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    Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

    How can I control 2 players with one keyboard (RetroArch)?

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    • meleuM
      meleu @TheStrayMongrel
      last edited by

      @TheStrayMongrel the /opt/retropie/configs/fba/fba2x.cfg file is the config file for pifba only.

      For libretro fba cores (core is how libretro calls its emulators) the file is /opt/retropie/configs/fba/retroarch.cfg, but there is a simpler way to remap the buttons. Recently I updated the "Core Input Remapping" section of the RetroArch Configuration page of the wiki with this info, take a look here:
      https://github.com/retropie/retropie-setup/wiki/RetroArch-Configuration#core-input-remapping

      Hope it helps.

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      • edmaul69E
        edmaul69
        last edited by

        Using lr-fba i have two seperate gamelists showing up on emulationstation. One for all 6 button fighters except the very first street fighter. The other for all other games including the first street fighter. So i configure the non six button games configuration to the first street fighter and the configurations work great. You can test gunsmoke and all 3 directional shooting buttons will in the correct order. All the 6 button games share the same button layout. You can also create seperate config files if you find a game that needs the controls tweaked. Those go in the roms folder. So for example the street fighter rom is called sf.zip. So in the roms folder you would have the config file named sf.zip.cfg. I only use lr-fba for all the capcom arcade games so your controls may vary but shouldnt really be a problem.

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        • TheStrayMongrelT
          TheStrayMongrel
          last edited by

          Fantastic @meleu had no idea there was a fba config gui. Got it up and just changed the input format to "arcade" from "gamepad" and the buttons came good automatically. That said i still have nothing on player two. Given i'm using keyboard keystrokes to run both controls and everthing config wise seems to assume youre using 2 gamepads im not sure where that leaves me...

          Hi @edmaul69 that sounds like an interesting set up. Ive got most games, like gunsmoke and early street fighter 2 games running well on mame4all. Was really only wanting to get fba running for the more recent Streetfighter 2 Alpha, Streetfighter 3 and a few others. Would be very interested in having a look at an example of the .cfg file you speak of, give me idea of whats what.

          Im thinking i might do some further reading and a fresh install on a different card, then look into arcade controls (most of the retropie setup stuff seems to assume people are going to use game pads... just not the same for arcade games IMO).

          Thanks for all the help BTW, champions.

          meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • meleuM
            meleu @TheStrayMongrel
            last edited by

            @TheStrayMongrel said in FBA controls config issue:

            Fantastic @meleu had no idea there was a fba config gui.

            This works for any libretro core, not just fba! ;-)

            Good you liked it!

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            • TheStrayMongrelT
              TheStrayMongrel
              last edited by

              So i only just got a chance to do a full-on update last night in the hope that I'd be able to get joystick 2 (and buttons) working on lr-fba-next... no luck unfortunately. I'm thinking that im only hope is to do a fresh install, use the adafruit keyboard/GPIO utility im familiar with and see if i can get it working again. Pretty bummed to have to do this as everything else seems to be working really well... anything else i could try @meleu and @rbaker prior to going down this route? Or anyone else of course.

              Thanks :)

              meleuM rbakerR 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • meleuM
                meleu @TheStrayMongrel
                last edited by meleu

                @TheStrayMongrel let's remember the problem: you have 2 controllers (or a device with enough buttons for 2 players) but for the system it is just one keyboard. Am I right?

                Is it an IPAC2?

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                • rbakerR
                  rbaker @TheStrayMongrel
                  last edited by

                  @TheStrayMongrel I would have thought that since it's a libretro emulator, it will just work if your other libretro emulators are. What does your config file look like?

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                  • TheStrayMongrelT
                    TheStrayMongrel @meleu
                    last edited by

                    @meleu Yeah thats right, 2 joysticks and 6 buttons for each player. No ipac, running directly to the GPIO with the Adafruit keyboard utility converting button presses (https://learn.adafruit.com/retro-gaming-with-raspberry-pi/buttons). They button presses are definitely registering as I've got it set up and working well in mame4all. I also have Neo Geo working okay with the 2 players.

                    Remember trying to config retroarch and coming up against "gamepad A, gamepad B" etc... but not being able to map specific keyboard strokes ah la mame4alls tab menu, which was a stumbling block (probably need to look further into this really).

                    @rbaker thinking about it i dont really have any of the other libretro emulators working as such (cant recall if Neo Geo is or not?), just mame4all.

                    So thinking of workarounds last night and Im guessing that the way to go is to ditch my control system for mame4all, and get retroarch working, then reconfigure mame4all as allocating buttons in that is really easy. But i guess a question is that within Retroarch the config of how to get "gamepad 2 button a, or gampad 1 button c" (sorry thats probably not the exact syntax, cant recall exactly) to match up with my my mapped keyboard presses.

                    Thanks for your help guys.

                    btw, went through the keyboard config when i first started up Retropie and all worked fine.

