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Input System

Warning
The scope of applications for UnigineScript is limited to implementing materials-related logic (material expressions, scriptable materials, brush materials). Do not use UnigineScript as a language for application logic, please consider C#/C++ instead, as these APIs are the preferred ones. Availability of new Engine features in UnigineScript (beyond its scope of applications) is not guaranteed, as the current level of support assumes only fixing critical issues.

Introduction#

One of the features the Unigine engine provides is a High-Level Input API. It allows to work with the variety of input devices (such as keyboard, mouse, joystick, gamepad etc.) in the same way, utilizing their capabilities simultaneously. For the sake of usability all input devices recognized by the engine have a common interface. The controls of the input devices can be assigned to definite user's actions in the virtual world. According to the application needs the editing of the controls using GUI can be enabled.

The Input scripts are located in data/scripts/input directory of the UNIGINE SDK.

Entities#

Input device#

Input device is a peripheral hardware equipment providing data and control signals to the processing unit. It is one of the key resources for the interactive virtual reality systems. Each input device regardless of its type has an ID and is characterized by the number and states of its axes and buttons.

Input#

Input represents the input data provided to the engine.

Button#

Button of the input device gives only off/on digital signal, indicating two discrete values: “0” and “1”. The user's application reacts accordingly.

Axis#

Axis of the input device is an analogue signal data corresponding to the angle of displacement. It has three basic positions: minimum, neutral, and maximum. For Unigine engine it is recommended that they belong to the interval between -1.0 and 1.0, with 0 as a neutral value.

According to the characteristics of the axes they can be divided into 4 calibration types:

  1. Increasing axis - with the range from 0.0 to 1.0;
  2. Decreasing axis - with the range from 0.0 to -1.0;
  3. Positive axis with the range from -1.0 to 1.0;
  4. Negative axis with the range from 1.0 to -1.0.

Virtual axis#

Virtual axis allows to emulate analogue signal using digital input device. It is used to implement smooth value changing, similar to a steering wheel rotation, for example. If a button with the virtual axis assigned is pressed continuously or repeatedly, virtual axis value will be incremented to 1.0 with the specified changing speed. When the button is no longer pressed, the axis value will be decremented to 0 with the returning speed.

Action#

The user can perform a number of actions in the virtual world, such as moving in different directions, jumping, or shooting. The actions can be activated in many ways: by pressing a button or rotating an analogue stick of the gamepad. The Unigine engine makes it possible to assign multiple Inputs for each of the action. The names of the actions and input axes assigned to them can be saved in the configuration file.

Configuration file syntax#

The syntax of the configuration stored in the XML file is the following:

Source code (XML)
<controls definition="controls_def.xml">
	<action name="accelerate">
		<input device="Logitech Racing Wheel" state="3" min="1" max="-1"/>
		<input device="Keyboard" state="119"/>
	</action>
	<action name="brake">
		<input device="Logitech Racing Wheel" state="2" min="1" max="-1"/>
		<input device="Keyboard" state="115"/>
	</action>
</controls>

Сontrols tag is used to describe control action map. Action tags are included into this tag. Сontrols tag has the following attribute:

  • Definition — definition file name, where action attributes are defined.

Action tag describes action configuration, identified by its name (name attribute required). Action tag can contain Input tags.

Input tag contains input configuration. It has the following attributes:

  • Device is a required attribute. It specifies input device name and is used to identify input device. Specifying keyboard and mouse as input devices is sufficient for all types of keyboards and mice.
  • State is a required attribute. It specifies input device state number and is used to map input to a particular input device axis or button.
    Notice
    Direct names of the buttons can't be used, as each input device has its own states and state names. They also depend on the installed driver. Taking these facts into consideration, the names are not universal.
    However, controls can be edited using GUI interface. In this case, there is no need to specify the exact state number and it is possible to see input state names.
  • Min is an optional attribute. It specifies the minimum input device axis value.
  • Max is an optional attribute. It specifies the maximum input device axis value.
  • Neutral specifies the neutral value, when input is inactive. The default is 0.
  • Threshold specifies the threshold for input device response in decimal units. The default value is 0.2.
  • Change_speed is an optional attribute. It specifies the axis changing speed.
  • Return_speed is an optional attribute. It specifies the axis returning speed.

