Inputs

Table of Contents

Overview

RCCP uses Unity's New Input System (com.unity.inputsystem package) for all player input. This replaces the legacy Input.GetAxis / Input.GetKey approach with a modern, data-driven system that supports multiple devices out of the box.

Key points:

Input Architecture

Input flows through three layers before reaching the vehicle:

InputActionAsset (.inputactions file)
        |
        v
RCCP_InputManager  (singleton, reads actions, fires static events)
        |
        v
RCCP_Input  (per-vehicle component, processes and applies inputs)
        |
        v
RCCP_CarController  (vehicle systems consume throttle, brake, steer, etc.)

Action Maps

The InputActionAsset contains three action maps:

Action Map Purpose Actions
Vehicle Driving controls Throttle, Brake, Steering, Handbrake, NOS, Clutch, Engine, Lights, Indicators, Gears, Trail Detach
Camera Camera control MouseInput, Change Camera, Look Back, Zoom, Hold (orbit)
Optional Recording and replay Record, Replay

All three maps are enabled simultaneously at runtime. The RCCP_InputManager caches references to each map on initialization for performance.

RCCP_Inputs Struct

The RCCP_Inputs class carries all analog input values between the manager and vehicle components:

Field Type Range Description
throttleInput float 0 to 1 Throttle pedal amount
brakeInput float 0 to 1 Brake pedal amount
steerInput float -1 to 1 Steering direction (negative = left, positive = right)
handbrakeInput float 0 to 1 Handbrake engagement
clutchInput float 0 to 1 Clutch disengagement
nosInput float 0 to 1 Nitrous oxide activation
mouseInput Vector2 unbounded Mouse/stick delta for camera orbit

Button-press actions (engine start, lights, gear shifts, etc.) are not carried in this struct. They are delivered via static events instead. See Input Events below.

Default Keyboard Bindings

Vehicle Controls

Action Keyboard Key Description
Throttle W / Up Arrow Accelerate
Brake S / Down Arrow Brake / Decelerate
Steer Left A / Left Arrow Turn left
Steer Right D / Right Arrow Turn right
Handbrake Space Engage handbrake
NOS (Nitrous) F Activate nitrous oxide boost
Clutch M Disengage clutch
Start/Stop Engine I Toggle engine on/off
Low Beam Headlights L Toggle low beam headlights
High Beam Headlights K Toggle high beam headlights
Indicator Left Q Toggle left turn signal
Indicator Right E Toggle right turn signal
Indicator Hazard Z Toggle hazard lights
Gear Shift Up Left Shift Shift up one gear
Gear Shift Down Left Ctrl Shift down one gear
Gear N (Neutral) N Toggle neutral gear
Gear 1 1 Shift directly to 1st gear
Gear 2 2 Shift directly to 2nd gear
Gear 3 3 Shift directly to 3rd gear
Gear 4 4 Shift directly to 4th gear
Gear 5 5 Shift directly to 5th gear
Gear 6 6 Shift directly to 6th gear
Trail Detach T Detach attached trailer

Camera Controls

Action Keyboard / Mouse Description
Change Camera C Cycle through camera modes
Look Back B Look behind vehicle (hold)
Camera Orbit Mouse Delta Orbit camera around vehicle
Hold Orbit Left Mouse Button Enable camera orbit mode
Zoom Mouse Scroll Wheel Zoom camera in/out

Optional Controls

Action Keyboard Key Description
Record R Start/stop recording vehicle state
Replay P Start/stop replaying recorded state

Default Gamepad Bindings

These bindings use the standard Gamepad layout. Button names follow Unity's convention: Button South = A (Xbox) / X (PlayStation), Button East = B (Xbox) / O (PlayStation), and so on.

