How to play with an xbox controler

[MrVallence]

For all those who have ever wondered "could I play The Witcher with an xbox 360 controller?" the answer is: YES. But you have to do some work.
Pay attention that in base of your type of controller you could need an additional device. These are the possible scenarios that you could have:

Wireless controller (the "normal" one)
Wireless controller for Windows
Wired controller (the "old" version with a simple wire)

*Apparently there's no difference between the controller for windows and the "normal" wired one, since they use the same software.

1. For the wireless "normal" controller you have to buy an adapter that receives the signal inputed by the controller (as the one for windows has by default). Many people could think that with the "Play & Charge" wire (that has an usb jack output) you could connect and play with the pc. WRONG, 'cause the pc will only recognize the controller as an xbox controller, and re-charge it, but will not let you play pc games. The reason of this is that with this controller the signals of the buttons pressed are send wireless only, and the "Play & Charge" wire just charge the controller while you're playing (on the xbox360).

2-3. These are the simplest cases, where you don't need any additional hardware devices.

For all theese scenarios, you need a proper software that maps the controller buttons to the game commands. Pinnacle Game Profiler lets you do the trick, and is a very simple and efficient software for doing that. Here(http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/files/pinnacle-setup.exe) you find the link to the software and here (http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/forum/showthread.php?2923-The-Witcher) a configuration that PGP needs for the controller. The trial version has a 20day period, but here(http://w1.megarapid.net/forums/t/90934.aspx) you can get the "real" full version.

I'll explain step by step what you need to do with The Witcher 1, 'cause I've tested with it and a wired controller. For the Witcher 2 I think that is the same process, but I've not tried yet.

Once you've installed the software, you have to go to "Game Profiles" (on the top left) -> "Import" and point to the .pin file you've downloaded before. Doing this you create the game profile for The Witcher.
As you have surely understand, PGP works with a configuration for the controller (.pin file) that maps the controller with the pc keyboard commands. You have to go to "Game Profiles" (on the top left) -> "Edit Configurations" and import the .pin configuration you downloaded before. Notice that you could also create your own configuration, customizing almost all commands in the game. (you will create your own .pin file, nothing more).
Set this configuration as default, click OK and now you could be able to see the xbox 360 controller device recognized properly, with the configuration you provided.
By clicking PLAY you will launch The Witcher with Pinnacle Game Profiler, and be able to play with your xbox 360 controller!!! :thumbup:

I know that this game was intended to be played with mouse and keyboard, infact with PGP you will not map every command that you have with keyboard, but for those who find better play with a joystick I think that this is a great possibility! :)

Credits for - Frank87 on thewithcer.com

[Kaneko]

Thanks for the info... but I don't think The witcher 1 is meant to be played with a gamepad, it´s more like a point and click gameplay wise... in the second game combat mechanics were tweaked to allow gamepad play... even though it's quite clumsy and requieres some time to get used to...

[Galleguinho]

The link for the .pin file is apparently down.
Here is another version in the Nexus:http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher/mods/681/?tab=1&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Fwitcher%2Fajax%2Fmoddescription%2F%3Fid%3D681%26preview%3D&pUp=1

[Death of Chaos]

Pinnacle Game Profiler just crashes upon starting right after installing it so this is pretty useless. I'm using Windows 10 by the way.

[Metzie]

Originally posted by Death of Chaos:

Pinnacle Game Profiler just crashes upon starting right after installing it so this is pretty useless. I'm using Windows 10 by the way.

I'm using Pinnacle without issues in Windows 10. But you need to run it as administrator to properly work.

[GuiGehlen]

All the links are down, anyone knows were i can find new ones?

[medfokc2000]

This came up as first result on Google, so I feel like I should share my findings. Apparently developer of Pinnacle passed away on Apr 2018. Do not try to buy this program because you won't receive your activation key (complaints on Support page[imgur.com]). People also suggests that it may contain a malware (even if downloaded from the official website). As you can see all links here are flagged as potentially malicious. If you want to proceed you can find installation and Witcher 1 profiles on Google. As Death of Chaos said it just crashes if you try to run it. I found out that issue can be fixed if you set the date on your PC to Feb 2018 while installing, or run using program RunAsDate.

[Bobalazs]

íThanks St. Nick for being helpful

[kyanha]

For anyone who's still looking for answers to this:

It turns out that there is now (in late 2023) a GPL-licensed solution which is available as freeware.

NexusMods mapping and instructions[www.nexusmods.com] for using a GPLed controller mapper called AntiMicroX[github.com], which is available for free and for no licensing cost on GitHub.