The CGnome Project, Remapping the CG version controller Options

[syst3merror]

wow, holy epic grave dig batman! this thread was almost a year old!

[Nillaz]

Hey RDC I was just doing some research and dug up this old W.I.P. Whatever happened to this project? Any plans for the CGnome in the future or did it die on the vine?

[RDC]

The CGn was completed to a working version, and though not quite what jamz_az and I would have liked it to be, if we kept it going we'd still be working on it right now, so that's about where we ended it as it was more of a challenge than anything else to see if could even be done. There are only 5 of them around right now, and that's probably all there ever will be.

One of us would have to hit the lotto first if the MII version was to ever be worked on, or even a redux of the CGn for updates and fixes. It's really quite a handful and was like a second, third and forth job working on this one.

[kenned12003]

thats a dam shame i would have deff bought one if you guys had ever released them
but great work on what you have done

[Nillaz]

So RDC was generous enough to sell me his spare prototype and after receiving it today and playing with it for a couple of hours I can categorically say it is everything I could ever possibly ask for in a controller. RDC said that while this project is for all intents and purposes finished he'd be interested to hear some feedback so I thought I'd post some of my early thoughts.

The build quality is superb. I mean, man, the USB port looks like it was always there! Buttons are tight, thumbsticks are tight (they do feel like they travel just a bit further than stock, but they still have just that right amount of tension), triggers are tight, everything feels like it just came out of the package.

The response time is for all intents and purposes identical to a stock controller. You wouldn't know that there is any additional processing going on in this thing at all.

The mapping software install went without a hitch (Win7 64). It's easy to understand and intuitive to program with. It's stable too. The instructions specifically state to leave your PC alone while updating maps but it uploads the maps so quickly (a couple seconds) it's not a hardship in any way. If everyone made software this user friendly the world would be a better place.

RDC incorporated 2 tac switches in the bottom of the thing specifically for macros (I believe you can still program macros on any button you like, including stick clicks and direction pads)), and the software can program those commands easily as well. I haven't messed with them much as I don't generally use macro commands but they are discreet and perfectly located where I rest my middle fingers if I should ever feel I need them.

And of course, there is this thing's bread and butter....full mapping capability. It's no joke. You really can map anything in any way you can possibly imagine. I'm a longtime Legacy thumbstick player (and left handed to boot) and for the first time ever I was able to play Gears Of War tonight without resorting to some weird arthritic hand contortions. It was a godsend. There's a lot of games that I've always wanted to play and wasn't able to but now I'm gonna go on a shopping spree.

Changing maps is quick and easy. I was worried that I was going to be constantly resyncing the controller by accident when I change maps but it's pretty forgiving as long as you don't hold down on the button. LED #4 blinks to let you know which map you're on when you cycle through them. It changes maps instantaneously as well.

All in all I'd be hard pressed to find anything worth complaining about. In fairness, I found exactly one weird thing going on, and that's that the controller never goes to sleep if you leave it sit there. I walked away for an hour while I ate dinner and the thing was still on when I came back. The solution is obvious and wasn't an issue anyway as even after several hours of playing my rechargeable batt is still juiced with 3 bars.

SO I'd like to say, RDC and Jamz, with this I think you guys outdid yourself and made the ultimate controller mod, and my only complaint is that I didn't find out about it sooner. I'm still not sure how I missed this for so long, but better late than never. It's a shame that more people don't have something like this as I could see it being a game changer. I know that there's a couple controllers out there that give you some level of customization but they never feel like a first party controller, and I've never come across one that has this thing's breadth and depth of tweakability.

So rock on guys. Perhaps we'll see a new version when the next generation of consoles come out?

[playboydee]

First time reading this thread. I must say RDC, this is truly amazing. I had this same idea back in 2006, but didn't have any knowledge to pull it off. I always was puzzled why developers don't include re-mapping of controls in their games. Being a lefty for shooting, I've skipped out on a few shooters which didn't have the southpaw feature for triggers built in. A friend of mine is a southpaw on thumb sticks, and I now see why he skips out on games that don't include that feature. Playing out of your comfort zone is extremely frustrating.

How does this project look nowadays for a restart?

Play

[RDC]

The CGnome is in the process of getting a serious reboot.

[olaHalo]

The CGnome is in the process of getting a serious reboot.

this is pretty exciting
any details?

[RDC]

We're still in the really early stages of development, though it will have all of the features of the CGn here, plus everything we planned to do and had to leave out for one reason or another, things like..

Twice as many map slots
A 3-axis Accelerometer
4 custom remap buttons
Toggle buttons
Multiple button press from one button (A is A+B+Y)
Analog Sensitivity and Dead Zone adjustments
Customizable RoL
..and a bit more.

I wouldn't get any ideas on seeing it for awhile, as it's beyond what the CGn controller was in every possible way, so we have all new hurdles now to figure out, but we don't want to rehash the same old thing either. There's just no room in the controller for a redux the way we want, so we're sort of making our own.

The biggest thing is, we're ditching the Wireless controller and technically going Wired this time, but still staying Wireless. Huh? Well, this reboot is more of a 2 fold project, where there will be a 'receiver' board that gets installed on the Wired controller and then it gets plugged into the 360 like normal, then our controller board will communicate with the receiver board via Wireless. The 'new' controller will pretty much just be a board that drops into the Wireless controller shell, still using the same battery packs and PnC cable. It will be the remap and wireless portion of the controller, whereas the receiver connected to the Wired controller is the 360 side of it. The receiver board could also be used on whatever controller, so if one wanted to wire it up to an old XBOX or even NES controller and use the thing they could.




