Playing WoW with an Xbox 360 controller
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 27th 2007 at 4:30PM
Sins on the forums asks why he can't use his Xbox 360 controller to play WoW (on Windows, I assume). And the answer is that you can... kind of. But you probably don't want to.If you've got a wired Xbox 360 controller, it's actually pretty easy. The controller just hooks up to your PC via USB, so plug it in, and you can then use a program called Pinnacle Game Profiler to recognize the controller, and even attach keyboard and mouse functions to the controller's keys. The problem here is actually making sure you have access to everything you normally would (a nearly impossible task, and probably the reason why WoW hasn't come to a console). But if you can do it, feel free.
The problem is if you have a wireless Xbox controller. Unlike the Wii, apparently Microsoft doesn't use the normal Bluetooth standard for its controllers, so you either have to buy a controller specifically for Windows, or an adapter to hook it up. And after you do that, you still might have to download the Pinnacle program to set it up right-- I've got a wireless controller right here, but I'm not about to spend more money for an adapter when I like using the keyboard anyway.
Have you had any success getting the Xbox controller to play WoW? I like the controller and all (although that D-pad is horrible), but why would anyone want to abandon the mouse and keyboard in the first place?
Filed under: Tips, How-tos, Fan stuff, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Milktub Jul 27th 2007 4:48PM
I could imagine that using an XBox (or really any console controller) would be nice ... if you only used four or five abilities and din't mind putting the controller down everytime you wanted to use a harvesting or crafting skill, sell something, chat, use a consumable or any other item, swap gear, or do anything other than have a little melee fight.
So it might be great for those first 10 levels when you only have a couple skils.
Niyx Jul 27th 2007 4:50PM
I used to play FFXI online with a PS2 pad with an adapter.
Since the game was designed for a controller/console, it was a lot easier to play that way.
WoW however is totally not designed for a console, and therefore would be a complete chore to play with a controller.
I tried, i failed. Its just not viable, sensible or useful.
schlomo Jul 27th 2007 4:58PM
for the sake of technical correctness, Microsoft doesn't use Bluetooth for its wireless connections, it actually uses its own proprietary form of WUSB
CaffeineRage Jul 27th 2007 5:06PM
I have had some limited success with this, mostly I have been focusing on flight controls and movement. It's just something i wouldn't use in combat, well at least fighting something that poses a challenge.
Frank Webber Jul 27th 2007 5:19PM
I imagine that if the pinnacle application allowed you to define mode keys, you could essentially perform nearly all the same functionality (sans typing).
For example, each of the triggers could redefine the main four gamepad buttons. I know that 16 keys is more than what I usually use in a given environment (i.e. BG, instance, etc.). That still leaves the additional joystick clicks, d-pad, middle navigation buttons.
CyberNigma Jul 27th 2007 5:19PM
I've used an xbox 360 controller with WoW for quite some time now. It has benefits and limitations, of course. I use a pair of add-ons called WoW-360. It consists of a real in-game mod as well as an external control mapper (WoW-360 Router). The router part is all I used now (I believe the other part is broken with all the updates now. It maps the 4 main buttons to numbers 1-4. Holding the left trigger shifts them and maps them to numbers 5-8. This gives you access to the first 8 buttons on the skillbar. I press -/= for food/drink and map relatively lesser used skills to 9 and 0 (usually rez and my mount or something).
I must say that moving and kiting are awesome with it. The setup is best used with the melee classes such as Pally/Warrior if you don't need too many skills in your normal use. I've also used it with my Shaman and Druids. I use one or two macros which alleviate multiple totems, etc. I believe the only real problem comes i when you want to use it with a caster class such as warlock/mage where you need access to so many different skills/spells (more than you have buttons). I also play Guild Wars so I have disciplined myself to selecting 8 primary skills to use and throwing a few others on an extra actionbar above the main action bar. You can hold the left shoulder (not trigger) to activate the mouse cursor and click on other skills, but it's a bit slower. I also use the left shoulder to pick up loot (on auto-loot).
With the exception of a few classes, it's relatively easy to use this thing to play WoW. You can get the add-on and source code by googling WoW-360.
CyberNigma Jul 27th 2007 5:23PM
Here's the exact link. Remember, you can use just the WoW-360 Router part if you don't need extra functionality (the rest is oudated I believe). The actually add-on looks like it would fill the gap for casters with the extra mapping capabilities.
http://www.davidnikdel.com/Project_WoW360_Static.htm
Rob Jul 27th 2007 7:20PM
Yeah, I was doing this last weekend.
