User manual SAITEK SST PROGRAMMING SOFTWARE

[. . . ] Untitled DocumentSST Programming Software Contents file:///U:/X52/build/SST%20Manual_En. htm SST Programming Software Introduction Getting Started Simple Commands or Keystrokes Multiple Keystrokes/Combined Keystrokes Macros Advanced Commands Shift Modes Programming Hat/POV Switches Hat Programming Tricks Axis Programming (Rotaries, thumb wheels etc. ) Saving the Profile Activating the Profile Testing the Profile Printing the Profile Product Specific Features X36/X45 P880, P2500 and P3000 PC Dash 2/P8000 Introduction Welcome to Saitek Smart Technology (SST) - a powerful and intuitive software to help you get the most functionality from your Saitek controller. Most modern games do have their own control configuration screens, but by using the SST software you can: Increase the number of assignable functions through shift states and multiple modes on your joystick or game pad; Create and save game profiles for your favorite PC games, which eliminates the need to 1 of 21 03/10/2006 09:27 Untitled DocumentSST Programming Software Contents file:///U:/X52/build/SST%20Manual_En. htm go back and re-configure for that game every time you want to play it; Assign keyboard and mouse commands so that you can use your Saitek controller to play PC games that do not offer support for game pads and joysticks. Getting Started When you have installed the SST software and plugged in your controller for the first time, the Profile Editor will automatically appear so you can start programming. After this, an icon will appear in taskbar next to your clock every time you plug in your controller. This is called the Profile Launcher and looks like this: Right-click on the joystick, pad or wheel icon and you should see a pop-up menu like this: Clear Profile is used whenever you want to completely clear a profile from your controller; Control Panel will bring up the test and calibration screens for your controller; Profile Editor will present you with the following screen. [. . . ] You 10 of 21 03/10/2006 09:27 Untitled DocumentSST Programming Software Contents file:///U:/X52/build/SST%20Manual_En. htm can also input keystrokes, macros etc. in this view, exactly as you did in the 3D view. For the X36 and X45 users, note that while these controllers have only one shift button you do have the three different modes made available to you by the mode switch on the throttle. These are programmed in exactly the same way as the Cyborg ­ in fact it's probably best to use the Data View for these two controllers because, as you can see, it's far easier to keep track of which commands you have programmed. Programming Hat/POV (Point of View) Switches All of the controllers supported by SST have a Hat, or POV switch. On the joysticks and pads a POV switch is usually used as a device for looking through the different views from a cockpit in a flight simulator, but you can assign it to do whatever you want. On the GM2/GM3 it is very important as it's the switch that movement commands are assigned to for first person shooter games like Medal Of Honor. If left unprogrammed, the POV switch will just act as either a default POV or, in the X36/X45's case, as a set of four buttons, depending on in which direction it is pushed. This is easily changed and to start programming the POV simply right click on it or click the little arrow icon next to it in the profile editor and you will get the following drop-down menu. You can see that you have three possible functions for the POV switch, the default option for which (POV) is currently selected. The other two options are to set it to operate as buttons or to emulate the mouse. You can also set whether the POV operates in 8-way or 4-way mode here. For Mouse and POV mode it's recommended that you leave it as 8-way but for buttons mode 11 of 21 03/10/2006 09:27 Untitled DocumentSST Programming Software Contents file:///U:/X52/build/SST%20Manual_En. htm it's definitely recommended to set it to 4-way, simply because it can be very hard to select the diagonal positions uniquely in the heat of gameplay (the only exception to this is if you are configuring the hat to move something in 8 directions, like you would with the GM2/GM3 for a first person shooter game). Setting it to Mouse will simply give you a Sensitivity slider bar like below: And adjusting that will simply change the speed of the mouse cursor when you push the POV in the appropriate direction, slow being to the left of the scale and fast being to the right. However, clicking the Buttons option adds more options to configure, one for each position of the hat switch. It's then simply a case of programming each position of the hat with the keystroke, macro or advanced command that you wish to assign, in the same manner that you program the buttons. Note that the centre position of the POV hat should generally be left unprogrammed otherwise the POV will continually issue any command that you have assigned to it when it is at rest in its centre position. One slight problem with programming the hat is that you may end up with a problem with `sticky keys'. This is where a programmed function on a hat position doesn't `let go' when you release the hat and the computer thinks that the assigned keystroke is still being issued. This can usually be solved by using the tips in the following section, which also describes how to configure the POV on the GM2/GM3 for movement. 12 of 21 03/10/2006 09:27 Untitled DocumentSST Programming Software Contents file:///U:/X52/build/SST%20Manual_En. htm Hat Programming Tricks One thing that you can do to ensure that the hat `lets go' of a command assigned to one of its directions is to program the centre position of the hat with a `release' command for any of the keystrokes assigned to any of its positions. This sounds complicated but is actually quite straightforward. As an example we will take the programming of the GM2/GM3's hat switch for movement in a first person shooter game. For these games, movement is usually controlled by four keys on the keyboard, typically W, A, S and D (respectively forward, step left, backward and step right). What may happen if you just assign simple keystrokes to the appropriate directions is that when you switch from moving forward to backward the software may `forget' to release the forward key command, leaving you constantly walking forwards. To stop this from happening assign a `release key press' to the middle position of the POV using an advanced command and then make sure that there is a release key press for every one of the keys that are used by any of the hat positions. [. . . ] This is easily programmed using the Data view for the Profile Editor, as described earlier in the manual. Once in the Data view you will see that each button/POV/axis has a keystroke entry box for Mode 1, Mode 1 +Pinkie, Mode 2, Mode 2 + Pinkie, Mode 3 and Mode 3 + Pinkie. TThe The pinkie switch is the X36/X45's shift button and has to be set to work as a shift button before those `+Pinkie' commands are usable. The rotaries are an axis and are programmable in the manner described in the axis programming section of the manual. The Aux switch is just a series of three buttons in a row, programmable in exactly the same way as any other button on the controller. [. . . ]