Keyboard Support for Consoles

[Exeider]

Several xbox patches ago they added official keyboard and mouse support for xbox, and I think Playstation always had keyboard and mouse support (Any PS owners verify this for me please?).

Can we please allow mapping to keyboard buttons?

I did notice I was able to use my keyboard to navigate menus, but when I try to interact with them, like pushing enter to go into outfitting for example, the buttons react (highlight) as if they are being pressed but the action is being blocked. Same thing when I go into options and into the mappings, they flash thus reading input from a keyboard key but they won't map, they're being blocked.

Please Fdev, let us map stuff to our gaming keyboards, there are a boat load of buttons for this game now, and I would like to free up precious button space on my controller mapping for more important things and move things like lights, landing gear, and night vision switches to the keyboard.

Clearly the console and the game are registering the existence of the inputs, you're just are blocking them, please unblock them.

 

[varonica]

Clearly the console and the game are registering the existence of the inputs, you're just are blocking them, please unblock them.

Or, hang on to your hat here this is a brand new idea, microsoft is blocking them. You see FDEV have no control over how the input from controllers is handled in games on consoles, if a particular input is sent to the game the game doesn't know or care where that input orginates. if the input is being blocked it is happening before it reaches the game.

In fact it says on most tech support sites for keyboard for Xbox;

The keyboard can only be used for text input, and not for controlling any games.

It's likely that the inputs from the xbox keyboard aren't standard inputs and a special API would need to be added to games to support keyboard usage in xbox. So it's more likleyt they aren't being blocked, they are being rejected as non-standard inputs, you don't want to start allowing non-standard inputs into your game that's for sure.

 

[Exeider]

Or, hang on to your hat here this is a brand new idea, microsoft is blocking them. You see FDEV have no control over how the input from controllers is handled in games on consoles, if a particular input is sent to the game the game doesn't know or care where that input orginates. if the input is being blocked it is happening before it reaches the game.

In fact it says on most tech support sites for keyboard for Xbox;



It's likely that the inputs from the xbox keyboard aren't standard inputs and a special API would need to be added to games to support keyboard usage in xbox. So it's more likleyt they aren't being blocked, they are being rejected as non-standard inputs, you don't want to start allowing non-standard inputs into your game that's for sure.

that's not the case with xbox, I can't speak for playstation and what OS back end it uses, but the xbox uses essentially a highly customized version of windows 10 as the backend for the console, so it's always been able to accept keyboard inputs though it wasn't officially supported. As of the recent patch for keyboard and mouse support, full keyboard and mouse support was added and control was given to the publisher as to whether to enable that functionality or not.

the fact that the enter key operates like it should in where it's causing the buttons in game to react, means the game is interpreting the key press as a selection input, hence the button highlights. If it was as you said, the button wouldnt react at all, or worse something else would happen, IE, you'd hit enter and you'd head look left or something. the fact that the things like the arrow keys work, ESC backs out, the enter key input is being received just not parsed, buttons like pgup and pgdown scroll menus, tells me that the inputs are there and being interpreted correctly, it's just the number and letter keys and enter that don't get parsed tells me it's being blocked. the fact that it works in text entry screens and the xbox OS tells me it's not Microsoft because again, it would block the whole program that is ED if that was the case.

Now granted, when ED came out for Xbox, keyboards weren't supported, and keyboard functionality WAS controlled by microsoft as to whether you were allowed to use it. But that is no longer the case. Fdev now has the option and control over this now, at least in regards to the Xbox version of the game, again I can't speak for playstation, but if it is at all possible, I would very much like Fdev to enable this functionality.

 

[CMDR Big Mike]

Im in the camp that this is controlled by microsoft, for the same reason that the HOTAS for xbox has the same number of buttons as the controller. They want to prevent cheating.

Not just for elite, but it could ruin the competitive nature of other games if extra inputs/custome rigs were allowed for things like CoD and Battlefield

 

[Exeider]

Im in the camp that this is controlled by microsoft, for the same reason that the HOTAS for xbox has the same number of buttons as the controller. They want to prevent cheating.

Not just for elite, but it could ruin the competitive nature of other games if extra inputs/custome rigs were allowed for things like CoD and Battlefield

Well im sorry but with respect, that camp is wrong.

https://beta.support.xbox.com/help/Hardware-Network/accessories/mouse-keyboard

I am in the xbox beta program alpha ring and have been very active in following and championing the support for keyboard and mouse support. As of that patch microsoft turned over the control to the publisher as to whether to enable the functionality on the application level, the console and OS itself fully support the inputs now.

As per you scenario, again this is why control is given to the application, so the publisher can determine if full keyboard and mouse support woukd be a boon or detriment to their particular game.

In the case of elite Id like to see it considered by the devs now that they have access to it.

 

[Lestat]

Question is there any Xbox game that has keyboard configs?

 

[varonica]

I have already been to that website, I note that it's the "Beta" support website, I can't see FDEV putting anything "beta" in ED.....oh wait....who am I kidding?

But the question is, would you really want to try and include a feature that's still in beta support in a game like ED.....which itself has many bugs?