[tsw_controller] Control Train Sim World With A Joystick

I have created a program that allows you to control the TSW2 with a joystick.
It reads the screen to get the current state of the simulator and synchronize it with your joystick. This way the program always tries to have matching joystick positions.
It always bothered me with other programs that they became quite inaccurate and also did not change the controller continuously variable. Therefore, I wrote my own program.



Download:
https://github.com/DerJantob/TSW2_Controller/releases
GitHub:
https://github.com/DerJantob/TSW2_Controller

Features

• Translate movement from joystick to game
• You are able to use multiple joysticks
• Reads screen to match joystick to game
• Supports custom button mapping
• You can add trains yourself
• Supports English and German
• Auto updater

I have included a lot of trains, but configured them to match my "thrustmaster t flight hotas x" and the German language
If you are using a different joystick, or are using a different language, you have to edit the controllers!
If you want to know how to do that, look into the Tutorials folder

 

Hi, this is an interesting solution - if the hud is completely turned off does it mean your solution would not work? I note in the 'Text Indicator' setting the drop down selections are still in German, even when English is selected. Just trying to get my understanding of the tutorial guide!

 

Firstly, thank you for your feedback!
Yes, if the HUD is completely turned off, the program has no way of knowing the current state of the simulators' controller.
The problem with the text indicators not switching the language is something I want to fix / add. A little workaround I, for what ever reason, didn't tell anyone is to delete all the indicators and let the program load the default ones:
Throttle/Brake:
Throttle: "Throttle","Master Controller"
Brake: "Train Brake"

Master Controller:
Throttle area: "Power"
Braking area: "Brake"

If you need help with anything, let me know!

 

Thanks for the response- a video tutorial on setting up the utility would be really useful I think, if you have the opportunity and inclination

It’s a shame that these values the hud is displaying for throttle , brake, etc., cannot be intercepted, retrieved or output directly by the game so that you could use their values. Your solution is very novel, so thanks for sharing it here - the utility is seeing and reading the values from my controller box’ s 4 pots so I just need to figure out the procedure set-up

 

I will probably soon make a video explaining the usage of the program. I know, it is not that easy to configure each train, but I hope that the tutorial PDF helps a bit

 

I have released a new version! (v1.0.1) Please tell me if there is any problem with this release.
Also, I have made the video tutorial:

 

Update 1.1.0
I have just released version 1.1.0. The changes are:

• You can now switch between trainconfigs in the settings
• Added: Log file
• Added: Menustrip in the settings
• Improved: Notch controller faster
• Improved: Detect faulty user input and notify him about it
• Improved: Names of the keys changed to prevent confusion
• Improved: Keyboard shortcuts can now also be edited in the editor
• Improved: It is now possible to insert another entry between entries in the editor
• Bugfix: Special cases could not read "%"
• Bugfix: Master Controller can now be combined with the brake
• Bugfix: Shift key is now working correctly

If you notice any bugs or other problems, please let me know!

 

This is really a great app which has vastly improved the fun it is to drive a train in TSW2.
Throttle, brake, AFB (for now as button), it all works nicely with my joystick levers.
E.g. SIFA pressing now with my foot via pedals.
It is a so much better experience than through keyboard/mouse.

Yes, It would be great if TSW2 could provide the data in the background, but it works now too.

Jannik is very quick to help out in case something is not clear.
Thanks for stepping in where Dovetail dropped the ball!

 

Thank you so much for writing this. Not only does it significantly improve the sim experience, but you have also done a really solid job of it by taking care to make notches with longer key presses work and also to take feedback from the game to ensure accuracy.

 

Is there a setting that works with LU 1972 stock? I am not sure why my controller is not working. The joysticks are visible to your software.

 

I set up a few more trains in this last night, it works really well. It's so much better to play with real physical levers. On some trains I found myself wanting to configure more levers than this currently supports. So far I found these that I would like levers on...