The biggest limitation is you only have so many buttons on your controller. I could play my rogue pretty well, but there's just too many fuctions on a class like Shammy.
Anytime you have to go into "mouse mode" it's always wonky.
Rudi Jul 27th 2007 7:21PM
I have a x-box type controller that I'll use with my mage when farming elementals and walking on my treadmill.
DJKissler Jul 27th 2007 7:50PM
The 360 controller has a thumb pad keyboard attachment coming.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360messengerkit/
Also the 360 controller makes a great vent headset. Listen to music and game sound though your speakers, have all vent comm coming though the headset. That's the way I've done it for the past year now.
itsthemechanic Jul 27th 2007 8:23PM
WoW with a controller? Unpossible!
Seriously, on all my chars I have almost every single key on my keyboard mapped to something.. Only use the mouse to move, everything else, from Frost Novas, to PoM + Pyro, everything is keymapped. Makes for super fast gameplay, and it's necessary to survive! Frequently used keys are where my fingers are on the keyboard, etc..
Do this with less than a dozen keys? I don't see it.. it would result in a gimped playstyle.
Lanth Jul 27th 2007 9:44PM
An idea I had a while back was to get some racing pedals, hook them up and bind one of the pedals to run forwards. It would mostly be for the fun factor, but it gives you the W key back for binding other stuff.
PoliticalGamer Jul 27th 2007 11:05PM
Not related specifically to the 360-controller, but will someone make a nunchuck controller? I would like just to have a single stick to go along with my mouse, and it would be small enough that you could do a quick press of a keyboard button if need be.
Incendo Jul 28th 2007 4:58AM
Clearly this guys a rogue by two indicators. A) He wants to play a PC game using his console controller. B) He only has four buttons he needs to push.
Lostmimic Jul 28th 2007 12:40PM
you can also buy the texting attachment for the 360 controller, could map trigger+letter to the buttons to give you more usability, so it could be viable even for heavy skill using people
Jason McLeod Jul 28th 2007 2:55PM
Yeah. I use the wireless controller every time I play.
I started making modifications to WoW360 (http://www.davidnikdel.com/2006/04/10/wow360-source-code/) written by David Nikdel.
I took is source code, modified it (a lot) to enable the 360 controler to work quite well. A,B,X,Y are mapped to 1,2,3,4, and using the triggers as shift modifiers, allows an additional 12 commands to be sent.
Clicking the left thumbstick toggles auto-run, and moves forward and side to side. The right thumbstick controls looking, and clicks to jump.
I don't know if I could imagine playing without it now.
Shrinrokon Jul 28th 2007 8:29PM
Any chance of any of you guys doing what this guy did and releasing it? or if you know where i could find it. That would be alot of help. Thanks in Advance =]
Andrew Krieger
April 28th, 2006 at 18:21
Check the forum post sometime; I’ve succeeded in making my left-thumb independent of the D-pad, and the D-pad sending different buttons (the 1st was a bit harder than the second).
Now I’m going to learn your XInput code, see what I can get out of that.
nardo Jul 29th 2007 2:41AM
If you like to use a controller for WOW, I cannot reccomend the xpadder program enough. I will give you a briefe glimpse as to how I use it. My right trigger is my right click, my left trigger is my left click. "a" button is the space bar, my movement is mapped to the thumbsticks as well as my turning. Clicking in the right stick brings up my map. and the rest is variable, this is the beauty of the xpadder program.
By pressing the back button I am pressing down my shift key, then I just press any of the buttons on my controller in order to pull up that action tab. "x" is the number one key, "y" is the number 2 key, "b" is the number 3 key, left bumper is the number 4 key and the right bumper is the number 5 key. To compensate that this places only five of the buttons in the action bar at my disposal as well and only five of the actions bars are able to be pulled up, I made my start button a profile changing button that makes the "x" button now be number 6 and so on till number 0 is assigned to the right bumper. in this altenat profile the thumbsticks are still the same as are the triggers. I use the directional pad as my mouse courser.
I have access to all of my action bars and all but two of the action buttons. I use the directional pad to move my mouse.
the really amazing part is that this program is able to run from the zipped folder and you don't need any more alteration or modifications to the game to use the game pad. No worries or complaints on my side. fantastic program to assist in the 360 controller.
Naro