Vehicle Controls

Action Gamepad Input Description
Throttle Right Trigger Accelerate
Brake Left Trigger Brake / Decelerate
Steering Left Stick (horizontal) Turn left/right
Handbrake Button South (A / X) Engage handbrake
NOS (Nitrous) Button East (B / O) Activate nitrous
Start/Stop Engine Button North (Y / Triangle) Toggle engine
Low Beam Headlights D-Pad Up Toggle low beam
High Beam Headlights Left Stick Down Toggle high beam
Indicator Left D-Pad Left Toggle left signal
Indicator Right D-Pad Right Toggle right signal
Indicator Hazard D-Pad Down Toggle hazard lights
Gear Shift Up Right Shoulder (RB / R1) Shift up
Gear Shift Down Left Shoulder (LB / L1) Shift down
Trail Detach Right Stick Press Detach trailer

Camera Controls

Action Gamepad Input Description
Change Camera Left Stick Press Cycle camera modes
Look Back Button West (X / Square) Look behind (hold)
Camera Orbit Right Stick Orbit camera
Hold Orbit Right Stick Press Toggle orbit mode

Additional Control Schemes

RCCP includes preconfigured bindings for two additional devices:

You can view and edit all bindings by opening the InputActionAsset at Assets/Realistic Car Controller Pro/InputActions/RCCP_InputActions.inputactions in Unity's Input Actions editor.

Transmission Modes

RCCP supports three transmission types, configured on the RCCP_Gearbox component. The active transmission mode determines how gear input is interpreted.

Automatic

The gearbox shifts automatically based on engine RPM thresholds. No manual gear input is required from the player. The shift point is controlled by the shiftThreshold property on RCCP_Gearbox (higher values = shifts at higher RPM for a sportier feel).

When Auto Reverse is enabled on RCCP_Input (default: on), the vehicle automatically shifts into reverse when the player holds the brake at low speed, and shifts back to first gear when accelerating forward.

Manual

The player shifts gears manually using the Gear Shift Up and Gear Shift Down inputs (Left Shift / Left Ctrl by default). Direct gear selection is also available using number keys 1-6, N for neutral, or by pressing Gear_R for reverse (only available on G920 wheel scheme by default).

Automatic DNRP (Semi-Automatic)

Uses a Drive / Neutral / Reverse / Park selector similar to a real automatic vehicle. Within Drive mode, gears shift automatically. The player selects the operating mode (D, N, R, or P) using the gear selector inputs.

Input Component Settings

Each vehicle has an RCCP_Input component with per-vehicle input processing settings. These let you fine-tune how raw input translates into vehicle behavior.

Steering Curve

An AnimationCurve that reduces the maximum steering angle as vehicle speed increases. This prevents unrealistic sharp turns at high speed.

Steering Limiter

When enabled (default: on), reduces the allowed steering angle when the vehicle is skidding sideways at speeds above 15 km/h. This prevents the player from oversteering into an unrecoverable spin.

Counter Steering

When enabled (default: on), automatically applies a slight counter-steer correction based on front axle sideways slip. This helps stabilize the vehicle during oversteer situations.

The strength is controlled by counterSteerFactor (0 to 1, default: 0.5).

Auto Reverse

When enabled (default: on) and the transmission is set to Automatic, the vehicle automatically shifts into reverse when the brake is held firmly (over 75% input) while nearly stopped (under 3 km/h). It shifts back to first gear when the vehicle starts moving forward again.

Inverse Throttle/Brake on Reverse

When enabled (default: on) and the transmission is Automatic, the throttle and brake inputs are swapped while the vehicle is in reverse gear. This means pressing the throttle key drives the vehicle backward and pressing the brake key slows it down, which feels more natural.

Cut Throttle When Shifting

When enabled (default: on), throttle input is forced to zero during an active gear shift. This creates a brief power interruption similar to a real manual gearbox, preventing harsh gear engagement.

Brake/Handbrake on Disable

Two options control what happens when the vehicle loses player control (canControl becomes false):

Deadzones

Configurable per input axis to prevent analog stick drift or minor input noise from affecting the vehicle. Each deadzone is a float from 0 to 0.2 (default: 0.05 for all axes).

Deadzone Property Applies To
steeringDeadzone Steering input
throttleDeadzone Throttle input
brakeDeadzone Brake input
handbrakeDeadzone Handbrake input
nosDeadzone Nitrous input
clutchDeadzone Clutch input

Values below the deadzone threshold are treated as zero. The remaining range is remapped to 0-1 so you do not lose any usable range.

Input Rebinding at Runtime

RCCP supports letting players remap controls at runtime using Unity's built-in interactive rebinding API.

How It Works

  1. The player clicks a rebind button in the UI.
  2. An overlay appears with a "Waiting for input..." prompt.
  3. The player presses the desired key or button.
  4. The new binding is applied and displayed.
  5. Bindings are saved to PlayerPrefs as JSON.