This post has been edited by RDC: Aug 28 2012, 06:50 AM

[olaHalo]

We're still in the really early stages of development, though it will have all of the features of the CGn here, plus everything we planned to do and had to leave out for one reason or another, things like..

Twice as many map slots
A 3-axis Accelerometer
4 custom remap buttons
Toggle buttons
Multiple button press from one button (A is A+B+Y)
Analog Sensitivity and Dead Zone adjustments
Customizable RoL
..and a bit more.

I wouldn't get any ideas on seeing it for awhile, as it's beyond what the CGn controller was in every possible way, so we have all new hurdles now to figure out, but we don't want to rehash the same old thing either. There's just no room in the controller for a redux the way we want, so we're sort of making our own.

The biggest thing is, we're ditching the Wireless controller and technically going Wired this time, but still staying Wireless. Huh? Well, this reboot is more of a 2 fold project, where there will be a 'receiver' board that gets installed on the Wired controller and then it get plugged into the 360 like normal, then our controller board will communicate with the receiver board via Wireless. The 'new' controller will pretty much just be a board that drops into the Wireless controller shell, still using the same battery packs and PnC cable. It will be the remap and wireless portion of the controller, whereas the receiver connected to the Wired controller is the 360 side of it. The receiver board could also be used on whatever controller, so if one wanted to wire it up to an old XBOX or even NES controller and use the thing they could.

sounds incredibly ambitious and like a serious amount of work
so essentially there isn't enough room and your going to put all components in a wireless shell and have it connect to a wired controller via a receiver?
pretty clever imo
good luck to you guys

[jamz_az]

sounds incredibly ambitious and like a serious amount of work
so essentially there isn't enough room and your going to put all components in a wireless shell and have it connect to a wired controller via a receiver?
pretty clever imo
good luck to you guys

Yup no room at all anymore now, we'll make a mole hill outta that mountain as always. heh
We are also waiting on "720" release so we can hit that too!
This one's gonna be off the charts.
No luck needed!
Stay tuned...

Jz

[playboydee]

Twice as many map slots
A 3-axis Accelerometer
4 custom remap buttons
Toggle buttons
Multiple button press from one button (A is A+B+Y)
Analog Sensitivity and Dead Zone adjustments
Customizable RoL
..and a bit more.

Is that feature for the "Wiper line being off centered" issue you come across when swapping triggers on some controllers?

[RDC]

If the Triggers are swapped correctly you shouldn't have the issue. By that I mean more than just swapping the Wiper lines needs to be done sometimes. The Analog lines of the 360 controllers aren't 100% identical between different controllers, and sometimes not even between the like functions on the same controller, ie the LSX and RSX or LT and RT lines.

I've always had a feeling the controllers are calibrated to whatever 'working range' the POT has after it's installed, otherwise swapping the things should work 100% of the time with no issues, but every now and then you'll run into one that will throw a hissy fit where one Trigger will work after the swap, but the other one either doesn't fire, or fires but will not release like you're continuing to hold it. It's in these rare cases that the POT needs to be tilted slightly so the thing gets back into the 'working range', or worst case the POT swapped out for another one that does fall into the working range. Remember they're just variable Resistors and have a tolerance like any other Resistor, but since they're variable that tolerance can mean a good deal more or less depending, so every once in awhile a 'straight swap' doesn't give you the intended effect and it needs to be tweaked/replaced to start working again.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?sho...p;#entry3688718


The Dead Zone feature is more for the Sticks, and then while the Sensitivity feature could be used to correct that problem, it's not intended for that. That picky Analog feature is already taken care of in the Firmware, so swapping Triggers doesn't have that funko issue when they're remapped with the CGn, nor will it be an issue with the new version. I've been thru many an Anaolg problem on the 360 controllers swapping them around, so I made sure it wasn't going to be an issue with the CGn when we started remapping them.

[NYCXBOX]

RDC wouldn't this Project more or less do everything your project does? (if it ever comes out).

At E3 I was told that you will be able to remap the controller

http://cronusdevice.com/media/controller-mapping-thumb.jpg

http://cronusdevice.com/index.php/what-it-does.html

Thoughts?

[RDC]

Nope, they're pretty different in that the Cronus is designed more around being a cross platform adapter, albeit with some similar features, and the CGnome does more than just remapping. I'd also point out that nothing like that, or even the CGnome here, or any kind of adapter, are lag free. That's 100% pure market BS, you can't get from point A to point B by putting point C between them in the same time as just going from A to B. These things are fast enough that you can't tell there is lag, but it's there, so 'lag free' is an inaccurate description and just used to get attention or keep people from asking the question, "Is there lag?".

The M-II version will do far more than the CGnome could, and will have the ability to work with other consoles, though not in the same way as the Cronus there. It's an interesting device, and I saw it when it was shown after E3, though it's geared for a different type of gamer. If you're only going to play on the 360 then a cross platform adapter is pretty useless. It still needs a wired controller to pair it with the 360, which is something all 360 adapters have to deal with because of the way M$ did the security, and the CGnome doesn't have to deal with that either.

I'm not knocking it, it's a great idea and a nice small footprint, so kudos to the hardware and software guys/gals that worked it all out, but I wouldn't compare it to the CGn or M-II either.

This post has been edited by RDC: Sep 6 2012, 01:26 PM