Gravis Eliminator Aftershock problems

[rdarmand]

Has anyone been successful in getting the above named gamepad to work with FFXI? I just got one recently, thinking it might be fun to try a gamepad with the game.

My problems, however, are many. When I run the FFXI gamepad config program, the rumble feature in the gamepad starts going off constantly. The gamepad config takes about a minute to load. I can configure my buttons and the two analog sticks. The D-pad, however, no matter how carefully I calibrate it, the FFXI config will only register UP and DOWN movement, not LEFT or RIGHT.

In the game itself, the left analog stick (movement) seems to be inconsistant - my character will waffle between walk and run, seemingly determined by what degree along the sticks circle I'm at (it is always push the furthest it can go).

I have loaded the latest Gravis Xperience 4.5 software for the gamepad. Without this software, the symptoms remain the same (except I get no Force Feedback rumble anymore).

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do? Is anyone out there successfully using the Gravis Eliminator Aftershock gamepad?

[Cerian]

Hey Rodney,

Using the same pad, and just figured out a workaround for getting the D-pad to work.

1) With PlayOnline running, open the Xperience control panel.

2) In the upper left you want to create a new hotset, using a currently running application (pol.exe). Make sure you then have the hotset selected.

3) Then go into the AXIS tab, click on the D-Pad, and change it from a Gamepad to a Keystroke configuration. The D-Pad should now show Left Arrow, Up Arrow etc. Those are the numpad arrows which move your character, so we need to change the settings to point at the other arrow keys.

4) Click on "Left Arrow." In the window that opens, backspace out the icon for the numpad left arrow. Then press the other left arrow key on the keyboard (the non-numpad arrow). You should see a slightly different looking arrow icon appear in the box. Hit Ok. Now, instead of "Left Arrow" it should read "Extended+Left."

5) Repeat for the other three directions.

6) Below the image of the D-Pad, click "Hotset," and repeat steps 4 & 5. (I didn't bother to figure out which set was working with the game, Normal or Hotset, I just did them both).

7) Go to File -> Save.

8) Go into FFXI. The D-pad should now move you around in the menus.

Not ideal, but worked for me! Never could get the game to get along with the force feedback, but not a huge loss.

As for the "waffling between walk & run" problem, first make sure the little "precision" buttons aren't lit up on the controller! That'll screw you up right there. After that, try scaling back the null zone a bit for the left analog stick in the Xperience control panel. It defaults to 3 - try 2 or 1 (remember to save afterwards).

Hope that helps!

-Cerian