Activate and Improve controller support across UI menus, bindings, and loading flows

This series of changes improves the controller experience in Q3Rally by making menu navigation, key rebinding, and save/readback behavior work reliably with modern gamepad keys (K_PAD0_*).
It also removes legacy key-range assumptions and introduces optional joystick auto-enable on device detection for better out-of-the-box behavior.

1) Better controller navigation in menus and scroll lists
Added/expanded gamepad navigation support in UI menu handling:

A/Start as confirm/select

B as back/cancel

DPAD up/down for menu cursor movement

Extended scroll-list input to support controller directional controls directly (including map lists), with support for:

K_PAD0_DPAD_*

K_PAD0_LEFTSTICK_*
This allows selecting list entries using the left stick, not only keyboard arrows.

2) Controller-friendly back/cancel semantics in controls UI
Added K_PAD0_B handling in Rally Controls for:

exit-confirm cancel action

backing out from controls menu

canceling active “waiting for key” bind mode
so controller users can consistently back out without keyboard/mouse.

3) Graphics loading/update dialog can be controlled with gamepad
Updated loading/update acknowledgement key handling to accept controller confirm/cancel:

confirm: PAD0_A, JOY1, Enter

cancel/skip: PAD0_B, Escape, mouse2

Added fallback behavior to default to “Skip” when confirming with no hovered button, so flow is always operable via controller only.

4) Controller binds now persist/read back correctly
Replaced fixed 0..255 key scans with 0..MAX_KEYS in controls key-assignment lookup paths.

This fixes cases where controller binds looked unsaved because K_PAD0_* key indices were outside the old range.

5) Extended bind-start handling for controller keys
Added Controls_IsMenuSelectKey in shared UI binding flow to accept gamepad buttons as valid bind-start keys, improving controller-first rebinding experience.

6) Optional joystick auto-enable when device is detected
Added in_joystickAutoEnable cvar (default 1) and logic to auto-enable joystick input if a device is detected and joystick input is currently off.

Documented the new cvar in engine docs.

7) Cleanup and warning fixes
Fixed Controls_SearchFieldHasFocus check to avoid a meaningless array-null comparison and use proper bounds checking.

Fixed misleading indentation in Controls_MenuKey to remove compiler warning and keep control flow clear.

Author: Perle2212

engine/code/cgame/cg_scoreboard.c

@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ static void CG_DrawColumnData(sbColumn_t colType, int x, int y, int width,
         case SBCOL_DELTA:
             if (ci->team == TEAM_SPECTATOR) {
                 CG_DrawModernText(x, y, "-", 1, width, textColor, qfalse);
-            } else if (score->client == cg.snap->ps.clientNum && cg.ghostSplitDeltaValid) {
+            } else if (cg.snap && score->client == cg.snap->ps.clientNum && cg.ghostSplitDeltaValid) {
                 deltaMs = cg.ghostSplitDeltaMs;
                 sign = deltaMs < 0 ? '-' : '+';
                 absMs = deltaMs < 0 ? -deltaMs : deltaMs;
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ static void CG_DrawColumnData(sbColumn_t colType, int x, int y, int width,
             break;
 
         case SBCOL_STATUS:
-            if (cg.snap->ps.stats[STAT_CLIENTS_READY] & (1 << score->client)) {
+            if (cg.snap && (cg.snap->ps.stats[STAT_CLIENTS_READY] & (1 << score->client))) {
                 CG_DrawModernText(x, y, "READY", 1, width, readyColor, qfalse);
             } else if (ci->team != TEAM_SPECTATOR) {
                 CG_DrawModernText(x, y, "WAIT", 1, width, textColor, qfalse);

engine/code/q3_ui/ui_controls2.c

@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ static void Controls_GetKeyAssignment (char *command, int *twokeys)
 	twokeys[0] = twokeys[1] = -1;
 	count = 0;
 
