60 replies to this topic

[yellowsix]

Game Maker compatible XInput Dll (GMXInput)
Note: This project is discontinued, though it should not contain any bugs. Feel free to post if you run into a problem, but note that the support I can offer is limited, as it's been a long time since I created this Dll. I strongly recommend using Sinaz' extension if possible, which is linked in the note section below.

XInput is a DirectX input method designed for Xbox Controllers (in case you didn't know)

Since forum searches only resulted in a GEX extension for XInput support, and I'm still sticking with GM6.1 Registered, I made this Dll in Visual Studio with a little help of source codes.

Requirements

DirectX 9.0 or higher
Game Maker 6.1 Registered

For people playing your game:
Xbox 360 Wireless Controller with wireless receiver
Old rewired Xbox controller with XBCD driver might work too (I doubt it)

Benefits

Seperate trigger support instead of one axis (Z-axis)
Xbox Force Feedback support! (rumble)

Download

Release+Example

Source

Credits

Microsoft for DirectX 9 SDK

39ster for 39dll source code, which gave me a nice view on the Dll layout Game Maker supports. (exporting/importing doubles, etc.)

Notes

XInput GEX I noted: SinazXInput

Yellowsix

Edited by yellowsix, 27 September 2010 - 11:20 AM.

[AvibeGames]

So this can rumble the gamepad as well?

XInput is a DirectX input method designed for Xbox Controllers (in case you didn't know)

Doesn't also apply for normal controllers as well?

[yellowsix]

Yes, it does! I made a little game the last few days, and the rumble really adds something.
But like I said, XInput was specially made for Xbox, and probably won't apply to any other gamepads. Some DirectInput gamepads do have force feedback, though.

[ad134]

Absolutely brilliant! Just what I was looking for!

[yellowsix]

Thanks!
Great I could help.

[yellowsix]

Wow...
The Dll was downloaded 26 times, the source 9 times, and only two feedback replies?
Thats, like, bad...
But nevermind. I'm still glad I could help you people, although you don't give feedback.

Ow, BTW: *BUMP*!
(I just had to)

Edited by yellowsix, 06 March 2008 - 01:24 PM.

[AvibeGames]

The Dll was downloaded 26 times, the source 9 times, and only two feedback replies?

That's the GMC alright. I suggest if you need more feedback to post in an other forum as well.

Ow, BTW: *BUMP*!
(I just had to)

I believe bumps are allowed only when useful information about a dll is posted.

*spank*

But nevermind. I'm still glad I could help you people, although you don't give feedback.

Maybe it's just that most people in here do not have an XBox gamepad to test.

Edited by AvibeGames, 07 March 2008 - 02:51 PM.

[yellowsix]

Yeah, sorry. I didn't really have helpful information about the Dll, and I didn't know of any problems/suggestions since there was no feedback.
Well, at least it was more than just "*bump*".
With the feedback 'problem' I meant that it was downloaded, but not commented. I don't really care much though.
I'm also aware of the small numbers of people who actually have the gamepad, it's just that it was downloaded a few times.
I assume that people downloading the example do have the gamepad.

Thanks, though.

[nightmare]

This DLL is very nice

Now I'm including XBOX 360 controller support (And XBOX 360 Dance Mat) support into D-A-N-C-E Revenge (DANCE2).

Rumbling when you miss a step adds a lot to the experience, thanks!

[yellowsix]

This DLL is very nice

Now I'm including XBOX 360 controller support (And XBOX 360 Dance Mat) support into D-A-N-C-E Revenge (DANCE2).

Rumbling when you miss a step adds a lot to the experience, thanks!

Thanks!
Good luck with your game!

[11alex]

How do you: if you press space iit rumbles but if you release it, it stops?

[yellowsix]

How do you: if you press space iit rumbles but if you release it, it stops?

Sorry for the late response, I was a week off to Greece.
The rumble function sets the motor frequencies when its called, so the following should work fine:

-[[Press space event

setrumble([insert value here],[insert value here])

-[[Release space event

setrumble(0,0)

Edited by yellowsix, 11 May 2008 - 11:14 AM.

