Copyright: Joystick Control Centre by John Michael Hnidec


Introduction

Welcome, and thank you for evaluating The Joystick Control Centre. If you find this software useful and you want to order the full registered version, see Support, Registration and Ordering Information for more details.

If you have any problems using this software, or if you have some ideas for improving this software, let me know so I can do something about it.

Upgrades to this product will be announced in relevant newsgroups and web sites. The Joystick Control Centre home page will also be updated. The latest information and versions are always available at http://www.bit.net.au/~johnh

If you are unfamiliar with this software, please take 10 minutes to read through this help file and get aquainted with all the features and facilities the program has to offer. Listed below are just a few of the features of this software to get you going...

Features

The Joystick Control Centre allows you to program the buttons on any kind of joystick in Windows 95. What this means is that you can assign keystroke macro’s and commands to each button on your joystick and save these commands as template files. You can create different template files for different games and then use these template files when playing the game.

You can change “modes” in real time on your joystick by the press of a button or a keystroke. This allows your joystick to have virtual buttons, so if your joystick has 6 real buttons, and you use 5 modes, you have 30 virtual buttons to program and use. Just switch modes on the fly when you need to.

Each button can have more than one keystroke assigned to it making it ideal for performing complicated keystroke actions and manoeuvres in your games. Such things as selecting a weapon, loading a weapon, changing views and firing a weapon could all be done by one button press.

The games you are using do not have to be “joystick capable” to utilize all the facilities of this program.

Each joystick can have up to 5 virtual modes. Modes are switched by the press of a button or key. (You tell it which one).

Each virtual mode supports up to 32 buttons per joystick making a possible limit of 160 virtual buttons. (If you need this many, you are in big trouble).

Each button can transmit up to 6 command macro’s or keystrokes.

Repeating keystrokes are now supported, this allows keys to repeat as long as you hold the button down. Great for throttle controls, machine gun fire and so on.

Buttons can be configured on the fly. If you want to make changes to your settings, pause your game, make your changes and continue. Changes take effect immediately.

Will work with any brand of joystick in Windows 95.

Does not require any external vbx’s, dll’s, ocx’s or programs to run. Just requires the one executable.


Requirements

Not much is needed to use and run this software.

You will need Microsoft Windows 95. This software will not work at all in DOS or in Microsoft Windows 3.1. The software will run under Microsoft NT version 4 but no support can be given for this environment as I have not done enough system testing to say that it will be stable.

You will need a joystick device with buttons. If your joystick has no buttons (I am not even sure such a thing exists) then this software is not much use to you. Your joystick device needs to have been installed successfully within Windows 95 with the appropriate drivers. Please note this software does NOT replace the standard Windows installation and calibration routines for your joystick devices.


An Example - Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95

Here is how I am using The Joystick Control Centre.

I am an avid flight simulator junkie and currently use Microsoft flight simulator for Windows 95. I have a CH Flightstick Pro joystick which has four buttons and 1 four-way hat switch making 8 buttons in total. I have decided to use 4 “modes” for my flight simulator template.

Mode 1 is my takeoff mode. The functionality I have from my joystick in this mode includes 4 views (front, back, left, right), throttle up, throttle down, gear up/down and the mode switching button.

Mode 2 is the first of my general flying modes. After takeoff, I switch modes (press a button) to mode 2. The functionality I have from my joystick in this mode includes 4 views (front left, front right, front, back), throttle up, throttle down, trim controls and the mode switching button. I have made sure my throttle and trim controls are repeating keys, so I just hold down a button to increase or decrease throttle etc.

Mode 3 is the second of my general flying modes. I have put actions which don’t change much here such as autopilot on/off, altitude hold, heading hold, lights on/off, strobes on/off, and so on.

Mode 4 is my landing mode. The functionality I have in this mode is throttle up, throttle down, brakes, flaps up, flaps down, spoilers, magnetos off and the mode switching button.

