diff --git a/src/Draw.lua b/src/Draw.lua
index c0cf5d7..c87a30b 100755
--- a/src/Draw.lua
+++ b/src/Draw.lua
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function love.draw()
    if displayingTitleScreen then
       drawTitleScreen()
    elseif displayingControls then
-         drawControlScreen()
+      drawControlScreen()
    else
 
       love.graphics.setColor(255,255,255,255)
@@ -87,6 +87,36 @@ function love.draw()
       love.graphics.draw(canvas2X,borderX,borderY)
       love.graphics.scale(1.0/graphicsScaleFactor,1.0/graphicsScaleFactor)
    end
+   -- draw the virtual gamepad directly to the screen
+   if touching then
+      -- virtual gamepad button coordinates i,j (1,1) top left, (3,3) bottom right
+      love.graphics.setColor(255,255,255,128)
+      local width = love.graphics.getWidth()
+      local height = love.graphics.getHeight()
+      local dPadButtonSizeX = dPadButtonSizeRel*width
+      local dPadButtonSizeY = dPadButtonSizeX
+      local dPadTopLeftX=0
+      local dPadTopLeftY=height-3*dPadButtonSizeY
+      local i=0
+      local j=0
+      --for i=0,2,1 do
+      --   for j=0,2,1 do
+      --      love.graphics.rectangle("line",dPadTopLeftX+i*dPadButtonSizeX,dPadTopLeftY+j*dPadButtonSizeY,dPadButtonSizeX,dPadButtonSizeY)
+      --   end
+      --end
+      for i=0,3,1 do
+      -- horizontal lines
+         love.graphics.line(dPadTopLeftX+1,dPadTopLeftY+i*dPadButtonSizeY,dPadTopLeftX+3*dPadButtonSizeX-1,dPadTopLeftY+i*dPadButtonSizeY)
+      -- vertical lines
+         love.graphics.line(dPadTopLeftX+i*dPadButtonSizeX,dPadTopLeftY+1,dPadTopLeftX+i*dPadButtonSizeX,dPadTopLeftY+3*dPadButtonSizeY-1)
+      end
+      -- virtual firebutton rectangle
+      local fireButtonSizeX = fireButtonSizeRel*width
+      local fireButtonSizeY = fireButtonSizeX
+      local fireButtonTopLeftX=width-fireButtonSizeX
+      local fireButtonTopLeftY=height-fireButtonSizeY
+      love.graphics.rectangle("line",fireButtonTopLeftX+i*fireButtonSizeX,fireButtonTopLeftY+j*dPadButtonSizeY,fireButtonSizeX,fireButtonSizeY)
+   end
    --[[
    if gameWasPaused==true then
       love.graphics.print("Starting in: "..(timeToWaitAfterPause-timeSinceUnpausing).." s", centerX-50, centerY-5)
diff --git a/src/Input.lua b/src/Input.lua
index 7cf6c86..72b5df7 100755
--- a/src/Input.lua
+++ b/src/Input.lua
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ function getInputPlayer(playerNumber)
          local width = love.graphics.getWidth()
          local height = love.graphics.getHeight()
          -- relative (square) button size
-         local dPadButtonSizeX = 0.1*width
+         local dPadButtonSizeX = dPadButtonSizeRel*width
          local dPadButtonSizeY = dPadButtonSizeX
          -- top left coordinate of virtual gamepad
          local dPadTopLeftX=0
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ function getInputPlayer(playerNumber)
             xInput = i-2
             yInput = j-2
          end
-         local fireButtonSizeX = 0.3*width
+         local fireButtonSizeX = fireButtonSizeRel*width
          local fireButtonSizeY = fireButtonSizeX
          -- large virtual firebutton on the bottom right
          local fireButtonTopLeftX=width-fireButtonSizeX
diff --git a/src/Load.lua b/src/Load.lua
index 133314e..2242a27 100755
--- a/src/Load.lua
+++ b/src/Load.lua
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ function love.load()
    statusBarHeight=50
    
    touching = false
+   -- gamepad touch button sizes as fraction of displaywidth
+   dPadButtonSizeRel = 0.1
+   fireButtonSizeRel = 0.3
+
    
    defaultAudioSourceZPos = 0.5 -- controls the amount of stereo panning, 0 is absolute only left/right, 1 is barely noticeable panning