xpadder the wrong way. I don't even use the KeyMapper in HyperLaunch but everything is working find. I made a Xpadder profile for each emulator, 1 for Hyperspin, 1 for XBMC and another for Windows with mouse control and everything.

Well for most emulators you can set up the controls for Direct Input but others (Especially PC Games) the need to change profiles would come into play.

[zero dreams]

Somebody else had started an 360 profile folder on the ftp too, I think I've got some PS3 ones on there.

Do you know where I can find those 360 profiles on the FTP?

[DrMoney]

I believe it was zerojay that was doing it, it was another thread on xpadder.

[Yardley]

I'm trying to configure a hold button and the second example sorta worked but not exactly. So what I want is for the button to send "Enter" only when I quickly tap and release and "F3" when I hold down for 1 second. Problem is when I configure it like shown here, it still sends "Enter" initially when I press and hold, then after 1 second it sends F3. I need it not to send "Enter" if I press and hold for 1 second, only if I press and release right away.

[Yardley]

anyone?

[potts43]

anyone?

What happens if you do the long hold first then the tap? If you only tap then it isn't long enough to do the first key? Just a thought I've not tried it out