Getting joystick input with Allegro 5.0.2 - c++

Question

I'm new in Allegro 5, I've written some code with the few tutorials there are so far, but I cannot get the joystick sticks input.
Here the code, it is just two bars moving perpendicularly(and a very lazy approach, just swapped the x an y coordinates on the second bar).
#pragma comment (lib,"allegro-5.0.2-monolith-md-debug.lib")
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string>
#include <iostream>
#include <allegro5/allegro.h>
#include <allegro5/allegro_font.h>
#include <allegro5/allegro_ttf.h>
#define FPS 0xFF
#define SCREEN_W 1000
#define SCREEN_H 750
#define BAR_W 75
#define BAR_H 10
enum KEYS
{
KEY_LEFT, KEY_RIGHT
};
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
ALLEGRO_DISPLAY *display = NULL;
ALLEGRO_EVENT_QUEUE *event_queue = NULL;
ALLEGRO_JOYSTICK *joystick = NULL;
ALLEGRO_TIMER *timer = NULL;
ALLEGRO_BITMAP *bouncer = NULL;
float bouncer_x = SCREEN_W / 2.0 - BAR_W / 2.0;
float bouncer_y = SCREEN_H - BAR_H;
bool key[2] = {false, false};
bool redraw = true;
bool doexit = false;
if(!al_init())
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to initialize allegro!\n");
return -1;
}
if(!al_install_keyboard())
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to initialize the keyboard!\n");
return -1;
}
if(!al_install_joystick())
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to initialize the joystick!\n");
}
al_reconfigure_joysticks();
joystick=al_get_joystick(al_get_num_joysticks()-1);
timer = al_create_timer(1.0 / FPS);
if(!timer)
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to create timer!\n");
return -1;
}
display = al_create_display(SCREEN_W, SCREEN_H);
if(!display)
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to create display!\n");
al_destroy_timer(timer);
return -1;
}
bouncer = al_create_bitmap(BAR_W, BAR_H);
if(!bouncer)
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to create bouncer bitmap!\n");
al_destroy_display(display);
al_destroy_timer(timer);
return -1;
}
al_set_target_bitmap(bouncer);
al_clear_to_color(al_map_rgb(0, 0, 255));
al_set_target_bitmap(al_get_backbuffer(display));
event_queue = al_create_event_queue();
if(!event_queue)
{
fprintf(stderr, "failed to create event_queue!\n");
al_destroy_bitmap(bouncer);
al_destroy_display(display);
al_destroy_timer(timer);
return -1;
}
al_register_event_source(event_queue, al_get_display_event_source(display));
al_register_event_source(event_queue, al_get_timer_event_source(timer));
al_register_event_source(event_queue, al_get_keyboard_event_source());
al_register_event_source(event_queue, al_get_joystick_event_source());
al_clear_to_color(al_map_rgb(0,0,0));
al_flip_display();
al_start_timer(timer);
while(!doexit)
{
ALLEGRO_EVENT ev;
al_wait_for_event(event_queue, &ev);
if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_TIMER)
{
if(key[KEY_LEFT] && bouncer_x >= 2.0)
bouncer_x -= 2.0;
if(key[KEY_RIGHT] && bouncer_x <= SCREEN_W - BAR_W - 2.0)
bouncer_x += 2.0;
redraw = true;
}
else if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_JOYSTICK_AXIS
&& ev.joystick.stick == 0
&& ev.joystick.axis == 0)
{
float joypos=ev.joystick.pos;
if(joypos<0 && bouncer_x >= 2.0)
bouncer_x-=joypos;
if(joypos>0 && bouncer_x <= SCREEN_W - BAR_W - 2.0)
bouncer_x+=joypos;
if(joypos=0)
bouncer_x=SCREEN_W/2;
}
else if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_DISPLAY_CLOSE)
break;
else if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_KEY_DOWN)
{
switch(ev.keyboard.keycode)
{
case ALLEGRO_KEY_LEFT:
key[KEY_LEFT] = true;
break;
case ALLEGRO_KEY_RIGHT:
key[KEY_RIGHT] = true;
break;
}
}
else if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_KEY_UP)
{
switch(ev.keyboard.keycode)
{
case ALLEGRO_KEY_LEFT:
key[KEY_LEFT] = false;
break;
case ALLEGRO_KEY_RIGHT:
key[KEY_RIGHT] = false;
break;
case ALLEGRO_KEY_ESCAPE:
doexit = true;
break;
}
}
if(redraw && al_is_event_queue_empty(event_queue))
{
std::string str=al_get_joystick_name(joystick);
redraw = false;
al_clear_to_color(al_map_rgb(0,0,0));
al_draw_bitmap(bouncer, bouncer_x, bouncer_y, 0);
al_draw_bitmap(bouncer, bouncer_y, bouncer_x, 0);
std::cout << ev.joystick.pos << " ";
std::cout << str << " ";
std::cout << al_get_joystick_active(joystick) << std::endl;
al_flip_display();
}
}
al_destroy_bitmap(bouncer);
al_destroy_timer(timer);
al_destroy_display(display);
al_destroy_event_queue(event_queue);
return 0;
}
Now, the trouble: ev.joystick.pos has a relatively static value (viewed trough MSVC2010 debugger), no matter if I have all the axis of my joystick at the max position.
Also, I don't know how to get the value of an specific axis of an specific stick. I managed to get the bar move only when an specific axis and stick changes, but not "how much" it changes.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I can't see what you're doing wrong, but I got the controller working in my game, so maybe my code will shed some insight. By the way, I'm using an Xbox 360 controller. Actually, I'm using a GameStop brand 360 controller, so it's not technically official. Anyway, here's my relevant code (the full source is a monster):
if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_JOYSTICK_AXIS){
if(ev.type == ALLEGRO_EVENT_JOYSTICK_AXIS){
if(ev.joystick.stick == 0){ //float joys[3][2]
joys[ev.joystick.stick][ev.joystick.axis] = ev.joystick.pos;
}
}
void SetPosition(){
int leftStick = 0;
int rightStick = 1;
int dPad = 2;
int x = 0;
int y = 1;
int z = 2;
bitmapX += joys[leftStick][x];
bitmapY += joys[leftStick][y];
}