How to Use#

Step 1. Include the required input devices headers#

Source code (UnigineScript)
#include <scripts/input/input_device.h>
#include <scripts/input/control.h>

Step 2. Add initialization, update and shutdown handlers to corresponding code sections#

Source code (UnigineScript)
int init() {
	Unigine::Input::init();

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

int update() {
	Unigine::Input::update();

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

int shutdown() {
	Unigine::Input::shutdown();

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

Step 3. Create controls config files#

Create 2 configuration files: controls_def.xml and controls.xml.

Controls_def file defines the action attributes:

Source code (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<controls_def>
	<action_def name="accelerate" min="0" max="1" neutral="0" type="state"/>
</controls_def>

Action tag has the following attributes:

  • Name — action name.
  • Min — minimum axis value for application accepted input.
  • Max — maximum axis value for application accepted input.
  • Neutral — neutral axis value for application accepted input.
  • Type — action type:
    • State specifies the action having effect until the corresponding input is pressed. In other words, state action is used when it is necessary to change something continuously according to key / axis state. An example is car steering.
      Notice
      In the case of a state action, getState() returns the current input state (corrected according to the input range and action range).
    • Switch is used when it is necessary to toggle something on and off. It allows to handle key up and key down events (just one at a time). An example is turning car head lights on and off.
      Notice
      In the case of a switch action, the current state is irrelevant, but rather the difference between the current and the previous state matters.
      • When the key is pressed down, getState() returns the maximum value.
      • When the key is up, getState() returns -1 * maximum value.
      • If the key did not change its state since the previous update, the function will return the minimum value.

Controls file binds input with actions:

Source code (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<controls definition="/config/controls/controls_def.xml">
	<action name="accelerate"/>
	<action name="brake"/>
	<!-- etc. -->
</controls>
Notice
Don't forget to specify input devices for the actions.

Step 4. Adding and integrating controls#

To load control configuration use:

Source code (UnigineScript)
// somewhere in initialization code

// creating control and loading config files
Unigine::Input::Control control = new Unigine::Input::Control();
control.loadFromFile("you_config_file.xml");
To check control states use:
Source code (UnigineScript)
// somewhere in the update() code


// updating controls
control.update(engine.game.getIFps())

// getting current actions' states and passing them to the controlled object
Unigine::Input::Action action = control.getAction("accelerate");
current_car.setAccelerator(action.getState());
action = control.getActionByName("brake");
current_car.setBrake(action.getState());
// etc.

Notice
It is necessary to call the function void Unigine::Input::Control::update(float ifps) every update() so that all the actions are detected.

Editing the controls using GUI interface#

To enable this function do the following:

Step 1. Include headers#

Source code (UnigineScript)
#include <scripts/input/control_setup_window.h>

Step 2. Add initialization, update and shutdown handlers for ControlSetupWindow to corresponding code sections#

Source code (UnigineScript)
int init() {
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::init(engine.getGui());

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

int update() {
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::update();

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

int shutdown() {
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::shutdown();

	/*...*/

	return 1;
}

Step 3. Showing configuration window#

Source code (UnigineScript)
void controller_setup_button_clicked() {
	if(controller_setup_button.isToggled()) {
		// show window
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::addOnHideCallback("TestCarGui::on_save_car_controls",NULL);
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::show(control); // see control definition above
	} else {
		// hide window
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::hide();
	}
}

Example#

To illustrate the whole process let's create a simple application that allows you to control movement of a node in the world using the keyboard (W, A, S, D keys by default) as well as changing keyboard configuration via the GUI interface (Control Setup window). We are going to create a new Pawn class implementing response to control states and actually moving a node it is bound to.

We are going to use the following controls definition and binding files:

controls_def.xml file

Source code (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<controls_def>
  <action_def name="forward" min="0" max="1" neutral="0" type="state"/>
  <action_def name="backward" min="0" max="1" neutral="0" type="state"/>
  <action_def name="left" min="0" max="1" neutral="0" type="state"/>
  <action_def name="right" min="0" max="1" neutral="0" type="state"/>
</controls_def>

controls.xml file

Source code (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<controls definition="controls_def.xml">
	<action name="forward">
		<input device="Keyboard" state="119"/>
	</action>
	<action name="backward">
		<input device="Keyboard" state="115"/>
	</action>
	<action name="left">
		<input device="Keyboard" state="97"/>
	</action>
	<action name="right">
		<input device="Keyboard" state="100"/>
	</action>
</controls>