[grumpymonkey]

aww i wish i could do use this but i dont have gamepad just controllers TT_TT

[WadeMcGillis]

If they are XBOX 360 controllers, they will work

[morno]

i have a Xbox 360 USB connected. do the Rumble work of that too? if it dose can i import it into somting like a Program where i can use the Controller?

[yellowsix]

i have a Xbox 360 USB connected. do the Rumble work of that too? if it dose can i import it into somting like a Program where i can use the Controller?

If it uses an XInput compatible driver, then yes, it supports rumble. To use it in your game, you need to call the DLL functions from Game Maker. If you study the example a bit, it should be pretty self-explanatory.

[Sindarin]

Can XInput work with .ffe files?

[yellowsix]

Can XInput work with .ffe files?

My Dll has no support for ffe files, so I'm afraid you'll have to find your own way of reading the files, and porting the data to the controller.
As far as I know, XInput has no direct support for ffe files, even though the tool for creating them is included in the SDK.

Edited by yellowsix, 02 July 2008 - 09:25 AM.

[JanDeis]

I think this is what I've been looking for for my JamSession program. I'm using the Rock Band controllers for the XBox 360. I'll be back with a report on how it goes

edit: tested it out and it works perfectly with the Rock Band guitar. I'll have to find something else for the drums though. I think the normal joystick_button_check code works there though. All of the buttons using the same number won't work for how my drum sounds are going to play, but it is more than perfect for my guitar. Now I can even use the pickup switch on the controller for different effects.

This is going to save my ass with this program. Great DLL

Edited by JanDeis, 22 July 2008 - 09:49 PM.

[yellowsix]

Good to see that it works with other types of controllers too. I'm glad you like it.
Thanks

[Iruka]

Will this work with a regular moded xbox controler(replaced the xbox male end with a usb male end)? It would be nice if the dll worked with it...
I know on the first post it says it could work, but does any one know for shure?
Thank you,
-Iruka

Edited by Iruka, 23 July 2008 - 06:10 PM.

[yellowsix]

There's a driver available for the old Xbox controllers. It's called XBCD, and you can download it here.
I doubt if this driver supports XInput though. It's always worth a try, of course.
If it doesn't work, you could try to look for a DirectInput dll that supports Force Feedback. The XBCD driver has rumble support, but probably won't work with XInput.

[Sindarin]

I just got an XBox controller for PC and it works great. With this and my dll I'll be able to deliver rumble and controls for all gamepads!

[yellowsix]

I just got an XBox controller for PC and it works great. With this and my dll I'll be able to deliver rumble and controls for all gamepads!

I'm glad to hear that. I saw you got the ffe files to work too.
Good job

[Sindarin]

XNA is so easy to work with, I hope the DirectX API was the same.

One question though, XInput needs DX9 to work, right? If the user doesn't have DX9 but DX8, does the dll degrade gracefully or throw up runtime errors to the player?

Edited by Sindarin, 26 July 2008 - 04:03 PM.

[yellowsix]

Quote from Microsoft MSDN:

Can I mix the use of DirectX 9 components and DirectX 8 or earlier components within the same application?
You can freely mix different components of differing version; for example, you could use DirectInput 8 with Direct3D 9 in the same application. However, you generally cannot mix different versions of the same component within the same application; for example, you cannot mix DirectDraw 7 with Direct3D 9 (since these are effectively the same component as DirectDraw has been subsumed into Direct3D as of DirectX 8). There are exceptions, however, such as the use of Direct3D 9 and Direct3D 10 together in the same application, which is allowed.

According to this, my bet is that DirectX will nicely keep it's mouth shut. I'm not sure though, since in your case it's quite the opposite. (new API calls on older DirectX versions)

Edited by yellowsix, 27 July 2008 - 10:47 AM.

[Sindarin]

According to this, my bet is that DirectX will nicely keep it's mouth shut. I'm not sure though, since in your case it's quite the opposite. (new API calls on older DirectX versions)

Well I always make a small seperate launcher application for the game settings, so I guess an option there won't hurt.


I have a request though, can you make a more straightforward example? I have trouble understanding how your example works.

EDIT: Not necessary, I figured it out, checkbutton() does all the work.
Now my game is xinput compatible. Whew, keyboard, joystick and xinput joystick. What more a player could want?