Another good use for a button would be to start the engines of my plane. The keystrokes to do this are Ctrl+Shift+F4 to start the fuel pump and then J and + and + to start the jet engines. I could assign all these keystrokes to one button, perhaps in mode 1, my takeoff mode.

You can use the ALT key in some of your keystroke settings. This will allow you to navigate through menu items for which there is no keyboard equivalent. For example you could send ATC takeoff and landing messages with a button press or you could toggle auto co-ordination off and on with a button press. The possibilities are endless.

The above settings are just examples. I hope you can see the benefits of using The Joystick Control Centre. Use your imagination and create whatever configurations you want.


A Brief Overview

The Joystick Control Centre consists of two modules. The first, JOYCFG.EXE, is used to program the buttons on your joystick to do what you want them to do. With this module, you can load, save, edit and create template files that will be used with your games or applications.

The second module, JOYRUN.EXE, is the program that runs while your game is running. When this module is running, all you will see is a tiny window that indicates which joystick “mode” you are currently in. This tiny window can be moved around and will stay on top of all other windows. JOYRUN.EXE needs to be loaded with a template that you have created with JOYCFG.EXE.

There are two ways to load a template into JOYRUN.EXE. The first is to simply start JOYRUN where you will be presented with a “File Open” dialog box. From here, select a joystick template file that you have previously created and away you go. The second way is to start JOYRUN with a command line parameter. By this I mean if you create a shortcut to JOYRUN you can specify the name of the template file you want to load. This will immediately load the template rather than presenting you with the “File Open” dialog box.

For example, to start JOYRUN and load the template you have created for Flight Simulator, your command line may look something like this...

C:\JOYCC\JOYRUN.EXE FS6.JOY

It is important to specify the full path to your template file, if you do not, JOYRUN will not be able to find it. It is also important to put the path in quotes if it contains spaces. Another example of a command line may look something like this...

C:\JOYCC\JOYRUN.EXE “D:\MY DOCUMENTS\JOYCC\FS6.JOY”


Using JOYCFG.EXE

Below is a small tutorial in programming your joystick using JOYCFG.EXE. You may like to take 5 minutes to work through or at least have a read of the following steps so you can become completely familiar with all the features of The Joystick Control Centre.

Step 1

Make sure you know which game you want to use this template with. Have a good think about what you would like each button on your joystick to do and how many “modes” you might require. Try to organize your button actions into logical groups for each “mode”. For example Mode 1 is for taking off, Mode 2 is for flying and Mode 3 is for landing. This way you won’t have to change “modes” as often (not that this is hard to do mind you).

Step 2

Familiarize yourself with what keys you need to press in your game to perform actions you want to do with the joystick buttons. For example, if you want the Trigger button on your joystick to fire and reload a machine gun, you need to know what keystroke or keystrokes are needed to do this in the game.

Step 3

Start the program JOYCFG.EXE

Step 4

You are now looking at the front screen of the template configuration program. Click on the tab labelled “Identify”. Press a few buttons on your joystick and you will see the joystick button id changing on the screen. The button id is simply a unique number which identifies each button on your joystick, you do not need to be concerned about this number. You will not have to know this number for any reason, just be aware of what it is.

If no button presses are being detected, click on the “Type” tab and change the device type from DIGITAL to ANALOG. Some analog devices will not work in digital mode. Changing the device type will fix this problem.

It is important to note that any button you wish to program MUST be identified first. If you do not add your joystick button on the identify screen, it will not show up anywhere else in the software and will not be able to be programmed.

To identify a joystick button, press the required joystick button, type a meaningful description of this button (eg trigger, hat switch up, bottom button etc) and press the “Add” icon or press enter.

IMPORTANT TIP: Start with a blank template file and identify every button on your joystick. Once you have done this, save the template file. Use this template file as a master file for creating new templates. That way, you will not have to identify each button every time you create a new template file.

Step 5

Modes and mode changing…

You need to decide if you want to use more than one “mode”. What this means is that you can create virtual buttons on your joystick. For example if your joystick has 4 buttons and you program 3 modes you have 12 buttons to program and use. Each of your joystick buttons can perform a different function depending on which mode it is currently in.

