This is a small guide to help set up a gamepad for use with LFS.
It is based on a standard two-stick PS2 type gamepad using the left stick to steer, the right stick for throttle and brake(pushing up for gas, pulling back to brake and pushing up on the left axis for clutch.


Left stick x axis - steer
Left stick y axis - clutch(optional)
Right stick rz axis - throttle and brake combined.

Step 1:
First go to options/misc/analogue steer smooth and set to .90(full).

In this step you will set the button functions(gear up, gear down, look buttons etc), wheel turn, wheel turn compensation, throttle-brake to combined and also set clutch to use an axis(if you wish to use auto-clutch simply leave it set to button)


Step 2:
Here you will set the steer axis to the left stick and the throttle-brake axis to the right stick:



Step 3:

The clutch axis:

Here you can see that with the clutch set to the left stick Y axis the clutch only remains 50% open.
You will need to push up on the axis and press "c" to lock the axis as seen below.

When the stick is centered the yellow bar will return to centre and the clutch will now engage 100%.

Note: to lock all axis settings when you are happy that they are callibrated set calibration lock to [YES].
Also if you forget to plug the pad in before you start LFS you will find you need to go to option/controllers to tell LFS to use the pad and the callibration lock will no longer be engaged. You will need to repeat Step 3, or restart LFS.

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The above settings are intended as a guide and I have found they work on three different model of pad on all cars.
I've found the most comfartable button setup is to use the rear shoulder buttons as look buttons and the near shoulder buttons as gear up/gear down.

XboX Controllers


I done some testing with these pads and have not found a driver that functions correctly, in actual fact some of the drivers available for the xbox pad cause minor conflicts with your pc and cause you to lag while racing! no joke.

I'd agree you'd want a highish value of analogue steer smooth, but the full 0.90? Surely that would be personal preference?

ok, never really used a gamepad (ever)

It might be worth mentioning, like when mousing, that reducing the max steering lock in the garage is also useful, even when autocrossing I never use more than 28 degrees. 20 degrees is usually enough for most racing.

Good guide, CSU!

Honestly, when I opened the thread to have a read, I expected:-

Guide: Using a Gamepad with LFS.
Don't.


I know many people don't have the money for, and some people physically don't have the room for, a wheel. My own recommendation for an alternative to a wheel is a joystick, because of the broader movement and thus greater accuracy that you can achieve. I've been following another thread, where SuperMassive is struggling to control vehicles. He's using a gamepad, and comparing his replay with mine, even though I'm not that fast, I'm never at as great a risk of crashing as he is.. all because I use a wheel rather than a pad, and that all revolves around the amount of control accuracy.

A worthy post, CSU!

Whilst I'm on a posting spree I may as well add that this guide has helped me a lot. There are times when I don't use my wheel (at LAN parties for example) or occasions where I race someone else at home, they get the Track IR and the wheel to give the a real feel for LFS whilst I race on the laptop with a gamepad.

Thanks !

Mort

Good post CSU, might be a good Idea when introducing my friends to LFS and they followed me by getting the X360 controllers for PC

Personally though, I find that if you use the XBCD drivers with the 360 controller, and set the trigger buttons to be seperate axis', then set them to be seperate pedals, it gives greater control, and allows you to trail brake to an extent. That also leaves the stick to be set as a shifting (again setting that as buttons in XBCD).

Also, maybe stickying this?

This is a great guide CSU1, thanks. I am currently using gamepad and am very very slow but with your guide became a little faster.
Saving for a wheel .

I also use a gamepad.. logitech wingman rumblepad
Logitech provide the "Logitech Profiler" software which allows you to tweek some settings.

[Logitech Profiler]
Axis Properties ->
Low Sensitivity - I set mine to LOW
Dead Zone - I tested and found by adding about 3% - 4% helped


Also in the simulator..

[ Live for speed] - is there any other?
Controls ->
Wheel turn - I reduced mine to 90 degrees which again, helped



IMHO:
The gamepad is better than keys and mouse but is a compromise over using a Wheel.
The major problem with a gamepad is over-correction when steering; because the stick is small it's so easy to snap the wheel in the opposite direction and spin off. So I tend to give other online racers a wide birth out of courtesy! I also give hand signals but that is another story.

Andy.

I'm a total n00b to PC gaming and But I love driving games/sims... But it seems Like you can't just have the gas as the right trigger and the brake as the left trigger huh?

