Monday, December 5, 2011

Configuring XPadder for SWTOR

The typical response to playing SWTOR with a controller is "You're gimping yourself. This game has over 25+ abilities you need access to at any one time.  The camera can't rotate fast enough in PvP!  How can you live with the knowledge that you're teaching people to play MMOs wrong?" (Okay, that last one is atypical, but it made me laugh when they said it.)

These responses are normally the result of an uninformed opinion on the utilities available to a controller user.  The bottom line is you can map 25+ abilities to a controller, and you'll find you can configure the camera to rotate as fast as you want.  I'll explain how to do this using XPadder and show you some sample SWTOR configurations after the jump.


I should note these profiles have been successfully tested and used by both Khalirei and I over several builds (Khalirei gets full credit for showing me how to do all this).

SETTING UP XPADDER
Go to XPadder.com to download and install the latest version of XPadder (there are earlier versions that are Freeware, but for only $10, I recommend you get the latest one).  After you've installed it, you can bind the controller to your keyboard and mouse commands (if you've never used XPadder, I highly recommend you read over this tutorial series on their forums).  
You MUST follow these instructions, or XPadder will not work in SWTOR: Make sure XPadder is NOT installed in the Program Files (x86) folder, and right-click its properties to set it to run as an administrator in Vista compatibility mode.  SWTOR runs at the administrator level, so programs like XPadder must run at the same level in order to function in-game.  UPDATE: If you're still having trouble getting XPadder to work, try turning on Autoprofile in XPadder's settings, as suggested by Errol in the comments below (thanks, Errol)!

MULTIPLE MAPPINGS
The greatest advantage that XPadder offers is the ability to swap configuration sets.  That is, you can have your controller switch to an alternate configuration simply by holding down a button.  For example, in my Jedi Consular configuration below, my squ, tri, circ and cross buttons correspond to hotkeys 1-3 and jump, but if I hold down the R2 button, these change to hotkeys 4-7.  You can set the buttons to swap by clicking, or to only swap while held.

Sample Jedi Consular Configuration

If these still aren't enough abilities for you, you could always configure your D-pad to control your left quicktab, your buttons to control your right quicktab, and keys 1-0 on your keypad for your main quicktab. That's a total of 33 abilities, comprising hotkeys 1 through 0, shift-1 through shift-=, and alt-1 through alt--.

CAMERA ROTATION
First, let me say that the camera not rotating fast enough is not a problem for controllers in this game.  In fact, you'll find the opposite to be true.  If the camera is rotating too fast, I recommend you make sure its rotation speed is dialed all the way down in SWTOR's settings, then dial down any sensitivity settings for mouse or analog stick movement outside the game (MotioninJoy has settings for this, for example).

To use your right stick to rotate the camera, bind each direction to BOTH the respective mouse direction and the mouse right-click (available under XPadder's advanced options).  This circumvents the game's requirement to hold down a mouse button to rotate the camera.  Make sure your cursor is not on the UI somewhere when you try to rotate the camera.

ALTERNATE PROFILES
As some classes have essential abilities that others lack (such as Take Cover for the IA/Smuggler), I recommend saving multiple profiles.  Then you can configure ones best suited for that specific class.

Troubleshooting: I've found on rare occasions that the controller will get stuck in configuration 2 or 3 so that I have to hold down the respective button to use the default configuration (basically 2 or 3 swaps places with configuration 1). If this happens, quit XPadder from its system icon in the notification bar and restart it. This will immediately resolve the problem.  This is my only real complaint about XPadder, and apparently stems from trying to switch between sets too quickly.  If you have your set-swapping buttons configured as toggles instead of swap-when-held, you shouldn't encounter this problem.

UPDATE: PhDWarrior suggested a much simpler fix for this problem: set your PS button on all your alternate mappings as a one-way swap to map 1.  That way, if it ever gets stuck, you just hit the PS button and it resets itself.

