AppleTV remote as GCController microGamepad

Question

blauzahn OP

Created Sep ’15

Replies 6

Boosts 0

Views 4.2k

Participants 5

I want to use the AppleTV remote control as a GCController microGamepad as suggested in the

tvOS beta documentation.

In my viewDidLoad method I´m trying to obtain the available controllers, but the remote control

doesn't show up in the GCController.controllers() array:

The code

// Obtain available controllers
  
let controllers = GCController.controllers()


  
if controllers.isEmpty {
      
print("No Controllers, trying to find one...")
      
GCController.startWirelessControllerDiscoveryWithCompletionHandler({
         

          
let controllers = GCController.controllers()
          
if controllers.isEmpty {
              
print("No Controllers found :(")
          
} else {
              
print("Controllers detected: \(controllers)")
          
}
      
})
  
} else {
  
print("Controllers detected: \(controllers)")
  
}
}

never prints: Controllers detected...

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you for your help.

Boost

Answer 1

Wolftrail OP

Sep ’15

You have to use the GCControllerDidConnectNotification notification to discover the remote. The documentation explains that the controllers array should be populated after receiving this notification.

0

Answer 2

Rhapsodus OP

Sep ’15

Accepted Answer

Here is my implementation which works fine, though I am assuming the first controller is the 'master controller' for now....

@import UIKit;
@import GameController;
@import AudioToolbox;
@import AVFoundation;
@interface BaseViewController : UIViewController
    /
    /
    /
    @property (strong) NSMutableArray* contentControls;
    /
    /
    /
    @property (strong) GCController* gameController;
    /
    /
    /
    @property (nonatomic, strong) CADisplayLink *updateLoopTimer;
/
/
/
-(void)onBackPressed;
/
/
/
-(void)onButtonPressed;
/
/
/
-(void)createUpdateLoop;
/
/
/
-(void)update:(float)deltaTime;
/
/
/
-(void)unloaded;
/
/
/
-(void)animateIn;
/
/
/
-(void)animateOut;
@end





#import "BaseViewController.h"
@implementation BaseViewController : UIViewController
/
/
/
-(void)viewDidLoad
{
    self.updateLoopTimer = nil;
    self.gameController = nil;
    self.contentControls = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    [self createUpdateLoop];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(gameControllerDidConnect:) name:GCControllerDidConnectNotification object:nil];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(gameControllerDidDisconnect:) name:GCControllerDidDisconnectNotification object:nil];
    [GCController startWirelessControllerDiscoveryWithCompletionHandler:nil];
    [super viewDidLoad];
}
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
    if( [self hasControllerConnected] )
    {
        self.gameController = [[GCController controllers] firstObject];
    }

    [super viewWillAppear:animated];
}
/
/
/
-(void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated
{
    [self.updateLoopTimer invalidate];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:GCControllerDidConnectNotification object:nil];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:GCControllerDidDisconnectNotification object:nil];
}
/
/
/
-(void)dealloc
{
}
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark Update Loops
#pragma mark -
//***********************************************************
/
//***********************************************************
-(void)createUpdateLoop
{
    if (!self.updateLoopTimer)
    {
        self.updateLoopTimer = [CADisplayLink displayLinkWithTarget:self selector:@selector(updateRefreshRate:)];
        [self.updateLoopTimer addToRunLoop:[NSRunLoop currentRunLoop] forMode:NSDefaultRunLoopMode];
    }
}
/
/
/
- (void)updateRefreshRate:(CADisplayLink *)displayLink
{
    CFTimeInterval deltaTime = displayLink.duration * displayLink.frameInterval;
    [self update:(float)deltaTime];
}
/
/
/
-(void)onButtonPressed
{ /base*/ }
/
/
/
-(void)onBackPressed
{ /base*/ }
/
/
/
static bool wasAPressed = false;
static bool wasXPressed = false;
-(void)update:(float)deltaTime
{
    /
    if( self.gameController != nil )
    {
        GCMicroGamepad* microPad = self.gameController.microGamepad;
        if ( microPad != nil )
        {
            bool isAPressed = microPad.buttonA.isPressed;
            bool isXPressed = microPad.buttonX.isPressed;
            if( !wasAPressed && isAPressed )
            { [self onButtonPressed]; }
            if( !wasXPressed && isXPressed )
            { [self onBackPressed]; }
       
            wasAPressed = isAPressed;
            wasXPressed = isXPressed;
        }
    }
}
#pragma mark -
#pragma mark Controller Connected
#pragma mark -
/
/
/
-(BOOL)hasControllerConnected
{ return [[GCController controllers] count] > 0; }
/
/
/
-(void)gameControllerDidDisconnect:(NSNotification *)notification
{
    self.gameController = nil;
    NSLog(@"gameControllerDidDisconnect");
}
/
/
/
-(void)gameControllerDidConnect:(NSNotification *)notification
{
    if( notification.object != nil )
    { self.gameController = notification.object; }