I was aiming for a forza like set-up..but I guess thats not gonna happen eh'?

Can someone tell me if I can use a button for the accelerator and an entire axis on my analogue stick for the brake? I have worked out how to use the analoge as a brake but it doesnt want to let me use a button as well as an analoge for the brake & accelerator combo.

i have been using logitech dual action gamepad but i have ordered a g25 wheel and is gonna be here within 2 weeks( but i hope its sooner or i will go menal and have to go to a menal hospital (lol))

A very good and nice guide, CSU1. As we all (should) know, version V improved gamepad control by allowing a wheel turn of 90 degrees.

Analog steer smooth delays the speed at which the wheel turns, and yes, even at 70, it allows for superhuman turning skills (when using a pad).
90 is the highest setting, and indeed gives a very smooth appearance.

When driving (for example) the RAC, I sometimes want to correct a steering mistake (oversteering) by a quick counter. With steer smooth at 70, this is easily possible (allthough less steer smooth makes a steering mistake probably also more likely in the first place) but with 90, the wheel turns "too slow"... that is, slower than what my mind is thinking right then.

On one hand, perhaps 70 is a wrong setting for a pad, because no real person would be able to turn a wheel as fast.... but, maybe a human being is able to steer faster than what happens at 90 (I'm not sure on that one TBH)?

Then there's the issue about thought - reaction. You've already reacted by pressing the gamepad stick the other way, but because of analog steer smooth the reaction on-screen is lagging compared to what you were thinking (this can potentially also cause steering errors by not countering enough or over-countering due to the onscreen action being different from what you're actually doing). With a wheel, you might not be able to turn as fast, but the reaction is almost the same as it would be with a real car....at least, much closer. Of course, if you don't twitch your gamepad's analog sticks like an idiot but gently, the steer smooth is so close to realtime that you do not notice the difference.

On the other hand, absence of analog steer smooth, even if it makes a pad VERY sensitive (disadvantage), could be seen as a cheat, because you can indeed steer much faster than one could normally do.

This makes you wonder if perhaps LFS should have a "minimum smooth" based on how fast a human can turn a wheel, but that'd be difficult to determine.

Basically:
-low analog steer smooth value: (near) realtime reaction, but superhuman wheel turning
-high analog steer smooth: slower but (visually) more realistic reaction on screen


I'd like to hear a bit more opinions on this, and this thread seemed a good starting (or: continuing) point. However, if it's better to make it a separate topic then that's fine too...

yes, it's a simulation and a wheel is of course better (and a pad will never be able to do that), but I have my reasons to use a gamepad, and LFS is too good of a game to pass up just because of those reasons.
I've been driving with an analog steer smooth setting of 70 for a long time, but I'm always in a bit of a fight with the controls. I fully realise I can't make a gamepad a wheel, but while I'm using one I can as well try to make it work as well as the game allows me to. The fact that patch V had some changes was a good reason for me to play with the settings once again...

Ah well, at least I have a TM Dual power pad, which has a slightly larger analog axis than most other gamepads...

Dunno if it's handy or useful, but would it be interesting to post a few replays with various steering settings on a gamepad?

as for joy2key, that would make digital gamepad controls? In that case, it'd be like the keyboard control, which IMO is a worse solution (I still think gamepads and joysticks are the best alternatives to a wheel). I tried LFS with keyboard a few times, but found it a crime to control....

In LFS, I think the "Wheel Turn Compensation" setting in Options > Controls determines how much steering happens in the middle of the axis (linearity). "Analogue Steer Smooth" just evens out your inputs to help avoid spikes.

@Samor - I agree 100% with you here.
I also found 0.70 smooth was best.
0.90 feels retarded. Less than 0.5 makes the tyres wear out in 1/2 lap because the wheels are going full lock to lock 40 times a second. But your so right, 0.70 is faster than what a person can do with a wheel. But I really like to get the wheels working at the same rate as the stick or else I feel like my car is lagging what I want it to do and it becomes a horrid battle to make it drive correctly. I like the instant visual feedback from sensitive controls. Now I've been driving a fair bit now (3 months) with a Ps2 Pad, (I was Ks for about 2 months before that), I might try smoothing at 0.9 and see if that is better. .....Well I just did that and 0.90 still feels like I'm driving a slug.

