Input

The input system is hardware-agnostic and dynamic. You bind string actions to physical keys, mouse buttons, or gamepad buttons at runtime, and gameplay reads actions by name.

Setup

Engine::InputPlugin inputPlugin;
inputPlugin.Init(app.GetRegistry());

auto& inputManager = app.GetRegistry().GetResource<Engine::InputManager>();
inputManager.AddPlayer(1, std::make_unique<Engine::Controller>());
auto* p1 = inputManager.GetController(1);

if (p1) {
    p1->addKeybind("MOVE_UP", {KEY_W, 0, Engine::KEYBOARD});
    p1->addKeybind("MOVE_UP", {KEY_UP, 0, Engine::KEYBOARD});
    p1->addKeybind("SHOOT", {KEY_SPACE, 0, Engine::KEYBOARD});
    p1->addKeybind("SHOOT", {MOUSE_BUTTON_LEFT, 0, Engine::MOUSE});
    p1->addKeybind("SHOOT", {GAMEPAD_BUTTON_RIGHT_FACE_DOWN, 0, Engine::GAMEPAD});
}

Controller polls Raylib keyboard, mouse, and gamepad APIs. Subclass IController to feed actions from a network packet or a custom device.

Attaching input to entities

Engine::Entity player = registry.CreateEntity();
Engine::InputPlugin::AttachToEntity(registry, player, 1);

The Input component has playerIdx and isActive. Set isActive = false to ignore input for an entity during cutscenes or stuns.

Reading input in a system

class MovementSystem : public Engine::System {
  public:
    void Update(Engine::Registry& registry, float dt) override {
        if (!registry.HasResource<Engine::InputManager>()) return;
        auto& inputManager = registry.GetResource<Engine::InputManager>();

        for (auto& [entity, input] : *registry.GetComponentArray<Engine::Input>()) {
            if (!input.isActive) continue;
            auto* controller = inputManager.GetController(input.playerIdx);
            if (!controller) continue;

            auto& pos = registry.RequireComponent<Engine::Position>(entity);
            if (controller->isActionActive("MOVE_UP"))    pos.y -= 250.0f * dt;
            if (controller->isActionActive("MOVE_DOWN"))   pos.y += 250.0f * dt;
            if (controller->isActionActive("MOVE_LEFT"))   pos.x -= 250.0f * dt;
            if (controller->isActionActive("MOVE_RIGHT"))  pos.x += 250.0f * dt;
        }
    }
};

Multi-player

Add more players with inputManager.AddPlayer(2, std::make_unique<Engine::Controller>(1)). In multiplayer, the client sends input to the server; the server simulates. See Networking.

Input mapping in the editor

The editor stores actions and keybinds in input.json and provides the Input Map panel for editing them without code. The map is baked into the game launcher, so changing it requires a rebuild.