-	for ( j = 0; j < 256; j++ )
+	for ( j = 0; j < MAX_KEYS; j++ )
 	{
 		trap_Key_GetBindingBuf( j, b, 256 );
 		if ( *b == 0 ) {

engine/code/q3_ui/ui_playersettings.c

@@ -2948,7 +2948,7 @@ static qboolean PlayerSettings_TryProfileFavorite( const char *favorite, char *m
 
 static qboolean PlayerSettings_GetFavoriteValues( const char *favorite, char *modelName, char *skinName, char *rimName, char *headName ) {
 	if ( PlayerSettings_TryProfileFavorite( favorite, modelName, skinName, rimName, headName ) ) {
-		return qfalse;
+		return qtrue; /* profile favorite found - success */
 	}
 
 	return GetValuesFromFavorite( favorite, modelName, skinName, rimName, headName );
@@ -3519,10 +3519,10 @@ static void PlayerSettings_MenuEvent( void* ptr, int event ) {
 // STONELANCE
 /*
 =================
-PlayerSettigns_ChangeMenu
+PlayerSettings_ChangeMenu
 =================
 */
-void PlayerSettigns_ChangeMenu( int menuID ){
+void PlayerSettings_ChangeMenu( int menuID ){
 
 	switch(menuID){
 	case ID_CUSTOMIZE:
@@ -3609,7 +3609,7 @@ static void PlayerSettings_MenuInit( void ) {
 // STONELANCE
 	s_playersettings.menu.draw		 = PlayerSettings_DrawBackShaders;
 	s_playersettings.menu.transition = PlayerSettings_RunTransition;
-	s_playersettings.menu.changeMenu = PlayerSettigns_ChangeMenu;
+	s_playersettings.menu.changeMenu = PlayerSettings_ChangeMenu;
 // END
 
 	s_playersettings.banner.generic.type  = MTYPE_BTEXT;
@@ -3996,9 +3996,13 @@ static void PlayerSettings_MenuInit( void ) {
 	}
 
 	s_playersettings.plate.generic.type				= MTYPE_PTEXT;
-	s_playersettings.plate.generic.flags			= QMF_LEFT_JUSTIFY|QMF_PULSEIFFOCUS;
+	s_playersettings.plate.generic.flags			= QMF_LEFT_JUSTIFY|QMF_PULSEIFFOCUS|QMF_NODEFAULTINIT;
 	s_playersettings.plate.generic.x				= 640 - 140;
 	s_playersettings.plate.generic.y				= 378;
+	s_playersettings.plate.generic.left			    = s_playersettings.plate.generic.x - 20;
+	s_playersettings.plate.generic.top				= s_playersettings.plate.generic.y + 6;
+	s_playersettings.plate.generic.right			= s_playersettings.plate.generic.x + 120;
+	s_playersettings.plate.generic.bottom			= s_playersettings.plate.generic.y + PROP_HEIGHT + 10;
 	s_playersettings.plate.generic.id				= ID_PLATE;
 	s_playersettings.plate.generic.callback			= PlayerSettings_MenuEvent; 
 	s_playersettings.plate.string					= "CHANGE PLATE";
@@ -4316,13 +4320,12 @@ static void PlateSelection_SetMenuItems( void ) {
 		if (!Q_stricmp( s_plateSelection.plateSkin, s_plateSelection.plateList[i] )){
 			// found pic, set selection here
 			s_plateSelection.list.curvalue = i;
+			/* Set top so the selected item is visible, then clamp to valid range */
+			s_plateSelection.list.top = i;
 			if (s_plateSelection.list.top + s_plateSelection.list.height > s_plateSelection.numPlates)
 				s_plateSelection.list.top = s_plateSelection.numPlates - s_plateSelection.list.height;
-
 			if (s_plateSelection.list.top < 0)
 				s_plateSelection.list.top = 0;
-			else
-				s_plateSelection.list.top = i;
 
 			return;
 		}
@@ -4375,7 +4378,7 @@ static void PlateSelection_MenuInit( void ) {
 	s_plateSelection.list.height				= 11;
 	s_plateSelection.list.itemnames				= (const char **)s_plateSelection.items;
 	s_plateSelection.list.numitems				= s_plateSelection.numPlates;
-	for( i = 0; i < MAX_PLATEMODELS; i++ ) {
+	for( i = 0; i < s_plateSelection.numPlates; i++ ) {
 		s_plateSelection.items[i] = s_plateSelection.plateList[i];
 	}
 