Key Classes

Class Purpose
RCCP_RebindSaveLoad Static utility that saves and loads binding overrides to/from PlayerPrefs using the key "rebinds".
RCCP_UI_RebindInput UI component that handles interactive rebinding for a single action. Attach to a UI button, assign an InputActionReference, and wire up the text labels.
RCCP_UI_RebindInputReset UI component that resets all rebind overrides back to defaults.

Auto Save/Load

When autoSaveLoadInputRebind is enabled in RCCP_Settings, rebind overrides are automatically saved after changes and loaded on startup via RCCP_RebindSaveLoad.Save() and RCCP_RebindSaveLoad.Load().

Setting Up Rebind UI

  1. Create a UI button for each action you want to be rebindable.
  2. Add the RCCP_UI_RebindInput component to each button.
  3. Assign the InputActionReference for the target action.
  4. Assign TextMeshPro labels for the action name and current binding display.
  5. Optionally assign a rebind overlay GameObject that appears during rebinding.
  6. Call StartInteractiveRebind() from the button's OnClick event.

Input Events

The RCCP_InputManager fires static events for all button-press actions. These events are not carried in the RCCP_Inputs struct because they are one-shot triggers rather than continuous analog values.

Gear Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnGearShiftedUp void() Player shifts up one gear
OnGearShiftedDown void() Player shifts down one gear
OnGearShiftedTo void(int gearIndex) Player selects a specific gear (0-5 for gears 1-6, -1 for reverse)
OnGearShiftedToN void() Player toggles neutral gear
OnGearToggle void(TransmissionType) Transmission type is switched
OnAutomaticGear void(SemiAutomaticDNRPGear) DNRP selector position changes (D, N, R, or P)

Camera Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnChangedCamera void() Player cycles to next camera
OnLookBackCamera void(bool state) Look-back pressed (true) or released (false)
OnHoldOrbitCamera void(bool state) Orbit hold pressed (true) or released (false)

Light Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnPressedLowBeamLights void() Low beam headlights toggled
OnPressedHighBeamLights void() High beam headlights toggled
OnPressedLeftIndicatorLights void() Left turn signal toggled
OnPressedRightIndicatorLights void() Right turn signal toggled
OnPressedIndicatorLights void() Hazard lights toggled

Engine Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnStartEngine void() Engine start/stop requested
OnStopEngine void() Engine stop requested

Stability Helper Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnSteeringHelper void() Steering helper toggled
OnTractionHelper void() Traction helper toggled
OnAngularDragHelper void() Angular drag helper toggled
OnABS void() ABS toggled
OnESP void() ESP toggled
OnTCS void() TCS toggled

Other Events

Event Signature Fired When
OnTrailerDetach void() Trailer detach requested
OnRecord void() Recording toggled
OnReplay void() Replay toggled
OnOptions void() Options menu requested

Subscribing to Events

To listen for input events from your own scripts:

void OnEnable() {
    RCCP_InputManager.OnGearShiftedUp += HandleGearUp;
    RCCP_InputManager.OnPressedLowBeamLights += HandleLowBeam;
}

void OnDisable() {
    RCCP_InputManager.OnGearShiftedUp -= HandleGearUp;
    RCCP_InputManager.OnPressedLowBeamLights -= HandleLowBeam;
}

void HandleGearUp() {
    Debug.Log("Player shifted up!");
}

void HandleLowBeam() {
    Debug.Log("Low beam toggled!");
}

Always unsubscribe in OnDisable() to prevent memory leaks and errors from destroyed objects.

Mobile Input

When mobileControllerEnabled is turned on in RCCP_Settings, the RCCP_InputManager switches from reading the InputActionAsset to reading values from RCCP_MobileInputs.Instance instead. This provides touch-based on-screen controls for throttle, brake, steering, handbrake, and NOS.

For detailed information on setting up mobile controls, see Mobile.

Troubleshooting

No input response at all

Vehicle not responding to input

Stuck inputs after alt-tabbing

RCCP automatically handles application focus and pause events. When the application loses focus or is paused, all input values are reset to zero and the InputActionAsset is temporarily disabled. If you still experience stuck inputs, check that no custom code is overriding the RCCP_InputManager inputs.

Rebindings not saving

Gamepad not detected

Next Steps

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Need help? See Troubleshooting