Force feedback not working in Crazy Taxi 3

[coolpringles]

Xidi is an easy fix for every controller issue I have with Crazy Taxi 3 but unfortunately force feedback is the one thing that isn't working. The option is selectable in the config but enabling it makes no change. I've attached my log file, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Xidi_DInput8_CT3.exe_29604.log

[samuelgr]

Thanks for sharing the log. I see two things going on here.

1. A small bug in Xidi is causing the game to call the Acquire method repeatedly.

   ...
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [I] Invoked Xidi::VirtualDirectInputDevice<0>::Acquire() on interface object 0 associated with Xidi virtual controller 1, result = 0x00000001.
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [I] Acquiring Xidi virtual controller 1 in exclusive mode.
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [I] Invoked Xidi::VirtualDirectInputDevice<0>::Acquire() on interface object 0 associated with Xidi virtual controller 1, result = 0x00000001.
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [I] Acquiring Xidi virtual controller 1 in exclusive mode.
   ...
   

2. The game is doing something that's technically discouraged (and Xidi currently forbids) per DirectInput documentation. In its call to SetParameters for the force feedback effect the game combines multiple flags together, but only one of them should be set. The result code 0x80070057 maps to DIERR_INVALIDPARAM, which is to say Xidi is rejecting the parameters as invalid.

   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D] Begin dump of effect parameters.
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D]   Control:
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D]     flags = 0x60000000 (DIEP_NORESTART | DIEP_START)
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D]   Basics:
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D]     dwSize = 56 (sizeof(DIEFFECT))
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D]     dwFlags = 0x00000012 (DIEFF_CARTESIAN | DIEFF_OBJECTOFFSETS)
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [D] End dump of effect parameters.
   [03/05/2025 18:35:36] [I] Invoked Xidi::VirtualDirectInputEffect<0>::SetParameters() on force feedback effect with identifier 0 associated with Xidi virtual controller 1, result = 0x80070057.
   

   The game is passing both DIEP_NORESTART and DIEP_START. However, from the DirectInput documentation:

   No more than one of the DIEP_NODOWNLOAD, DIEP_START, and DIEP_NORESTART flags should be set. (It is also valid to pass none of them.)

I have a fix in mind for (1), but for (2) I will need to think of a way of intelligently deciding how to prioritize the flags when multiple of them are present.

[samuelgr]

Thinking about this a bit more, the DIEP_NORESTART flag is described this way:

Normally, if the driver cannot update the parameters of a playing effect, the driver is permitted to stop the effect, update the parameters, and then restart the effect. Passing the DIEP_NORESTART flag suppresses this behavior. If the driver cannot update the parameters of an effect while it is playing, the error code DIERR_EFFECTPLAYING is returned, and the parameters are not updated.

Xidi can always update an effect while it's playing, so in theory it could just ignore this flag altogether. That would solve the problem described in this issue.