Controller talk:DualShock 4

I just came up with an idea, there should be a new page called "Sony Controllers" to list general information about the DualShock 3, DualShock 4, and DualSense, with the old pages becoming sub-pages that are linked to in there. I would like to see this change because it is very odd for game pages to specifically say DualShock 4 and link to this page, with DualSense being in the notes. There also seems to be a very small number of cases where the DualShock 3 is explicitly supported via official Sony(?) drivers, a potentially upcoming case being PCSX2 if this merges; https://github.com/PCSX2/pcsx2/pull/9138

Here is a concept I have made, showing the change for a game page I've described; https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/839983679920275506/1186410099997163660/image.png?ex=65932582&is=6580b082&hm=752f1e8a7e0e5e4e3318fb1a3b6467f963a7caa4621cdfb87497be983e5783c4&

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns about not being able to see the image (Discord CDN has made some weird changes so the link may be broken to some).

The DS4 is simply a DirectInput controller recognized by the OS as a HID when connected to a PC. This makes it compatible with a wide range of Windows versions, including 98, and most of the time it works well enough with it. The issue is how Sony programmed the controller under DirectInput.

It's recognized as a gamepad, not joystick, thus making the analog sticks digital in games like Le Mans 24 Hours (Eutechnyx, 2000). The original NFS and Sports Car GT on the other hand have issues with the accelerator, as the Z axis is mapped to the left and right movements on the right stick. On top of that, the triggers are mapped as sliders which are always pressed, meaning you would have to press them in case you wanted to stop accelarating or braking, if mapped to do so on NFS Porsche Unleashed.

The solution would to natively map the buttons and axis identically to the ones on the Xbox 360 Controller, which despite the criticism towards the mapping, has the ideal setup for old games with buttons 1 and 2 mapped to A and B (also making menu navigation with a controller in line with what's used today for games that support it) and the triggers as different polarities of the Z axis.

But how could that be done? Older OSes do not support reWASD and the like, so is the solution somehow rearanging the settings through the DirectX APIs or desoldering the chip which contains the data in interest here and trying to reprogram it externally?

What is the reason this controller is often not supported by games over BT when at the same time it is supported over wired connection? Thanks.

The way Windows work with devices is that each device have a unique hardware ID that both identify its vendor as well as product / device model. Windows uses this to match the device to an applicable driver.

Games work the same way, and basically identify recognizable controllers through their unique hardware ID, and this is where the unsupported nature comes from.

You see, when the DualShock 4 is connected using Bluetooth (or even while using the Wireless Adapter), this unique hardware ID differs somehow, and if games aren't developed to take that into account they won't support the controller over the other connections.

Basically, during development the development team _only_ tested and included support for the controller while it was connected using a cable, and didn't test and implement support for the controller when it was e.g. connected through Bluetooth.

I needed this to make Exclusive mode consistent. Adding it here so I don't forget. https://github.com/Ryochan7/DS4Windows/wiki/DS4Windows-and-HIDGuardian-Install-and-Setup-Guide

As can be seen here and here, you need Orbis (now just PS4) SDK include files.

If I hex check libScePad_x64.dll that comes with Dying Light demo, I can indeed see a Orbis_develop\libpad_for_win folder is mentioned.
Intriguingly, nearby libpad.dll and libpadfilter.dll sports a "2008 Sony Computer Entertainment Inc." copyright. I wonder if stuff was done for DS3 too?

Does this happen often with new DS4 controllers? In the future if I'll ever have some money to spend I wouldn't mind getting one, but I keep seeing people saying tha they wear out very quickly, it would be such a huge turn off. http://i.imgur.com/QjhVMd5.jpg

I have only heard about this at the launch of playstation 4 and saw many horrifying pictures in 2014. After that sony supposedly changed material and haven't heard of the issue since. My Dualshock 4 is still as good as new and I use it with PC, PS3 and PS4 all the time.