SOLVED - FFB Shake Effects for XBOX360 / PS4 controller (See caveat)

[Deki]

To all those that may be interested,

I have been forced to failback to PS4 controller (Using DS4windows so it is recognised as XInput device) as my Warthog stick is out of comission, and whilst I look for a suitable replacement, this may be my main mode of operation. Now funnily enough, the experience is not bad at all when combined with the Warthog throttle and dedicated rudder pedals. I mostly tinker with warbirds and F-14. Precise control over pitch and roll is achievable with slight curvature tuning. Very happy with it, indeed.

Now, as I'll be using this for a while I started looking at ways of leveraging game's FFB shake effects with the rumble motors present int the controller so as to experience any effects that the module may produce, such as AOA buffet etc. After some research, I came across a Japanese developer that has produced DirectInput force feedback driver for XInput (see link below, scanned for viruses - all clear).

Once installed, I enabled Force Feedback in DCS and fired up the F-14 (ensuring 'Use FFB Trim Implementation' is UNCHECKED in the module's special tab). The results....OMG, I love it! The rumble is introduced with varying levels of intensity dependent on the AOA and at least appears to perfectly match the cockpit's visual and aural shaking effects. You must try it. Obviously this has led me to start looking into proper FFB stick products out there :-).

There are some caveats though. I have tested this with warbirds as well. The AOA buffet effects are experienced in Bf109, Spitfire, Thunderbolt, Mustang. HOWEVER - it seems that elevator trim function is only possible in the Bf109 (maybe due to the way trim is implemented in that module). In all other modules mentioned above, trim wheel turns but has no effect whatsoever. It would be great if these modules could implement Heatblur's method of having FFB trim optional when Force Feedback is selected, so that we can at least experience effects (unless there is an undocumented workaround).

The link for the driver is below - give it a shot. I used xi.win7.x64.en.msi for Windows 10.

http://lavendy.net/special/driver/xi/index.html

 

HAVE FUN!!!
 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Deki
typo

[Spatz]

Nice does it work with the apache? 

[Deki]

I don’t have it installed - only tested with modules mentioned in the original topic.

[de.Impact]

This is amazing. Thanks for sharing. It allows something I thought about for a long time.

 

I always wanted some kind of shaker on my non FFB stick for allow for high AOA indication. I just tested it with an old xbox controller and will disassemble it now and glue the FFB motor on my joystick - boom, easy light force feedback stick with 40€ hardware.