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Sure-footed Claw with Steam Input

By stray_pengo

How to utilize Steam Input to overcome Tempest 4000's glaring misfeature

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Created by

stray_pengo
In-Game
DiRT Rally 2.0

Category: Gameplay Basics, Modding or Configuration

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

28 Aug, 2019 @ 9:03am

14 Sep, 2019 @ 8:14am

575	Unique Visitors
8	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Introduction

TL;DR

Warning for Xbox One Elite Controller Users

Prerequisite

Loading Configuration

New Controls

Tips

What about Spinner Support?

Acknowledgements

Footnotes

Comments

Introduction

I see two problems with the new inertia + brake mechanic introduced with Tempest 4000: 1) It's not explained anywhere in-game at all, and 2) It sucks. Hard. I wondered if it could be worked around by simple means without code overhaul and here is the result.

(In case you are wondering: there is an undocumented brake feature mapped to the left trigger which will immediately nail the sliding Claw in place. You can "lean" and shoot into the adjacent lane by holding down the brake and moving in that direction, too.)

TL;DR

Just apply the controller configuration named "Sure-footed Claw" in the community section and use D-Pad for movements.

If you don't know what I am talking about, read on. We are going to enable Steam client's versatile controller support, then load a controller configuration which will automatically apply brake at the right time.

Warning for Xbox One Elite Controller Users

Unfortunately it still seems to have issues with Steam Input API so this config may not work for you. Proceed with caution.

Prerequisite

You can skip this section if you have already enabled Steam client's controller support for other games. If not, follow these steps:

Open Steam client's Settings window. Go to "Controller" tab.
Click "GENERAL CONTROLLER SETTINGS" button to open the Controller Settings window, then tick off your controller type (PS/Xbox etc.)
Select your controller listed below "Detected Controllers." If "CALIBRATE/DEFINE LAYOUT" buttons show up, do so.
(If your controller is not detected, restarting Steam client usually helps.)
Optional: Back in the client's Settings window, you might want to apply "Disabled" template to "DESKTOP CONFIGURATION" otherwise your Windows desktop will respond to controller inputs which you may or may not prefer.
Close all windows you have opened.

Note for external input wrapper users such as x360ce, Joy2Key etc.: as this feature globally affects every game launched via Steam client, it might cause conflict with other games utilizing those wrappers. You can opt-in/out of it on per-game basis via "Library > (Game Title) > Properties > General > Steam Input Per-Game Setting" if necessary.

If you are interested, you can refer to Valve's own documentation for further instructions.

Loading Configuration

Make sure the game is not running.
(Actually you can hot-swap, but this will make things easier to explain and perform.)
Paste the following link into the URL field of your favorite browser (without quotes:)
"steam://controllerconfig/688140/1847749546"
(The link is not clickable because Steam's url formatting doesn't seem to recognize their own steam:// protocol, duh.)

Steam Controller Configurator window will open on the desktop.
Select "APPLY CONFIGURATION" then close the Configurator window.

Done!

New Controls

Use D-Pad left/right for movements. The claw will stop on a dime whenever the pad is released as the brake is automatically applied. Now go and blast those shapes!

Tips

You can still use the left thumbstick when analog control is preferred e.g. during the inter-level flight.

If you want to switch to analog control during normal stage for whatever reason, you have to "unstick" the brake first by tapping the brake button (the left trigger) once or the claw won't budge. This could be used as an alternate shortcut to "lean," however.

What about Spinner Support?

Sadly no, simple tweak like this can't provide proper spinner/mouse support. We will have to wait for an official implementation, if ever.

Acknowledgements

Total respect to David Theurer for the original Tempest design and many others, and to Jeff "Yak" Minter for wicked remixes which have kept the vector torch alight for all these years. And due credit to whoever "Atari" is today to allow it to happen, and to Valve for the powerful (and free!) Steam Input feature.

Thanks to "dual analogs" for reporting an issue with Xbox One Elite controller.

Footnotes

This config utilizes an action layer named "Brake On" which has the left trigger set to "Always On." It's applied by Release Press activators on D-Pad in the base configuration, then removed by Regular Press activators on D-Pad in the said layer.

The left trigger should also remove the layer for consistency (Will space-time collapse when the real left trigger is pulled while the virtual LT is held down?,) but the game seems to work fine without any deactivator. I have kept it as is for brevity and less overhead.

9 Comments

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stray_pengo [author] 24 Aug @ 6:29pm

It's good to hear from you, Chewie-san

Chewable C++ 24 Aug @ 10:30am

Prerequisite is absolutely a "proper" and semantically distinct word, and is used correctly in this guide. Prerequisite has been around and in wide usage since the 1600s, so, yeah, it's in the dictionary. Irregardless is indeed an aberration and is mentioned in dictionaries as "non-standard".

comp9 12 Sep, 2024 @ 6:30pm

It's "ironic" that the previous comment was in all caps, yet was trying to convey how to type something correctly.

DOOMJESUS 13 Sep, 2023 @ 12:08pm

IRONICALLY, THE TL;DR IS AS LONG AS THE INTRODUCTION. AND PREREQUISITE IS NOT A PROPER WORD. THE WORD REQUISITE IS SUFFICIENT. PREREQUISITE MAY EVEN BE IN THE DICTIONARY BY NOW BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S NOT A NONSENSE WORD. I'M SURE IRREGARDLESS IS MOST LIKELY IN THE DICTIONARY TOO BY NOW BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT ISN'T REDUNDANT SEMI LITERATE NONSENSE. FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

Tempest Nut 4 Nov, 2019 @ 7:57am

By the way, this hack disables the new inertia, it doesn't work around it...

Tempest Nut 4 Nov, 2019 @ 7:53am

It a hack of sorts so I won't be writing up a guide about it but I am willing to share it with anyone that wants spinner support on the Windows platform, It works perfectly and I will help anyone I share it with get it installed and working correctly on their PC and I can say everyone I've shared it with have it working as it should with very little help from me, The only thing that needs any adjustment is the spinner speed which depends on the brand of spinner you use but it is a fairly easy adjustment to make and everybody has been very happy with the operation of their spinners in Tempest 4000 and for me personally I strongly believe it is without a doubt the best way to play any Tempest game and I say that as the holder of the #1 spot on all three leader boards in Tempest 4000 PC! I've been #1 on all three PC leader boards for quite a few months now and I really don't see that changing, At least any time soon...

stray_pengo [author] 2 Nov, 2019 @ 7:46am

That's great! Perhaps you could write a guide about it?

Tempest Nut 2 Nov, 2019 @ 7:14am

But spinner support is only for Tempest 4000 PC...

Tempest Nut 2 Nov, 2019 @ 7:13am

I'm using a SpinTrak spinner with Tempest 4000 and have been for months, If anyone would like to have spinner support just contact me and you can have spinner support as well, IT"S GREAT!

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