Combine 2 EVOs

[Yuggs]

I'm using a pair of EVOs (left and right versions) and by default they are viewed by older games as 2 separate controllers. The issue is that these older games only allow you to select 1 joystick to use so you can't utilize both the left and right stick axes by default.

Is it possible within VKBDevCfg to combine the left and right stick axes into a single stick (e.g. the right stick) so they can be used in games that only allow input from a single controller?

Specifically, what I would like to do is assign the Y axis on the left EVO to control the right EVO's Z axis (throttle) if that is possible.

Thank you!

[fallout9]

This is possible only through a third party software like Joystick Gremlin.

[Yuggs]

Are there any plans to add axis cross communication like that to VKBDevCfg in the future? If possible, I would like to request axis cross communication as a software feature or as a hardware solution in the future because I really prefer using your software with your hardware. It keeps the whole setup process organized.

Being able to use a HOSAS setup with older games would be great but as it stands right now it seems to be kind of a chore to setup. If I find any solutions to this issue I'll update this thread.

Thanks for the lead, fallout!

[Yuggs]

One more question about this, fallout. Could there be some kind of work around to get this working using master/slave settings between the two sticks in the Global > External Devices > External menu? Or possibly through utilizing the controller virtualization options? I've been reading the manual and testing options out in those areas but I'm also not fully grasping the capability of all of those options at the moment. I trust that using alternative software may be the best solution at the moment, but I'm also curious what the purpose of master/slave and virtual BUS over USB are primarily used for as well?

[Ron61]

I managed to get two GNXs (not EVOs) to work as one device (GNX L is hidden) and broadcast not only the Y axis, but also the buttons with a common Shift. The program used was VKB zLink v. 0.70 with some tweaks.

[Yuggs]

Very cool! Thanks for that update, Ron! Where are you downloading VKB zLink v. 0.70 from? I've looked in the following Mega Archive and only see v.0.6.6 as the latest option available:

https://mega.nz/folder/980CgDDL#AuSb0tItSbEQCmIIcA8U7w/folder/lh8UCDLY

Is there a more up-to-date download link for zLink with operational guides? I'm not sure if what I'm finding from my forum searches is the most current info/links and I'd like to be current, especially since I'll be trying this out with 2 EVOs.

Thanks!

[Yuggs]

I've got the solution working. Thanks again, Ron! I used your previous post here and created a version of my own walkthrough based on it which I will include in this post for other people in case they need this info as well:

https://forum-il2sturmovik-ru.translate.goog/topic/4718-modern-talking-with-gladiator/page/2/?tab=comments&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp#comment-674975

I couldn't find version 0.7.0 of zLink so I just used version 0.6.6, which I found here:

https://mega.nz/folder/980CgDDL#AuSb0tItSbEQCmIIcA8U7w/folder/lh8UCDLY

Basic Steps:
Setup zLink2.ini
Open zLink2.exe but do not click Start, take note of bracketed numbers
Setup Slave
Hide Slave
Setup Master
Start zLink

Detailed Steps:
Start by ensuring that your stick profiles are loaded, set, and calibrated using VKBDevCfg.exe. Once your sticks/controllers are all set you can move on to hooking them up with zLink.

Now open Windows Game Controllers (i.e. joy.cpl) by pressing Win+R and entering "joy.cpl":

GameControllers.png (9.45 KiB) Viewed 3981 times

Notice that you can currently see all connected joysticks/controllers. I will hide the slave and only keep the master visible to games.