KHALIREI'S SWTOR GAMEPLAY NOTES
  1. Combat can be executed flawlessly with a controller.  The turn speed for the camera is good enough for PvP, and friendly/enemy targeting is really easy with the bumper buttons.
  2. Looting and Selling: If you position the cursor near your character's butt, you can loot corpses simply by walking up to them and right clicking (down on the D-pad in his configuration, R3 in mine).
  3. Conversations: Since three of the face buttons are configured for hotkeys 1-3, these also correspond to conversation options 1-3.  In the latest build, they added a setting to display the alignment of conversation choices without mousing over, so you can use these buttons to easily select your response in any conversation.

ADDITIONAL CONFIGURATIONS AND FILES
If anyone wants to try and use my XPadder configurations, I've uploaded the files here. I can't guarantee there won't be problems transferring between systems, though (global button assignments changing, for example).
Sample Imperial Agent Configuration


Khalirei's Original XBOX Configuration
Details on Khalirei's configuration:
[Layout 1]
Back=ESC
Start=Map
L Stick=WASD (auto run if pushed in)
R Stick=Camera (ability or right mouse button if pushed in, still testing)
Dpad=Rest, Loot, In-combat self-buff 1, In-combat self-buff 2
X=1
Y=2
B=3
A=space
LB=Enemy Targetting
RB=Friendly Targetting
LT=Layout 2 (while held)
RT=Layout 3 (while held)

[Layout 2]
Dpad=shift+1, shift+2, shift+3, shift+4 (left, up, right, down) (Out of combat abilities)
X=4
Y=5
B=6
A=7

[Layout 3]
Dpad=K, C, N, B (left, up, right, down) (Skill Trees, Character sheet, Companions, Bags)
X=8
Y=9
B=0
A=-
L Stick=WASD (Take Cover if pushed in)
R Stick=Regular Mouse movement (left click if pushed in)
LT=shift+6

71 comments:

  1. I cannot figure out for the life of me how to get the camera rotation to work with the left joystick. Please help?

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  2. For your joystick's configuration, click on the Advanced tab. In there, you can bind multiple commands, so you'll want to set it to be bound to both the mouse direction and right click. What this does is as soon as you tilt the stick, SWTOR receives a command to simultaneously right-click the mouse and move the mouse. This is what enables camera rotation.

    You need to make sure the mouse pointer is in the main game screen, not on any part of the UI.

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  3. Thanks for this post. I am having a problem however. After setting it up the controls work but when The old republic launches it does not. Even when the launcher is selected it stops working. I have tried the admin and compatibility modes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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  4. Never mind. the program wasn't closing all the way from the way I closed it and reopened in admin. Works great.

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  5. Glad it's working for ya, Majestic!

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  6. how do I bind the multiple commans for the right joy stick? it will only let me do the direction or the right button..

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  7. Drazius, multiple command binds are under the Advanced tab in XPadder. Try binding the cardinal directions to mouse movement, then go under the advanced tab to add additional commands. If you get lost, go to XPadder's homepage for a tutorial, or download one of my sample profiles to help get you started.

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  8. I configured my Xbox controller through Xpadder to the keybinds that I want. It works in and out of game. Heck, I've even tried it in WoW and Star Trek Online and it works perfectly. However, when I'm in game on SWTOR it doesn't work at all. When I hit the button it should work as though I'm hitting that corresponding button on the keypad, but to no avail. It doesn't work at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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  9. I wasn't sure if there is something I needed to enable in the options or preferences in the game itself in order for Xpadder to work in-game. Thanks again.

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  10. Sadriel, you need to right-click on XPadder.exe, and under compatibility, set it to run as an administrator.

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  11. Nice, info....I am going to see if I can get this to work on my x360. Finally someone who shows us how to use a controller on SWTOR.

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  12. Finally got it to work. I was right clicking on the folder itself, not the program. A whole new list of tabs came up with options on them. Works like a champ, now. Thank you so much. Awesome stuff. Have a great holiday.

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  13. Glad it's working! And Merry Christmas to you too!

