After not really playing TSW2 for a while, I recently started getting back into it. I have all the German trains and routes, so I figured it was about time I started using Sifa, PZB / LZB and AFB a bit more often. Well using a PS4 controller is really hard work for 3 reasons: Acknowledging a Sifa (using Circle button) also acknowledges PZB. So every 30 seconds the train shouts "Zugbeinflussung" at you. Every. Thirty. Seconds. Increasing/Decreasing AFB using a controller is poorly explained. For ages I would pan the camera manually to aim the reticule at the AFB lever to adjust the control. Its a painfully slow process and I've missed a signal or two taking my eyes off the track for so long. LZB works nicely enough - until it's time for it to disengage. It just suddenly shouts at you to press the PZB Frei lever (using the above aiming method, as the Circle button on the controller only operates Wachsam). If you don't get to it in time - Bam! Emergency brakes! So I was a bit dismayed until I found out you can just plug a USB keyboard into the PS4 and use the keyboard shortcuts! I know, I know, I've been living under a rock and this is probably very old news. Trust me I'm kicking myself for not trying it sooner. Using the keyboard completely changes the game (or should I say, simulation). It fixes all the above mentioned problems and makes driving way more satisfying. Except for one tiny detail; the keyboard layout is pretty haphazard and you can't change the shortcuts. So my quest was started to build my very own TSW2 keyboard, with 2 features in mind: The keyboard layout should align with the location of the switches in a real German cab. For example the existing system has you using your right hand to press PZB buttons (Del / End / PgDn) but the buttons in the real loco are on the left. I wanted to fix this. Half the controls require holding a Shift or Ctrl modifier in addition to the key. I just wanted to be able to press 1 button for each function. I googled programable keyboards or macro pads but most products need software running on the computer (not possible on the PS4) or were horribly expensive bespoke commercial equipment. I even started looking at building a custom mechanical keyboard but when the price of components started going north of $300 I knew it wasn't right for me. Besides, I don't really want to get into soldering and coding chip firmware - I just wanted to drive trains. Then I found a wizard of a guy in Japan named hasu who sells a little device called a TMK USB-USB converter, that allows me to remap the keys on any keyboard to be the setup below. I used an old leftover keyboard that I covered in colourful stickers with all the labels on it, and it works a treat. I'm not sure about forum rules about posting links or ads so I'll leave it up to you to google if you are interested.
It won't help with old DLCs. But since Rush Hour (apart from Chemnitiz - because DTG is DTG), there should be a system that only acknowledges the system that needs to be acknowledged, this only works on the Rush Hour trains (at least the Riesa-Dresden trains are usable on the old german routes). You can move AFB by keeping pressed square + right trigger and bumper. You can operate the 2 other PZB controls by pressing Square + Right (d-pad) for PZB Frei and Square + Left (d-pad) for PZB Override. Anyway that's great, I will definitely look into this, it seems really interesting. Thank you for bringing this up. ~$70 seems a bit excessive for this but it allows for a lot of possibilities, and as you said it's cheaper than the alternative.
Thanks FD, I really should have read the forum more thoroughly! $70 felt a bit steep at first but buying a computer chip and a USB connector alone was going to set me back around $40 so this was way less hassle. After a few days with the keyboard working I've moved a few of the buttons around, and I'm drawing up some labels in Gimp to print onto stickers so my keys don't look quite so amateurish. One thing I've noticed is I wish the throttle and brake keys had some tactile feel to find those keys (maybe like the F and J keys have) without having to look down from the tracks ahead. Does anyone know if there's a keyboard shortcut for releasing the park brake? I know applying is the backslash ( \ ) key, but I can't seem to find a release. And is there a keyboard shortcut for the brake key? I have to use the controller every time I drive a 101 to activate the cab.
For PS4 & PS5 the right trigger and bumper is R2 R1 buttons square is the equivalent to Xbox One Series X X button change brakes classic controls. On keyboard AFB F increase speed R decrease speed
