DS4Windows

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Online
Github

DS4Windows Alternatives

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Considered
2022-02-02
Last
Updated

#1 Gaming Keyboard Splitter

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
Online

Gaming Keyboard Splitter lets you play multiplayer games on your computer using up to four virtual Xbox 360 controllers. It facilitates you to connect as many as four keyboards to your computer, and each one will be recognized as a different controller. This is ideal for fighting games since each player can use their own keyboard. The Gaming Keyboard Splitter turns your 3-headed keyboard into a 4-headed Xbox 360 controller.

It allows users to easily enjoy their Xbox 360 games and emulate the console’s controller in any PC game that is Xbox 360 compatible. It can also be used with any PC application that uses keyboard input, such as word processors and operating systems. The Splitter is plug-and-play and can be used on any PC equipped with a USB port, making it perfect for both gamers and typing aficionados.

#2 X360ce

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Github
Online

X360ce is software that enables Xbox 360 controllers that do not have a manufacturer-supplied Windows XP driver to function properly on Windows XP and Windows Vista. It allows you to play games using gamepads from different manufacturers. This is similar to using a third-party driver for a video card, sound card, or another piece of hardware. The difference is that instead of targeting a specific piece of hardware, this targets the Xbox 360 controller via its XInput interface.

X360ce allows you to play games using gamepads from different manufacturers. Most games only support the Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller, but some also support a variety of other gamepads, so it will make these controllers behave like an Xbox 360 Controller. This is especially useful when trying to play games on a console with gamepad support, but the game itself does not allow to use of any other input device than the bundled gamepad. This package includes an application that will install the appropriate version of x360ce.dll into your XInput Wrapper Enabled game folder.

#3 Gopher360

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
Online

Gopher360 is a free zero-config app that instantly turns your Xbox 360, Xbox One, or even DualShock controller into a mouse and keyboard. With this free zero-config app, you can use your Xbox 360, Xbox One, or DualShock controller to control your PC games. Now you can use free-roam controls to play from the couch. You can play Minecraft on a huge screen with an Xbox One controller and play first-person shooters like Halo on a mouse and keyboard. It is an ideal workaround whether browsing the web on your TV or playing any number of great PC games on your Xbox 360.

The app uses the thumbstick on your controller to move the cursor; players can use the shoulder buttons to click and left bumper maps to right-click or vice-versa. It takes just seconds to set up the app, and you can remap all sorts of functions to more than 20 different buttons. If you don’t have an Xbox 360 or console controller, you can use Gopher360 with a mouse. It works on every version of Windows without needing any special permissions from Windows 10.

#4 Antimicro

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
FreeBSD
Linux
Online

Antimicro is an application to help you remap or reconfigure your gamepad buttons to the keys, mouse, or joystick axes. By playing with various settings, you can make a gamepad emulate keyboard and mouse, or control joystick with keyboard, etc. It is a graphical program used to map keyboard keys and mouse controls to a gamepad. It supports multiple devices but is most commonly used with joysticks, including Xbox 360, DualShock, WiiU Pro, and Steam controllers.

It is frequently used by people who play PC games with an Xbox 360 controller, for example, through Steam. Many popular games support controllers through XInput/DirectInput API, but some games only support controllers through a vendor-specific API called “Force Feedback.” In these cases, there is no way to reconfigure your controller in-game, and you must set up your gamepad before starting a game.

#5 ScpToolkit

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
Online

ScpToolkit is a Windows driver for the Dualshock 3 and Dualshock 4 controllers, which allows you to use them on your PC as an XInput controller, like a 360 controller, with the full rumble and led feedback. To install the driver, all you need is Windows Vista or later, .NET Framework 4.0, and your controller must be recognized by Windows as an XInput controller, the default for all the official 360 controllers; most third-party ones should work too.

Once the driver is installed, it will not interfere with any games or programs that use DirectInput, so you can play games or use programs with DirectInput normally. The main function of this platform includes it comes with simple GUI to map keys of your choice to the buttons of your joystick/gamepad; support for multiple joysticks/gamepads at the same time; gamepad presets for PS, XBOX, Nintendo Switch are supported; used as a standalone application or run inside a terminal emulator and many others.

#6 ControlMK

Free
Open Source
Windows
Online
Github

ControlMK is a program that allows players to use a game controller for mouse or keyboard emulation. You can play games with a controller that doesn’t have support for controllers, or you can use a controller for your own games and applications. It supports USB controllers, no drivers required, and works by combining several existing pieces of software together: XBCD, x360ce, and AutoHotkey. The result is a program that is easy to set up and use. Simply load the software, navigate to the configuration file of your choice, and hit configure.

Once configured, you’ll be able to play any game in your library that supports a mouse or keyboard. It does this by creating a virtual mouse and keyboard in the background. It emulates a USB keyboard and mouse, allowing you to use the analog stick on your DualShock (or any other gamepad) as if it was a mouse, or the triggers and buttons as if they were keyboard keys. It maps the buttons on your gamepad to specific keyboard keys. This allows you to play all games without having to configure anything.

#7 J2K

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Online

J2K is a utility designed to convert joystick input into keyboard input and loaded into the background, waiting to be activated via hotkey or by a program that requires keyboard input. It features DirectInput, XInput, and Sony DualShock 3/4 support, Multimode profile system with plug-in support and a drag-and-drop UI for creating profiles. It allows you to play games that aren’t compatible with your controller, minimal set-up and configuration. No more have to move your mouse around to press buttons; just plug in and play.

It supports both USB and Bluetooth joysticks as well as USB controllers that have XInput support. This includes gamepads such as the Xbox One gamepad and the Xbox 360 wired controller. J2K allows you to remap game controller buttons to keyboard keys, mouse buttons, and any xinput command. You can also simulate gamepad buttons using the keyboard, which is very useful for games that don’t have native support for the Xbox 360 controller. It also lets you play video games with a gamepad in your browser without needing to use any virtual keyboard or on-screen gamepad.

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#8 Durazno

Free
Open Source
Windows
Online

Durazno is a simple, small, easy-to-use wrapper with very little overhead to allow full customization of emulated controllers. It uses the user’s own button mappings and bindings, allowing the use of a controller on a game with default button configurations without needing to remap the entire controller.

This library allows you to create games and/or applications that support anything that can be a 360 controller while being able to also support keyboard and mouse without needing too much effort. It is an XInput to XInput wrapper that allows customization when using XInput controllers and facilitates you to use your favorite controller on games and applications that don’t have native support for the controller.

#9 Rejoystick

Free
Open Source
Linux
Online

Rejoystick is a program that maps keypresses on your gamepad/joystick/joypad to keypresses on a keyboard when you are running X. This allows you to use your gamepad to play games and run X (graphical windowed apps). There are two different parts to rejoystick, one is client-side, which runs on the gamepad, and the other is the server that runs on the host system (the machine running X). The client-side is a kernel module that communicates with the server via the network. You can use it either in your window manager or in standalone mode.

It works with any kind of gamepad/joypad/joystick from any manufacturer and even multiple devices at the same time. It is designed to be very fast and low on CPU usage, so you can use it even on slower machines. Some other nice features: Fullscreen mode automatically switches to full screen when a game loads, so you don’t have to play windowed games.