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Current State of Controller Support

Author Replies
Haravikk Monday 7 November 2016 at 12:46
HaravikkAnonymous

So I've been playing Skyrim under PlayOnMac for a while, and loving it (in fact it somehow runs better this way than it does when I reboot into Windows!).

Only difficulty has been getting a controller to work; I have a Playstation 3 standard wireless controller, and it connects to my Mac just fine via Bluetooth (after connecting it via USB first).

However the only way I've found to use it in Skyrim so far has been to use GamePad Companion to assign all of the controls to keyboard/mouse input. This works fine after a fashion, but the precision leaves a lot to be desired, meaning I can only really play melee classes as anything ranged just isn't accurate enough, plus there are a few other quirks; since I have a second monitor for example, every so often my "cursor" seems to leave the Skyrim window area and either cause it to minimise or stop responding to my attempts to turn.

If I want better controller support I currently have to reboot into Windows, trick it into thinking my PS3 controller is an XBox 360 controller, and use it via USB only (Windows doesn't seem to recognise it via Bluetooth at all without some kind of Bluetooth firmware trickery that I don't want to do).

 

Anyway, I know there have been various efforts to add xinput and more DirectInput support to WINE, so I'm wondering if anyone knows what the current state of affairs is. Have they ever made it in a version of WINE (if so, which ones have it) or is it something I can compile in myself (if so, how, I've never done it before)? Anyone got any type of controller to work?

I realise as well that a PS3 controller may be an awkward case, so I don't mind getting something more compatible if it means I can use a controller to play. I'm very tempted by the Steam controller actually, but only if I can get it to work with what I play

Edited by Haravikk

Haravikk Wednesday 9 November 2016 at 23:20
HaravikkAnonymous

So I've been investigating more and I've managed to find guides on people doing the opposite of what I want on Linux; namely using xboxdrv and some dlls to remap an xbox controller as an xinput device compatible with games that support the Steam Controller.

 

But what I want to do is find a way to make my PS3 controller appear as an xbox controller (directinput?) in a way that passes through to WINE. Is there a way to do this?

 

It's apparently possible to do this natively in Steam via the Big Picture Mode, but it seems that that no longer works at all in WINE (iirc it used to, but perhaps its requirements have changed?). This is annoying as Valve still don't provide controller configuration options outside of Big Picture Mode, which means that if you can't enter it, you can't configure a controller in advance at all frown

Maybe configuring under the Mac Steam client then copying the settings might work? I'm not sure where they're stored though, or if they'd be compatible.

Haravikk Monday 12 December 2016 at 15:21
HaravikkAnonymous

Sorry to bump this, but I'm still confused about the current state of controller support under WINE; I've found various threads all over the place talking about implementing support for xinput and/or directinput, but many of them are very old, so I'm unclear on what WINE actually supports. Does WINE support xinput and/or directinput? If so, what does it support on a macOS host?

 

I realise that my desire to use a PS3 controller makes things more awkward, but I'm open to any other controllers that can be made to work. I only mention the PS3 controller because it's one I have and works as-is (via Bluetooth for Mac, and wired under Windwos using ScpDriver). If there's something else that can be made to work with WINE and Skyrim then I'm open to suggestions!