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SDL2 Gamepad Tool, an alternative to Steam Big Picture configurator

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Today I was sent a link to SDL2 Gamepad Tool from Seru on Discord, it's described as an alternative to the Steam Big Picture configurator for gamepads.

It's being developed by General Arcade, a porting house and game development studio. Sadly, it's not open source, but it does seem to work rather well and it's simple to use which makes me really like it.

image

It's an interesting one, as it has all the button mapping done for you from this github. It also auto updates from that list.

It's available in a tar.gz. a deb and a snap package so it will suit all distributions. I tested it out on Arch and it worked to perfection. It picked up my Logitech F310 instantly. This might be my new go-to application when games have funky gamepad support and they use SDL.

If you're having problems with gamepad support in games that use SDL, it might be worth giving it a shot. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Koopacabras Mar 9, 2017
maybe a bit unrelated, there is a new tool for configuring wine with xpad or xbox controller, it's called koku https://github.com/KoKuToru/koku-xinput-wine . And it supports SDL2 mapping.

It works better than the xbox emulator (xboxcemu).


Last edited by Koopacabras on 9 March 2017 at 10:14 am UTC
dubigrasu Mar 9, 2017
Quoting: chancho_zombiemaybe a bit unrelated, there is a new tool for configuring wine with xpad or xbox controller, it's called koku https://github.com/KoKuToru/koku-xinput-wine . And it supports SDL2 mapping.

It works better than the xbox emulator (xboxcemu).
It didn't worked in 64 bit mode and no force-feedback unfortunately.
Alphasyn Mar 9, 2017
QuoteIt didn't worked in 64 bit mode and no force-feedback unfortunately.
True about 64bit, force-feedback works fine for me.
dubigrasu Mar 9, 2017
Quoting: Alphasyn
QuoteIt didn't worked in 64 bit mode and no force-feedback unfortunately.
True about 64bit, force-feedback works fine for me.
Probably (like with x360ce) depends on the game.
I did tried also https://github.com/kozec/dumbxinputemu ( and https://github.com/00cpxxx/wine-xinput )
with various degree of success, some things worked/some not, but so far the x360ce method seems to be the most compatible. Bit finicky to get the xinput files, but once you have them you only have to drop them in the game's folder.
Looking forward to when none of this is needed for Wine though.
pmatulka Mar 9, 2017
SDL2 Gamepad Tool didn't work on *buntu 16.04 LTS :/
cprn Mar 9, 2017
I'd rather recommend the devs who use SDL2 to include it (or use the lib if allowed) in their own DRM-free releases instead of reinventing a wheel (probably badly) and / or making the end user go through hoops of using external application. Just my two (euro)cents.
Mezron Mar 9, 2017
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[/quote]
Quoting: Perkeleen_VittupääThere's also Antimicro

https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro

This is what I use and it is great. I have all kinds of gamepads from namebrand stuff to "literally" no name brands and this helps configures them all.
ripper Mar 9, 2017
As someone who owns a gamepad but uses it rarely and never used any "configuration tool", what is this good for? Most games allow you to define the button actions in the game config menu, so why is this better/more useful/different? Thanks for explanation.
Mezron Mar 9, 2017
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Quoting: ripperAs someone who owns a gamepad but uses it rarely and never used any "configuration tool", what is this good for? Most games allow you to define the button actions in the game config menu, so why is this better/more useful/different? Thanks for explanation.

Tools like this are great for many reasons

1) Many games do not support gamepads @ all

Which means you can make a game work with gamepads even when gamepads are not supported.

2) Each gamepad is different and developers usually support on for popular gamepads

This means you can take advantage gamepad features on ANY gamepad whether it's popular or not.

3) Predefined motions

Using tools like this can setup game combos with a button. So if you are playing a fighting game and are having issues with certain movies - you can program a button to be that exact move to help you learn it or use it better.
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