Driving and Flight Games Input/Force Feedback Guide

How to use this guide

First, check the list of games below and see if it already has the game you’re looking for.

If not, you’ll have to do some investigation yourself. First, check the list of controllers and see if your device has known compatibility issues.

Then check the list of issues to see if one or more matches what you are seeing; try the suggested fixes. Please share your experience via GitHub Discussions so I can grow this reference.

Games With Known Compatibility Issues

Each game entry lists, in short form, the fixes that might be needed with some or all DirectInput controllers.

The following short forms are used to refer to common issues:

• Slip: “FFB commands block game loop” fix is needed via FFFSake
• Combined pedals: Two axes (usually accelerator and brake pedals) need to be combined into a single axis.
• Zeroed pedals: An axis needs to be zeroed. Pedals and analog paddles on modern wheels are usually not zeroed.
• Hardware Effects Usage: This can help explain why a game might not “feel right” on your force feedback device if the latter doesn’t implement built-in effects properly. A rating is given out of:
  • High: The game uses a lot of hardware FFB effects, and uses them in advanced ways.
  • Medium: The game uses some hardware FFB effects in simple ways.
  • Minimal: The game uses only constant and damper forces, the latter in very simple ways.
  • None: The game only uses constant forces.
• FFB high effect count: This game uses a large-ish number of FFB effects and is known to crash or lose effects with some wheels.
• FFB Saturation: Force feedback from the game saturates; FFFSake user gain settings are advised.
• IndirectInput: The game needs the listed feature from IndirectInput

Burnout Paradise

Also applies to the Remastered and Ultimate Box versions. This Criterion game has a common issue with other Criterion racing games from this time that requires forced wheel detection.

1. Hardware Effects Usage: Medium
2. IndirectInput: Forced wheel detection

Bus Simulator 21

A driving game that curiously uses Unreal Engine, which may be to blame for compatibility issues with FFB wheels:

1. IndirectInput: Forced wheel detection

TODO: Game needs further study

Crew 2

This game supports joystick, HOTAS and racing wheel input, the latter with force feedback.

1. Slip
2. Hardware Effects Usage: Medium
3. IndirectInput
   1. Forced wheel detection. Without this, in-game force feedback and wheel input configuration is greyed out (fix unconfirmed).

Crew Motorfest

The implementation has changed since Crew 2 but has the same issues and then one more:

1. FFB high effect count (crash to desktop)
   1. HidHide is needed to hide the problematic controller from the game, while using vJoy to play the game.
2. Hardware Effects Usage: Medium

FPS drop (like in previous versions of Crew) has not been reported for Motorfest.

Dirt 3

This game came out when H-shifters were rare. Even with the fix below, the shifter will occasionally drop to neutral in-game; there is no known fix for that and appears to be game logic.

1. IndirectInput
   1. Vendor spoof (only for H-shifters not made by a manufacturer in their hard-coded list). Without this, the in-game option to select manual transmission will be missing entirely.

Dirt Rally

TODO: Game available but study pending. The following are pending confirmation:

1. IndirectInput
   1. Vendor spoof (only for H-shifters not made by a manufacturer in their hard-coded list). Without this, the in-game option to select manual transmission will be missing entirely.
   2. Forced wheel detection to enable full FFB configuration.

Dirt Rally 2.0

TODO: Game available but study pending

Elite: Dangerous

Only the first 32 buttons can be mapped from a single controller (suspected source of limit). Players often use vJoy and Joystick Gremlin to map buttons >= 32 from the physical device to the 0-31 range of buttons on vJoy.

This game does not have force feedback. It (probably still) does rumble on Xinput devices.

GRID

TODO: Game available but study pending

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)

An “arcade” racing game with one of the better force feedback effects for its time. Known compatibility issues:

1. Zeroed pedals
2. Hardware Effects Usage: High
3. FFB high effect count (partial loss of effects)
4. FFB Saturation: Recommended 40% for Constant, Spring, Square and Sine.
5. Don’t bind handbrake to an analog axis, it can break auto-braking behavior for accelerator and reverse axes.

Need for Speed: Heat

One of the few racing games I have seen that simply doesn’t allow you to bind controls!

1. Inability to bind controls. Use Joystick Gremlin and bind as follows:
   1. TODO Fill this section
2. Zeroed paddles (not pedals). TODO Confirm this.
3. TODO: Fill out FFB information

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010)

This Criterion game is similar to their other games from this time in terms of DirectInput usage.

1. Hardware Effects Usage: Medium
2. IndirectInput: Forced wheel detection. Without this, an inferior, fallback model meant for joysticks is used; many effects are missing and forces are applied along the Y axis.
3. Zeroed pedals

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012)

This Criterion game is similar to their other games from this time in terms of DirectInput usage.

1. Hardware Effects Usage: Medium
2. IndirectInput: Forced wheel detection. Without this, an inferior, fallback model meant for joysticks is used; many effects are missing and forces are applied along the Y axis.

This game currently lists an incorrect fix on various online forums, a DLL replacement that rotates forces.

Race Room

TODO: Game available but study pending

Richard Burns’ Rally

TODO: Game available but study pending

Test Drive Unlimited

TODO: Game available but study pending

Test Drive Unlimited 2

TODO: Game available but study pending

Games with generally excellent implementations

The following games generally have excellent implementations and offer plenty of input and FFB configuration in-game that they can be made to work with most wheels.

1. Codemasters games after (approx) 2018: F1 games
2. American Truck Simulator
3. Euro Truck Simulator 2
4. Probably most contemporary hard core racing sims

You should not need FFFSake and Joystick Gremlin for these games. However you could still Joystick Gremlin (without FFFSake) to use your joystick as an H-shifter.