engine/code/q3_ui/ui_qmenu.c

@@ -496,6 +496,7 @@ static sfxHandle_t RadioButton_Key( menuradiobutton_s *rb, int key )
 		case K_JOY2:
 		case K_JOY3:
 		case K_JOY4:
+		case K_PAD0_A:
 		case K_ENTER:
 		case K_KP_ENTER:
 		case K_KP_LEFTARROW:
@@ -1086,6 +1087,7 @@ sfxHandle_t ListBox_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_UPARROW:
 		case K_UPARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_UP:
 			if (l->generic.flags & QMF_HASMOUSEFOCUS)
 			{
 				// clicked up
@@ -1106,6 +1108,7 @@ sfxHandle_t ListBox_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_DOWNARROW:
 		case K_DOWNARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_DOWN:
 			if (l->generic.flags & QMF_HASMOUSEFOCUS)
 			{
 				// clicked down
@@ -1509,6 +1512,8 @@ sfxHandle_t ScrollList_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_UPARROW:
 		case K_UPARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_UP:
+		case K_PAD0_LEFTSTICK_UP:
 			if( l->curvalue == 0 ) {
 				return menu_buzz_sound;
 			}
@@ -1533,6 +1538,8 @@ sfxHandle_t ScrollList_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_DOWNARROW:
 		case K_DOWNARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_DOWN:
+		case K_PAD0_LEFTSTICK_DOWN:
 			if( l->curvalue == l->numitems - 1 ) {
 				return menu_buzz_sound;
 			}
@@ -1557,6 +1564,8 @@ sfxHandle_t ScrollList_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_LEFTARROW:
 		case K_LEFTARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_LEFT:
+		case K_PAD0_LEFTSTICK_LEFT:
 			if( l->columns == 1 ) {
 				return menu_null_sound;
 			}
@@ -1580,6 +1589,8 @@ sfxHandle_t ScrollList_Key( menulist_s *l, int key )
 
 		case K_KP_RIGHTARROW:
 		case K_RIGHTARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_RIGHT:
+		case K_PAD0_LEFTSTICK_RIGHT:
 			if( l->columns == 1 ) {
 				return menu_null_sound;
 			}
@@ -2089,6 +2100,15 @@ sfxHandle_t Menu_ActivateItem( menuframework_s *s, menucommon_s* item ) {
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static qboolean Menu_IsGamepadSelectKey( int key )
+{
+	if ( key == K_PAD0_A || key == K_PAD0_START ) {
+		return qtrue;
+	}
+
+	return qfalse;
+}
+
 /*
 =================
 Menu_DefaultKey
@@ -2105,7 +2125,8 @@ sfxHandle_t Menu_DefaultKey( menuframework_s *m, int key )
 	{
 		case K_MOUSE2:
 		case K_ESCAPE:
-// STONELANCE - dont pop the menu if we are on the top menu
+		case K_PAD0_B:
+	// STONELANCE - dont pop the menu if we are on the top menu
 			if (uis.mainMenu)
 				return sound;
 
@@ -2162,6 +2183,10 @@ sfxHandle_t Menu_DefaultKey( menuframework_s *m, int key )
 		}
 	}
 
+	if ( item && !(item->flags & (QMF_MOUSEONLY|QMF_GRAYED|QMF_INACTIVE)) && Menu_IsGamepadSelectKey( key ) ) {
+		return Menu_ActivateItem( m, item );
+	}
+
 	// default handling
 	switch ( key )
 	{
@@ -2176,6 +2201,7 @@ sfxHandle_t Menu_DefaultKey( menuframework_s *m, int key )
 #endif
 		case K_KP_UPARROW:
 		case K_UPARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_UP:
 			cursor_prev    = m->cursor;
 			m->cursor_prev = m->cursor;
 			m->cursor--;
@@ -2189,6 +2215,7 @@ sfxHandle_t Menu_DefaultKey( menuframework_s *m, int key )
 		case K_TAB:
 		case K_KP_DOWNARROW:
 		case K_DOWNARROW:
+		case K_PAD0_DPAD_DOWN:
 			cursor_prev    = m->cursor;
 			m->cursor_prev = m->cursor;
 			m->cursor++;

