Controllers?

[freddiestarr]

Hi, thanks for making this great little game! 
I have never played games but my kids are having a hard time at the moment so I thought I'd find them one game I can install on Linux to help pass the time. 
I can't work out how to do 2 player. they would LOVE this. I am on Fedora. I can't understand the settings, I tried setting up 2 players, tried plugging in a second USB keyboard, got nowhere. Is it doable?

Also, is it possible to use game controllers, for example if I bought a couple of used Playstation 1 controllers off ebay or whatever, would they work?

thanks again

[Alayan]

It is absolutely possible to play with a second keyboard. Go in Settings > Controls, and you'll have a list of the current devices.

Keyboards are a bit special because they are not recognized individually, but with "add a device" you can add a new keyboard configuration. Make sure both keyboard configs don't conflict (the game should warn you if they do), and then you can have two players each using a different config.

Both keyboards remain able to produce input for both of the active configs, but that's not really an issue in practice as with proper key choices there is no risk of mistakenly pressing a neighbouring key that is used by the other kart. It's even possible for two players to play splitscreen using the same keyboard, but that can be less comfortable and is more likely to run into issues if the keyboard doesn't have n-key rollover.

I would advise using the same general layout for both configs, arrow keys and bottom letter row for one player and numpads and right of the top letter row for the second player works well and it means there is no learning curve when using one config or the other.

As for the PlayStation 1 controllers, I suppose they should be supported by SDL2 and work. I've never tried, but it should be plug-and-play.

[freddiestarr]

Hi, thanks very much. I am still confused though. I should have said, please use idiot proof instructions! I may be using Linux but I am far from being your average linux user. I used Mac for 20 years (and became pretty good with it) but once I decided to dump Apple in the trash, I moved to Linux and it's been a struggle but one I won't be giving up on!

"Go in Settings > Controls, and you'll have a list of the current devices" - If i go in there it shows two devices, one is a keyboard, the other is some kind of 'touch' device. I don't know what that means, I certainly do'nt have any. I have a Dell laptop with wired mouse and keyboard.

2 keyboards - Forgive me but can i clarify what you mean... Are you saying I can add a second keyboard (by just plugging one in), but I would need to make a second keyboard CONFIG in the settings, and use DIFFERENT keys? if so, is that because basically both configs work on both keyboards, and thus I have to make the command keys different to avoid conflicts?

n-key rollover - no idea what this means. But you mention split screen and that wouild be VERY cool

Is it possible to use two bluetooth keyboards, do you know?

Learning curve - these won't be similar keyboards, so I guess they can just make do with having to learn two diferent configs.

PS1 controller - SDL2? plug and play - would be very cool! So if I can get my hands on a PS1 controller, hell even 2 would be good, then you're saying I should be able to just plug them in and they will work? How does the game know which key does what? Or do I need to teach the game a new config with the controllers?

Are there any other controllers (that are cheap!) that are recommended, if PS1 controllers aren't commonly used?

thanks again

[Alayan]

Are you saying I can add a second keyboard (by just plugging one in), but I would need to make a second keyboard CONFIG in the settings, and use DIFFERENT keys? if so, is that because basically both configs work on both keyboards, and thus I have to make the command keys different to avoid conflicts?

Correct.

n-key rollover - no idea what this means.

Most keyboards only handle a limited number of simultaneous inputs, so if you have two people playing on the same keyboards with an office keyboard, you're likely to get some inputs that are not properly transmitted. Gaming keyboards will often support unlimited or very high number of simultaneous presses.

Is it possible to use two bluetooth keyboards, do you know?

The bluetooth connection of the keyboard is between you and your operating system. If the keyboards work in the OS, the game will be able to receive input from them during play.

Learning curve - these won't be similar keyboards, so I guess they can just make do with having to learn two diferent configs.

Even if the key sizes are different, it's nice if the relative positions of keys are similar, so that the same finger gets always used for nitro, the same for drifting, etc.

PS1 controller - SDL2? plug and play - would be very cool! So if I can get my hands on a PS1 controller, hell even 2 would be good, then you're saying I should be able to just plug them in and they will work? How does the game know which key does what? Or do I need to teach the game a new config with the controllers?