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  14. There is an Xpadder profile made for SWTOR by Smiley but the way the site is made you have to purchase Xpadder and automatically become a member before you can download a profile. But do not be dismayed here is a link to download Smiley's profile which is also the best made for Xpadder; http://www.mediafire.com/?jgxb6298mf7zl0t
    There might be a possible error to download because of the server being updated so please continue to check back to see if you can download it.

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  15. Hey, I was really hoping you might be able to help me out with this. I'm trying to use xpadder to use my controller with the game, when I start up the game the controller seems to be working fine, when I enter my login information the controller is able to move the mouse, press keys etc. It works while press login and then play comes up. As soon as I press play the controller no longer works, I can move the mouse but not with the controller joy stick anymore.

    I've set the program to run as an administrator and I have made sure it is not in the x86 program files, after that I don't know what else I can do. Some help would be greatly appreciated as I'd really like to play this game with my controller. Thanks

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  16. Hmm...you know, you're the second person to bring this up, and I'm afraid I'm as stumped as you. I wish I had a straightforward answer for you, but running as admin SHOULD have worked. In fact, the problem you're describing is exactly what happens when XPadder isn't being run in admin mode. Are you using any other programs in conjunction with your controller?

    I know you'd probably prefer to use XPadder, but try using Pinnacle Game Profiler and see if you have the same problem. There's a 30 day trial, so you don't have to worry about blowing cash on a program that's not going to work for you.

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  17. Awesome info. Thanks for the assist!

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  18. ok now this morning , i dont get it !! yesterday took me like 1h to set it up to finally work with SWTOR and this morning xpadder not working anymore with the game. My xpadder folder is under C, i made it work as admin , the game also . i even try the compatibility test , well today its not working . i cant say what im doing wrong since it was working well last night . hope you can help me on this , thank you

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  19. Does your computer enter sleep mode, and have you tried rebooting? I don't know what setup you're using, but I've recently discovered that if Windows goes to sleep, I sometimes have to reboot to get everything working again.

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  20. For folks who have a purchased version of Xpadder can now download the latest version release 2012.01.19 which was release early this morning.

    Changes:
    - Added TapTime slot
    - Added Profile menu Recent option and changed Open to use open dialog (suggested by Reboot)
    - Fixed a bug where starting with Hold/Release Zone 0.01s caused another to be added in schedule
    - Fixed a bug where adding a Pause 0.00s did not turn single stage into sequence
    - Fixed a bug where new cycle was not displayed on button in main window if last cycle was a sequence
    - Fixed a bug where title bar icon was missing when Xpadder started on Windows Vista/7 with aero theme enabled
    - Improved core loop memory pointers
    - Improved Hold and Release Zone scheduling
    - Improved sequence time mapping
    - Improved slot type detection
    - Improved cycle and schedule access in CoreLoop
    - Improved sequence detection
    - Improved debug settings page (split into subpages and moved keyboard test here)
    - Improved file open/save dialog handling
    - Improved language translation storage and integration
    - Improved Polish language storage
    - Improved AutoProfile Edit Watch dialog text (suggested by Primal Fear)
    - Improved slot bitmap creation
    - Improved popup menu creation
    - Improved timing slot visuals
    - Improved slot edit icons
    - Removed incomplete Dutch translation

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  21. I have a question, I am using Xpadder..and well when i click down on the right joystick..this becomes my camera view, is there anyway to bind that option to another key? Lock my camera to the start button, or right trigger?

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    1. Yes, absolutely. When you pull up XPadder, click on the button you want to bind that option to and it will pull up the hotkey configuration screen. In the bottom left corner, you'll see a blue-and-black icon with a checkbox underneath. Checking that sets the button as a toggle (so it remains held down until you press it again). Next, on the right side you'll see mouse controls. Select the #2 mouse button if you want your character to turn with the camera, or #1 for free camera movement.

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    2. Awesome thanks Peeps, I will try that.
      Currently I have the lock camera (right +hold) on my click down right joystick..and I tend to accidently switch it on and off.

