can the ps3 controller show and be a real virtual ps3 controller?

[ulao]

This is not a ps3 controller, its a ps4, but further can we get support for a real ps3 with pressure buttons? Main reason is to support this for pcsx2

I wanted to make a bug report but was nagged to use a Discord link,

[eVenent]

What I understood from Bliss-Box discord it's for possibility to use all pressure-sensitive buttons in pcsx2 and rpcsx3 emulators like reWASD has.

[ulao]

Yeah, pretty much padforge certainly can do it. But as far as I could find, there was no output to that type of control. So the sdl API that these emulators use had no way to use it. Found a few workarounds but they all had gotchas that didn't.

On October 1, 2026 11:56:53 AM EDT, FlameMan ***@***.***> wrote: What I understood from Bliss-Box discord it's for possibility to use all pressure-sensitive buttons in pcsx2 and rpcsx3 emulators. -- Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: #476 (comment) You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[ulao]

I was able to finally get pcsx2 to work, the dinput implementation is finicky. It does work but it might be easier if the ps3 in padforge outputted pressure buttons.

[hifihedgehog]

HIDMaestro v1.10.0 adds a virtual DualShock 3 with pressure-sensitive buttons, DualShock 3 (SIXAXIS): Full. It presents the pad the way Sony's sixaxis driver and DsHidMini's SXS mode do on Windows, which is the form PCSX2 and RPCS3 read pressure from: PCSX2 through SDL's sixaxis driver, RPCS3 through its own DualShock 3 handler. Cross, circle, square, triangle, L1, R1 and the four d-pad directions each carry a pressure from 0 to 255, and L2 and R2 take theirs from the triggers.

PadForge's PS3 output now drives it. The change is on the development branch and ships with the next release:

• Pick DualShock 3 (SIXAXIS): Full on a PlayStation slot. Its mapping grid adds ten pressure rows after L2 and R2.
• A DualShock 3 that PadForge reads fills those rows on its own.
• For a DualShock 2 on your Bliss-Box, turn on Read Bliss-Box Adapters, click Record on each pressure row and press the button. The recording takes the button's pressure input, Cross Pressure and the rest, not its digital press. For analog shoulders, pick L2 Pressure and R2 Pressure on the L2 and R2 rows.
• A button's pressure goes out only while the button reads pressed, so turbo, macros and shift layers release the pressure along with the button. A button with no pressure mapped presses fully.

The PS3 presets also draw a DualShock 3 now, which answers the screenshot at the top: they showed a DualShock 4 before.

In PCSX2, enable the SDL input source and use Automatic Mapping on the virtual DualShock 3. Stock SDL, set up the way PCSX2 sets it up, reads every pressure axis from the persona, and RPCS3's reads and writes replayed against it decode correctly. Neither emulator has been run against it yet.

Details: https://padforge.org/docs/features/mappings/#button-pressure and https://hidmaestro.org/docs/sdk/dualshock-3/

[ulao]

looks great I think this might be a bug?

ps3 still uses start and select ?Aswell as the touch controls.

[hifihedgehog]

You're right, that was a bug. The PlayStation slot gave every preset the DualShock 4's layout, so both DualShock 3 presets showed Share and Options where the pad has Select and Start, and listed touchpad rows for a pad with no touchpad.

It's fixed on the development branch for the next release. On DualShock 3 (SIXAXIS) and DualShock 3 (SIXAXIS): Full those rows now read Select and Start, and the touchpad rows are gone. The macro and menu editors and the SOCD pairs use the same names, and the default mapping no longer binds a touchpad on either preset.

One more change since the build in your screenshot: with Read Bliss-Box Adapters on, assigning a port to a slot now maps the DualShock 2 on its own. That covers Select and Start, the button the GPA sends when you hold Select and Start for about two seconds (button 18, now named Guide, which lands on PS), and on the Full preset the ten pressure rows. A slot you already mapped keeps your mappings, so to pick up the new defaults there, remove the port from the slot and assign it again.

A real DualShock 3 maps completely on its own. Assign it to a PlayStation slot on DualShock 3 (SIXAXIS): Full and every control is mapped, the ten pressure buttons included, even if you assign it before it connects. That covers a DualShock 3 PadForge reads itself, over USB or Bluetooth, and one on Sony's sixaxis driver or DsHidMini's SXS mode. DsHidMini's other modes present the pad differently, so their pressure rows stay empty for you to record.