My reasons for gamepad:
I use a Ps2 pad because I like the fact I dont feel like I'm doing a workout with a FF 900 degrees wheel. I can drive for 24 hours and not get tired legs/arms. Plus I use Chase view to play. Using a wheel feels weird in that view. (I bet I just made about 5000 enemies, haha)
I have the most fun with this combo/game play. The only lacking thing was no mirrors or reverse look function in LFS for Chase View. I finally figured out a hack around this around x-mas 2006:



After making these "lookback" custom views for each car, I used Joy2Key application to assign the shoulder buttons to "v" and "shift-v" to flip between "Look forward"/(chase) and "look back".
You could use "/view chase" "/view custom" commands and assign them to "Ctrl+F1-F12" joypad activated buttons in LFS if you dont want to use Joy2Key.

Ok, So I got a Game Pad!... And everything is awsome, Except my gears wont change automatically anymore .. Its set on auto.. Still wont.

Any Help Greatly Appreciated.

Cheers, John

has anyone had any expierience with the xbox 360 wireless gamepad, I just bought one after getting tired with the keyboard, however it is awfull, it is so sensitive that I can barley make it through a turn, I have followed the instructions from previous threads but I still slam it lock to lock withought barley moving the stick. I wonder if you can return these things, hmmm

thanks for the welcome, unbelivable game!

anyway I descovered after trying just about everything that the worst problem with the xbox 360 gamepad is that there was alot of center travel that was unavoidable which made driving in a straight line impossible, anyway took it back gona wait for enough cash to get a wheel. thx anyway

Seems to be common then... switched to a 360 pad (wired) lately as well, and it has more center travel than my previous analogue pad (which had next to none). On the other hand, the shoulder triggers give much better gas/brake control than a dual stick setup. Still getting used to things, but I can drive the RAC with this pad, so that ain't too bad, I guess.

Anyway, travel or not, the instructions in the first post definately help make things more playable. And analog steer smooth set at 80 (misc options) appears to be the optimal setting for this particular pad.
But, wireless 360 controller? I didn't know the wireless ones worked under Windows....

I've come here because I have a question, though:
What exactly does the option "remove deadzones" do? I don't seem to be noticing any control differences with it turned off or on, not with this pad, and not with the previous one. Since LFS doesn't have any other settings for deadzones, how exactly is it "removing" them?

Quote from CSU1 :

Hi Samor chech here http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=370167#post370167

I see, the fact I'm not noticing any difference is a good thing then, I guess.

Why was the OP replaced with "useless"?

What happened to the first post? It had some great info. Like 3 screens of good stuff.....

edit:.. oh.. http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?p=420692#post420692

That's a shame. It was great to help newcommers learn how to config their joypads. I directed a few ppl to this thread to help them get good controller setups. It was an extremely valid thread... even got stickied. Thanks to the guy who pissed you off CSU1......not

Please put it back. It was awesome.

... sorry bout that!

The guide is back up ^^ there

Props on putting the guide back up CSU1. Great work.

I had some further insights today. I got an Xbox360 usb pad for my brother today. I wanted to compare it to my PS2 pad. So I plugged it in and let it use the Windows drivers, (Which worked the same as the supplied [power-wave] hardware drivers)

I know how to set up my PS2 pad so that it is not too touchy, and I can use it to a reasonable degree, however, the Xbox 360 analogue pad is extreemly sensitive. Like 3 times worse. I tried everything. Any other setting I used just made it more jerky and more sensitive. I had LFS configured so that my PS2 pad was as least sensitive as possible, but that Xbox 360 controller is whack.

I could not get the online XBCD360 drivers working after many hours. They just dont want to install and work properly. I thought I would try to use them thinking that the sensitivity could be configured. I followed all the special instruction guides, but it wont run setup and work after installing. Anyone else figured out how to lower the sensitivity of an Xbox360 controller so that breathing on it doesnt cause you to do a 360 turn.. er perhapse thats why they called it Xbox360?

These settings make my PS2 pad the least sensitive and work really well:
-Wheel Turn: 90º
-Wheel Turn Compensation: 1.00
-Remove Deadzones: No
-Analogue Steer Smooth: 0.8 or 0.9
But for the Xbox.. its still jerkey as hell. Although these settings are still the less jerky out of anything else I have tried, but still really unplayable.

hey jason, if you followed the guide and it is still too sensitive I cant help you I'm afraid. Also did you read the last paragraph of the guide?