Firstly, let's get this out of the way right now:

I use a controller in preference to keyboard and mouse because I have dyspraxia. My wrists tire quite easily, and it is far easier for me to use a controller than to use a keyboard and mouse despite the lauded superiority of it. This is a single player game, anyway, so what does it matter how I play it?

My wrists are already becoming quite fatigued, just typing this, so, please, no "Why would you want to play with a controller" comments; if you have to ask, you obviously haven't read my explanation, which I shouldn't even have to explain, therefore, you have no business replying to this inquiry.

Now that I've gotten past that, the title mostly outlines my query; How can I play Oblivion with a controller for a more or less console-like experience? The game itself touts Xbox controller support, but I have yet to see this actually function. I have a physical release of the game, too, but again, no dice on the controller support. And I have even tried it with the recommended Xbox 360 wired controller for Windows, to no avail. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

As a secondary query, is there anyone who migh know how to allow for the same control option on say, Morrowind?

Oblivion doesn't have native controller support unfortunately, neither does morrowind. Only thing you can do is emulate a keyboard and mouse using xpadder or joy2key.

Have a look here:
[url=http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Controls#Xbox_360_Controller_for_Windows]http://en.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Controls#Xbox_360_Controller_for_Windows[/url]

That confuses me, because there's an Xbox 360 controller diagram right next to the keyboard control layout in the Oblivion PC manual. I was even able to get support on the line from 2K Boston, who did the PC release, who said it should work. As to the Morrowind bit, I figured, but, thought it was a t least woth a shot. Thanks.

To Antaniserse
Yeah, I don't understand that crap; you can set up the controller, but the game doesn't recognize the triggers...I wonder if that was some sick joke on 2K Boston's part...I mean, you NEED the triggers' analog range for stuff like bow drawing...it doesn't make sense. It's like it was a symbolic kick to the groin for PC players, support the controller, but cripple the gameplay if you want to use it.

As far as I know, Oblivion doesn't have XInput support, which means that not all buttons will work on a modern controller and some incorrectly. However, I think there was a fix that didn't require you to use a keyboard mapping program –might be wrong about that. The OpenMW team have implemented controller support for their engine, however, until someone implements a controller interface or more keyboard shortcuts (using the joystick as a mouse is no fun), the experience is not going to be ideal. It may be an option to use your keyboard and mouse for the menus, though.

Yeah, it "works" with an Xbox 360 controller, but the odd thing is, even though the manual shows that you can use the triggers on said controller, you can't. It won't even recognize the triggers on an Xbox 360 controller, which is the controller they recommend for PC play. Unfortunately, the number listed in the manual no longer lists Oblivion as a support covered game, and even though I've tried to get it to work on my own, I still can't get it to work like I remember it working on console. I may just have to break down and buy a PS3, if I want it to work how I want it to, unfortantely, that means no mods...so, I guess it's either play with mods and suffer the muscle fatigue, or play it how I want, with nothing but the core content...well, I guess that's not entirely true; I could always reinstall the copy of Oblivion I have on steam and try to work out a proper steam controller profile...maybe between now and sometime in the future, someone witll figure out a way to inject proper controller support into the executable. Long shot, but I can hope lol

It's annoying that there doesn't seem to be a good solution. Personally, I would find it unacceptable missing out on mods, so I'd use keyboard mapping tool for my controller. Using a Steam Controller is a good idea, I think. But I would only use it without Steam.

Weird.. It works for me.. Did they fix it?

Other option is XPADDER or Joy2Key


Fix for Xbox 360 controller using those:

www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/44945/?

*DOWNLOAD MANUALLY NOT WITH MOD MANAGER*

Also if any of you are new to modding i suggest looking up tutorials on Youtube.. Gopher is really good for example..

And make sure you get SCRIPT EXTENDER or you will have issues.. Their are vids explaining how to do that as well.. And pay no attention to the 4gb Enabler since all these awsome GOG versions already have been fixed with LARGE ASSET AWARENESS... Happy Modding yall!

And no i am not an expert i literally just got into modding within the last couple weeks it is very easy if you just read things and pay attention to some tutorials.. Always ALWAYS read the "READ ME" files... Peace

I'd also suggest looking into maybe buying a decent trackball. I used to play a lot of games with a trackball back in the day and always felt like it's an often overlooked option. Of course it's not the same as a controller but in combination with a keypad of some sorts the flexibility is much better than even keyboard mapping tools. I don't have dyspraxia though, so I can't really judge if that's an option.

Why are you using a controller?



jk.




As said above, the nexus has a couple different keymaps already set for use with xpadder ... just remember you have to have xpadder running after you import the keymap while playing the game.

I know this is an old topic, but I've recently found a mod that offers (almost) perfect controller support called Northern UI

Hey, thanks for the heads-up! I will DEFINITELY be looking into that. Only question now is, does it give a console experience? I'd prefer to be able to play the game with the controller only.


Edit: Having checked it out, I can say that it does indeed give a console experience, though, to be honest, as nice as the UI is, I do wish there was an option to have the vanilla UI; feels a little too much like Skyrim. That being said, it's fantastic, finally being able to play Oblivion with a controller again.

Actually there is a vanilla Oblivion UI. See the link below:
NorthernUI
...and look for "NorthernUIAway (Vanilla Style)". Granted, the vanilla ui isn't quite as stable as NorthernUI, but it should do the job. Note that both versions of this mod don't support hotkeying with the dpad.

Yeah, I saw that much later after the fact. I did ask the author about whether the hotkeying was planned; just going over there now to check on the threads. It's fantastic as is, though. I honestly didn't think I'd get to play with a controller, much less have a console experience with it.

I, too, never thought I would be able to play this game with an xbox-styled controller. I'm glad someone will get some use out that info.Now only if Skyrim could come here.