      I have been Owning players with my controller setup.
      I play this game like i would play "Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Batman etc"
      btw: If i can't get it figured out, if you wouldn't mind, could you possibly send me a profile with that fix?
      Thank you in advance!

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  22. Ok, I bounded my right mouse button to my start button (on my ps3 controller. I can see that it clicks to activate the right mouse action, but it doesn't hold it, it releases it.

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    1. Did you check that toggle button in the bottom left? That should cause it to hold. If you're still having problems, upload your profile to Mediafire.com and send me the link: I'll have a look at it.

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  23. I think i got it, about to test it out, i didn't mean to spam your blog dude...sorry and thanks for your all you help man.

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  24. Hey Peeps, I am really struggling to do the combinations thing so that I can get turning down. I have resorted to just using your setup and modifying the single buttons. However, your final right trigger modifier didn't maintain the right mouse button and turning thing, so I tried to do it myself. It seems my problem is that the program will not recognise when I press the right muse button.

    So you can troubleshoot: I've clicked on the advanced tab in the button assignment and then clicked insert, which leaves a new box. But when I right click anywhere the box stays empty. This is opposed to if I press any other button, it will fill the box.

    PLEASE HELP!!!

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    1. Hey! For mouse commands, you have to click on the mouse button icons on the virtual keyboard that should still be displayed behind the advanced menu. Hope that helps!

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    2. Wooooo!!!!!!!!!!! Helped heaps mate. Thank you so much!

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  25. I started out using Logitech controllers for WOW many years ago. I just discovered Xpadder last year. For DPSing what you've put together here is fantastic.

    I End Game raided in WOW as a healer with a controller and lit up the WOL lol.

    For Anyone that wants to heal using a controller it's going to be Difficult unless the game allows click casting(basically either way it will be more of a Mouse/ Gamepad setup).

    However, some of what I did can help if you as long as Mouseover macros exist.

    1. Anything that's channeled or has a cast bar goes on your D-Pad(Mouseover heal macros = so op!).

    2. You will move using the left Analog Stick.

    3. Jump should be bind to the key under your Left Analog Stick

    4. Top left button is alt

    5. Bottom left is Toggle set 2(Or the Logitech specific "shift key)

    For PVE you can pretty much ignore any button on the right side of the stick as a healer. I did bind the Start and select keys and I also binded a rarely used but effective skill(think nature's grasp) to the button under the right stick.

    1,2,3 and 4 are target self Macros for healing in Battlegrounds(you shouldn't need them in Raids since you aren't Marked by the boss and focused lol.

    Top/bottom right keys were not used, but again my setup was based n Logitech software. You may find uses for them.

    As I said before click casting addons made this setup op in WOW. This also works in Swtor and in Rift(In Rift it's easier due to the presence of Mouseover Macros)

    This setup should be good in BGs(or w/e your game calls them Warfronts ect.)For Arena as a DPSer or Healer I recommend what Peeps has done. I really wish I had found this when I still had a WOW account. I would definitely try 2v2 Arena lol.

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    1. Good info, unfortunately for SWTOR no mouseover macros exist, nor click-casting. A lot of longtime WoW healers are complaining about it, but as of now, you've gotta hotkey everything.

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  26. Yea I know. It's kinda like Bioware has never played an MMO lol. I think Divinity 2 had macros and it's a stand alone RPG.

    I started out without either in WOW so healing wasn't that hard for me, but WOW has spoiled me and I wan't my macros! lol

    Keep up the good work here. It's amazing what you've put together. It has given a long time healer like me the confidence to DPS and Maybe heal in arena.

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    1. In BioWare's defense (and forgive me, but I have no WoW experience...I deliberately avoided it for fear of liking it TOO much), aren't such features in WoW third-party mods? I'm sure that we'll start seeing some third-party mods for SWTOR soon, and a lot of these issues will hopefully be resolved.

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  27. Macros aren't but click casting is.

