Newcomer / Intro PC - Applying gamepad controls to complement M&K causes bindings to be reset if no pad connected on boot.

[CaptainLump]

I think this is what happened. It's happened twice now. Could we establish if this is an issue, and if so, if it's sensible to no longer apply any pad bindings at all if you play on PC.
I added Pad controls bindings to the Driving Section, mainly to give myself a break and a change, and upon reloading (after having Self-D'd as a result of becoming trapped in a deep dark hole- which I caveat as a possible cause) I reloaded at first save, then Elite via Steam, then Steam itself (which triggered the above planet spawn) only to find myself having default keybindings.

I found this link: [some advice regarding its efficacy would be appreciated]

Where is the Custom Keybinding File?

I've purchased Voice Attack and the HCS Astra voice pack. I've also in the last two years made a lot of customization to my key bindings for my Saitek X-52Pro. I want to keep a copy of the custom keybind file so if Astra messes it up I can get it back without having to entirely rebuild it...

forums.frontier.co.uk

I also rebooted with the pad connected. I now have all the complex pad control options in the drop down but not my bindings.

I now have to rebind again, and as this has happened before I ask.

Is there a way we can amend this, and Copy/Paste a saved binding file once set, and prevent having to rebind repeatedly?
Is it simply not possible atm to have a cross platform combo of controls bound which would be fine as long as one is aware?
Is there a way to apply the auto recall landing sequence function and create a grid which one can place on the ground to land the vessel if there is sufficient room?
The last one is a big ask but it would resolve these issues, as I was in a large enough bowl to land the Clipper. It might be a good feature to implement in Odyssey if you're using an NPC pilot, or to call your friend in if landing spots seem difficult to find.

Great game, for now I'll not use pad and PC together.

Thanks.

 

[Chris Simon]

The bindings are in the C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings (yeah, not really the most obvious of places)
It is a good practice to keep a backup of the .binds file somewhere safe and if such a thing happens, simply copy it over the screwed up one.

There are generally two reasons why this happens.
1) your controller disconnects (or you accidentally start the game with controller disconnected) and the game loads up the default bindings.
2) you load the base, non-Horizons game. The base game doesn't have the SRV binding section inthe Options (for obvious reasons) so it overwrites the .binds file to reflect that.

I'm not sure there's any easy solution for this problem, not for the players, nor Fdev. It's just one of those "this is how the game works, try to live with it" things.
The latter will cease to be a problem once the Odyssey comes out as the base game will include Horizons for everybody and I think it won't be possible to load a non-Horizons version anymore.

 

[Ashnak]

lost your binds? want hasstle free backed up binds look no further

keybindings can reset if you visit the control section without one of your usual devices used to play the game ie hotas , xbox pad etc not plugged in or at that present moment is undetected by windows as it thinks your just using keyboard and mouse it simply rewrites your binds for you...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Stickied (and the only one, at that) in the PC subforum.

The nasty thing about this is: if you find yourself (without having renamed you personal bindings) in this situation (after e.g. your gamepad has again switched itself off), your bindings aren't actually overwritten until you change something in them . Until this point, you can still restore them by simply (usually) restarting the game with the offending controller properly connected.

Oh, and just in case: don't use wireless connection for the XBox gamepads unless you are going through the original XBox dongle. The Bluetooth implementation in the triangle Windows - motherboard Bluetooth - XBox controller is somewhat messed up, leading to seemingly arbitrary loss of connection. Wired or XBox dongle work fine.

 

[Para Handy]

I have controller and HOTAS (and 2 MFDs) connected and have no issues whatsoever.

1. Don't keep copies of binds files in the same directory, it causes changes to not be saved.

2. Rename your binds file (properly as per link from @Ashnak and repeated below for emphasis) as only "custom" gets overwritten on errors.

lost your binds? want hasstle free backed up binds look no further

keybindings can reset if you visit the control section without one of your usual devices used to play the game ie hotas , xbox pad etc not plugged in or at that present moment is undetected by windows as it thinks your just using keyboard and mouse it simply rewrites your binds for you...

forums.frontier.co.uk

 

[Para Handy]

.........
2) you load the base, non-Horizons game. The base game doesn't have the SRV binding section inthe Options (for obvious reasons) so it overwrites the .binds file to reflect that.
......

Are you sure? I have never seen this happen on either of my PCs.

 

[Speedcuffs]

1) your controller disconnects (or you accidentally start the game with controller disconnected) and the game loads up the default bindings.

Yep. Ensure everything connected, in the same ports, before booting Elite.

 

[CaptainLump]

The bindings are in the C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings (yeah, not really the most obvious of places)
It is a good practice to keep a backup of the .binds file somewhere safe and if such a thing happens, simply copy it over the screwed up one.

There are generally two reasons why this happens.
1) your controller disconnects (or you accidentally start the game with controller disconnected) and the game loads up the default bindings.
2) you load the base, non-Horizons game. The base game doesn't have the SRV binding section inthe Options (for obvious reasons) so it overwrites the .binds file to reflect that.

I'm not sure there's any easy solution for this problem, not for the players, nor Fdev. It's just one of those "this is how the game works, try to live with it" things.
The latter will cease to be a problem once the Odyssey comes out as the base game will include Horizons for everybody and I think it won't be possible to load a non-Horizons version anymore.

Excellent, thanks for the reply Simon. I hadn't thought of the implications of Odyssey. I hope that's the case. As someone who is a Halo player, and therefore pads on FPS's, not losing all my bindings if I forget to boot with the pad on would be good! I will be using a pad with Odyssey for sure for the FPS portions of the game. I am sure they will think about this given the varied player base, although I suppose the number of people using a pad on PC is quite small.

As for the backups, I've just rebound everything and CP'd the four docs into a backup file. I assume it's just a case of dropping them all in if this happens again as usual, and avoiding pad use for now. Hope they include a line or two to eliminate this issue. Probs can split the bindings doc into two sections, one for pad one for M&K, if no pad then exec section one only etc... might get rid of the problem. Ours is not to reason why!


Cheers, happy flying, and thanks again