    NSLog(@"gameControllerDidConnect");
}
/
/
/
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
    [GCController startWirelessControllerDiscoveryWithCompletionHandler:nil];
    [self animateIn];
}
/
/
/
-(void)unloaded
{
}
/
/
/
-(void)animateIn
{
    /
}
/
/
/
-(void)animateOut
{
    /
}
@end

And an example subclassed BaseViewController which responds to user input:

/
/
/
-(void)updateCursor:(float)dt
{
    /
    if( self.gameController != nil )
    {
        GCMicroGamepad* microPad = self.gameController.microGamepad;
        if ( microPad != nil )
        {
            GCControllerDirectionPad *dpad= microPad.dpad;
            float offsetX = self.currentImage.size.width/2 * dpad.xAxis.value;
            float offsetY = self.currentImage.size.height/2 * dpad.yAxis.value;
            self.imageCursor.center = CGPointMake( self.imageMain.centerX + offsetX, self.imageMain.centerY - offsetY);
        }
    }
}


#pragma mark -
#pragma mark Input
#pragma mark -
/
/
/
-(void)onBackPressed
{
    NSLog(@"onBackPressed");
}
/
/
/
-(void)onButtonPressed
{
    NSLog(@"onButtonPressed");
}

0

Answer 3

blauzahn OP

Sep ’15

Wow, thank you very much - I'll try this out soon!

0

Answer 4

bunnyhero OP

Sep ’15

does this work in the simulator? i don't seem to be getting any notifications in the tvOS simulator but i might be doing something else wrong. thanks 🙂

0

Answer 5

MattRix OP

Sep ’15

nope, it doesn't work as a GCMicroGamepad in the simulator

(ps: hi!)

0

Answer 6

blauzahn OP

Sep ’15

Now I have finally managed it to properly connect to the AppleTV remote and read data from the device...

Here is the (Swift) code I have used:

    // Property to hold the microGamePad profile object
    var gamePad: GCMicroGamepad? = nil


    override func viewDidLoad() {
        .
        .
        // Obtain available game controller
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self,
            selector: Selector("gameControllerDidConnect:"),
            name: GCControllerDidConnectNotification,
            object: nil)
       
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self,
            selector: Selector("gameControllerDidDisconnect:"),
            name: GCControllerDidDisconnectNotification,
            object: nil)
        .
        .
    }

    // Cleanup…
    deinit {
       
        NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().removeObserver(self)
    }

    // Game controller detected…
   func gameControllerDidConnect(notification : NSNotification) {
       
        if let controller = notification.object as? GCController {
           
            if let mGPad = controller.microGamepad {
               
                // Some setup
                gamePad = mGPad
                gamePad!.allowsRotation = true
                gamePad!.reportsAbsoluteDpadValues = true
               
                print("MicroGamePad connected...")
               
                // Add valueChangedHandler for each control element
                gamePad!.dpad.valueChangedHandler = { (dpad: GCControllerDirectionPad, xValue: Float, yValue: Float) -> Void in
                   
                    print("dpad xValue = \(xValue), yValue = \(yValue)")
                    .
                    .
                }
               
                gamePad!.buttonA.valueChangedHandler = { (buttonA: GCControllerButtonInput, value:Float, pressed:Bool) -> Void in
                   
                    print("\(buttonA)")
                    .
                    .                                       
                }
               
                gamePad!.buttonX.valueChangedHandler = { (buttonX: GCControllerButtonInput, value:Float, pressed:Bool) -> Void in
                   
                    print("\(buttonX)")
                    .
                    .                   
                }
            }
        }
    }

    // Game controller disconnected
    func gameControllerDidDisconnect(notification : NSNotification) {
       
        if let controller = notification.object as? GCController {
           
            if  controller.microGamepad != nil {
               
                self.gamePad = nil
                print("MicroGamePad disconnected...")
            }
        }
    }

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