Controller automation doesn't close Demul

[ckp]

i setup controller automation on xbox360 usb controller. it closes most games/emulators fine. but for some reason the xbox360 'close active window' combo wouldn't do anything when in Demul Naomi games until I also added an escape key autohotkey for closing Demul. That seems strange? Is AHK stronger than Controller automation? And how does my xbox360 with controller automation close it since it's not using an escape key(or is it?)?

Puzzled.

[Zombeaver]

There are a few instances where the controller automation doesn't work to close, such as CCS64 and MAMEUI. In those instances, an AHK script is usually necessary - and if you use the "Close on ESC" AHK script, specifically, the automation function works at that point. I don't know why this is the case exactly as the underworkings of controller automation are backend/obfuscated, but any time I've added in that AHK script on top, the automation function has worked if the AHK script is assigned specifically to an ESC input. If you change it to something else, it doesn't. All I can assume is that Controller Automation's close function is somehow hooked into an ESC input.

I mentioned this to Jason a while back:

EDIT: For some reason the direct link-to-post isn't working, but I posted it on the last page of this thread.

 

[ckp]

Well, it's ok by me because it works! I just didn't expect it to and it was a major relief. Haha 

[Zombeaver]

Yeah it definitely threw me for a loop when I discovered it as well. I was like "...why does this work exactly?" haha. Like I said, the only thing I can assume is that some part of the way Controller Automation's close function is setup involves sending an ESC input and the AHK script is seeing it, and executing as result.

Just be aware that some emulators present some issues if closed via that script. Some emulators don't save their settings properly if force-closed via AHK (such as MAME). Others use ESC as part of the emulator navigation itself (such as CCS64) so for those I changed it to exiting on an "End" keyboard input (controller automation's close function ceases to work at that point though).

[ckp]

As far as I don't have any issues exiting MAME. I have it set so I can press keyboard Escape or a single right stick press on my xbox360 controller.

[Zombeaver]

Controller automation won't close MAMEUI without the AHK script. You can, however, just set controls in MAMEUI itself to close upon input of a combination of keys just like you would with Controller Automation so you can still achieve the same thing within the emulator itself. I think Controller Automation works with just regular old MAME, though I'm not sure. If you close MAMEUI via AHK script it doesn't save changes you make in the tab menu (like customizing the controls).

[Jason Carr]

Yes, the controller automation simply triggers the Escape key, so it's reliant on the Escape key closing the emulator out. Previously we had been doing things like force-closing apps and windows, but that causes problems for emulator features like save on exit and such.