How do I set up proper keyboard controls

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  • #8765
    themightyapollo
    Participant

    Hi guys, total amateur here when it comes to Ms-Dosbox emulation. I’m trying to play Star Wars: Dark Forces on a Chromebook and the default controls are wacky, to say the least. I want to set the controls to my liking, so I can play the game with my keyboard and mouse like a normal pc first-person shooter (move the character with WASD, shoot with the left mouse button, change weapons using the number keys, stuff like that). I found gamepad and tilt in the widgets menu, but trying to change anything on there doesn’t do anything at all. What am I doing wrong? Tried looking up information on how to change the controls like this online, and NOTHING USEFUL comes up in any search engine. I’ve also tried Retroarch, and there is no way to add my own controls unless it’s pre-saved options in the Retroarch menu. Guess I won’t be able to play any dos games properly unless someone can help me out. Will patiently wait for help.

    #8766
    Al ex
    Keymaster

    I don’t think SW Dark Forces was even designed to be played with KBM. You might have suceess with mapping mouse movement to swipe controls in Magic Dosbox, but I’m not sure if any of this could be translated to a Chromebook w/ external mouse in a playable fashion.

    I found this though: https://www.gog.com/forum/star_wars_dark_forces_series/dark_forces_plus_basically_vanilla_mouse_look_an_alternative_to_darkxl/page1
    Seems to add some kind of mouse support to the game, so maybe this can help?

    #8767
    admin
    Keymaster

    I think it should work. I was playing it with Duke nukem 3d layout. Virtual joystick was bound to 2-axis joystick, look around I did with mouse, shooting was with joystick button. However, I successfuly fired with left mouse button. And believe, joystick may be replaced with keyboard.

    #8768
    themightyapollo
    Participant

    Doesn’t work on a Chromebook / Chrome os. Nice try though.

    #8769
    Al ex
    Keymaster

    Have you tried both? The Duke 3D profile and the GoG patch?

    #8770
    admin
    Keymaster

    And what exactly does not work, fire or wasd?

    #8771
    themightyapollo
    Participant

    I’ve tried both. Dark forces is completely unplayable for me. I’ve actually gotten Duke Nukem 3d to work but with one MAJOR problem. The controls are so bad, I can’t aim up or down with my mouse like a modern fps. I can only aim up or down with keyboard keys that I can set in the setup.exe launcher (talking about Duke Nukem, not SWDF). Other than that, if that issue can be fixed, the controls / game is probably playable.

    Yes, I’ve given up on SWDF. Not really a gamer, just wanted to go on a nostalgic trip to the past even though I was born in 1999. So if I can’t emulate dos like I want, it’s ok.

    #8772
    themightyapollo
    Participant

    I don’t have a job atm, and my parents can’t afford nice pcs, and my parents aren’t gonna buy me a brand new windows pc when I got a used chromebook for $120 (that I wanted for simple internet browsing and for further android app compatibility. I really like android as a whole, a lot of customization that’s possible without breaking the bank).They don’t understand technology like I do. And even if they did, we either can’t afford it, or they deem it unnecessary for a multitude of reasons. I’ve come to accept it at 22 years old. Haven’t been able to get my license for a few years due to my arrogance and unwillingness to learn how to drive, so it’s impossible for me to get a job. That’ll change this year since I’m 22 and I can’t live with my parents forever. Then I’ll be able to emulate dosbox on a decent laptop in the future from working a job that I’ll make sure I’ll like; hopefully without any issues Perhaps much much more than that.
    Thanks for the help you guys. I appreciate it. I’ll respond ASAP.

    #8773
    Al ex
    Keymaster

    Maybe you should just go full nostalgia, and embrace the limited controls. Mouse control wasn’t really a thing back then, so the controls are by default very clumsy. You can get used to it though, because the games were designed around these limitations, which means you don’t need free mouse look to beat them.

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