FATE OF THE GALAXY / FLIGHT CONTROL

Gamepad Wheel Help

For Fate of the Galaxy 1.1.0 or 1.1.1 with FSO 26.0.1 SDL3 on Windows. This independent addon uses a Lua HUD script, an XInput bridge and an external configuration console.

Set up

1. Install Fate of the Galaxy 1.1.0 or 1.1.1 and run the unmodified game once to create a native pilot. Exit the game.
2. Extract the ZIP; close any older controller companion.
3. Double-click Setup.exe. If needed, browse to the game folder containing kn_portable, then click Install / Repair. Setup checks the version and pilot before changing files.
4. Use Play with Wheel in Setup or Play with Gamepad Wheel.exe from the game folder. Keep the bridge running in the tray.
5. Use Configure Gamepad Wheel.exe to change macro slots. Close the game before saving; restart it to load changes.

The installer backs up native v4 pilots before reserving A, B, X, Y, LB, RB, Start, L3, R3 and D-pad joystick inputs for the wheel. RT takes over primary fire in flight. If you create a new pilot later, reserve those controls in the console.

In flight

Tap a D-pad direction for its wheel. Hold it past the configured delay to look up, rear, left or right; release to center the view. The Macro Deck slider sets 150–600 ms (250 ms by default). Disable look around to make every D-pad press open its wheel immediately. Menus keep immediate D-pad navigation. Save Wheel and restart after changing this setting.

RT fires primary weapons and LT fires secondary weapons in flight while no wheel is open. Hold LT for repeat secondary fire where the weapon supports it. LB cycles secondary banks for LT. Hold Y to fire the B-wing or T-Blade bomber third gun directly; Y has no flight action on other ships. Tap RB to change the available ship mode: Falcon gun control, TIE burst fire, S-foils, or targeting computer. A targets the ship in the reticle, B targets the closest ship attacking you, and X cycles the selected target class when no wheel is open. B cancels an open wheel; the targeting wheel also offers Clear target, Target subsystem / Target hull, Next live turret and Subsystem in sight. Start only pauses. L3 matches target speed; R3 cycles subsystems on the targeted ship. Stick clicks have no flight action while a wheel is open.

Release the right stick to center, point it toward a segment, then press A. B cancels. Tap the same D-pad direction to close a panel. Commands with more than eight entries have page segments. Depart or warp orders need a second A press.

Menu / Start: tap to pause; hold for 500 ms to cycle Cockpit, Chase and External camera views. The Macro Deck checkbox disables this hold action. Custom holds is off by default; enabling it reveals an editor for A, B, X, LB, RB, L3 and R3 long-press actions. A configured button keeps its short-press action on release. In Assault missions, the squad command wheel also offers Cycle boarding party task, the same action as keyboard 4.

In menus

D-pad moves through the seven main-menu choices directly. On other menus it sends arrow keys; A activates the keyboard selection. Move either stick to steer the pointer on screens with custom controls, then A or RT clicks. B goes back, LB/RB move between tabs, Start and X send Enter, and Y sends Backspace. Pointer fallback uses only the gamepad; a touchpad or finger mouse is not required. Some mission-specific screens may still need stick pointer control.

Macros

The Macro Deck has four slots. Available actions are maximum shield energy, nearest enemy, enemy subsystem, match target speed, balanced energy and boarding party task cycling during Assault missions. For enemy subsystem, choose engines, weapons, shields, navigation, turrets or sensors. The addon checks whether the target and subsystem are legal before changing the target. Macro labels are display text, not executable scripts.

Restore

Controller Setup stores timestamped copies under kn_portable/HardLightProductions/FreeSpaceOpen/ControllerSetupBackups. Select a pilot and press Restore latest backup to restore its full pilot JSON and FotG settings INI. Macro configuration also gets a backup before each save. To remove the addon, first restore the desired pilot controls, then remove GamepadMods/FotG_Gamepad_Wheel and the two wheel launchers.

Flight axis layout

The default Classic direct (tested) layout uses the engine gamepad axes: right stick steers in yaw and pitch, left stick rolls and adjusts relative throttle. Choose Classic inverted pitch to reverse the right stick's vertical direction. The 1.1 game default instead steers on the left stick and has no throttle axis. In the console, Flight Axes can be switched to Game's saved setup. Save Wheel and restart the game. For the closest v1 response, set sensitivity to 5 and deadzone to 10% on Flight Response, then Apply with Backup. The classic preset is generated locally from the installed 1.1 control table; the base table is not edited. It reserves A, B, X, L3, R3, LB, RB, Y and Start for context-aware controller actions. Recheck any custom button bindings after switching.

Wheel readability

Wheel labels use dark backplates and bright text to stay visible against laser fire and explosions. In Configure Gamepad Wheel, open the Command Wheel / Macro Deck tab and set Wheel Text to Medium (20 px) or Large (30 px), with Bold on or off. Save Wheel, then restart the game. Medium Bold is the default. Large text may take more screen space at low resolutions.

About

By Manic Trash Panda, coded with ChatGPT. Questions: dev@manictrashpanda.dev. See About and attributions.

Limits

The command wheel uses the game's native order list; it cannot force a mission-disallowed order. Single-player restrictions apply to energy and subsystem macros. Flight Control runs on multiple machines, but it has not been tested in every campaign and mission, or in multiplayer. Questions and suggestions: dev@manictrashpanda.dev. Review the source before redistribution.