If you do want more than one mode, you need to tell the software how you intend to change modes. You can do this 2 ways. The first is to actually use one of your joystick buttons to change modes. This button will not be able to be programmed for any other function. The second way is to use a keyboard key to change modes. It is up to your own personal preference.

To select a joystick button for mode changing, press the required button. If the button has been identified (see previous steps) its’ description will appear. To clear the Joystick Button field, click the “Clear” button at the top of the screen.

To select a keystroke for mode changing, double click in the keystroke box and select a key from the list. To clear the Keystroke field, double click the field and select [NONE] from the popup list.

The software will complain when you try to save the template file if you have both a joystick button and a keystroke selected for mode changing. You can have one or the other, not both…

Step 6

Now it is time to actually program your joystick buttons.

Click on the tab labelled “Buttons”. This is where you will assign keystrokes to your joystick buttons.

You will notice that the mode you are programming is currently “Mode 1”. The dropdown list box contains 5 modes named “Mode 1” to “Mode 5” by default. You can change these names by clicking on the “Mode” tab and typing a new name at the bottom of the screen.

You will also notice that the “Repeat” drop down list is set to False by default. If you want a keystroke to repeat while you are playing your game, set this to True.

Press a button on your joystick that you wish to program. If you have identified it (see previous steps) its’ description will appear. Type a description for what this button press will do. For example, it may load a weapon and fire it, or it may start your aircraft engine and turn the lights on and so on. It is recommended that you always type a meaningful description. If you have many buttons programmed, it can get very confusing without descriptions.

Step 7

Tab down to the next text box which has a 1 next to it. These 6 boxes each represent a keystroke that can be assigned to the joystick button we are currently programming. To add a keystroke, simply double click the text box. This will activate a pop up list of all the keystrokes you can choose from. Scroll down the list and pick the keystroke to be added. Note, each keystroke can have Ctrl or Shift or Alt added to the front of it to create shifted key combinations.

If you need to delete a keystroke, double click the textbox and select [NONE] from the popup list. This is the first item in the popup list.

Step 8

When you have chosen all the keystrokes you require for this button click the “Add” icon at the top of the screen. This will add the button and you will see its details appear in the list box at the bottom of the screen.

Congratulations, you have programmed your first button. If you press another button on your joystick you can repeat these steps and program another joystick button.

Other Tasks

As you program each button and press “Add” you will see it appear in the summary list box at the bottom. If you need to change some settings, you can press the button on your joystick or select it from the summary list box and then make your changes. Remember to press “Add” even when you are modifying a button or your changes will not be registered.

To program joystick buttons for another mode, simply select the mode you require from the drop down list at the bottom of the screen.

Remember to save your template file when you have finished creating it.


Things to be Aware Of

Cannot detect joystick button presses

If you are pressing your joystick buttons on the "Identify" tab and nothing is happening, go to the "Type" tab and change device type from "Digital" to "Analog". This should fix 99% of these sorts of problems.

Using The Keyboard for Mode Switching

If you are using more than one “mode” and you have decided to use a keystroke to change modes please be aware that not all keyboard keys will work. I know for a fact the Ctrl, Alt and Shift keys do not work. Most keys will work though. I am working on this problem.

Make Sure Your Game Has The Focus

When JOYRUN.EXE is running, it stays on top of all other windows but does not have the focus. (The game you are playing naturally has the focus). If you move or click on the JOYRUN.EXE window, it will naturally have the focus, so any joystick button presses will go to it and not to your game. Simply make sure you click back on your game window if this happens.

Check Your Joystick Settings In The Game

Some games allow you to assign events to joystick button presses. These settings are usually configurable by the user. It is best to remove any associations to buttons within the game itself and then use this program to configure the buttons. If you leave the settings in the game and program a button to do something, the button press will do what you programmed it to do and then it will do what it is set up to do in the game itself. When using Flight Simulator for Windows 95 for example, I removed all references to button presses in the FLTSIM.CFG file and completely re-programmed the joystick.