Just copy the code below and paste it to a world script file of a new project.

world.usc

Source code (UnigineScript)
#include <core/unigine.h>

// including all necessary files
#include <scripts/input/input_device.h>
#include <scripts/input/control.h>
#include <scripts/input/control_setup_window.h>

// declaring a control
Unigine::Input::Control control;

// UI
Gui gui;
WidgetButton button;

/// Pawn class definition 
class Pawn
{
	// movement states
	int forward = 0;
	int backward = 0;
	int left = 0;
	int right = 0;
	
	// node to be controlled
	Node pawn_node;

	// Pawn constructor 
	Pawn(Node n)
	{
		pawn_node = n;
	}
	
	// updated controlled node's position depending on the current control states 
	int  update(float ifps)
	{
		Vec3 delta_movement = Vec3(0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		if(forward)
		{
			delta_movement = Vec3(0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f);
		}
		else if (backward)
		{
			delta_movement = Vec3(0.0f, -1.0f, 0.0f);
		}
				else if (left)
		{
			delta_movement = Vec3(-1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		}
		else if (right)
		{
			delta_movement = Vec3(1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f);
		}
		
		pawn_node.setWorldPosition(pawn_node.getWorldPosition() + delta_movement*ifps);
		return 1;
	}
	
	// setting forward state
	void setForward(int f){	forward = f; }
	
	// setting backward state
	void setBackward(int b)	{ backward = b;	}

	// setting left state
	void setLeft(int l)	{ left = l; }

	// setting right state
	void setRight(int r) { right = r; }
};

/// click event handler for the button
void button_clicked() {
	if(button.isToggled()) {
		// show window
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::addOnHideCallback("hide_window",NULL);
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::show(control); // see control definition above
	} else {
		// hide window
		Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::hide();
	}
}

/// hide event handler for the Controls Setup window
void hide_window() {
	button.setToggled(0);
}


Pawn pawn;

int init() {
	
	// creating and initializing a player
	Player player = new PlayerSpectator();
	player.setPosition(Vec3(0.0f,-3.401f,1.5f));
	player.setDirection(Vec3(0.0f,1.0f,-0.4f));
	
	// disabling standard keybord control for player and setting it as a game player
	player.setControlled(0);
	engine.game.setPlayer(player);
	
	// preparing UI (adding a button to toggle the Controls Setup window)
	gui = engine.getGui();
	button = new WidgetButton(gui, "Controls Setup");
	button.setPosition(10, 40);
	button.setToggleable(1);
	button.setCallback(GUI_CLICKED, "button_clicked");
	gui.addChild(button, GUI_ALIGN_OVERLAP | GUI_ALIGN_TOP | GUI_ALIGN_LEFT);
	
	
	// initializing the input system
	Unigine::Input::init();
	
	// creating and loading controls from the controls.xml file
	control = new Unigine::Input::Control();
	control.loadFromFile("controls.xml");

	// initializing the control setup window with desired number of alternatives
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::init(engine.getGui(),1);

	// creating a new pawn and binding it to the player
	pawn = new Pawn(node_cast(player));

	return 1;
}

// start of the main loop
int update() {
	
	// updating the input system
	Unigine::Input::update();
	float ifps = engine.game.getIFps();
	
	// updating controls
	control.update(ifps);
	
	// getting current actions' states and passing them to our pawn object
	Unigine::Input::Action action = control.getAction("forward");
	pawn.setForward(action.getState());
	action = control.getAction("backward");
	pawn.setBackward(action.getState());
	action = control.getAction("left");
	pawn.setLeft(action.getState());
	action = control.getAction("right");
	pawn.setRight(action.getState());	
	
	// calling pawn's update
	pawn.update(ifps);
	
	// updating the control setup window
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::update();
	
	return 1;
}

int postUpdate() {
	
	return 1;
}

int updatePhysics() {
	
	return 1;
}
// end of the main loop

int shutdown() {
	
	// shutting down the input system and control setup window
	Unigine::Input::shutdown();
	Unigine::Input::ControlSetupWindow::shutdown();
	
	// removing all widgets grom GUI
	for (int i = 0; i < gui.getNumChildren(); i++)
		gui.removeChild(gui.getChild(i));

	return 1;
}
Last update: 2021-12-13
Build: ()