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  28. @PeepsMcJuggs - Thanks for this write-up, because of you i'm playing a PC game for the 1st time in years! Everything is great, but i've just gotten my ship in SWTOR and need to speed up cursor movement. I tried doing it through MIJ's options menu, but once I hit "Save Changes" then "Reload Page" it goes back to 1. I can't seem to figure out how to do it Xpadder.....any ideas?

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    1. Hey, Talontd! I know this is many moons since you've asked, but the answer you're looking for is under the advanced mouse settings. After you've assigned the mouse to one of your analog sticks, you'll see a little monkey wrench near that stick in the controller image. Click on that to dial down the mouse sensitivity. You can even adjust individual axes, or have different sensitivities for different mappings.

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  29. Hey There,

    I use the extended quickbars in-game (hot keys 1-= and the one you have to click on below it) what do I have to do in order to map this extended quickbar to the controller in an effective way without have to create a huge number of configurations to cycle through? Btw, i have no idea what im doing so talk to me like im 5, this is a whole new concept to me but i would like to try it out.

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  30. Ah ha! I see now, disregard that post, I just watched your gamepley video for ragers. Looks good. Im tempted

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  31. How do you add the layouts to the triggers?

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  32. Hi, Taylor! If you're talking about swapping layouts as shown above, right click on the button and select Set Selector, then choose the alternate set to which you want the trigger to swap. You have three options:
    One-way - tapping the button will leave you swapped on the new layout.
    Two-way - tapping the button swaps to the new layout until you tap it again, returning to the previous layout.
    While held - swaps until you release the trigger, then returns to the main layout. I recommend this mode, commonly referred to as hot-swapping.

    There's a good tutorial on this on the XPadder forums at: http://xpadder.com/forum4/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3713. They have a bunch of other tutorials that'll get you proficient at XPadder in no time. NOTE: the forums are only accessible to subscribers. It's a one-time payment, and you get updates for life, so I recommend it all XPadder users.

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  33. Hi, thanks for all this hard work! I made a little modification on IA profile coz the camera was don't working well. (sometimes when I tried rotate, just the cursor was moving or cursor moved first and after the camera). So, I set up the right stick as mouse cursor and the stick's center button as right click with the function TOGGLE. With this the camera works perfectly well, the inconvenient is when you swap sets and the toggle goes OFF, but for me it's ok.

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  34. Hi, Filipe!
    I know exactly what you're talking about, which is why I didn't go with the toggle option in XPadder. If you like that setup, I suggest checking out Pinnacle Game Profiler, which has the advantage of not disengaging when you swap sets. Plus, you can configure it where single-click simply clicks the mouse and double-click locks the camera (which is the setup I use). Check my post on camera tweaks for more details.

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  35. Hi Errol

    Whenever I launch SWTOR I can no longer use xpadder it seems disabled.

    I have followed most of your instructions except for the last one. I'm not sure what you mean by the system tray?

    Can you please help?

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  36. i am having issues with the camera rotation. for some reason it seems to get stuck every so often. any ideas?

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    1. Stuck in what way? Does it keep rotating, or does it stop rotating entirely?

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    2. it stops completely. not so much vertically but more horizontally

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    3. to clarify, i have set up the duel command of right mouse clicking and moving for all directs with the right joystick. my goal is to move my character and rotate the camera at the same time (just like in non mmo rpgs) it works occasionally but the horizontal camera rotation gets stuck and wont move

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    4. Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, the dual command is decidedly glitchy when used in that way. You can try flipping the order of commands (make sure it right clicks first), but it's not guaranteed to help. You could also try inserting a microsecond pause between right-click and mouse movement.

      The problem is that XPadder attempts to right-click and move at the EXACT same time, and for some reason either SWTOR or XPadder doesn't appreciate this. I used to try and control my camera this way in my original configurations, and eventually abandoned it altogether because my mouse kept flying all over the screen. You might want to attempt one of the other methods I described if you have no luck getting it to behave the way you want it.

