Joystick (and other device) Setup

Targetware now supports individualized custom files for each joystick or other device. Though the controls in the Joystick section can be used to effect any device you wish to use, most of the time, the joystick is the most important concern, so we refer collectively to the joysticks and other devices, such as throttles, rudders, etc., as "joysticks" or "sticks."

The input controls for Targetware are now divided into two different types of files: keyboard.txt and device files. Each input device has its own file located in the /user/joysticks/ directory.

Assigning Game Functions to Your Joystick

After starting Targetware, click on the Main Menu. Then click on the Settings Menu. You can also setup and tweak your joystick settings from within the game: lLook for the Settings menu item.

The Joystick section has two options:

Mapping Axes

The Map Axes section allows you to assign various functions to axes controlled by your joystick, throttle, or other device.

To remove a function assignment, select a control and click the Clear All Functions button.

To add a function to a control, click the Add Game Function button.

A small window will pop up with available functions, that you may assign to the control. These are organized in Control Type categories, such as Engine, Guns, Views, etc. Click OK when you have made your desired selection. The functions available to be assigned will vary depending on whether you are mapping a Button or an Axis.

Button Function Assignment Pop Up.

Axis Function Assignment Pop Up.

NOTE: It is possible that the game will not be able to pick up the movement of your joystick axes, if the joystick has not been calibrated correctly. If you move the joystick around when assigning axes, but no axis name pops into the edit field, you should jump to the "TUNE STICKS" screen and calibrate the joystick before trying to assign axes to it. If you still have trouble, please post a message on the Targetware forums so someone can help you get your joystick configured correctly.

Tuning Device Axes

Joystick Calibration

Before tuning your joystick, it is vital that it be calibrated. Select the joystick or other device shown in the upper left corner of the Joystick screen that you wish to customize.

Click the Calibrate Device button at the bottom of the screen.

Follow the instructions on the screen to calibrate your joystick.

  • Move the device controls to observe the movement that TW detects. Click NEXT.
  • Move each axis of your joystick as far as it will go in each direction. Press all or your device's buttons to make sure they are being detected. Click NEXT.
  • CENTER ALL AXES. Slider controls do NOT need to be centered. Click NEXT.
  • Calibration is now complete. Click DONE.

Axis Tuning

Confirm that the device you have just completed calibrating is selected in the upper left section of the Joystick screen.

Select an axis. For example, select the X axis.

The TUNE AXIS section will become active and you will see a parabola in the Response Curve window. This displays how responsiveness the joystick is to input you give it. Move the X axis of your joystick left and right and watch the yellow circle move along the curve.

You can change the responsiveness of the stick by moving the SCALING, DEADBAND, SATURATION and DAMPENING sliders - the changes will be reflected in the shape of the curve in the Response Curve window. Experiment different settings for these values and move the stick along the selected axis to see the effect.

SCALE controls the rate at which the stick responds to input. At a scaling of 1, each percentage of stick movement gets that percentage of response. For example, if you move the stick 10% of it's distance to the right (Positive X value), the game will apply 10% movement to the appropriate control (usually the ailerons). Generally, the greater the scaling, the more fine control you will have of the selected axis. NOTE: Scaling is perhaps the most important setting to tweak. If you are having problems with "jumpy" planes, start here. The two most likely culprits are the rudder and pitch axes.

DEADBAND controls how much 'dead' zone there is around the center of your stick's movements. In effect, it controls the width of the flat bottom of the response curve. This is very helpful when dealing with loose or wobbly joysticks that do not have much fine control near the center.

SATURATION is essentially the opposite of Deadband. It narrows the response curve so that a stick movement will reach its maximum input earlier.

DAMPENING diminishes the response of the stick.

You must tune EACH axis! Each axis must be selected and customized individually, so don't forget to set them all.

Slider Tuning

If you wish a particular axis to be a slider, click the TOGGLE SLIDER button.

Notice the change in the response curve window. Instead of a parabola, which has its lowest point at its center, there is a simple curve with its lowest point set to 0 on the left. This response curve can be customized as with other axes as described above. It is ideal for controls such as throttles.

It is very important that you experiment with the settings and move the stick around to see the effect of different settings to have your stick at its optimal operation for you. The best settings for individuals and their sticks varies greatly. You have to find the settings that suit you best.

Force Feedback Sticks

If you have a Force Feedback joystick, the Tune Joystick section will be active. You can set the Spring Force and the Buffet Force with the sliders present. Spring Force is the amount of resistance there is to the movement of the stick. Buffet force is the amount of shake present in the stick when game forces are acting up on it.

NOTE: You must tell the game which Joystick axes you want to control which game functions. The calibration and JS tweaking sections only deal with how the Joystick responds to user input, not what the game does with that input. So if your Joystick is calibrated, but the game isn't responding, it's probably because you haven't assigned a game function to the joystick axes. See the Axis Mapping section above to assign controls.

Stick Sets

Targetware now supports up to 4 stick sets for your joysticks and similar devices. Each stick set can have different functions assigned to the buttons and controls of your devices. That way, you don't need to reassign the functions of your stick when you change the type of flying you are going to do.

For example: Stick Set 1 might be your 'dogfighting' set with your trigger firing all guns, and other buttons control trim and engine controls. Stick Set 2 might be your 'divebombing' set with the trigger as bomb release and buttons controlling airbrakes, bombbay doors, and the like.

By default, the stick set keys are not mapped to the keyboard (however they may be for some joysticks). You can assign a key to cycle through the stick sets or assign individual keys to individual stick sets.

The following functions can be assigned to keys or device buttons:

  • Stick Set Cycle
  • Stick Set 1
  • Stick Set 2
  • Stick Set 3
  • Stick Set 4

Additional Info

You can find additional joystick details in Joystick File Structure.