Start JOYRUN.EXE After Starting Your Game

You should start your game before running JOYRUN.EXE. This gives maximum response to button presses and ensures all the buttons on your joystick can be used.

Remember To Close When Finished

Try to remember to close JOYRUN.EXE when you have finished with it. Because its’ window is so small, it is easy to forget about it. Remember, when you press a joystick button, the keystrokes you have programmed are sent to the active application. If keystrokes meant for DOOM are sent to Microsoft Word, this may not be a good thing.

It Only Controls Button Presses

The Joystick Control Centre only controls button presses on the joystick. It has nothing to do with the actual x, y movement of the joystick itself. Any configuration or calibration of the movement along axis is still performed in the usual manner.

Some Games Will Not Work

Some games may be programmed to control the keyboard or joystick exclusively when they are running. Others may have proprietary routines to detect keystrokes and joystick button presses. The Joystick Control Centre may not work correctly in these instances. You would have to experiment and find out. By the way, I would be most interested if you let me know so I could have a look and perhaps do something about it. I cannot guarantee which games will and will not work with this product, again experiment and see. I can say however that it works with Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95 because I use it all the time.

Windows NT

Due to the way The Joystick Control Centre has been programmed, it will not work reliably under Windows NT version 4.

Fun, Fun, Fun

Most importantly of all, Have Fun!


Trademarks and Copyright

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Windows 95 is trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Windows NT is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation

CH Flightstick is a CH Products product

Sidewinder 3d Pro is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation

Warrior and Quickshot are trademarks of Bondwell

X-plane is a trademark of Laminar Research


What Files Are Included

The Joystick Control Centre archive you have unzipped should contain the following files:

FileName	Description
JOYCFG.EXE	Used to Create, Modify and Delete joystick template files.
JOYRUN.EXE	Runs while your game is running and performs all joystick button to keystroke translations.
JOYCC.HLP	This help file.
JOYCC.CNT	Required file for this help file.
README.TXT	Brief summary of this software and inclusion of any last minute changes and modifications. This file also contains the revision history of what is new and different in this version.


Contacting the Author

My Name is John Michael Hnidec. I have been programming for many years in various languages. My full time profession is software specialist for a large government organization in Queensland, Australia. I had written this program initially as a need for myself. It has naturally progressed from there to its current incarnation. I hope you find it useful.

I can be contacted via email at the following address:

johnh@bit.net.au

Thankyou


Tips And Tricks

Create a Master Template

Start with a blank template file and identify every button on your joystick. Once you have done this, save the template file. Use this template file as a master file for creating new templates. That way, you will not have to identify each button every time you create a new template file.

Repeating Keystrokes

Repeating keystrokes are now supported. These are most effective when only one or two keys are actually being repeated. For example in Flight Simulator, throttle up is the F3 key. This will repeat very well because it is only one key. If you had many keystrokes that you wanted to repeat it may be too slow. Remember, the software has to send a keydown and keyup messages for every keystroke in your combination. An example of a keystroke combination that would not repeat very well is SHIFT+ALT+F7+P+D+S. This uses all 6 keystrokes and would probably repeat too slowly to be effective. Again, it depends on the application though.

Use a Command Line To Start JOYRUN

Start JOYRUN with a command line containing the name of the template file you want to open. This will bypass the “File Open” dialog and just load the template straight away. You can set up different icons for different template files, then to start you just need to double click the icon. You could even go one step further and make a small batch file that loaded your game and then started JOYRUN with the appropriate parameter. A sample batch file to start FS6 and load JOYRUN may look like this

c:\flight simulator\fs6.exe

c:\joycc\joyrun.exe “c:\my files\fs6.joy”

Have a look at A Brief Overview for more information.

Refer to your Windows documentation for more information on batch files and short cuts.

