RGPAD, a universal gamepad overlay

[DJM]

Hi, this is a gamepad overlay that I developed for my own use, but I thought it might come in handy for other people so now I’ve decided to share it. The thing is, RetroArch on Android is great but I never really liked its gamepad overlays (the default neo-retropad is pretty good but I don’t like buttons placement and also it doesn’t fit well with some emulated systems, i.e. N64). That’s why I developed RGPAD, a universal gamepad overlay that can make most RetroArch emulated systems nice to play on a touch screen

Features:

• Works on most devices with a screen aspect ratio of 16:9 and up

• Optimized controls and buttons layout

• 3 different overlays: landscape, portrait and a portrait-tate mode (mainly useful for vertical games)

How to configure it:

(please note that most options should be already RetroArch defaults):

• Set “Show Inputs on Overlay” to “Touched” (recommended)

• Enable “Auto-Rotate Overlay” option

• Enable “Auto-Scale Overlay” option

• Set “Overlay Opacity” to 0.70 (recommended)

• Set “D-Pad Diagonal Sensitivity” to 80% (recommended)

• Set “ABXY Overlap Sensitivity” to 50% (recommended)

Also, for a true “handheld experience”, I suggest to set RetroArch UI to “rgui” and disable the on-screen overlay option “Hide Overlay in Menu”. But that depends on your preferences

Acknowledgements:

• Valent-in for its awesome RetroPad Editor ( https://valent-in.github.io/retropad-editor/ ). Especially at first, it helped a lot to understand how gamepad overlays worked in RetroArch!

• Most of the graphics were made by me but some of them are modified images taken from other overlays shared on the Web. Credit to the original creators!

That’s all, enjoy!

Download RGPAD v1.0 here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E05_mQT5MVvFE9PhLEIxe0KfXyQNMD0a/

[hunterk]

This is great, thanks for sharing!

Would you be interested in having it in the official overlay bundle that comes with RetroArch?

[Thatman84]

I do love seeing people’s creations. A couple of screenshots would help browsers spot the potential

[DJM]

Yes of course! Having more choice is always a good thing for users

[TyroneSlothrop]

Thanks you - confirm it works on iOS perfectly. Having the R/L/1/2 buttons bunched on right helps with better mouse control in some cores and some multi button rpgs, that’s a pretty good idea!

[hynre]

hey I signed up just to let you know that your overlay is the best! the buttons are neatly placed, very organized. I really love this timeless design.

any plan to add more emulator specific buttons? ie save/load state and rewind.

[Skyrimer3d]

Absolutely love this gamepad, but could you pls pls make a version with rewind button too? It’s the only reason i still use an old touch overlay that i found somewhere, this is so much better but i really use rewind a lot.

[theKlois]

I really like the overlay. It is set up in a very smart way and feels good to use. I do wish it had a save/load, next/previous state menu because I cannot set hotkeys to on-screen touch buttons and getting in to the retroarch menu to do that is a hassle. Still, great job!

[Kameryn]

Hey DJM, excited to try RGPAD out but it seems your gdrive link is dead. Any chance you can fix it?

Thanks in Advance!

[hunterk]

It’s available from the online updater now: https://github.com/libretro/common-overlays/tree/master/gamepads/rgpad

[Kameryn]

NM! It looks like you’ve uploaded the files to the libretro repository here: https://github.com/libretro/common-overlays/tree/master/gamepads/rgpad I was able to get it working on my android and it’s wonderful, thanks again for your contribution!

[DJM]

RGPAD v5.0

• RGPAD now comes in two flavors: a MODERN VERSION and a RETRO VERSION (all overlay graphics have been reworked and optimized)!

(v4.1)

• Fixed some minor issues found in the previous version

(v4.0)

• All overlay graphics have been redesigned and optimized for a more modern and clear look

(v3.0)

• Added a new ONE-HANDED overlay (read below)!

• Various changes here and there to further improve the overall experience

This new ONE-HANDED overlay (portrait) is great for playing in situations where you can only use one hand (stand up on a bus / subway, etc.) and also for people who have some sort of physical disability.

It was really a challenge to develop this, I had been working on it for some time but I was never fully satisfied with how it worked… After a lot of work I have figured out a solution that allows to play most games with just a thumb (of course you need a bit of time to adapt to the new controls… now I am also able to play games like Street Fighter 2 with all the special moves!). The overlay has some limitations for obvious reasons and is not meant to be used with modern games as it doesn’t support analog sticks and there are “only” 6 buttons on screen. I won’t make a version of this overlay with the analog sticks, I made several tests during development and is impossible to make something truly “enjoyable” to play with one hand. If you really want to play games that require analog stick for movements you can try to map the directions to the D-pad.

Also, keep in mind that there will always be games that will be by default less “playable” than others but, by playing around with the overlay settings (some games play better with one hand if you try to reduce a bit the default 80% “D-Pad Diagonal Sensitivity”) and / or remapping the buttons, it is possible to play almost any type of game with this overlay (yes, even racing games where you need to press and hold a button to accelerate, I implemented in the overlay a solution that allows you to press and hold buttons when required!).

For more information about how this new ONE-HANDED overlay works, you can WATCH THIS VIDEO

(v2.2)

• Reorganized the layout of the L3 and R3 buttons (PSX games like “Ape Escape” and “Ace Combat 3” are more comfortable to play now)

(v2.1)

• Improved D-pad graphics and sensitivity (especially noticeable in fighting games)

• Other minor cosmetic changes

(v2.0)

• Reorganized the interface with the addition of 7 new buttons:

  • Save / Load state slot
  • Decrease / Increase state slot
  • Rewind
  • Slow-motion
  • Fast-forward

NOTE: Starting from version 2.0 it is recommended to set “Overlay Opacity” to 0.80 (or more) to improve the visibility of the new buttons.

    

               

               

Download here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jXm9BT3RyTD8btobz9OlOaM7hoyCxL-c/