Buttons and Actions

Default controls

Gamepad	Gamepad	Keyboard	Action
	A (green button)	Q key	Accelerate (consumes fuel)
	B (red button)	A key	Brake / reverse
+	B + Left/Right Button	key	Handbrake / emergency stop (damages vehicle when driving too fast)
	X (blue button)	H key	Sound horn (repeat to create music score)
+	X + Left/Right Button	H key + Left/Right Shift key	Activate/deactive flashlights
	Y (yellow button)	C key	Change camera: look at train, follow train, orbit scene, board train (VR), move around freely
+	Y + Left/Right Button	key	Open/close passenger/cargo doors (if any) or tip tipper
	Start (menu)	S key	Switch next point in driving direction
	Back (view)	D key	Decouple last wagon (or release cargo for crane mode)
	Left/Right Trigger	Space	Fire (traverses connected wagons until a shot is fired)
	Left Stick	6 (up), U (right), Y (down) and T (left) keys	Rotate/move mobile crane (if any)
	Right Stick	9 (up), P (right), O (down) and I (left) keys	Rotate/move mobile crane (if any)

Furthermore, mouse/touch swipes and the arrow keys may be used to adjust the camera/view.

Input Methods

Play GeekTrains.com with any of the following input methods:

Gameplay Input Devices

Input Device Image	Usage Summary
	Keyboard Any full keyboard with letters and numbers, and some control keys (like ALT, SHIFT, ENTER) will do (NUM-pad not needed). The key mapping to actions is shown on the on-screen buttons (postfixed). Best used in combination with a Mouse.
	Mouse A Left- and Right click mouse button is essential; a third click button and a Scroll Wheel are optional. Left/right/middle click on-screen buttons and certain 3D objects. Adjust camera view (click & drag; scroll for zooming). Best used in combination with a Keyboard.
	Touch With a single finger you can click the on-screen buttons (including the Speed Gauge), or adjust the camera view by holding and dragging. When you use two fingers you can zoom in or out the camera view for most viewpoint setups. Best used in combination with a Gamepad.
	XR Pointer Similar to Mouse, but with better accuracy to point at 3D objects.
	Device orientation With Device Orientation you can only control a bit of the camera view. Best used in combination with Touch.
	Gamepad You can use any wired or wireless (USB/Bluetooth) gamepad that is compatible with your device (desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.) and HTML5 browser (like FireFox, Edge, Chrome or Opera). You need at least a gamepad with 6-8 buttons and a D-pad (directional pad), though having more buttons (12-13) and also one or two (analogue) sticks is preferred. Common USB/Bluetooth gamepads connected to PC/Laptop Console/style Description Buttons Gameplay NES 4 button with DPAD A,B,Select,Start Very Limited SNES 8 button with DPAD and shoulders A,B,X,Y,Select,Start,LBRB Limited N64 10 button with DPAD and analogue A,B,Trigger,Start,LB,RB Ok PlayStation/XBOX 12 button with DPAD and two analogues A,B,X,Y,LT,RT,Select,Start,LB,RB,LS,RS Recommended The 1st connected gamepad will be associated to (human) Player #1, the 2nd connected gamepad to (human) Player #2.
	PlayStation Densha de Go! Mamecon Same as Gamepad, but with dedicated buttons, (speed) throttle and (brakes) dial for train operation. Requires a PS1/PS2 to USB converter cable (installation instructions below).
	PlayStation Densha de Go! One Handle Type Controller Same as Gamepad, but with dedicated buttons, (speed/brake) throttle and optional (viewpoint) arrow keys and optional departure light for train operation. May require a PS1/PS2 to USB converter cable (installation instructions below).
	PlayStation Densha de Go! Two Handle Type Controller Same as Gamepad, but with dedicated buttons, (speed and brake) throttles and optional (viewpoint) arrow keys and optional departure light for train operation. May require a PS1/PS2 to USB converter cable (installation instructions below).
	RailDriver Desktop Cab Train Controller Same as Gamepad plus Keyboard, but with dedicated buttons, handles/throttles and viewpoint dial keys and digit display for train operation. May require a Beta browser version to use, driver installation probably not needed (installation instructions below).

Connecting Dedicated Controllers

GeekTrains™ supports certain USB HID and USB Gamepad compatible dedicated controllers.

USB HID Compatible Dedicated Controllers

An USB HID compatible dedicated controller won't be recognized as a standard gamepad on your system. That is often because the dedicated controller may have special features like speed gauge displays or the like. Therefore the hardware vendor offers the product with an installation disk in order to install the required drivers.

Once your USB HID compatible dedicated controller is connected to your computer or laptop, and the one-time driver software installation has finished, your device might be eligible to be used with GeekTrains™. GeekTrains™ can work with a selected list of USB HID compatible controllers.

Train Cab Controller

GeekTrains is the first model train web­game in the world that supports USB hardware Train Cab Controller devices.

