v0.2.3 — gamepad support + responsive controls

Controls & responsiveness

This release is all about how the game feels in your hands.

🎮 Gamepad support (auto-detected — just plug it in)

• Left stick / D-pad move (up = jump), A jumps, B/X/Y attack, Start begins the game in the menu and pauses during play.
• Hot-plug works; no configuration needed.
• Under the hood: PRE2's own joystick was analog-read but the game digitizes it to the same on/off inputs as the keyboard (it has a single fixed walk speed), so the controller is wired straight into the game's input the faithful way — nothing to configure, and it feels exactly like the original's joystick did, just on a modern pad.

⚡ Responsive controls (Experimental tab, off by default)

Ever tapped jump quickly and nothing happened? The original samples the keyboard only ~23 times a second, so a fast tap between samples — or a jump pressed a hair too early — gets dropped. This option adds a small jump-input buffer so every tap registers and slightly-early presses still fire. It's pure input handling — gameplay stays byte-for-byte the original when it's off (and still faithful when it's on; it only affects when your own presses are seen).

Everything from v0.2.2 (widescreen everywhere, smooth front-end, enhanced snow, narrow-level centering) is included.

▶ Download & play (Windows)

pre2native-v0.2.3-win64.zip — unzip pre2native.exe + _internal/ into your legal GOG Prehistorik 2 folder (next to SPRITES.SQZ) and run it. No Python needed. See HOW_TO_PLAY.txt.

Prefer to run from source? The README has a beginner-complete walkthrough (virtual env + pip install numpy pygame + python scripts/play_native.py) — no .EXE required to play.