Naming Actions and Buttons

Always assign meaningful names to the buttons and actions in your template files. Use button descriptions that clearly identify which button you mean. For example, “Second Button on the Left” or “Trigger Button” is more meaningful than “Button Number 1”.

Repeating Combinations

When assigning keystrokes to joystick buttons remember that a keystroke combination is different to two separate keystrokes. For example pressing the Shift key and then pressing the Enter key is 2 keystrokes and is completely different to holding down the Shift key and pressing the Enter key. Make sure you know the difference when programming your joystick buttons.

Always Press “Add”

Always press the “Add” icon whenever you add or change a joystick button, otherwise your changes will not register.

Remember to Save Your Work

Always remember to save your template files when you have created or modified them, otherwise you will lose your hard work.

Multiple Modes

When using multiple modes, avoid having modes which do nothing. This just means you will have to switch between more modes than you would normally have to. For example, if you need to use 2 modes, use mode 1 and mode 2, do not use mode 1 and mode 3.

Naming Modes

When using multiple modes, give each mode a meaningful name. For example rather than using the default names of “Mode 1”, “Mode 2” etc use “Taxi”, “Takeoff”, “Autopilot” and so on.

Keep It All Together

If you keep all your joystick template files together in the same directory as JOYCFG.EXE and JOYRUN.EXE, you will find it easier to open and use your templates.

Mode Window Colours

As of version 2.3, you can change the colours of the mode window. Light green on a black background makes a great looking LED display, light green on a dark green background makes a back-lit computerised looking display. Experiment and try different combinations out.


Error Messages

The following errors can occur when you start JOYCFG.EXE or JOYRUN.EXE.

Cannot Capture Joystick Input

For some reason, the program cannot capture what is happening with your joystick. It may be another program running has complete control over the joystick.

Cannot Detect a Connected Joystick

Your joystick is not plugged in correctly. Check all connections and try again.

Cannot Detect a Joystick Driver

Your joystick has not been installed in Windows 95 correctly. A joystick needs a joystick driver to operate. You will need to install a driver for you joystick. Refer to the documentation that came with your joystick or refer to the help available in Windows 95.


Using JOYRUN.EXE

Now that you have created a template file using JOYCFG.EXE you have very little else left to do. From here, all you need to do is start your Windows game and the run JOYRUN.EXE. The first thing this program does is ask you for a joystick template filename. Select the appropriate joystick template file for the game and away you go.

An alternative way to start JOYRUN is to include the name of the template file on the command line. This will allow JOYRUN to load the template file directly rather than displaying the “File Open” dialog box. See Tips and Tricks for more information.

The small window will appear at the top left hand side of your screen. Move it around if it is in the way, but remember to click back on your game to set the focus to it.

If you have programmed the template file for more than 1 “mode”, the caption of the window will change as you change from mode to mode.

A new feature that has been added as of version 2.1 is that JOYRUN.EXE now places an icon in the task bar when it is running. If you right click on this icon, a popup menu appears with the following options…

Enable/Show Mode Window	This shows the Mode window and enable button detection.

Disable/Hide Mode Window	This hides the Mode window and disables button detection.

Shutdown JOYRUN	This will close JOYRUN.EXE.

Cancel	This will simply close the menu and make no changes.

A new feature that has been added as of version 2.2 is the ability for JOYRUN to remember its previous screen location. This means that if you start JOYRUN and position the window where you want it, it will go back to that position next time you start JOYRUN. Please note that it will remember its screen position for each different screen resolution.

For example, by default the mode window is positioned at position 0, 0, the top left of the screen. If you are in a resolution of 800x600 and you move the mode window somewhere else, that screen position will be recorded for that resolution only. If you subsequently change screen resolutions to 1024x768, the mode window will appear at position 0,0 again. The screen position for the resolution of 800x600 is still recorded though, so next time you change back to that resolution, the mode window will position itself in the correct place. For those of you who are interested, this screen information is stored in the Windows Registry.

