Keybindings (maybe make them stick?)

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
It's been said a million times before, so one more time can't hurt.

With a game this dependent on custom keybindings, how come Elite: Dangerous never forgets my custom display settings, but always forgets my custom keybindings. Same old Hotas (Thrustmaster X), same old PC, same old usb port.

And on that note, how can FD supply a Thrustmaster Hotas X preset that doesn't even include vertical thrusters? Horisontal thrusters, of course. Verticals? Noo...
And this hits you as soon as you try to launch. I can't be bothered to find out what other basic controls FDs Thrustmaster X preset doesn't include.

Every time I want to get back into this game, FD reminds me why I can't. It almost feels like FD is trolling.. :(

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EDIT and probable solution. Big thanks to Morbad for his patience, insight and time:
Morbad said:
...Regardless, this would seem to be the problem. Every single physical or virtual device that was bound must be attached when you start the game, or the game will dump your old binds into a backup and give you an error.
Click to expand...

In my case it was a missing head tracker...
 
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metatheurgist

metatheurgist
When the game starts and it doesn't detect a controller it will blank all entries related to that controller in custom binds. If the controller is present when the game starts and the binds are set, you can plug and unplug as many times as you like. Either way, the changes are not committed unless you save the binds.
 

varonica

varonica
metatheurgist said:
When the game starts and it doesn't detect a controller it will blank all entries related to that controller in custom binds. If the controller is present when the game starts and the binds are set, you can plug and unplug as many times as you like. Either way, the changes are not committed unless you save the binds.
Click to expand...

But I can plug in my controller even after the game starts. If I forget to plug it in and try to play, for instance I press M on the keyboard to bring up the galaxy map, it switches the game mode from analysis to combat because that's how its bound for mouse/keyboard. I can then, without shutting the game down, plug in my joystick, press M and it will now bring up the galaxy map. It switches keybindings on the fly based on whether or not I have the joystick plugged in. I like to think that's how it's supposed to work, it would make sense.
 

metatheurgist

metatheurgist
The relevant controller. It's not going to blank keyboard binds since that's attached. I've never tried starting the game without a keyboard but I expect it would clear those too.
 

varonica

varonica
metatheurgist said:
The relevant controller. It's not going to blank keyboard binds since that's attached. I've never tried starting the game without a keyboard but I expect it would clear those too.
Click to expand...

The relevant controller is my thrustmaster joystick, I can plug it in after the game starts and it will just pick up the correct key binds for the controller even though it is already running with the keyboard/mouse key binds.
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
varonica said:
The relevant controller is my thrustmaster joystick, I can plug it in after the game starts and it will just pick up the correct key binds for the controller even though it is already running with the keyboard/mouse key binds.
Click to expand...
I just double checked (again). I tried connecting the hotas before and after pc start-up. I tried different usb ports. I tried connecting before and after game launch. Tried while jumping and while whisting. Custom keybindings are gone. As usual.

And why even supply a preset, if it's incomplete? Bad form.
 
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znôrt

znôrt
varonica said:
I have never lost mine, I can even change controllers
Click to expand...
varonica said:
I can plug and unplug my controller
Click to expand...
varonica said:
I can plug in my controller even after
Click to expand...
varonica said:
I can plug it in after the game starts
Click to expand...

i think this thread is a bit more about what op can't do 🤣

also note, op is using a hotas, not a controller. i suspect there are special paths for this near universal casual device as opposed to the variety of special and weird input devices supported.

config is a mess, but this is highly dependent on environment and ecosystem of devices. i've seen very weird things all these years and there is no simple answer. usb doesn't help with devices being created and discarded on the fly and windows being sometimes picky about them, cabling and extenders can quickly become a source of problems, which gets messier the more such devices you have.

obviously the most conservative scenario is to have all devices connected before the game starts. even so, however, sometimes the game can detect a device but not support full functionality right away, and reconnecting the device can help.
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
znôrt said:
do you mean the game switches from custom to a factory template, or simply drops bindings in custom?
try switching profile to whatever and back to custom?
Click to expand...
Custom is gone. Not even an option in the drop-down menu. This has happened many times over the years. I've been playing less these last couple of years and this seems to have worsened the problem.

You've been around long enough to know that this is a problem that has been g (edit: hounding?) certain players/setups since forever.

If a custom bindings file has been created, why would E: D ever want to delete it in the first place? I'm assuming that said file is gone. I wouldn't know where to look for it.
 

znôrt

znôrt
Globusdiablo said:
I've tried this many times. No can do. Custom bindings are gone, and E: D defaults to FDs incomplete Thrustmaster T-Flight incomplete preset.
Click to expand...

what i do in these cases:
re-create your custom setup again
exit the game
backup custom.3.0.binds

optional:
rename custom.3.0.binds to something-sensible.3.0.binds (remember to edit the file and change the name inside too: Root PresetName="...")
make a backup of that file
now 'something-sensible' is selectable in game, forget about 'custom' forever
if you ever see 'custom' selected, something went wrong detecting some device. see logs.
 

znôrt

znôrt
all your custom bindings (and related error logs) are usually in:

C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings

StartPreset.start simply contains the name of your currently selected profile.
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
znôrt said:
what i do in these cases:
re-create your custom setup again
exit the game
backup custom.3.0.binds

optional:
rename custom.3.0.binds to something-sensible.3.0.binds (remember to edit the file and change the name inside too: Root PresetName="...")
make a backup of that file
now 'something-sensible' is selectable in game, forget about 'custom' forever
if you ever see 'custom' selected, something went wrong detecting some device. see logs.
Click to expand...
Thanks znôrt, but I'm just not techie enough for this kind of operation. Whenever I try editing files I usually end up creating more problems than I solve.

If the solution indeed is as "simple" as you describe, it should be easy for FD to fix it. ;)

I'll probably end up creating a new custom setup over the holidays, only to find everything gone again when I log back in a few weeks later (as usual). :(
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
znôrt said:
all your custom bindings (and related error logs) are usually in:

C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings

StartPreset.start simply contains the name of your currently selected profile.
Click to expand...
Your path doesn't work for me.

When I look in appdata/local all I see is a Microsoft folder.
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
It's honestly not that difficult if you do want to resolve the problem yourself. :) The only techie thing you may need to do is tell Windows to show hidden folders so you can get into your AppData folder.

This post gives you the details on what you need to do, including the renaming of the control setup in the file itself.

If you just setup a new 'Custom' config without renaming it, you run the risk of the game writing over it if it detects different hardware as Custom is the default setup it uses for a new control setup. Yes, it would be much better if the game handled it differently and better, not going to deny that, but a fix is doable (and then back up the whole Optiions folder from time to time). :)
 
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