engine/code/q3_ui/ui_rally_controls.c

@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ static qboolean Controls_SearchActive( void )
 
 static qboolean Controls_SearchFieldHasFocus( void )
 {
-	if ( !s_controls.menu.items || s_controls.menu.cursor < 0 || s_controls.menu.cursor >= s_controls.menu.nitems ) {
+	if ( s_controls.menu.nitems <= 0 || s_controls.menu.cursor < 0 || s_controls.menu.cursor >= s_controls.menu.nitems ) {
 		return qfalse;
 	}
 
@@ -1168,7 +1168,7 @@ static void Controls_GetKeyAssignment (char *command, int *twokeys)
 	twokeys[0] = twokeys[1] = -1;
 	count = 0;
 
-	for ( j = 0; j < 256; j++ )
+	for ( j = 0; j < MAX_KEYS; j++ )
 	{
 		trap_Key_GetBindingBuf( j, b, 256 );
 		if ( *b == 0 ) {
@@ -1452,7 +1452,7 @@ static void Controls_ExitConfirm_MenuEvent( void* ptr, int event )
 
 static sfxHandle_t Controls_ExitConfirm_MenuKey( int key )
 {
-	if ( key == K_ESCAPE || key == K_MOUSE2 ) {
+	if ( key == K_ESCAPE || key == K_MOUSE2 || key == K_PAD0_B ) {
 		Controls_ExitConfirm_MenuEvent( &s_controlsExitConfirm.cancel, QM_ACTIVATED );
 		return menu_out_sound;
 	}
@@ -1555,42 +1555,44 @@ static sfxHandle_t Controls_MenuKey( int key )
 
 	if (!s_controls.waitingforkey)
 	{
-		switch (key)
-		{
+			switch (key)
+			{
 			case K_BACKSPACE:
 			case K_DEL:
 			case K_KP_DEL:
 				key = -1;
 				break;
 
-			case K_MOUSE2:
-			case K_ESCAPE:
-				if (s_controls.changesmade) {
-					Controls_ExitConfirmMenu();
-					return menu_move_sound;
-				}
-				goto ignorekey;	
+				case K_MOUSE2:
+				case K_ESCAPE:
+				case K_PAD0_B:
+					if (s_controls.changesmade) {
+						Controls_ExitConfirmMenu();
+						return menu_move_sound;
+					}
+					goto ignorekey;
 
 			default:
 				goto ignorekey;
 		}
 	}
 	else
-	{
-		if (key & K_CHAR_FLAG)
-			return 0;
-
-		switch (key)
 		{
-			case K_ESCAPE:
-				s_controls.waitingforkey = qfalse;
-				Controls_Update();
-				return (menu_out_sound);
-	
-			case '`':
-				goto ignorekey;
+			if (key & K_CHAR_FLAG)
+				return 0;
+
+			switch (key)
+			{
+				case K_ESCAPE:
+				case K_PAD0_B:
+					s_controls.waitingforkey = qfalse;
+					Controls_Update();
+					return (menu_out_sound);
+
+				case '`':
+					goto ignorekey;
+			}
 		}
-	}
 
 	id      = ((menucommon_s*)(s_controls.menu.items[s_controls.menu.cursor]))->id;
 

engine/code/q3_ui/ui_rally_gfxloading.c

@@ -510,7 +510,17 @@ static void UI_GFX_Loading_MenuDraw(void) {
 
 static sfxHandle_t UI_GFX_Loading_Key(int key) {
     if (s_gfxloading.requireUpdateAck && !s_gfxloading.updateAcked) {
-        if (key == K_MOUSE1) {
+        if (key == K_ESCAPE || key == K_MOUSE2 || key == K_PAD0_B) {
+            s_gfxloading.updateAcked = qtrue;
+            trap_S_StartLocalSound(menu_out_sound, CHAN_LOCAL_SOUND);
+            return menu_out_sound;
+        }
+
+        if (key == K_MOUSE1 || key == K_ENTER || key == K_KP_ENTER || key == K_JOY1 || key == K_PAD0_A) {
+            if (s_gfxloading.hoveredBtn == UPD_BTN_NONE) {
+                s_gfxloading.hoveredBtn = UPD_BTN_SKIP;
+            }
+
             switch (s_gfxloading.hoveredBtn) {
                 case UPD_BTN_NOW:
                     trap_Cmd_ExecuteText(EXEC_APPEND,

