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Document focus and sleep caveats in Controllers, gamepads and joysticks
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- Improve line wrapping for long lines in scripts.
- Remove outdated paragraphs about Godot 3.3 changes.
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Calinou committed May 6, 2023
1 parent 792bb1e commit 50b7c15
Showing 1 changed file with 82 additions and 12 deletions.
94 changes: 82 additions & 12 deletions tutorials/inputs/controllers_gamepads_joysticks.rst
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -57,8 +57,10 @@ There are 3 ways to get input in an analog-aware way:
# The line below is similar to `get_vector()`, except that it handles
# the deadzone in a less optimal way. The resulting deadzone will have
# a square-ish shape when it should ideally have a circular shape.
var velocity = Vector2(Input.get_action_strength("move_right") - Input.get_action_strength("move_left"),
Input.get_action_strength("move_back") - Input.get_action_strength("move_forward")).clamped(1)
var velocity = Vector2(
Input.get_action_strength("move_right") - Input.get_action_strength("move_left"),
Input.get_action_strength("move_back") - Input.get_action_strength("move_forward")
).limit_length(1.0)

.. code-tab:: csharp

Expand All @@ -70,8 +72,10 @@ There are 3 ways to get input in an analog-aware way:
// The line below is similar to `get_vector()`, except that it handles
// the deadzone in a less optimal way. The resulting deadzone will have
// a square-ish shape when it should ideally have a circular shape.
Vector2 velocity = new Vector2(Input.GetActionStrength("move_right") - Input.GetActionStrength("move_left"),
Input.GetActionStrength("move_back") - Input.GetActionStrength("move_forward")).Clamped(1);
Vector2 velocity = new Vector2(
Input.GetActionStrength("move_right") - Input.GetActionStrength("move_left"),
Input.GetActionStrength("move_back") - Input.GetActionStrength("move_forward")
).LimitLength(1.0);

- When you have one axis that can go both ways (such as a throttle on a
flight stick), or when you want to handle separate axes individually,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -208,6 +212,71 @@ If you want controller buttons to send echo events, you will have to generate
at regular intervals. This can be accomplished
with the help of a :ref:`class_Timer` node.

Window focus
^^^^^^^^^^^^

Unlike keyboard input, controller inputs can be seen by **all** windows on the
operating system, including unfocused windows.

While this is useful for
`third-party split screen functionality <https://nucleus-coop.github.io/>`__,
it can also have adverse effects. Players may accidentally send controller inputs
to the running project while interacting with another window.

If you wish to ignore events when the project window isn't focused, you will
need to create an :ref:`autoload <doc_singletons_autoload>` called ``Focus``
with the following script and use it to check all your inputs:

::

# Focus.gd
extends Node

var focused := true

func _notification(what: int) -> void:
match what:
NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_FOCUS_OUT:
focused = false
NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_FOCUS_IN:
focused = true


func input_is_action_pressed(action: StringName) -> bool:
if focused:
return Input.is_action_pressed(action)

return false


func event_is_action_pressed(event: InputEvent, action: StringName) -> bool:
if focused:
return Input.is_action_pressed(action)

return false

Then, instead of using ``Input.is_action_pressed(action)``, use
``Focus.input_is_action_pressed(action)`` where ``action`` is the name of
the input action. Also, instead of using ``event.is_action_pressed(action)``,
use ``Focus.event_is_action_pressed(event, action)`` where ``event`` is an
InputEvent reference ``action`` is the name of the input action.

Power saving prevention
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Unlike keyboard and mouse input, controller inputs do **not** inhibit sleep and
power saving measures (such as turning off the screen after a certain amount of
time has passed).

To combat this, Godot enables power saving prevention by default when a project
is running. If you notice the system is turning off its display when playing
with a gamepad, check the value of **Display > Window > Energy Saving > Keep Screen On**
in the Project Settings.

On Linux, power saving prevention requires the engine to be able to use D-Bus.
Check whether D-Bus is installed and reachable if running the project within a
Flatpak, as sandboxing restrictions may make this impossible by default.

Troubleshooting
---------------

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -273,10 +342,15 @@ My controller works on a given platform, but not on another platform.
Linux
~~~~~

Prior to Godot 3.3, official Godot binaries were compiled with udev support
but self-compiled binaries were compiled *without* udev support unless
``udev=yes`` was passed on the SCons command line. This made controller
hotplugging support unavailable in self-compiled binaries.
If you're using a self-compiled engine binary, make sure it was compiled with
udev support. This is enabled by default, but it is possible to disable udev
support by specifying ``udev=no`` on the SCons command line. If you're using an
engine binary supplied by a Linux distribution, double-check whether it was
compiled with udev support.

Controllers can still work without udev support, but it is less reliable as
regular polling must be used to check for controllers being connected or
disconnected during gameplay (hotplugging).

HTML5
~~~~~
Expand All @@ -285,7 +359,3 @@ HTML5 controller support is often less reliable compared to "native" platforms.
The quality of controller support tends to vary wildly across browsers. As a
result, you may have to instruct your players to use a different browser if they
can't get their controller to work.

Also, note that
`controller support was significantly improved <https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/45078>`__
in Godot 3.3 and later.

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