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                    • TheStrayMongrelT
                      TheStrayMongrel
                      last edited by

                      @rbaker Dont have my config file handy but its very similar to the one you posted in this thread.

                      https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/1914/has-anyone-got-a-keyboard-working-for-player-2-in-pifba/2

                      [Keyboard]
                      #Get codes from /usr/include/SDL/SDL_keysym.h
                      A_1=306
                      B_1=32
                      X_1=308
                      Y_1=120
                      L_1=122
                      R_1=304
                      START_1=49
                      SELECT_1=53
                      LEFT_1=276
                      RIGHT_1=275
                      UP_1=273
                      DOWN_1=274
                      QUIT=27
                      #player 2 keyboard controls, disabled by default
                      A_2=97
                      B_2=115
                      X_2=113
                      Y_2=107
                      L_2=105
                      R_2=119
                      START_2=114
                      SELECT_2=102
                      LEFT_2=100
                      RIGHT_2=103
                      UP_2=114
                      DOWN_2=102

                      meleuM rbakerR 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • meleuM
                        meleu @TheStrayMongrel
                        last edited by

                        @TheStrayMongrel are you using pifba or the libretro fba?
                        I thought you were using the libretro one.

                        For pifba you need the to reinstall from source, as mentioned on the thread you linked.

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                        • TheStrayMongrelT
                          TheStrayMongrel
                          last edited by TheStrayMongrel

                          Sorry yeah i am using Libretro, the games i want to get going dont work on piFBA. Sorry getting myself a little tied in knots here, that config i just posted is for piFBA isnt it.
                          edit: lr-fba-next to be exact.

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                          • meleuM
                            meleu @TheStrayMongrel
                            last edited by meleu

                            @TheStrayMongrel the fba2x.cfg is for pifba only.

                            @rbaker said that RetroArch already works with one keyboard for 2 players. I never tried it but I think it's perfectly doable (I'm away from my raspi now to make some tests).

                            Is your problem with fba only? Can you play SNES games with 2 players, for example?

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                            • TheStrayMongrelT
                              TheStrayMongrel
                              last edited by

                              Yeah @meleu thats right, @rbaker did say that, thats why i cant work out why its not working... and if i've done something screwy with the config.

                              I did try Donkey Kong Country last night briefly and 2 player wasnt working on that... so guessing no. Not tested any further than that though as Mame is where i concentrate most of my time.

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                              • meleuM
                                meleu @TheStrayMongrel
                                last edited by

                                @TheStrayMongrel I asked that to suggest you to change the title of this thread.
                                Maybe "how can I control 2 players with one keyboard (RetroArch)?" fits better.

                                I'm at work now and can't help you at this very moment, sorry. But with a more descriptive title, maybe someone else can give a look here. It shouldn't be that much complicated.

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                                • TheStrayMongrelT
                                  TheStrayMongrel @meleu
                                  last edited by

                                  @meleu Yeah no worries, I'm at work too so thats fine. Thanks for the help. Will look to change the title now.

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                                  • TheStrayMongrelT
                                    TheStrayMongrel @meleu
                                    last edited by

                                    This post is deleted!
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                                    • meleuM
                                      meleu @TheStrayMongrel
                                      last edited by

                                      @TheStrayMongrel go to the first post of the thread and edit it.

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                                      • rbakerR
                                        rbaker @TheStrayMongrel
                                        last edited by

                                        @TheStrayMongrel It's your retroarch config that will determine the correct settings for your libretro emulations. Here is the section from mine that has 2 player working in all emulators. It is set up for a neo-geo control panel.

                                        input_player1_a = "alt"
                                        input_player1_b = "ctrl"
                                        input_player1_y = "space"
                                        input_player1_x = "x"
                                        input_player1_start = "num1"
                                        input_player1_select = "num5"
                                        input_player1_l = null
                                        input_player1_r = null
                                        input_player1_left = "left"
                                        input_player1_right = "right"
                                        input_player1_up = "up"
                                        input_player1_down = "down"
                                        
                                        input_player2_a = "s"
                                        input_player2_b = "a"
                                        input_player2_y = "q"
                                        input_player2_x = "k"
                                        input_player2_start = "num2"
                                        input_player2_select = "num6"
                                        input_player2_l = null
                                        input_player2_r = null
                                        input_player2_left = "d"
                                        input_player2_right = "g"
                                        input_player2_up = "r"
                                        input_player2_down = "f"
                                        

                                        any changes to fba2x.cfg will do nothing as @meleu said. You must edit retroarch.cfg

                                        meleuM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • meleuM
                                          meleu @rbaker
                                          last edited by

                                          @TheStrayMongrel
                                          @rbaker said in How can I control 2 players with one keyboard (RetroArch)?:

                                          You must edit retroarch.cfg

                                          He meant /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch.cfg. ;-)

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                                          • TheStrayMongrelT
                                            TheStrayMongrel
                                            last edited by

                                            Thanks @rbaker. The plot thickens though, everything in my retroarch.cfg looks in order. Here is a screen grab of my key allocations and the retroarch.cfg. As mentioned they keys work fine in mame4all so its not like the arcade button pressers arent registering as keyboard strokes. Any other ideas?

                                            dankcushionsD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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