How To Configure Xbox 360 Controller For Dolphin

Dolphin I've been experimenting with the marvellous Dolphin Emulator recently. It's an open up source project that allows united states to play Nintendo Gamecube and Wii games on modern hardware. Dolphin is bachelor for Windows, OS 10 and Linux.

I have a wireless Xbox 360 controller for Windows at my disposal, but the but Windows hardware I have is the first generation Surface Pro. While the controller connects without issues, the Surface sadly just isn't fast enough to run Dolphin.

My more powerful hardware is Mac based, and Dolphin runs great on my Mac Mini. Just I had no idea how to connect my Xbox controller to it.

Turns out it's really a cakewalk to setup: let me show y'all how it worked for me on OS X El Capitan.

Which Xbox Controller am I referring to here

Earlier we start, let's articulate up a small misunderstanding that may arise with Xbox controllers. The Xbox 360 came with wireless controllers that used to hook up straight to the console. Those are swell, only traditionally in that location was no mode to connect them to anything else (they don't use standard Bluetooth).

To alleviate this, Microsoft have released 2 versions of this controller for PC gamers: the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (wired, USB cable attached), and a more than elegant version called the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (same controller as the ane that came with the Xbox 360, plus a wireless USB dongle).

Either controller will work fine, hither's a picture of the one I'1000 using:

Screen Shot 2016-01-16 at 13.53.40

Installing the Xbox 360 controller's driver

No official Mac drivers are available for the Xbox controllers, only Colin Munro developed ane back in 2005. The projection was forked and farther developed on GitHub, where y'all tin can find the latest version. Head over to the Releases section and download an installable DMG archive.

After installing the driver, you'll find a new particular under System Preferences called Xbox 360 Controllers:

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Plug in your wireless USB dongle now and press the big X button to connect the controller to the dongle (I'yard bold it's already been paired). Wired controllers merely plugin to the USB port and are connected immediately.

Open up the preference pane to verify this: when connected, your controller should bear witness up in the listing.

Screen Shot 2016-01-15 at 16.15.18 copy

The driver will read the controller'south input, only it won't map anything you practise to what a game might await (for case, press the infinite bar to leap in a platform game). To use the controller with anything other than Dolphin, you'll need a small utility that will interpret controller input and translate information technology to keyboard and mouse movements, such as Joystick Mapper or Gamepad Companion (both available from the App Store).

Still, the Dolphin Emulator has such a mapping selection congenital in, so there'due south no need for such tools. Let'due south see how to map that Xbox controller so that it behaves just like an sometime Gamecube controller.

Configuring Dolphin for use with the Xbox 360 Controller

Open Dolphin and caput over to GCPad. If you don't see this option, information technology will read "Controllers". That'southward an indication that Dolphin can't see a gamepad, probably because the commuter isn't installed, or it's disabled. If Dolphin was open while you installed the driver, restart your system.

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Click on GCPad and select your Xbox controller nether device. By default the button mapping looks like this:

Screen Shot 2016-01-15 at 16.17.57

I didn't quite understand how to change this, but information technology's remarkably easy and only takes 30 seconds:

Take a await at the left box entitled Buttons. You'll encounter a column of controller buttons (A, B, 10, Y, Z, etc) that correspond to the buttons on the original Gamecube controller. By default they're mapped to keyboard shortcuts yous can see in the correct column (for example, the Gamecube controller's A push is mapped to your Mac keyboard'southward X button).

To alter this, simply click on the mapped shortcut. Turns out the right cavalcade in each section is fabricated upward of buttons (I didn't get that at first). Click one and Dolphin volition look a few seconds for you to press what you lot'd like to map to this button instead (information technology shows "waiting"). If you're non fast enough, it'll revert back to the previous value.

And so to setup our controller, simply press the push next to A, then press the corresponding button on your Xbox controller. Do this with every item on the carte du jour, and within less than a minute, you'll have a fully functional gamepad setup. My results look like this:

Screen Shot 2016-01-15 at 16.22.56

You can store this setup if you like: blazon a suitable proper noun in the Profile field at the top right and hit Save. Dolphin will also retrieve your setup even if yous don't though.

Configuring DeadZones

Meet that my C-Stick in the screenshot in a higher place is pointing diagonally downwards? This can happen when an analogue stick is moved and then snaps back into the heart. The "middle" isn't always exactly the same, then every time it snaps dorsum, the controller will deliver a slightly different value.

When we come to launch a game, information technology may happen that this is interpreted as the stick being pushed into this direction, leading to an abrasive in-game feel. If your stick is fair and square in the eye (similar my left i), y'all have nothing to worry about. But if you encounter something like I have on the right, here's how to fix information technology.

When connected to a console, game pads usually calibrate themselves every time you launch a game. But because we're dealing with different software here, we may take to configure Expressionless Zones to alleviate such issues. Dead Zones are areas around the middle of the stick that are regarded as "the stick is now in the middle, no matter what feedback we get".

While Dolphin supports this feature, it's much more than visible and like shooting fish in a barrel to empathise by opening upward the Xbox Controller preference pane once more. Head over to the Advanced tab and use the trivial slider to draw a minor foursquare around the heart of each stick's position. Anything inside that little square is at present seen every bit "the stick is in the heart", even if it's off by just a fraction.

Screen Shot 2016-01-16 at 09.55.50

In one case adapted, caput back to the Dolphin GCPad configuration and map your sticks again (if y'all had this issue obviously, otherwise ignore my ramblings).

Enjoy Gamecube on your Mac!

That's really all at that place's to it: grab a ROM, select information technology and start playing. Your Xbox 360 controller will henceforth behave just equally if it was a Gamecube controller, and your Mac volition behave as if it was a Gamecube (or Wii – although I haven't figured out how to connect a Wii Remote yet. Watch this space).

Non all games will run particularly well, so this isn't a complete replacement for a games panel – only it's enough for several afternoons of retro gaming fun.

To give you an thought of performance: My dual cadre i7 MacBook Pro simply has an Intel HD3000 graphics card, and it's struggling. But my quad cadre i7 MacMini with its Intel HD4000 card plays Pikmin only fine – all the same it's notwithstanding not plenty to relish Super Mario Sunshine.

If you hook upwardly your Mac to a big screen TV, help your graphics menu by switching the output to 720p rather than the default 1080p. It'll mean less work for your bill of fare and a smoother gaming experience, source: gamingbuff.com (under System Preferences – Displays – select Scaled and pick a resolution).

Equally ever, enjoy!