Master FAQ

[touch-bu]

What is TouchBuddy?
Touchbuddy is a FREE lightweight windows application that provides a GUI for users to interface with games (or any application) via a touchscreen. A touchscreen is NOT required for testing and use. TouchBuddy was created by Zorlac. Read his post on How it all started!

What does TB look like in action? Here is a video of a very early profile of a bombing run in Lockon (Note: TouchBuddy works with most flightsims)

Example #1 - Lockon Modern Air Combat Flight Simulator:

touch buddy demo

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Example #2 - IL2 WW2 Flight Simulator:
It works faster than this video shows. It actually works great!
My computer is slow, and also these two videos are just not perfectly synchronized.

touch buddy demo

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Example #3 - Live For Speed

touch buddy demo

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Which games or applications are supported?
Touch-buddy works with almost every game and application with only a few exceptions. The Touch-buddy team and our users have contributed awesome profiles for games such as Lockon, Falcon IV: Allied Force, Microsoft Flightsim, IL2, rFactor, SteelBeasts Pro and many more. Creating profiles is easy using a provided GUI profile creator. For further game support information go here:
TouchBuddy Supported Game List

Why would I want to use TouchBuddy?
TouchBuddy gives you increased realism. Using a keyboard in your high fidelity flightsim feels unnatural. Touchbuddy on the other hand provides a higher level of realism with labelled buttons. Additionally, the number of keystrokes you are required to remember to fully utilise a high fidelity simulator is in the hundreds. Even after years of flying a sim you are unlikely to remember all the key commands. Having them graphically represented at your fingertips makes it so much easier to get the most out of your game. Also consider the time it takes to switch between games of a similar genre. In the heat of the battle you often end up pressing keystrokes from another game, and getting wasted. TB is designed to fix that too! Just take a look at this awesome 3 touch-screen example from one of our users (ggg):



Do I need to buy a TouchScreen?
No. A Touch Screen or Touch Screen Overlay is recommended, but not required. You can give TB a Test using just a 2nd Monitor or networked computer. You will need to use your Mouse because it's not a touch screen, but you can still try TB with your games. Give it a try!!!

How much does it cost?
TouchBuddy is freeware, but it is closed source. A touchscreen gives you the best experience, but is not required. Prices for touchscreens range from $US150 upwards.

Which touchscreens are supported?
Please refer to the supported touchscreens thread here: Screens which have been tested - Official TouchBuddy Forum

Can I contribute towards TouchBuddy?
Skins and profiles are the most needed contributions. A kind email to the TB team is always appreciated. At this point, no developers are required for the TB core. If you really must help, please spread the word about touch-buddy on your favorite gaming sites (but please avoid spamming).

What Operating Systems will TouchBuddy run on?
Development and primary testing is run on Windows XP Professional. It is known to work on Windows 2000 and Windows 98. More operating systems will be tested as time permits (Win95, Win2003, Vista, etc). Note: There will be no Mac or Linux versions of TouchBuddy (Sorry!)

What kind of customisation is possible?
TB supports skinning and custom configurations. You can create buttons, their associated keystrokes and raw keys. Buttons can be positioned as you see fit.

When I launch my game, the TouchBuddy screen calibration goes off. What gives?
Probably you have buggy Touchscreen Drivers. (There are some older Beta Drivers that seem to work the best.) Another solution is to check whether your game is running at the same resolution as your primary desktop. If it isn't you will need to change it to match so your touchscreen resolution doesn't get changed after calibration. If this doesnt fix the problem, please post a question on the Tech Q&A forum.

Where did TouchBuddy come from?
TouchBuddy is created and developed by (504)Zorlac.

What is the TouchBuddy Toolkit?
TouchBuddy Toolkit was developed by Wild.Bill.Kelso to enable easy creation and customization of TB profiles.

Is TB compatible with my SLI setup?
Yes. TouchBuddy supports SLI and Crossfire in Client / Server mode only, as described below.

How can I run TouchBuddy on my computer?
There are two modes of operation:

1. Local Mode: TB runs on gaming system. Your graphics card must support multiscreen. 1 for the game, 1 for TB. The small memory footprint of TB means it has little or no effect on FPS.

2. Client / Server Mode: TB runs on another system and communicates to your gaming system via the network. Use this if you do not have multiscreen support.

Who are the TouchBuddy developers and team?
At this point the team consists of the following:

(504)Zorlac: Creator and Core Development:
42FS-Dodger: Touch-buddy.com Site Admin:
Wild.Bill.Kelso: Toolkit GUI Developer, Profiles, Customization
Ruggbutt: Profiles, Customization

Why does my Hold button turn off when I press another button on the TouchBuddy?
You press a Hold button on TouchBuddy, and it turns on. But when you press another button, the Hold button automatically turns off. It won't 'Hold'! Say, for example, you press Ctrl-F2 and hold them down. If you press another key, like Z, how is the keyboard supposed to make sense of that? Is that a Ctrl-F2-Z keypress? No, it's just a Z keypress, so you would have to let go of Ctrl-F2 before you press the Z key. So, that's what TouchBuddy does, it releases the Ctrl-F2 hold key, and sends the Z key.

Why do my font's look crappy on my touch screen?
Touch Screens are designed to run at a specific resolution (called the Native Resolution) to display everything the best. At other resolutions things are stretched, so they may not look perfectly correct.

It's a good idea to purchase a touch screen that runs at the Native Resolution that you will mostly likely use. For smaller 7" & 8" screens, 800x600 Native resolution is a good choice.