x360ce for games that only support xbox360 controllers

[BadMouth]

It's late and I've just started messing with this, but figured I'd start a thread anyway since I have questions about it.
I'll update this first post with better/corrected information as others post and I learn.

x360ce is an xbox360 controller emulator that allows you to use your steering wheel and pedals with games that only support xbox controllers.
http://code.google.com/p/x360ce/

See what you need installed to make it work and how to use it here:
http://code.google.com/p/x360ce/wiki/Whatisx360ceandhowuseIt

The first time it was run, it automatically detected my Logitech G27 and downloaded mappings from an internet database.
(with my permission)

Force feedback is supported, but only rumble.  Set force feedback to Type 1 under the Force Feedback tab.

The only game I've tried this on so far is FUEL.  Before using x360ce, the only thing that had any effect in game was the clutch pedal.
It would register constantly and make the vehicle back up unless it was held down.
After dropping the x360ce files into the FUEL folder, all the controls now work, but my clutch pedal is still wreaking havoc.
Everything works fine as long as I hold it down constantly.  I tried mapping it to the right stick in x360ce and setting the deadzone to 100%, but that had no effect because the game is getting the input directly.    Anyone else have this issue and have a fix?

Unfortunately Logitech Profiler does not allow you to do anything with the clutch pedal and they have stated that they have no intention of adding that functionality. 

EDIT: Attached numbers and axis designations to be used in x360.ini for the Logitech G27.
I'm finding that for games that were designed to be played with thumbsticks, the wheel rotation needs to be decreased to 150-200 degrees.
It makes sense since a thumbstick can change direction so much faster than a wheel.  Reducing the rotation lets you get from one direction to the other faster.

Games I've tried it with so far:

FUEL - game registers clutch pedal as brake always being depressed.  It would probably work with setups that don't have a clutch.
Nail'd - works fine, had to reduce wheel rotation and crank up sensitivity in profiler.  It still feels hard to control.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing - Hookmode must be set to 2 in the ini (compatibility mode).  Game ignores keyboard input if it thinks there is a controller.
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed - haven't been able to get working yet

I will update this as I set games up.
Keep in mind that you can still use Logitech profiler in conjunction with this.

[BadMouth]

It seems as though I picked one of the few problem games to start with. 

The game FUEL has issues with the G27 clutch.
I'm searching for solutions while at work.  Finding plenty of other people with the same issue, but only one thing that looks like it might lead to a solution.
http://www.moddb.com/mods/fuel-refueled/tutorials/custom-gamepad-control-mapping

It looks like mappings can be manually changed in ~\fuel\Input\input.PC
I don't remember seeing that folder, but it was 2am.
Hopefully you don't need to install this "REFUELED" mod to make it appear.
Can't wait to try it out.

At least I know the problem is just with this particular game now.


I am having issues with x360ce though.
When I try to exit it, it just freezes and I have to force it closed.
The ini file is written to when Save is pressed, so I've already got what I need by that point.
I think I'm just going to figure out the nomenclature for the .ini file and modify it by hand.
All you really need in the game folders is the dll and ini file.

[Fursphere]

I've only use it with Ridge Racer Unbounded - and just basic functionality at that.  But it did work.

And I think the real problem is the G27 only supports DirectInput - not the newer (and now more common) XInput.   I really wish I understood the driving force (no pun intended) to keep changing protocols. 

The G27 Pedals are potentiometers right?  I haven't checked if they're 2 wire or 3 wire (3 Pedals, 3 Wires each = DB9 i'm guessing), but you COULD hack the cable, and put a toggle switch inline to basically "cut" the feed.  lol  (no power to that pot = no signal to feed back to the interface)

[BadMouth]

I think I'm gonna have to give up on FUEL for now.  Making changes in input.PC has no effect on the G27 clutch pedal, although it does affect the virtual xbox controller.  In fact I deleted every line in input.PC and the clutch pedal still controlled the gas/brake.

§FUEL™ can be configured to use almost any PC controller, however we recommend the following controllers for the best game play experience:
•Microsoft X360 controller

FUEL™ provides default configurations, meaning that you should be able to plug-and-play, with no tweaking required.

That's not entirely true.  There is no configuration other than changing input.PC manually. 
The icons referenced in input.PC use the playstation button names.  I think this issue is either related to the game picking up the G27 as one axis of some other compatible controller or it's just sloppy leftover code from the playstation port.

I've tried everything I can think of for now.  The only solution I can think of is some driver that reports the G27 clutch pedal as halfway down.
That would be over my head.

On to games that actually work.....

[Fursphere]

That's a bummer, as Fuel seems pretty cool.  There is a video of some guy driving for like 8+ hours in it...  just randomly.

[BadMouth]

I kept getting confused when making the .ini files by hand, so made myself a visual aid and attached it to the first post.

A lot of the old (win 95-2000 era) don't recognize more than 16 buttons, so you can only use the top two buttons on the steering wheel unless you work around it with profiler.

[BadMouth]

Let's talk about Ridge Racer Unbounded. 

 I was under the impression that it only worked with xinput controllers, so I set up the x360ce files in and it seemed to be working, but would flash a rear view very quickly when pulling the right paddle which was mapped to Drift (B).
Also, no matter what I did button 8 would always continue to work for drift.
Then it started crashing just before the start of a race.  A search online lead me to think that having multiple controllers connected was the culprit.
Removed the x360ce files & unplugged the G27 and no crash. 

Plugged up the G27 without the x360ce files and the analog controls continued to work.