Edited by Sindarin, 27 July 2008 - 06:10 PM.

[yellowsix]

What more a player could want?

Wii-mote support?
Nah, just kidding.
Glad I could help!

[yellowsix]

[EDIT]
I tried to make a GEX, but nevermind... GEX is kicking my Dll's ass... :/

Edited by yellowsix, 17 September 2008 - 10:54 AM.

[Johnnsen]

[EDIT]
I tried to make a GEX, but nevermind... GEX is kicking my Dll's ass... :/

Although I'd love something for GM7, since the other project with a gex is discontinued.

[yellowsix]

[EDIT]
I tried to make a GEX, but nevermind... GEX is kicking my Dll's ass... :/

Although I'd love something for GM7, since the other project with a gex is discontinued.

Yeah sorry.
I might try it again, but GEX was really acting up weird. I got no errors, but the values it returned weren't correct.
I used a converted version of the GML instead of direct DLL calls, so that might be the problem here.
Anyway, I saw that Sinaz recontinued the GEX again.
Have fun programming!

[Sindarin]

I just tried on a work computer that doesn't have DirectX 9. The application complains that it can't find the xinput dll (the one bundled with DX9) and shuts down. So it seems if someone wants to use it in their game, they should have it disabled at start and an option in game to enable it to avoid problems with people that do not want to use an Xbox controller.

Edited by Sindarin, 19 November 2008 - 03:30 PM.

[yellowsix]

I just tried on a work computer that doesn't have DirectX 9. The application complains that it can't find the xinput dll (the one bundled with DX9) and shuts down. So it seems if someone wants to use it in their game, they should have it disabled at start and an option in game to enable it to avoid problems with people that do not want to use an Xbox controller.

Yeah, bad thing about my Dll is that it's plainly a direct wrapper for the DirectX functions, and therefore lacks error handling.
It would be a good idea to check for DX9 before loading the Dll, so you can throw your own error instead of Game Maker's "Unexpected" one.

[Dexter-W]

I have a problem. When I open the example with GM 7.0 Pro I got an error message:
_____________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Other Event: Game Start
for object obj_xinput:

Error defining an external function.

Its a big problem when the example doesn't work. If I remember right, I have used it on GM7 before without problem.
I have redownloaded it but it still doesn't work. Thats strange.
Do I have to do something special to make it work (something I probably did when it worked last time by accident)?

[yellowsix]

I have a problem. When I open the example with GM 7.0 Pro I got an error message:
_____________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Other Event: Game Start
for object obj_xinput:

Error defining an external function.

Its a big problem when the example doesn't work. If I remember right, I have used it on GM7 before without problem.
I have redownloaded it but it still doesn't work. Thats strange.
Do I have to do something special to make it work (something I probably did when it worked last time by accident)?

Is it possible that your DirectX installation somehow lacks XInput support? Considering that the example has worked before, my guess is that some system change might be causing the error.
I'm not sure if XInput is bundled with DX9, but you could try to reinstall the driver for the 360 controller.

To answer our question: apart from the Dll and XInput, there's nothing special you need.

I can't come up with anything that could cause the error, I'm afraid. I doubt if it's an error in the example, since I only uploaded it once.

I hope reinstalling the driver or DirectX itself solves this. Otherwise, you can always go with Sinaz' XInput GEX, which does pretty much the same thing as my Dll.

Good luck!

Yellowsix

[remoladen]

I tried it, and it didn't work?
I checked my direct x version and it's DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

Edited by remoladen, 09 February 2009 - 02:27 AM.

[toopz]

This is actually pretty awesome. I just need to find a way to convince myself to support both 360 controllers and normal pc controllers now. I doubt I can find the motivation to allow both, even though I really like the separate shoulder axes and vibration support. Oh well...

[Juhkystar]

Wait, so does this work for wired Xbox360 controllers as well? Because I'm getting problems with defining the external dll and I'm not sure if it's me not having directx9 or because my computer can't recognize the controller hardware...

[yellowsix]

Wait, so does this work for wired Xbox360 controllers as well? Because I'm getting problems with defining the external dll and I'm not sure if it's me not having directx9 or because my computer can't recognize the controller hardware...