* Throttle (supported)
* Break (supported)
* Master Controller (supported)
* Loco break
* Reverser

It looks like everything is already there to allow additional levers to work, apart from the fact that the supported levers are hard coded. It would be really good if you could configure an arbitrary list of levers, like you can for buttons, so that you can add whatever levers you liked.

With some trepidation... any chance that could be added?

 

It's hard to say for sure why this might not be working for you without seeing your setup, however here's a few things to check...

• Have you got the correct joystick number and button number / slider name set against the controls that you are trying to use
• Are you selecting the correct train from the dropdown list on the main windows and then checking "Active"?

If the above doesn't help, let me know the details of the configuration of the app and steps you are taking to try to get the app to work, and I'll try to help out.

If you've not looked at the tutorial video (above) I would suggest having a look at that.

 

I have the correct joystick number as it can see when I'm testing the HOTAS.

The slider part is confusing and the video doesn't really help. I expect it must be possible to for example set the HOTAS left or right hand control as "main controller" which on the 1972 I would take to mean the one that shifts traction brake state.

LU 1972 stock isn't in the dropdown, so I don't know if it needs its own config or if global is fine.

BTW, when I move the controls in game with keys there is not a throttle percentage on the right hand text, it is just changing "states" (parallel-series-shunt-etc).

But I'm going to try and fangle something with joy2win.

 

I have the 1972 Stock configured up. If you drop this into your config file, open it up in the app and then change the joystick number and "button", it should just work for you.

The config file for me is here... C:\Users\<USERNAME_HERE>\AppData\Local\TSW2_Controller\Trainconfig.csv

Code:

1972 Stock,,0,JoyX,0,1,[0|5=3][6|13=10][14|20=20][21|28=30][29|35=40][36|43=50][44|50=60][51|70=70][71|82=80][83|95=90][96|100=98],Schub,,Stufen,10,[Emergency=0][Service Application=1][Lap=2][Rheo 2. EP Max=3][Rheo 2. EP Normal=4][Rheo 2. EP Min=5][Rheo 1. Hold=6][Off And Released=7][Shunt=8][Series=9][Parallel=10],330,

You should probably add it into the config file here as well... C:\Users\<USERNAME_HERE>\AppData\Local\TSW2_Controller\TrainConfigs\yourConfig.csv

 

Very interresting software. I have an issue with the "Find time factor". I do it like in the tutorial video, but has a strange behaviour: it goes up to 58%, stops, then continues to the max. I then have a message "no number found" and it asks me if it went to the max. if I say Yes, it asks me to go back to 5% and restart... I'm unable to set an axis correctly... Any idea ?

 

Try to guess. Start with 100, if you increase it it will hold the button for a shorter time. Just trial and error until it responds correctly. Realistically from the trains I've set up the range could be 50 to 250 so not a huge scale

 

It seems there's something wrong with resolutions. I'm using 3840x1080 and I cannot have it working in this resolution. If I set 1920x1080, it's working...
Also, after switching to 1920x1080, the 3840x1080 in the soft is not available anymore. I have to reinstall to see it again...

 

Sorry for being so inactive here. Email notifications were disabled, so have not noticed anything
I am working on version 2.0.0 where a lot will change. However, it will still take a little while until I release it.

I am aware of the problems with the "find time factor" (I also had problems with it myself). But this should be improved in the new version.
Alternatively, you can try to calculate the time factor yourself. It's the amount of percent moved in one second. So if you move 60% (e.g. from 10% to 70%) in 1.23 seconds, you have a time factor of (60)/1.23=49. For a controller with notches, it's the time it takes to move from one notch to the center of the next. I hope this helps you.

That's exactly what I thought at some point, and that's how it will be in the new version.

If a train isn't in the list, you have to configure it yourself. "Global" is just for buttons, not for controllers. That's also why there is no "main controller". If you look in the tutorial at 4:54 you have to enter the correct joy no. and axis of your controller for each train. Note that your controller won't show up in the white window, if its position is 0. If it doesn't show up, even when moving the controller, please tell me.

