Using external controls with Bridge Command

Introduction

To increase the realism of the simulation, it is possible to use physical throttle levers and a wheel to control your vessel in Bridge Command. In principle, any three axis analog joystick can be used, but in practice suitable joysticks are not readily available, and it is quite simple to construct one to your own requirements. How to do this is explained at How to make a set of throttles and wheel.

In order to enable Bridge Command's joystick support, you will also need to make small changes to one configuration file. It may be worth reading the general introduction to Bridge Command's ini file format: The .ini file format.

Open the file joystick.ini in the Bridge Command root directory (Usually "C:\Program files\Bridge Command 4.0\"). In this file, change the line "use_joystick=0" to "use_joystick=1" to enable Bridge Command's joystick capabilities.

You may also need to change a few more values, depending on how your joystick is set up. If the controller you want to use is not the only joystick connected to your system, you may have to change the 'joystick_no' value to the correct one.

By default, Bridge Command uses channel 1 for the port throttle, channel 2 for the starboard throttle, and channel 3 for the wheel, but these can be changed as required. (port_throttle_channel, stbd_throttle_channel, rudder_channel)

If any of the controls are acting in the wrong direction, change the appropriate multiplier from 1 to -1. You can also change the offset if the control is not correctly zeroed in Bridge Command.

Bridge Command allows certain fixed throttle positions to be defined, such as 'slow ahead,' 'half ahead' etc. These are configured in this file. This file is set up with sensible defaults for a controller made in the way described, but may need changing for other controllers.

The variables that are used to control these settings are below:

• port_throttle_scale: This allows you to magnify the motion of your lever. Therefore, if your lever has a total range of 300 degrees, but you only want to use the central 150 degrees, this should be set to 2.
• stbd_throttle_scale: Like the port_throttle_scale, but for the starboard throttle.
• throttle_max_stop: The maximum value of the throttle for which the engines will be stopped
• throttle_max_slow: Between throttle_max_stop and throttle_max_slow, your engines will be engaged at slow ahead
• throttle_max_half: Between throttle_max_slow and throttle_max_half, your engines will be engaged at half ahead
• throttle_max_normal: Between throttle_max_half and throttle_max_normal, your engines will increase from half ahead to their maximum revolutions
• Note that all of these values must be between 0 and 1, with 0 being the throttle's centre position, and 1 being it's physical maximum position. Therefore, if you have the port/stbd_throttle_scale=2, these values should all be between 0 and 0.5. If you want free movement of your throttles, all of the throttle_max_... values can be set to zero
• throttle_slow: The proportion of engine revs at slow ahead
• throttle_half: The proportion of engine revs at half ahead