As of version 2.3, you must close down JOYRUN using the icon in the task bar. Versions previous to this had the big X on the mode window and you used to be able to press that to close it down. To create a less obtrusive and better looking mode window, this has been removed. See the instructions above on how to bring up the popup menu from the task bar icon.


Important Points for FLTSIM95

The Joystick Control Centre is ideal for use with flight simulators such as Microsoft Flight Simulator for Windows 95 and X-plane by Laminar Research. Each game is different of course, but I would like to mention a few important things about Flight Simulator because this seems to be a very popular game being used with this software.

One thing that needs to be made clear is the use of the fltsim95 configuration file.

In you Flight Simulator directory, you will have a file called FLTSIM95.CFG. This file contains all sorts of configuration information used by Flight Simulator. Among other things, it contains default settings for the buttons on your joystick.

If you program a button on your joystick and do not edit this file, you may experience double events. That is, the action you have programmed your button for will happen AND the default action for the button as per this file will happen. To overcome this problem, you will have to edit the FLTSIM95.CFG file and delete any reference to BUTTON_DOWN events and BUTTON_REPEAT events. Make sure you make a copy of this file before you start editing it, just in case.

If you are editing settings under the [JOYSTICK_xx] heading, you must change the entry that reads LOCKED=0 to LOCKED=1. If you do not do this, the settings you change will revert back to the default settings whenever you make changes in FS95. This information is buried deep down in the readme.txt file that comes with Flight Simulator for Windows 95.

A Handy Tip…

Another facility that I find really useful is you can use the ALT key in some of your keystroke settings. This will allow you to navigate through menu items for which there is no keyboard equivalent. For example you could send ATC takeoff and landing messages with a button press or you could toggle auto co-ordination off and on with a button press. The possibilities are endless.

TO REQUEST TAKEOFF CLEARANCE…

For example, to program a joystick button to request clearance for takeoff you would program it with the following keystrokes…

ALT	To activate the menus

A	To activate the Aircraft menu

C	To activate the Communications menu

T	To request Takeoff clearance

Enter	To send the request

TO TOGGLE AUTO CO-ORDINATION

For example, to program a joystick button to toggle auto co-ordination you  would program it with the following keystrokes…

ALT	To activate the menus

A	To activate the Aircraft menu

R	To activate the Realism and Reliability menu

A	To toggle Auto co-ordination

Enter	To close the window

TO START FUEL FLOW AND JET ENGINES

For example, to program a joystick button to start the fuel flow and start the jet engines, you would program it with the following keystrokes…

Ctrl + Shift + F4	To start fuel flow

J	To select jet engines

=	To move ignition to on (this is really the same key as +)

=	To move ignition to start

HOW TO STOP REALLY QUICKLY

For example, to program a joystick button to stop your jet aircraft really quickly once you have landed, you would program it with the following keystrokes

F1	Cut the engines

F5	Flaps full up

/	Spoilers On

.	Brakes

.	Brakes

.	Brakes

The possibilities are endless, use your imagination.


The JOYCFG Screen

When you first start JOYCFG.EXE you will be presented with a TAB style notebook display. Below is a brief description of each of those TAB’s.

Description Tab

This displays the version of JOYCFG you are currently using as well as providing space to type a description of the template file you will be working with. Use a meaningful description such as “Flightstick Pro Master File” or “Flight Simulator for Windows 95 - Cessna”.

Type Tab

This is where you select the type of device connected to your computer, Digital or Analog. The default setting is Digital, and this will work for most modern joystick devices such as fancy joysticks, throttles, yokes and so on. If you find that button presses are not being recognised, change this setting from Digital to Analog.

Identify Tab

This is where you identify each button on your joystick. To identify a button means to tell the software about the button and to give the button a meaningful description. If you do not identify a button, you will not be able to program that button.

Mode Tab

This is used for 2 things. The first is to specify a keystroke or joystick button that will be used to switch modes if you need to. The second is to give your modes meaningful names rather than the default names. For example you may be using 3 modes and you might call them “TAXI”, “GENERAL” and “LAND”.

