Module settings

Module settings apply to all modules of the same type on your Switchology Modular Control Panel (MCP). Changing a module setting can change which logical buttons a module uses.

Concepts

A Logical Button is the internal button number the MCP exposes to your PC (via USB/HID). Games and sims bind against these button numbers.

Some modes generate a Pulse: the logical button is ON for exactly one MCP status update (one report), and OFF again on the next update.

In Continuous modes, the logical button that represents the current position stays ON in every status update as long as the module remains in that position.

8-Way Switch Mode

4+1 buttons

The 8-Way stick uses 5 logical buttons: Left, Right, Up, Down, and Push. Diagonal directions send the two adjacent directions at the same time (e.g., Up+Right).

Use this if your game does not support diagonal bindings, or if you want to minimize the number of buttons used.

8+1 buttons

The 8-Way stick uses 9 logical buttons: Left, Up-Left, Up, Up-Right, Right, Down-Right, Down, Down-Left, and Push.

Use this if you want to bind diagonal directions as separate actions.

Toggle Mode

Toggle modules assign one logical button to each switch position.

Continuous

In Continuous mode, the logical button for the current switch position is ON in every status update, and all other positions for that toggle are OFF.

Use this for games/sims that support and benefit from persistent ON/OFF states.

Pulse

In Pulse mode, when you move the switch to a new position, the MCP sends exactly one status update where the logical button for the new position is ON (all other positions OFF). After that single update, all logical buttons for that toggle return to OFF again.

Use this for games/sims that expect a momentary input instead of a maintained state.

Rotary Selector Mode

The Rotary Selector module assigns one logical button per position (12 positions = 12 logical buttons).

Continuous

In Continuous mode, the logical button for the current selector position is ON in every status update, and all other positions for that selector are OFF.

Pulse

In Pulse mode, when you move from one position to another, the MCP sends exactly one status update where the logical button for the new position is ON (all other positions OFF). After that single update, all logical buttons for that selector return to OFF again.

Encoder

In Encoder mode, the Rotary Selector does not represent absolute position. Instead, it behaves like a rotary encoder: it uses two logical buttons, one for clockwise and one for counterclockwise movement. Each step to a neighboring position produces exactly one pulse on the corresponding direction button.

Base settings

Base settings apply to the entire MCP device. They can change how many buttons are presented to the PC and how logical buttons are assigned. Changing these settings can require re-binding controls in your game or sim.

Button Modes

The 3x5 base has 15 module slots. Depending on the installed modules, the MCP can require more logical buttons than many games and sims support per device. Many titles support up to 128 buttons per device. Button Modes control how the MCP maps module logical buttons into the device button range presented to the PC.

Note: Button numbering may be shown as 0-based (Button 0..127) in tools, even though the total is 128 buttons.

A-Mode (Packed)

In A-Mode, the MCP assigns logical buttons by walking slot-by-slot and appending each module's buttons sequentially. This usually results in no unused buttons.

Trade-off: If you change modules (type or order), the button sequence can change, and you may need to redo bindings. Use A-Mode if your module layout is stable and you rarely swap modules.

D-Mode (Slot-stable)

D-Mode is designed to reduce rebinding when you swap modules. Each slot gets a fixed reserved block of logical buttons for its "common" controls, so a module installed in the same slot tends to keep the same button numbers.

In D-Mode, each slot reserves 6 logical buttons. Across 15 slots, that uses 90 buttons total for the per-slot reserved blocks. Modules that require more than 6 logical buttons also use an additional shared overflow range.

If you install many modules that each require more than 6 logical buttons, the shared overflow range can become a limiting factor. If you notice unexpected overlap (two controls triggering the same in-game binding), switch to a different Button Mode.

Backlight Factor

Backlight Factor controls the brightness of the illuminated buttons and panel lighting for the whole device. Range: 0 = off, 255 = full brightness.

Update Period

The MCP sends button and axis states to your PC at a fixed interval. You can configure this interval with Update Period (ms).

This setting mostly affects controls that use Pulse behavior (ON for one status update only), such as Encoder and Dual Encoder modules, and Toggle/Rotary Selector modules when set to Pulse mode.

Tuning guidance:

• If your game/sim misses pulses (encoder clicks not reliably detected), increase the Update Period.
• If one physical click triggers multiple actions in-game, decrease the Update Period.