engine/code/sdl/sdl_input.c

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ static cvar_t *in_mouse             = NULL;
 static cvar_t *in_nograb;
 
 static cvar_t *in_joystick          = NULL;
+static cvar_t *in_joystickAutoEnable = NULL;
 static cvar_t *in_joystickThreshold = NULL;
 static cvar_t *in_joystickNo        = NULL;
 static cvar_t *in_joystickUseAnalog = NULL;
@@ -615,6 +616,12 @@ static void IN_InitJoystick( void )
 	// Update cvar on in_restart or controller add/remove.
 	Cvar_Set( "in_availableJoysticks", buf );
 
+	if ( !in_joystick->integer && total > 0 && in_joystickAutoEnable->integer ) {
+		Com_Printf( "Auto-enabling joystick input (detected %d device%s).\n", total, total == 1 ? "" : "s" );
+		Cvar_Set( "in_joystick", "1" );
+		in_joystick = Cvar_Get( "in_joystick", "1", CVAR_ARCHIVE|CVAR_LATCH );
+	}
+
 	if( !in_joystick->integer ) {
 		Com_DPrintf( "Joystick is not active.\n" );
 		SDL_QuitSubSystem(SDL_INIT_GAMECONTROLLER);
@@ -1395,6 +1402,7 @@ void IN_Init( void *windowData )
 	in_nograb = Cvar_Get( "in_nograb", "0", CVAR_ARCHIVE );
 
 	in_joystick = Cvar_Get( "in_joystick", "0", CVAR_ARCHIVE|CVAR_LATCH );
+	in_joystickAutoEnable = Cvar_Get( "in_joystickAutoEnable", "1", CVAR_ARCHIVE );
 	in_joystickThreshold = Cvar_Get( "joy_threshold", "0.15", CVAR_ARCHIVE );
 
 #if defined(PROTOCOL_HANDLER) && defined(__APPLE__)

engine/code/ui/ui_shared.c

@@ -3539,14 +3539,31 @@ qboolean Display_KeyBindPending(void) {
 	return g_waitingForKey;
 }
 
+static qboolean Controls_IsMenuSelectKey( int key ) {
+	if ( key == K_ENTER || key == K_KP_ENTER ||
+		 key == K_JOY1 || key == K_JOY2 || key == K_JOY3 || key == K_JOY4 ) {
+		return qtrue;
+	}
+
+	if ( key >= K_PAD0_A && key <= K_PAD0_DPAD_RIGHT ) {
+		return qtrue;
+	}
+
+	if ( key >= K_PAD0_MISC1 && key <= K_PAD0_TOUCHPAD ) {
+		return qtrue;
+	}
+
+	return qfalse;
+}
+
 qboolean Item_Bind_HandleKey(itemDef_t *item, int key, qboolean down) {
 	int			id;
 	int			i;
 
 	if (!g_waitingForKey)
 	{
 		if (down && ((key == K_MOUSE1 && Rect_ContainsPoint(&item->window.rect, DC->cursorx, DC->cursory))
-				|| key == K_ENTER || key == K_KP_ENTER || key == K_JOY1 || key == K_JOY2 || key == K_JOY3 || key == K_JOY4)) {
+				|| Controls_IsMenuSelectKey( key ))) {
 			g_waitingForKey = qtrue;
 			g_bindItem = item;
 		}
@@ -6057,4 +6074,3 @@ static qboolean Menu_OverActiveItem(menuDef_t *menu, float x, float y) {
 	}
 	return qfalse;
 }
-