The P.I. Engineering's RailDriver Modern Desktop is supported. This controller can at least be ordered from RailDriver.com (US) or from Aerosoft.com (Europe). Game support for more hardware Train Cab Controllers may follow.

Steps in connecting your RailDriver Modern Desktop controller:

1. Connect the USB plug of the RailDriver Modern Desktop controller to you desktop / laptop device.

2. To ensure the most compatibility, although sometimes not required, make sure that your Operating System has the official standard software installed from RailDriver that came with the box. In comparison with some other Train Simulation software, GeekTrains does not need additional drivers or custom software to be installed or run in order to use the RailDriver Modern Desktop Train Cab Controller.

3. Check in the Operating System settings of your desktop / laptop that the RailDriver Modern Desktop appears in the list of connected USB devices. If the USB controller doesn't show up here, then probably you'll need to first install the default software that came with the RailDriver box or website.

   

4. Because the browser technology to connect USB and HID devices to the web is still being developed, you'll need a recent Chrome browser (or Chrome Beta). As of December 2019, Chrome is the only browser that has support for the needed WebHID feature. When Chrome is already installed on your device, run an update check from the browser menu to ensure you are running the latest browser version.

   Note: Until the moment is there that the WebHID feature is generally available for everyone, we recommend to specifically use the Chrome Beta browser just for the purpose of playing GeekTrains with your RailDriver Modern Desktop.

5. Set the Experimental Web Platform features browser flag to 'Enabled'. If the flag is already set to 'Enabled', then leave it that way.

   

   Note: We recommend to specifically use the Chrome Beta browser just for the purpose of playing GeekTrains with your RailDriver Modern Desktop. Do not enable the flag for a browser that you use for other tasks as well, or make sure to set the flag to 'Disabled' once you are done with a play session.

6. Check the Chrome browser Device Log for an entry stating that a HID-device with the name 'RailDriver Modern Desktop' was added. If you don't see the USB controller mentioned, try reconnecting the device and then press the 'Refresh' button. If you still don't see the USB controller mentioned, then make sure you successfully completed the previous steps.

   

7. Great! You're almost done. So far the one-time setup. Now select a Level from GeekTrains to play.

8. Left-click the checkbox labelled 'RailDriver®' on the right side of the browser screen. A HID-device connection menu will open in the browser. Currently you'll have to do this every time you start a level.

   

9. Select the 'RailDriver® Modern Desktop' from the list of HID-devices. Then select the 'Make connection' button.

   If you don't see the USB controller mentioned, then make sure you successfully completed the previous steps.

   

10. Congratulations! You are now ready to use the RailDriver® Modern Desktop controller to play this GeekTrains level!

    Tip: Try moving the Throttle handle position forward. Your Locomotive should now pick up speed once the throttle has passed the dynamic threshold position. The LED-display will change based on your Locomotive speed.

    Tip: Calibrate the handles by putting each handle at least once in both extreme positions (e.g. fully up and fully down). The handle will trigger an input command to the game when it is put at about a tenth of the total distance (between fully up and down).

11. If you don't want to use the RailDriver® Modern Desktop controller any more, right-click on the checkbox labelled 'RailDriver®' on the right side of the browser screen. This will disable the controller from the game.

USB Gamepad Compatible Dedicated Controllers

If you want to use certain dedicated (train driving) controllers from retro-gaming consoles like PlayStation™, Nintendo64™, Sega Saturn™ or Sega Dreamcast™, then you'll need to buy a special hardware USB gamepad adapter first. With the hardware USB gamepad adapter appropriate for your gaming console system you will be able to convert a game console controller plug to an USB plug that works with your computer or laptop. The hardware USB gamepad adapter will make sure that the buttons and sticks on your dedicated retro gaming controller will be recognized as regular gamepad buttons and sticks on your device.

Densha de Go! Mamecon Controller

Yet again, GeekTrains™ is the first model train web­game in the world that supports Densha de Go! (PSX) controllers.

For the Mamecon PSX controller to work, you'll need an adapter cable from PSX (PlayStation 1) to USB. You can buy these controller converter cables in many electronics stores that sell converter cables for different gaming systems. The adapter may be named PSX, P1, P2, PI, PII etc. to USB converter. They often are sold in 2 variants of the same: 1 player and 2 player connections.

Your Windows computer will recognize the device most probably as a controller. You can find the discovered game controllers in the 'Game Controllers' program in Windows 10 (search for it in Start Menu). Sometimes the 1 player variant of the adapter will show up as 2 controllers. So you need to figure out which listed controller actually responds as the other listed item is fake/non-working entry.

To discover if the controller works, select a controller in the dialog and press 'Properties'. There you can test if all the buttons work. The buttons work if you press them (or move the throttle lever or rotate the brake dial) and then the dialog highlights the axes/buttons.

Notes on the controls/buttons for the Mamecon:

• The stick on the left side acts as the throttle.

• The dial ring on the right acts as the brake.