Gamepad Support
An issue that is near and dear to my heart. Basically, it means that I can plug a controller into my computer and use it with your game. Playing with keyboards just isn't the same! In this topic, I'll outline (with the help of DJ Coco) how you can do it in Game Maker. It's simple!
Detecting if a button is pressed
Using gml Syntax Highlighting
if(gamepad_button_check(0, gp_padr)){
// code for moving right
}
// code for moving right
}
What does this code do?
gamepad_button_check is a function that tells you whether or not that button is currently down. The 0 is the number of the gamepad you're checking. For instance, if the computer as three gamepads plugged in, 0 will use the first one, 1 the second, 3 the third, etc. I recommend using a global variable for the gamepad ID, for letting the player select which gamepad they want to use. OR, just in case you ever want to expand your codebase later on. It's just good practice. gp_padr is the button to check. The suffix, "gp_", means that it's a gamepad button. padr means the right directional button on the D-pad.
See how simple that was?
Here is a list of buttons:
Spoiler:
But I don't own a gamepad!
It seems that a big portion of us might not own a gamepad. But, you can still put support for it in your game. You might run into an idea or two that needs testing, but for your basic mario platformer I don't see why not just support gamepads anyway. You can likely find a user wiling to test your game to see if all of the buttons respond properly. It's just a good idea, and will make playing your game that much more of an enjoyable experience!
For more information, like other functions you can use and etc, check out the official Game Maker documentation on gamepad support.
