How To Play Higurashi with a Wii Remote

One of the most ridiculously comfortable ways to play.

Want to sit on your couch and eat handmade rice balls while playing on your 80" TV? Sure.
Too scared to get out of bed, much less open your front door? Got you covered.
Have one arm missing and nobody can find it? You can play just like a two-hander.

Why a Wii remote?

The gameplay in Higurashi is very complex; so much so that you'd think it'd be very difficult to play with such a simple controller.

LIES!

Holding the Wii remote like a TV remote is quite comfortable. You only need one hand to hold it, and one finger to push one button - A. It's also wireless, so you can play pretty far away from your monitor. It also has that handy wriststrap, which will help you not to drop it when you start getting paranoid and carrying your Wiimote around town.

Part 1: Downloading and Setting up GlovePIE

UPDATE 12/8/2020:
The original site for GlovePIE is now deader than a Hinamizawa resident on Watanagashi. A mirror is currently being hosted on https://github.com/Ravbug/GlovePIE. I have removed all the dead links.

ORIGINAL TEXT:

"What is GlovePIE", you ask?

Originally posted by glovepie.org:

GlovePIE is a free Programmable Input Emulator, originally for the Essential Reality P5 Virtual Reality Glove, which now supports a huge range of input devices, especially the Nintendo Wii Remote (Wiimote).

GlovePIE is used to map gestures, button presses, and other actions to keyboard keys, mouse input, or joystick buttons and axes.

Since the software only runs on Windows, I'm assuming you're running a Windows OS. If you're not (or you're running Vista), then chunk your computer in the trash/use WINE on Linux I'm afraid you'll have to find some other way.

Step 1: Download GlovePIE

The official site for GlovePIE is [link removed]
COMMON SENSE WARNING: The site looks like something out of the 90's. Also, the guy who wrote the program is a whack-job conspiracy theorist/Scientologist, but you're not here to get a sermon about Xenu's master plan. You're here to download this amazing thing and plow through some hardcore Higurashi sessions with the Baby's First Controller Wii remote. You can either:

• Wade through the site and propaganda, find the "Downloads" section, and click the button that says you understand that using this program will destroy the planet with Global Warming unless you are using 100% Green power, then go to the real download page
  
• Just go straight to the the download page here: [link removed]

Either way, get the latest version. As of 2011, that would be version 0.45. Thankfully, it comes in a .zip, so no installers. Unzip the file into whatever directory you please.

Step 2: Set up GlovePIE for Higurashi

The file you want to run is "PIEFree.exe". Open it up (make sure to Run as Administrator), and you will see something like this:


Unless you've been cursed by Oyashiro-sama, you probably have no idea what is going on or how to work this crazy thing. Well, I've got some good news and some bad news:

The bad news: it involves a lot of "programming".
The good news: I already did all of that for you.

Simply download my custom script from here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/77zws4w1ea8keex/Higurashi.PIE?dl=0
Stick it wherever you'd like, then open it in GlovePIE. Now it looks like this:


That is all the setup you have to do. Don't go pushing any strange buttons or changing settings, or I can't guarantee this will work for you. There's that very tempting "Run" button right in the middle, but you have to pair your Wii remote before that works.

TIP:

Keep GlovePIE open, as you'll need it right after the next part.

Part 2: Connecting your Wii remote to your PC

Step 1: Confirm your computer has Bluetooth capabilities

First off, the Wii remote works via Bluetooth. If your computer does not have Bluetooth functionality, you can purchase an adapter for about 1500 Yen.

Step 2: Add the Wii remote as a Bluetooth device

(This guide assumes you're using the default Windows Bluetooth stack)
Go to the far right of the start menu bar, and locate the Bluetooth icon. Right click it, then select "Add Device".

Take your Wii remote, and, whatever you do, DON'T PUSH THE RED BUTTO-
...actually, you DO need to push the red button. So push the Sync button, and it should appear on the device list as either "Nintendo RVL-CNT-##" or otherwise some form of "Generic Bluetooth Input Device". Select it to pair the device. When it asks you if you have a password, select "Pair without code".

That's it! Your Wii remote's player number LEDs should now be flashing. Well, they were flashing even before you paired it, but now they're blue LED lights of success.

Part 3: Making the Wii remote simulate KB+M

Remember that you should have GlovePIE open with my script and at the ready before this process.

Final Step: Push that "Run" button you've been staring at for so long

After you've paired your Wii remote, hit "Run" in GlovePIE. If it works, the P1 and P4 LEDs will light up, and then only the P1 LED will be lit. It may take a few pushes of the "Run" button for this to happen.

You're all set to go!

Have a wonderful Watanagashi! Nipah~

Part 4: Familiarize yourself with the controls

Wii Remote - Keyboard/Mouse
A          | Enter
1          | Right Mouse Click
2          | Left Mouse Click
D-Pad      | Move Cursor
B (Hold)   | Cursor speed up
- (Hold)   | Change D-Pad to mouse wheel
+ (Hold)   | Change D-Pad to volume controls*

*If you don't like this, or just don't want to accidentally change your computer's volume, there's an alternate script with this control option removed available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lfuin76vzgnuqwn/HigurashiAlt.PIE?dl=0

Tips

About my controls:
My script is set up so that you control the game while holding the Wii Remote like a remote control, and you control the mouse while holding it like an NES Pad. As noted in my script,

In general: Hold Wiimote sideways for mouse,
            Hold Wiimote like remote for gameplay

Wii remote de-syncing:
This happens to me all the time, but it might not happen to you.
After everything is finished setting up, the Wii remote locks up and de-syncs from the computer. This has only happened to me at setup. As a precaution, wait about 30 seconds after the Final Step. If the Wii remote still has the P1 LED on, you're good.

[kdcampo]

i love this. i will probably never use my wiimote as a controller since my pc doesnt have bluetooth, i never installed the wifi/blutooth card, but this is the geatest thing ive read on here in a while. love the memes. never take this down XD

[Sunyatan🕊]

this is the greatest thing to ever come out of this godforsaken site

[Sibi]

Ah, alright. Guess I'll try that driver then. Thanks anyway!

[nacho_chicken]

No idea. Nowadays, there are much better ways of using Wiimotes on PC—namely, an actual driver—so I'm mainly leaving this up for the memes.

[Sibi]

I keep getting an "invalid pointer operation" error when I try running the program. Do you know what could be causing it?

[Sal]

Great way to practice bat swings while playing I recommend this guide

[nacho_chicken]

Thank you all, you have fantastic taste.

[abacus]

God this is great. Thank you for making this

[Layla]

All hail

[TwoTailedCaperer]

"Have a wonderful Watanagashi! NIpah~"
*looks at picture*
Oh my god, I'm dead. Funniest thing I've seen in a long, long while