Emulating keyboard and mouse commands with a game controller (control pad) - which software has the most features? [closed]

Question

For anyone new to this:
Some programs exist to allow you to use game controllers (such as the xbox 360 controller, or my usb-connected SNES pads and dual-shocks) to play games that don't support controllers (only keyboard and mouse). This can really help if the keyboard and mouse give you RSI, or the game was originally designed on a console.

I use ControlMK. It works, mostly, though sometimes one of the analog sticks and/or some of the buttons will not work once you are actually inside the game, and the configuration can be very complicated:

• Which physical button is detected as "button 1"? opens windows game controllers control panel and presses button
• OK, now which action do I want to use that for? downloads manual for console edition of game
• alright, now which key is assigned to that action in the game's setup? opens game and checks
• OK, now to assign that key to the right button in ControlMK... wait which button was it again? gets it wrong a few times
• Repeat for about 10 buttons, getting the analog axis backwards too

I'm trying out joytokey and considering buying xpadder. xpadder at least seems to have little pictures to help figure out what maps to what - for supported controllers.

Can anyone suggest which of these programs has the best features?

So far:

• easy control mapping
• working with any controller
• working with any game (probably the game's fault, to be fair)

...all seem to be pretty important (control MK is free and mostly works, but could possibly be improved in all 3 of these areas).

Answer 1

You've stated you're interested in xpadder, which I highly recommend. I've used it and it works wonderfully; it has a great user interface and makes setting up a controller a breeze.

If you want to try xpadder before buying it, you're in luck. There exists an older version (v5.3) that the author has stated will remain free because it was the last release that supported Windows 2000. (Source)

However, it is over two years old (came out in 2008 I believe), so it will not have any of the bug fixes or some controller support that xpadder has gotten over the last couple of years.

You can download it here.

Answer 2

AutoHotkey is a fantastic program that will meet most of your needs. It takes a little bit of effort to understand how it works, but once you do it can be insanely powerful. It has support to map up to 32 joystick/gamepad buttons, as well as the POV controls and XY axes. You can even set it up to target a specific gamepad or joystick if you have more than one connected to your computer.

Unfortunately, it doesn't meet all of your criteria (easy to setup), but the power it gives is worth the setup time. It has worked for every game I have tried.

Answer 3

Here's another (non-free) one that looks pretty heavy on features, Pinnacle Game Profiler:

http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/

If xpadder can't do what you need, try this (there's a 30-day trial available).