I figured out this much.  (Pedals are marked separate and work)
Button 4 is POWER
Button 8 is DRIFT
Button 3 is CHANGE CAM
Button 5 is LOOK BACK

The game displays keyboard keys instead of Xbox buttons, so it doesn't think an xbox controller is connected anymore.
Doesn't seem to be anyway to remap stuff in the game, but it can be done in Logitech profiler.
None of the other buttons seem to do anything, but Logitech Profiler can have them post the keyboard keys.

Soooo.....does the game work like this with a G27 out of the box, or did temporarily using x360ce enable something that wasn't there before?

This is good news, but.....


I'm actually liking this game now that I can play it with a wheel.  Having to press a button to drift instead of just tapping the brakes is kind of annoying, but it's not bad if mapped to a paddle.

[Fursphere]

I'm actually liking this game now that I can play it with a wheel.  Having to press a button to drift instead of just tapping the brakes is kind of annoying, but it's not bad if mapped to a paddle.

Need to get a handbrake built and working... 

When I get R.R.U. working on my cab, I didn't have any crashing problems or false controls.  ?   I'll have to go back and see what I did.

[BadMouth]

After rearranging the buttons in profiler, it plays friggin' perfect.  Just like the wheel is supported except for ffb. 
I did have rumble enabled and working when using x360ce.  Maybe that played a role in the crashing, although it still crashed after disabling ffb in the ini file.

Driftopia worked the same way, but I had also ran it with x360ce a couple times (no crashes).
...so I'm still not sure if it was possible to use the wheel without running x360ce.

A normal person would probably just be happy it's working and move on, but I might have to do a clean install of the game on my laptop and test it without ever running x360ce.  If the wheel works out of the box, why are there tons of posts online about the game not working with a wheel and zero to the contrary?

[Fursphere]

A normal person would probably just be happy it's working and move on, but I might have to do a clean install of the game on my laptop and test it without ever running x360ce.  If the wheel works out of the box, why are there tons of posts online about the game not working with a wheel and zero to the contrary?

Two things.

1) People aren't computer friendly.  Especially anything beyond plug and play.  You can't fix that.

2) If you bought the game via Steam (I think thats the only way?) you can have Steam "clean up" the files for you.  Delete all your .EXEs and Config files, then in the Steam client, right click on the game and go to properties - Local Files - "Verify Integrity of Game Cache"

That'll redownload files you're missing (or deleted)

[BadMouth]

A normal person would probably just be happy it's working and move on, but I might have to do a clean install of the game on my laptop and test it without ever running x360ce.  If the wheel works out of the box, why are there tons of posts online about the game not working with a wheel and zero to the contrary?

Two things.

1) People aren't computer friendly.  Especially anything beyond plug and play.  You can't fix that.

2) If you bought the game via Steam (I think thats the only way?) you can have Steam "clean up" the files for you.  Delete all your .EXEs and Config files, then in the Steam client, right click on the game and go to properties - Local Files - "Verify Integrity of Game Cache"

That'll redownload files you're missing (or deleted)

It was still on my laptop from when first bought.  I tested with my Logitech MOMO since it wasn't hooked up to anything.
It played perfectly with the wheel.  All the controls were mapped logically on the wheel this time as if the game was set up for it.
(on the G27, they seemed rather random)

So I'm 90% convinced that Ridge Racer has wheel support whether from the start or through an update.
What keeps me from being 100% sure is that when I remap controls for steam games on my standup cab, the mappings carry over to my laptop so there is something in the steam cloud at play.  My top and bottom rows are reversed from the default layout on MKK, so it's pretty obvious.  If I change them back on the laptop, it screws up the cab.  There is probably a way to disable this, but I don't play the same games on different machines anyway.

[BadMouth]

Sonic & Allstars Racing Transformed may be beyond help, as far as the G27 is concerned.
None of the solutions I found online worked, so I started playing around with the settings in the x360ce ini file.

If you enable HookDI, the launcher app actually picks up the G27 by name.
When trying to remap it without combined pedals, the gas pedal will take control over the system mouse and make it go down unless you hold the gas pedal exactly halfway down.....even after exiting the launcher   

After restarting the PC, combining pedals and regaining control of the mouse, I tried again, but the clutch pedal registers while you're trying to map other stuff.  I think this one is going to be like FUEL, where the clutch pedal screws it up.  Someone without a clutch may be able to wade through it, but I'm throwing in the towel on this one. (at least for now)

[Fursphere]

So I'm 90% convinced that Ridge Racer has wheel support whether from the start or through an update.
What keeps me from being 100% sure is that when I remap controls for steam games on my standup cab, the mappings carry over to my laptop so there is something in the steam cloud at play.  My top and bottom rows are reversed from the default layout on MKK, so it's pretty obvious.  If I change them back on the laptop, it screws up the cab.  There is probably a way to disable this, but I don't play the same games on different machines anyway.

I can confirm this.  I just ran RRU on my driving cab - which I've never run on that PC before - and the G27 worked without any hacks / mods / etc.

The default keys are all over the play, but it just works.  No force feedback or rumble support that I could tell.  Overall its going to need some Logitech Profiler work to get straighted out.  But it doesn't need x360ce anymore.

Further - http://community.bugbeargames.com/index.php/topic,29.0.html?PHPSESSID=423f03a0940cb3a4827995fd655ed70a  dated 6/22/2012 indicates that it did not have wheel support - supporting the theory that it was patched in.

EDIT- there is so little information on this game available its almost like it doesn't exist...    so strange.  I can't find patch notes on it to save my life.