In my particular case I want to setup the Left Gladiator as the slave and the Right Gladiator as the master. The slave will be hidden from applications and will send control signals to the master which the game will then be able to see. Hiding devices is important for a lot of games so that there is no cross talk between your control devices during gameplay and only 1 device is present and accounted for by your game. I'm playing Mechwarrior 2 and I want to use the Y axis of my left stick to control the Z axis of my right stick. This way, my left stick will act as a throttle. I do this by first opening the zLink2.exe and then closing it so that it will create a file called zLink2.ini within the same folder as the zLink2.exe.

zLinkFile.png (2.67 KiB) Viewed 3981 times

I then edit the zLink2.ini file so that it contains the Source (i.e. slave) VID and PID (in my case, that is 231D and 0201 for my left stick) as well as the Target (i.e. master) VID and PID (231D and 1200 for my right stick).

Slave Setup:
Open zLink2.exe but do not click "Start" yet. Just remember the address in brackets. My left Gladiator bracket reads "[2.1]".

Open VKBDevCfg.exe, select the left stick, and go to Global > External > External Devices. The 2 and the 1 in the brackets relates to the AdrH and AdrL values in this menu. Set AdrH to 2 and AdrL to 1 (or whatever your own bracketed values are). Also activate Virtual BUS over USB.

Go to Profile > Axes > Physical Axes and select the Ext box for each axis you want to transmit from slave to master. You can also go to Profile > Buttons and click on Reg#1, Reg#2, Reg#3 ect (for example, click directly on "Reg#1") to make a grey star appear next to them which will denote that the button register is selected for use on the master.

Once the axes and buttons are setup to broadcast then the device can be hidden. Hide the Left stick by going to Global > Common and selecting Hide. You should now see the slave device has disappeared from the Windows Game Controllers menu.

Master Setup:
Select the right stick go to Global > External > External Devices:
Enable Virtual BUS over USB
Click on External Device #2 and set it up as a "Generic Device" device
Set the Port to "Virtual"
Set AdrH/AdrL to 2/1
Set Ax N to 1 - or however many axes you are transmitting from slave to master. I'm only transmitting 1 axis from slave to master in this case
Set Reg N/Base to 4/10 - you can select a lower number of button registers or none at all. You can also adjust where they show up in the master's button registry by changing the base value to whatever you would prefer
Set Axis #1 Normal 1/4 - In this case, 4 is the number for the Z axis on the master, the idea here is that the Y axis from the slave is getting bound to the master's Z axis and enabling the left stick to control the throttle on the right stick.

Continued...

[Yuggs]

Go to Profile > Axes > Physical Axes and set axis 4 input to Virtual

Start zLink and the axis and button registers should all transmit from the slave to the master, all acting as a single device in terms of what Windows and Games will see.

[Ron61]

Great job!
A few remarks:
1. On the Slave, activate the Global Shift checkbox - and then the Shift assigned to the Master will work for both devices
2. assign Slave axes to free axes on the Master, because there are never too many axes, and it is always possible to change the name to those supported in the game (HID Usage column)
3. place the registers of the Slave buttons immediately after the existing ones on the Master, without holes
4. When configuring Slave encoders, you need to select Virtual on Master, in contrast to the default setting
5. When calibrating the Master axes, do not forget about the virtual Slave, it must also be calibrated
Well, save the profile for both GNX, so as not to lose the results of the settings.

[BlokeBird]

Hi,

Sorry to reply to an old post, but I'm having some trouble combining my Gladiator evo and THQ into one device for older games.

I followed Yuggs instructions and Rons supplemental instructions, and I have the 8 buttons of the THQ successfully mapped over to the EVO, but I cant seem to get any of the THQs axis going. I was hoping to have one axis replace the EVO throttle like Yuggs, and then have the additional two other axis as #7 and #8, or just have them all as 7, 8, 9. (However, the generic virtual device bind index only goes from 1 to 8?)

Have I missed something stupid? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my current config settings:

[Ron61]

I checked - everything works.
Try using newer versions of firmware, configurator and T-Link from here.
It is not necessary to register addresses on Slave; leave the default ones 17:17.

On the Master, the received axes must also be Virtual (not Normal) and after assignment they must be calibrated.

[BlokeBird]

You're a legend mate, its working now! Thank you

Cheers