Buttons Tab

This tab is used for a few of things.

The first is to program each button on your joystick with the required keystrokes.

It is also used to program keystrokes for different modes.  If you want to use more than one mode, you change the current mode here.

Finally, you can set whether the keystroke combination you have programmed will repeat or not. A good use for repeating keys might be the throttle of an aircraft. A repeating key is the same as you continually pressing a key on the keyboard.

Response Tab

This is used to alter the responsiveness of the joystick buttons. Normally you will NOT need to change this setting. What I find works best is to leave this setting as is, and hold the joystick button down for a fraction of a second longer than I normally would. For those few games where the response is a problem, this always seems to fix it.

Appearance Tab

This is used to change the colours and fonts used by the small mode window in JOYRUN.EXE. You can change the background colour, the foreground colour, and font information such as font name, style, size and so on. Light green on a black background gives a nice LED type display, light green on a dark green background gives a computerish (is that a word?) back-lit display effect. Experiment with different colours and fonts to find what works best for you.

Summary Tab

This displays a summary of all buttons and keypresses for all modes in the current template. This display is always up to date so you can refer to it often. It may also be useful to print the summary off and have the printout in front of you when playing your game, at least until you can remember all the keystrokes for all the modes you may have programmed.


What's New

Below is a description of bug fixes and improvements for each version.

Version 2.3 25/06/1997

The colours and fonts used in JOYRUN.EXE can now be changed according to personal preference. You can change the foreground colour, the background colour, and the font type. These changes are made in JOYCFG and can be different for each template file you create. See Tips and Tricks for some examples of good colour combinations.

The JOYRUN mode screen has been made less obtrusive. It is now a flat window with a single border around it. It no longer has the big X on it used to close a window. To close down this window, you will need to right click on the icon in the Windows 95 task tray and shutdown from there.

Version 2.2 15/05/1997

Repeating Keys have been added finally. This means you can program a keystroke combination to repeat as for as long as you hold down the joystick button. This feature has been in great demand and is finally working. A good use for repeating keystrokes would be something like the throttle controls or flaps on an aircraft in Flight Simulator.

Command line capability added to JOYRUN. This means you can start JOYRUN with the name of a template file, and prevent the “File Open” dialog box appearing at all. See Tips and Tricks for more detailed information about how to set this up.

JOYRUN can now remember its last screen position. This means you will no longer have to keep moving the mode to the position you want it to be in, it will go back to its last used position automatically.

Improved internal button detection mechanism. You may notice an improvement in the responsiveness of

button presses and mode changes. I have gone over the code with a fine tooth comb to try and optimise every area I could. The result is even more efficient code than in previous versions.

Version 2.1 21/03/1997

Joystick devices can be specified as either Digital or Analog. This was added because some analog devices were not working when in digital mode.

JOYRUN now has an icon in the task tray when it is running. This gives you the ability to enable, disable and hide JOYRUN.

My email address and web address have been added to the front screen as hyperlinks. This is to make it easier for you to contact me if you need to as well as making it easier for you to check for updates on my web site. By clicking on these hyperlinks, your email or web browser program will be started.

A bug that switched modes when it should not have was fixed.

A bug that did not prompt on exit if you ended JOYCFG without using the exit button was fixed.

Version 2.0 19/02/1997

Major upgrade to previous versions.

Vastly improved graphical user interface, changing the whole look and feel of the program.

Button capture module enhanced to capture digital devices as well as standard analog devices.

Modes can now be switched by either a keyboard key or a joystick button.

Added the ability to name each mode rather than having to use the default mode names of Mode 1 etc.

Added the ability to alter the button responsiveness settings.

Added the ability to identify buttons once and then re-use these settings later in a master template.

Fixed a bug with printing the summary information.

Version 1.2 04/02/1997

Fixed a bug with printing the summary information.