I have replied to your question on GitHub.

 

I am planning on disassembling the throttle on my HOTAS ONE and replace the handle with some 3d printed piece to better emulate a real train once I get myself a new HOTAS. Without this program this would be impossible (or would make little sense), so thank you very much for all the effort and time you spent on this. It really does make a huge difference.

 

Thank you! I'm always extremely happy when I hear something like that.
Your 3D printing idea sounds like a nice project. I've thought about building a joystick myself with an Arduino, but from what I heard, my Arduino sadly can't be used as a USB controller.

 

Sadly I can't solder, it is a skill I am planning to learn in the future, but for now it's just out of reach for me, but electrical (and electronic) engineering is something that always interested me, so I'll definitely try to build something from scratch sooner or later

 

The arduinos that can work easily as a HID joystick are the Leonardo, Pro Micro and the Due,

Plus you can turn an Uno or a Mega into a joystick with a little program that flashes the ftdi chip on the arduino board to change it from a serial interface type to one that windows will see as a joystick, but you need to change it back each time you make changes to the arduino program, and re-enable it as a joystick... that gets old fast.

Search google for 'UnoJoy' to read more about that.


there are other boards that can be programmed as arduinos, STM32F Blue Pill boards that are very cheap can be easily programed as an 'arduino maple mini'
they are native HID devices with a simple tick box when uploading the arduino code, this is what i did at first for my EuroRailDriver build.

FreeJoy is a very nice free program that you can load onto a STM32F, and it turns it into a joystick with 8 axes and upto 128 buttons (using shift registers etc) it has a nice GUI so setting things up how you like is a point and click rather than writing code exercise.




Then there's all the joystick input boards that you just connect wires from your potentiometers and buttons to, plug the board into the computer and it's a joystick (some even have screw terminals, so no soldering at that end)

Just make sure you get one with analog inputs if you go down that route, there's a lot of joystick input boards aimed at the MAME scene.. (arcade emulation), and these use digital inputs 99% of the time, so the joystick on those works the same as using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

i've used "Leo Bodnar" joystick input boards before, plus ones from "Ultimarc" in my Omsi driving cab build, this is the expensive way to do it, some of the boards can be around £50, but you usually get a nice GUI to set it up and it's pretty much plug and play,

Tho things like 'FreeJoy' give you pretty much the same features, with a free program and using a ~£5 board.

 

Look to see if you have a hackspace or makerspace near you, they usually have electronics workshop areas with all the equipment, and people there will usually show you how to solder once you join up (i pay £16 a month for 24 hour access to my local-ish hackspace, where i use their laser cutter most of the times i go there)


Some hackspaces even run classes where they teach you skills for a small fee... i did a surface mount soldering class a few years ago at nottingham hackspace, and one on designing and etching PCB's... skills i use quite a lot in my hobbies.

 

This sounds very interesting, but is this reversible, so I can still use it as a normal Arduino if? Also would you consider it a risky process? I don't want to fry my Arduino ^^ I have a Mega2560 from Elegoo.

 

I checked and there is one sort of near where I live. I'll see if they offer a similar service, I was thinking about going there to use the 3d printer as well, thanks for the tip

 

i've done it loads of times with uno's, and a few times with some of my mega's, and i am now using them for other things as arduinos rather than joysticks, so it was a totally reversible process for me.

but as with everything involving computers, there is always a chance something could go wrong during an upload... you can brick an arduino by having a bad USB connection when uploading a 'standard' sketch, but recovering from that is easier than recovering from a bad flash of the FTDI chip.


So it might be better to buy a cheap arduino to play with and test things out if your mega is the only arduino you own, an uno clone can be bought for about £8 or so.



If i had to choose a board to use purely for a USB joystick for TSW2, where a program on the computer takes care of all the control mapping for the different trains, as is sounds like this program does,
then i'd choose a STM32F blue pill board and use FreeJoy.

https://github.com/FreeJoy-Team/FreeJoy

the link above is for the FreeJoy github page, it's a bit more involved than programming an arduino... like needing a ST-Link dongle to do the first flash of the board... they cost ~£5... once flashed you program it via normal usb and the freejoy graphical user interface.