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  37. Like many people, I've connected Xpadder and its not working for Old Republic. I've made sure it is run as administrator and windows vista. When I'm on my desk top and in a search bar, my steelseries controller "types" the corresponding letters or numbers but they aren't registering in the game, HELP PLEASE

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    1. Da'Poet, I'm not too familiar with the SteelSeries controllers. Does it have its own software that it runs for controller configuration purposes? If so, you might want to try ensuring that is running as administrator as well. If not, I'm unsure what the specific issue is. You could attempt using PGP or Joystix to see if they work (there are free/trial versions of both you could use for testing purposes).

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  38. Steelseries is a basic (Xbox type) controller. Just plug into the USB n play. There aren't any admin settings for it... but thanks-- I'll try PGP or Joystix and let you know.

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  39. i AM TRYING TO GET AN XBOX 360 CONTROLLER TO WORK IN swtor HOWEVER ITS NOT WORKING IN GAME EVEN AFTER I RUN IT AS ADMINISTRATOR

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    1. Hi, Daracus. Can you tell me if you've managed to test it in other programs without any trouble? And are you using XPadder to map your controls?

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    2. no I have not tried it before and yes I am using XPadder. As tyson says below would i need to enable autoprofile, if so how would i do that. Im not very techsavy. Appreciate all the help.

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  40. Worked for me when I enabled the Autoprofile as per Errol's instructions.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, thanks Tyson! I forgot about his suggestion there. Da'Poet, if you were still experiencing issues, you might want to try enabling Autoprofile. I'll have to remember to add that to the post above.

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  41. Has anyone got a download of the xbox controller file ? and Khaliri's xontroller scheme? I can't see the fricking controller image when I open xpadder and I followed the on-site tutorial

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    Replies
    1. Maverick,
      Khalirei didn't provide a download for his profile, but I can drum one up if you need it. As for the XBOX configuration/controller image, check the XPadder forums (which require purchase to access). They're really good at showing you how set it up, as well as troubleshooting any issues you might encounter.

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  42. Has anyone ran into any issues with using alt+[key] in SWTOR? I'm using PGP not Xpadder but I set my left bumper to alt, but when I hold down the alt key and press another button on the controller it doesn't respond... :/

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    Replies
    1. Hi SM,
      I haven't had any issues with the alt key, but then I didn't set it as a bumper switch. I would recommend you turn your bumper into a profile swap where you map the buttons as alt+button (i.e. you hold down your left bumper and your first slot that's set to 1 changes to Alt+1). This is how PGP is designed to handle these things, and should resolve the issues you're encountering.

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  43. Sorry if this has been answered but Xpadder is not recognizing my analog sticks. I click enable and it ask for me to push left but doesnt respond to the stick. It does respond to the Dpad for some reason. I have updated my drivers and I know the controllers are good. Also my analog sticks work fine with BetterD3tool. Any sugestions? I'd need Xpadder to work for the toggle and set switch feat.

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  44. Hey, when I press my PS button, it doesn't register. Do you know how I can get Xpadder to recognize this button?

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  45. Hi! For some reason, when my lover uses any profile in XPadder with this game, his right joystick moves the camera way too quickly, even while lowering the mouse speed in Windows, in the game and in xpadder. Even if the settings at minimum it's too quick O_o Is that a known issue with this game?

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    Replies
    1. Ah, nevermind. It's only having very little effect unless he really cranks them all the way down. XD

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  46. Alright I am sitting with a new problem...Xpadder says its not compatible with Windows 10! Any help!?

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  47. Lets say that in set 1 I have right mouse button been held/toggle, when I hit a key that changes selector to set 2 the right mouse button is loose/untoggle.
    I want that the right mouse button to stay toggle/hold all times even when I change selector to sets 1-2-3... except when I hit the key to toggle/untoggle of course.
    I've been hours trying to figure it out but have no clue, anyone can help me?

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  48. Lets say that in set 1 I have right mouse button been held/toggle, when I hit a key that changes selector to set 2 the right mouse button is loose/untoggle.
    I want that the right mouse button to stay toggle/hold all times even when I change selector to sets 1-2-3... except when I hit the key to toggle/untoggle of course.
    I've been hours trying to figure it out but have no clue, anyone can help me?

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