As far as I know the wired versions use XInput as well, and should work with my Dll. Anyway, I'm pretty sure XInput is bundled with DirectX 9, and requires it to work. So to use the controller you'll probably need to install DX9.

[prog]

How do you detect if a controller is disconnected?

[yellowsix]

How do you detect if a controller is disconnected?

You can check the controller's status by using the getstate() function. It returns 0 if the controller is connected, and an error code if it's not.
The statement getstate(index)!=0 returns true if the controller is disconnected.

[prog]

How do you detect if a controller is disconnected?

You can check the controller's status by using the getstate() function. It returns 0 if the controller is connected, and an error code if it's not.
The statement getstate(index)!=0 returns true if the controller is disconnected.

Thanks.

[prog]

Can the remote get the sound file when you plug in the headphones and microphone in the remote?

[yellowsix]

Can the remote get the sound file when you plug in the headphones and microphone in the remote?

Well, since Game Maker has no way to use the sound handle it returns, I haven't even implemented the function in my Dll.
With a Dll that can use the sound handle it returns you might be able to use the headset, but it's unlikely to work in Game Maker.

[Third Dimension Artist]

I love this DLL! When I combine this with the graphics of Ultimate3D, I feel like I'm playing on a real Xbox. Thanks a ton!

[enandr]

when i try the example it says i get an error saying


___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Other Event: Game Start
for object obj_xinput:

Error defining an external function.
___________________________________________


what should i do.

[darktree]

Thank you so much for this DLL and example! I am having trouble trying to put it to practical use though. While the demo works perfectly, I am trying to make the rumble happen when I get hurt by an enemy in my game. Before that though, I am testing to see if I can indeed make my XBOX360 controller rumble just by hitting the spacebar. I cannot.

As per your instructions on page one of this thread, I:

1. Made a Press space event in the obj_xinput object
2. Executed a piece of code action with the following info:

setrumble(30000,30000)

I also tried different numbers for both values... I tried maxing both out at 65535, tried a value of 200 for both numbers, etc.

3. Added a Release Space Event with an execute code action:

setrumble(0,0)

Of course to no avail. If it does not rumble, there is nothing to stop.

Now, the rumble works perfectly still with the Left and Right triggers with leveled rumbling depending on how much I squeeze each trigger, I just cannot get rumble to work from any other action I set the rumble to.

Anyone here have any ideas?

[yellowsix]

Thank you so much for this DLL and example! I am having trouble trying to put it to practical use though. While the demo works perfectly, I am trying to make the rumble happen when I get hurt by an enemy in my game. Before that though, I am testing to see if I can indeed make my XBOX360 controller rumble just by hitting the spacebar. I cannot.

As per your instructions on page one of this thread, I:

1. Made a Press space event in the obj_xinput object
2. Executed a piece of code action with the following info:

setrumble(30000,30000)

I also tried different numbers for both values... I tried maxing both out at 65535, tried a value of 200 for both numbers, etc.

3. Added a Release Space Event with an execute code action:

setrumble(0,0)

Of course to no avail. If it does not rumble, there is nothing to stop.

Now, the rumble works perfectly still with the Left and Right triggers with leveled rumbling depending on how much I squeeze each trigger, I just cannot get rumble to work from any other action I set the rumble to.

Anyone here have any ideas?

The setrumble() function takes three arguments, rather than the two you are using. You need to specify which controller you want to set the force feedback for. Indices go from 0 to 3. Try using the following line of code:

setrumble(0, 30000, 30000)

[darktree]

Thank you very much, yellowsix, I have it working now. I can only imagine how much work has gone into making this dll and making the example. Thank you, your efforts are not put to waste.

[yellowsix]

Thank you very much, yellowsix, I have it working now. I can only imagine how much work has gone into making this dll and making the example. Thank you, your efforts are not put to waste.

You're welcome. ^^

Actually, the DLL itself is mostly a wrapper to the XInput API, and if you inspect the SDK, you'll see that pretty much every function is a direct port to an API function. When I created this DLL, I didn't have a lot of C++ experience. Glad I could help, regardless.