But if having to buy everything from scratch, you should check out if say a leo bodnare joystick input board might work out cheaper, and be a plug and play solution:
Leo Bodnar joystick input boards page

 

Thanks for sharing this, it was nice to try this solution. I see it sends keystrokes to update the position. I was wondering how it worked.

Unfortunately there is still a lack of notches and constant physical resistance of the stick. I expect similar issue if trying to map the left hand control.

 

A little question for you guys.
What is the better translation, "stepless controller" or "continuously variable controller"?

 

Hi Jannik,

Took this from TS2019 manual:
Throttle. Generally, “straight” diesels have a continuously variable throttle, but some, particularly diesel-electrics, may be notched into a small number of discrete settings.

Therefore continuously variable controller would be a good option.
If you rather would use the word stepless than perhaps add the word "linear" to indicate that it moves evenly across the range.

 

Going to the manual was a smart idea. Thank you!

 

v2.0.0
After a long time, I finally managed to release version 2.0.0.
I have also uploaded a new tutorial:


Changelog:
- Completely reworked the editing of the trains:
- Custom controls:
- Throttle, brake, AFB, master controller, direct Brake, electric Brake, ... can now also be use
- You can add controllers yourself and then assign keys and text indicators to them.
- The behavior of the controller can be customized
- Find time factor significantly improved
- Keyboard shortcut editor improved

- Changed:"Long press" is now directional. 2|3:200 only triggers, if the stick moves from e.g. 0 to 5 and not the other way around.

- Added: Import and export of your TrainConfigs
- Improved: Text recognition is now much faster (mainly thanks to asdf1280)
- Improved: Text recognition is now more reliable
- Improved: Widescreen support (beta)
- Bugfix: After clicking "Activ", the program immediately pressed keys

If you find any bugs or other problems, please let me know!

 

Thanks for the update Jannick.
I followed the instructions for re-entering the throttle, brakes and master controller settings.
Hiowever, it looks like my controls settings for the trains have been corrupted. For example,. you see below the settings for the BR146. Only three zeroes appear in the list:


If I select one of the zeroes, I get this error:


Any ideas ? Do I have to recreate all my settings?
Thanks,
Fabrice

 

ok, I restarted a new profile.
I have an issue with the continuously variable axis, like for the throttle of the 146 and 766. It's working pretty well, but if I move the throttle to any position, then move the axis very slowly, the software does not see that I'm moving it. I have to "shake" it to have the software detect the movement, and it updates the position. Seems I have to move the axis quickly for your software to see it.

Also, could you please show again what the program reads in the Debug window? Now when it does not work, we don't know if it's because the software reads something else. (for example, for me "Off" is systematically read as "Dff").

A third thing I noticed is that if we take your settings when creating a new profile, as I have the software in english, it cannot find "Schub"and "Bremse" and we have to recreate entries for "Throttle" and "Brake". And I coulkd not find a way to delete the entries "Schub" and "Bremse".

 

I've spent a few hours with the new version this evening, playing with the new features and setting up my trains. It's looking really good, thank you for the effort that you have put into it Jannick! The time you have put into this is very much appreciated. I now have things working very smoothly.

I'd like to echo Fabrice's first two points above...

1) Slow movement of throttle does not appear to be read at all - I suspect this is to stop noise on the throttle from causing continual inputs to the game, however as it currently stands is means small adjustments are not read at all. I'm able to move the throttle the whole length without anything happening, if I do it slowly enough.

2) Putting back the debug info that shows the target and currently read values would be really useful when trying to fix set up problems.

 

First of all, I am sorry that it has come to this problem. If you want I can convert the config from the backup for you.

This scares me a bit right now as I have never removed the setting


I am currently quite busy and can't invest that much time in the program at the moment. However, I will take care of these problems as soon as possible

 

No, thanks. I already recreated most of my profile.

