Controls

Aurora puts a full set of on-screen controls over every game, and you can reshape almost all of it — button mapping, size, opacity, and (in landscape) the exact position of every button.

While a game is running, Aurora shows a virtual controller on top of it:

• Directional control on the left — move your character
• Action buttons on the right — confirm, cancel, run, menu, and more
• Two main buttons (Enter and Escape by default) plus two mini buttons for function keys

Pick the style that feels best under your thumb in Settings → Controls → Controls & Layout:

• Touch Grid (default) — an invisible-walls style pad: press anywhere in the area and slide
• D-Pad — a classic cross-shaped pad
• Joystick — a floating analog-style stick

The settings page has a live preview of each style so you can try them before playing. 8-Way Input (on by default) allows diagonal movement; turn it off for games that only expect four directions.

For RPG Maker XP / VX / VX Ace games, Touch to Mouse (on by default, in Settings → Controls) turns taps on the game screen into mouse clicks. Games with mouse-driven menus become directly tappable. It does not apply to MV/MZ games.

A small floating button hovers over every running game. Drag it anywhere on screen — its position is remembered. Tap it to expand the quick menu:

• Hide / show controls — toggles the virtual controller off for an unobstructed view
• Swap mapping — switches between your Main and Alternative button sets (the icon turns orange while the alternative set is active)
• Fast-forward — cycles the game speed (1× → 2× → 3× for XP/VX/Ace games; up to your configured top speed for MV/MZ games)
• Chat — appears during an Aurora Link session
• Cheats (wand) — opens the in-game Cheats window for games with cheats enabled
• Menu — opens the in-game menu, with in-game settings (display, post-processing, frame rate), controller options, Link Play, and Close Game

You can tune the overlay in Settings → Game Overlay: turn the floating button off entirely, adjust its opacity (60% by default), and toggle Haptic Feedback for button presses.

When a game asks for typed text (naming your character, entering a password), Aurora automatically shows a text input bar docked above the keyboard. Type with the on-screen keyboard or a hardware keyboard, then tap Done. The bar disappears when the game stops asking for text.

Everything lives in Settings → Controls → Controls & Layout.

• Button Size — 50%–150% (default 100%)
• Button Opacity — 10%–100% (default 70%)

Open Button Mapping to change which key each on-screen button sends. Each of the ten buttons (two main, two mini, six action) has two assignments:

• Main — the everyday set. Defaults: Enter, Escape, F2, F8, then Z, Ctrl, Q, X, Shift, R on the action grid
• Alternative — a second set you can flip to mid-game with the quick menu’s swap button

Tap any assignment to pick a different key from the full keyboard list. Reset to Defaults restores both sets.

A profile bundles your entire control setup — both mapping sets, directional style, sizes, opacity, and button positions.

• Default and PE are built in. PE is tuned for PE games (Z confirm, X cancel, C run, Ctrl turbo) and is applied automatically when Aurora detects a PE game at import
• Save As New… snapshots your current setup as a custom profile; custom profiles can be updated, renamed, and deleted
• Export / Import shares a profile as a file. Only the button scheme travels — positions and sizes stay per-device, since a layout made for an iPad wouldn’t fit an iPhone

On iPhone, portrait mode uses a fixed controller layout, while the landscape layout is fully movable — open Control Layout → Edit Landscape Layout and drag each button exactly where you want it. On iPad, both orientations are movable. Reset Landscape Positions returns everything to the defaults.

• Keyboards — Bluetooth and attached keyboards work in every engine. RPG Maker games are keyboard-driven at heart, so the usual PC keys (arrows, Z/X, Enter, Escape) work as expected
• Game controllers — supported in both engines. For XP / VX / VX Ace games, SDL Controller Passthrough (on by default, in Controls & Layout) hands physical controllers straight to the game engine. MV/MZ games read controllers natively

• If a game expects unusual keys, remap a button instead of hunting for it — any keyboard key can go on any on-screen button
• Keep a custom profile per genre (e.g. one for PE games, one for horror games) and switch in Button Mapping → Active Profile
• Hide the controls from the quick menu during cutscenes for a clean view