Custom Joystick Port

This is an experimental feature where you can get a “fifth joystick port”. This is not a joystick port the emulated Amiga knows about – but it is instead used to create a virtual joystick which sends custom key presses to the Amiga.

For example, you can use it to add joystick support for a game which normally only allows use of cursor keys.

Here’s an example (which speaks for itself):

joystick_port_4_mode = joystick
joystick_port_4_down = action_key_cursor_down
joystick_port_4_left = action_key_cursor_left
joystick_port_4_right = action_key_cursor_right
joystick_port_4_up = action_key_cursor_up
joystick_port_4_primary = action_key_space

With this configuration active, you’ll be able to select a host device in the “Custom Joystick Port”, both in FS-UAE and in FS-UAE Launcher. You need at least version 2.1.19. Available input actions are listed here.

Why a “Custom Joystick Port”?

Mapping joystick events to Amiga keyboard actions has been possible for a while in FS-UAE. But the existing mapping features are tied to specific devices (i.e. you can set up a rule to map a certain button on joystick number two to a keyboard key). With this new feature, you’ll instead be able to swap which device uses this configuration -even while playing.

Online Database Support

You can configure a custom joystick port for games in the online database as well. In this case, a shorthand notation is used, and the configuration becomes:

joystick_port_4_mode = joystick, left = key_cursor_left, right = key_cursor_right, up = key_cursor_up, down = key_cursor_down, primary = key_space, secondary = key_shift_right


When the game variant is loaded by FS-UAE Launcher, this shorthand configuration will be automatically expanded to the full configuration.