No problem, mate. You offer this as a freeware, I don't expect you to fix everything right now just because I ask...
This version is usable, the slow movement not being detected being the biggest issue, but not a show stopper.

Thanks,
Fabrice

 

Yes, I know, but I don't like to let other people wait ^^

I just did a quick check, but everything seems to be working normally for me. In what way has this setting disappeared? Is there no longer the checkbox in the settings? (If not, please send me a screenshot of the settings window).

 

Here is a screenshot:


We can see that for the throttle, it read "Dff" (instead of "Off"), but I cannot know if it read "Throttle".
For brakes, we can see that it read "Release", but not "Train Brake" or "TrainBrake" (as this is the case most of the time for me).
This was visible in the previous version.

Thanks,
Fabrice

 

Ohhhh, I thought that the whole debug info thingy was not showing.
Of course, I can add that again ^^

 

Fantastic, thanks Jannik.

 

I have just released a new version (2.0.1). There I have (probably) fixed the problem with the slow movements and added the additional info in the debugger.

 

Juist tried it and it looks good. Thanks a lot Jannick!!

 

Hi Jannick,

I have an issue with the Combined Controller: it works well, but all of a sudden, it goes to max power or emergency brakes (even though it is not supposed to go to emergency brakes), like if the A or D keys were kept pressed for 10+ seconds.
I thought at first that I had a conflicting controller or an issue with my keyboard, but after investigating, this is not the case. This is happening only with combined controllers trains, not with trains with separated power and brakes handles (using the same controller).
After more testing, it seems to happen when I change quickly the postion near the Zero position, where there are special cases. It happens when I do 0-Min Power-0-Min Brake-0-Min Power etc... with all the trains I set with a combined handle (422, 423, 425, 442). This is not systematic, it sometimes works well for several minutes, then happens again...

Hope you can help.
Thanks,
Fabrice

 

Absolutely amazing work! With the update the 1972 stock is flawless!! Doesn’t go out of sync it’s 100 percent a game changer!! thank you so much Jannik!
Has anyone managed to set up a profile for the 377/378 London Commuter? Even with the tutorial I just can’t get my head round it…

 

Hi Expressdriver,
This is what I use for the Class 375/377/387:

Hope this helps.
Fabrice

 

Hi Fabrice,
Thank you so much ! Really helpful.
I will give that a go.
Express Driver

 

Hi Jannick,
More information on my issue with the Master Controller:
When this is happening, if I Alt-Tab to your software, I cannot click anything (it looks like it is stuck in a loop). In have to go back to TSW2 and move the controller several time to have it go out of the loop.

I also saw something strange in the log (I may misunderstand it though...):

Looks like it think it is the braking area despite being in power area... Could this be the issue? I attach the log file.

Thanks,
Fabrice

 

Interesting. Does the color of buttons change when you hover over them with the mouse, or does the GUI not react at all?

Yes, you are right. It thinks it is in the braking area because of the "/Brake" from "Throttle /Brake". The program then wants to put the lever back up into the throttle area, but because you already are at 12%, you land on the maximum (if you understand what I mean).
I'll have to take a closer look at it on my end.

Regards
Jannik

 

Hey Fabrice,
By quickly scanning my code, I think I found a stupid mistake (moving one line). Please try if this fixes your problem with the MasterController.
Just replace your "TSW2_Controller.exe" with the one in the .zip file.

Maybe test a bit longer to see, if it really is fixed

Regards
Jannik

 

Thanks a lot, Jannick.
This is better, but still not working. The soft does not get in a blocking loop anymore, but as soon as I'm in the power area, the handle goes to max power, comes back to the controller's set value, then again to max, then to the set value, then to max, and so on.
It seems to work well in the brake area.

Thanks,
Fabrice

EDIT: the above behaviour seems to be especially with the 442. Testing with the 425, it seems better, but still experience the issue on both power and braking. Had one "blocking loop" as well.