Enlarged the JOYRUN window slightly. It seems people using large screen fonts cannot see the mode number in the mode window.

Version 1.1 25/01/1997

Added ALT key capability to JOYCFG and JOYRUN.

Fixed bug in error handling when no joystick driver present.

Version 1 0 20/01/1997

Original Version.


The JOYRUN Screen

When you have started JOYRUN and loaded it with a template file, you will see a very small window at the top left hand side of your screen. This window is called the mode window. It is given this name because it displays the mode your joystick is currently in. If you have programmed more than one mode for your joystick device, the caption on this small window will change to let you know the mode you are currently in.

The mode window can be moved around with the mouse. The mode window will also remember its previous screen position. So if you have moved it to the desired location, it will go back to that location when you next start it up.

When JOYRUN is running, you will also see an icon in the Windows 95 system tray. If you right click on this icon, you can enable and disable JOYRUN. See Using JOYRUN.EXE for more information.

As of version 2.3, the only way to close this window down is to right click on the icon in the Windows 95 task tray and select shutdown from there. This was changed to provide a less obtrusive mode window.


Limitation of Liability

THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE IS DISTRIBUTED IN THE HOPE THAT IT WILL BE USEFUL, BUT WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; WITHOUT EVEN THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM. NEITHER AUTHOR NOR ANY OTHER PARTIES INVOLVED SHALL BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY KIND OF DAMAGES OR CLAIMS THAT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RESULT FROM USING THIS SOFTWARE.

BY USING THE SHAREWARE VERSION OF THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE LIMITED WARRANTY.


Support, Registration and Ordering Information

Some Blurb

Well, this is the part where I try to make you feel guilty and pay me some money. I have put a great deal of time and effort into developing this software, and by doing so I hope you will gain more from the games you use it with.

The version you have at the moment is the shareware version. This version is fully functional but JOYRUN.EXE will only run for 10 minutes, after which time it will stop and you will have to restart it. I am hoping this will encourage you to register this software if you enjoy using it.

I can be emailed at johnh@bit.net.au for any queries or suggestions you may have for this software. Please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think.

Why Register?

You will receive the fully functional version without the 10 minute time restriction.

You will be eligible to free upgrades for future versions.

You will receive an updated help file with fewer spelling mistaks.

You will make me very happy.

How Much and How?

The registration fee for THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE is the equivalent of $25.00 Australian. Payments can made by cheque or money order. If you email me I can give you my banking details and your bank could simply wire the money through to my account.

If you have an email address, the software can be sent to you electronically.

Print the Order Form and mail your cheque or money order with the registration form to:-

John Michael Hnidec

10 Anita St.

Yeronga  4104

Brisbane, QLD

Australia

Please note, the $25 includes $5.00 for shipping and postage. If you want your version emailed, the $5 for shipping and postage does not apply.

Future Versions

If you register, you will be eligible for free upgrades for the lifetime of this product. So what is in the pipeline for future versions?

Button Up events. This means you will be able to program your joystick to do something when buttons are released as well as when they are pressed.

Support for DOS Boxes, coming real soon. (I know, I said that last time too)

Future versions will be more expensive than this version. Get in now and save some money (and make me happy).

Thankyou

John Hnidec


Order Form

Registration for THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE.

Please send me a registered version of The Joystick Control Centre. I have enclosed a cheque or money order for $25.00 made payable to John Hnidec This includes $20.00 for The Joystick Control Centre software and $5.00 for postage and handling.

Electronic Mail Details

Please send my copy of THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE to the following email address.

Email Address:	____________________________________________________

OR

Postage Details

Please send my copy of THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE to the following address.

Name:	____________________________________________________

Street:	____________________________________________________

City:	____________________________________________________

State: 	____________________________________________________

Country:   	____________________________________________________

Post/Zip Code:	____________________________________________________

Media Type

3.5" Floppy Diskette

or

5.25" Floppy Diskette

Thankyou for registering THE JOYSTICK CONTROL CENTRE. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy using this software.