Information and scripts for running Rakete in exhibition mode with the custom controller.
The original prototype aka "controller 0"
The game can be bought here: https://playables.itch.io/rakete
If you rent one of the controllers, you'll get a link to a free download.
Rakete has an "exhibition mode" that does the following:
- Starts the game immediately after pressing a button on the title screen, without level selection screen
- Shows info text so it makes sense with the controller
- Automatically restarts after some idle time
- Sets the input keys to
C V B N M. any manually set overrides are ignored.
To run the game in exhibition mode, run the game with the -exhibition command line argument:
# Windows
./rakete.exe -exhibition
# macOS
./rakete.app/Contents/MacOS/Rakete -exhibition
# Linux
./rakete -exhibition
You can do that manually in the command line or use the provided starter scripts (see next section). On windows, it's also possible to create a shortcut to rakete.exe and add the -exhibition argument in the shortcut properties.
You can confirm that it works if you are able to start the game with only the foot-switch-controller from the title screen. It should directly start the first level of the game if you press any of the foot-switches.
To simplify running the game in exhibition mode, you can use the scripts provided here. The scripts just start the game with the -exhibition parameter.
- Download the scripts: On this website, click on the green button "Code" -> "Download ZIP".
- Unzip and copy one of the scripts into the folder where your game executable is located (see examples below).
- Run that script instead of rakete.app.
// mac
rakete.app
rakete.sh <- here
// windows
rakete.exe
rakete_Data
rakete.bat <- here
// linux
rakete
rakete_Data
rakete.sh <- here
To use the controller, plug it in with a USB cable and attach all the pedals to the box. With everything attached, the 5 LEDs should be switched on. For details about the LED colors, check the "Controller versions" section below.
There's nothing to install on the computer. Technically it's just a keyboard that presses one of 5 buttons. In case a "new unknown/keyboard/HID device detected" dialog pops up, you can safely ignore and close it.
The controllers are labeled with a number on the bottom of the box: 0, 1 or 2.
The original prototype: Manually soldered wires, please handle with care.
LED colors:
- off: No pedal attached or no power.
- orange: Pedal attached, but not pressed
- green: Plugged pedal is pressed
Improved version with custom PCB.
LED colors:
- off: No power.
- blue: No pedal attached.
- red: Pedal attached, but not pressed
- white: Attached pedal is pressed
Controller 1
If you want to build your own controller, you can use any device that can emulate keyboard input, like Arduino Leonardo or many others. Note that in exhibition mode, the input is hardcoded to the default keyboard bindings C V B N M.
Controller 1 PCB