Are there any other controllers (that are cheap!) that are recommended, if PS1 controllers aren't commonly used?

All the controllers that work with SDL2 (that's a code library) should work with STK, and that should be most controllers.

[freddiestarr]

Thank you, sorry I didn't get a notification for your reply. 

Kids are now playing this great game, one on MacOSX, and one on Fedora Linux. Two laptops. It occurred to me it might be possible for them to play TOGETHER (i.e. on the same race circuit, race against each other), but rather than two keyboards complexity, maybe just play via internet link.. 

Would it be possible for them to race each other, using the internet if i connect both machines to the internet?

Thanks

[Alayan]

Would it be possible for them to race each other, using the internet if i connect both machines to the internet?

Yes, they could play by going in "Local Networking", creating a LAN server on one of the devices, and then joining it on the other device.

However, with the current networking, it wouldn't be practical having bots (I think you probably would have to fiddle with config files to even get bots on the LAN server, but even then they'd play a lot weaker than the standard AIs from local play). With only 2 human players, some AI karts are nice to fill the track, so this may not be up to your expectations.

[freddiestarr]

Sorry, I have a real hard time understanding much of that.

Firstly, LAN is not 'internet', at least not in my mind!

"it wouldn't be practical having bots" - Huh?! Bots? Who mentioed bots, what are you referring to? The only bots i know of are the ones that trawl the code of my websites to help Google's ranking algorithm to judge the on page content!

"but even then they'd play a lot weaker than the standard AIs from local play" - Woah! ...

- 'they'd play' - who would play, the 'bots'?
- 'a lot weaker', what does 'playing weaker' mean?
- 'standard AIs' - ???? AIs? Sorry, I have no clue.
- 'local play' - I assume this refers to 'LAN'.

My suggestion was to use the internet (WAN) to let them race on the same track, keeping it as simple as possible.
LAN - Maybe I could do something over the LAN yes, i may even be able to 'set up a server', so long as this doesn't actually mean to build a machine of any kind.

[Alayan]

There is no point setting up a WAN server when a LAN server is sufficient. The functionality of both once players are in is exactly the same, but with WAN you're more likely to get setup difficulties and you're going to broadcast publicly when your kids are playing. Just clicking the GUI buttons in the menu to create a LAN server should be sufficient.

"it wouldn't be practical having bots" - Huh?! Bots? Who mentioed bots, what are you referring to? The only bots i know of are the ones that trawl the code of my websites to help Google's ranking algorithm to judge the on page content!

"but even then they'd play a lot weaker than the standard AIs from local play" - Woah! ...

- 'they'd play' - who would play, the 'bots'?
- 'a lot weaker', what does 'playing weaker' mean?
- 'standard AIs' - ???? AIs? Sorry, I have no clue.
- 'local play' - I assume this refers to 'LAN'.

"Bots" and "AIs" are standard terms to refer to non-human karts controlled by the computer. AI means "Artificial Intelligence".

And I was saying that AI karts in networked play (both LAN and WAN) are playing very poorly. This makes them uninteresting to play with.

Local play means standard single player or splitscreen mode.

[freddiestarr]

Thank you. Hopefully I can clarify I understand...

LAN is better than WAN - Ok that makes sense. But when you say 'setting up a WAN server' (or LAN) - correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't a server relate to a physical machine running and connected to the network somewhere? I.e a third machine?

Bots/AIs - Oh I see so the karts are AI/Bots, understood. When you say they would be uninteresting to play with, I wonder if it might be ok. When they are racing each other they are probably mostly concerned with each other's game performance, and the other karts wouldn't be too critical to their enjoyment. I may try the LAN connection, failing that I will look again at split screen. that would be nice, just not sure I can get two keyboards working right!
Thanks for your help here

[Alayan]

But when you say 'setting up a WAN server' (or LAN) - correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't a server relate to a physical machine running and connected to the network somewhere? I.e a third machine?

Server in English can both mean a program that provides data/service to other programs (on the same computer or through a network), and a computer dedicated to running server programs. To refer to the computer, it's better to use other terms if the context may leave doubts.

There is nothing preventing a normal computer from running a STK server. It's not a very good idea for WAN because it exposes your IP and there are often routing issues preventing users from connecting to it, but for LAN that's not an issue.