Emulation

Emulation presents your controller to a game as a virtual Xbox 360 or DualShock 4 pad, so a title that only accepts one kind of gamepad accepts yours. It is also the layer that carries remapped controls, keyboard-and-mouse input, and macros into the game.

Overview

OmniControl reads your physical controller, applies your remaps and tuning, then hands the result to the game as a genuine virtual device. That device is created by the ViGEmBus kernel driver, which registers a virtual controller with Windows at the same level as a pad plugged into USB. The game reads a real device from the driver stack, not an injected input stream.

You emulate one of two pads:

Virtual Xbox 360 (XInput) - the default and the widest-supported layout on Windows.
Virtual DualShock 4 - for games that read PlayStation input directly, and it carries DS4 extras such as the touchpad and lightbar.

Emulation is a Pro feature. It is the output stage for several other tools: controller-to-controller remaps, stick and trigger tuning, keyboard and mouse input, and macros all reach a game through it. You can configure and preview those on the free tier; they take effect in-game once emulation is running. See Pricing for the full split.

How it works

ViGEmBus is a signed kernel driver. When emulation is on, OmniControl asks the driver to create a virtual pad, then streams your processed controller state to it every frame. Because the virtual device lives in the driver stack rather than inside the game process, the game cannot tell it apart from physical hardware. This is device-level plumbing, not an injector.

Three things make emulation flexible:

Input source - the physical controller (or keyboard and mouse) that feeds the virtual pad.
Output target - the virtual Xbox 360 or DualShock 4 the game reads.
Rumble passthrough - vibration the game sends to the virtual pad is routed back to your real controller, so force feedback still reaches your hands.

The emulation output is stored in the active profile, so different games can use different virtual pads and load automatically when a profile switches.

Two optional bridges extend emulation for specific setups:

DSU motion server - feeds gyro data over the DSU (cemuhook) protocol so motion aiming works in emulators that read it. Gyro and other DualSense extras come over USB.
Dolphin bridge - maps any connected pad to a Wii Remote, a Wii Remote with Nunchuk, or a GameCube controller for Dolphin.

Getting started

Connect your controller

Connect a pad over USB or Bluetooth. OmniControl shows it as a live 3D model. See Controller setup for the list of supported devices.

Pick an output

On the Emulation tab, select Virtual Xbox 360 or Virtual DualShock 4. Choose Xbox 360 unless the game specifically prefers PlayStation input.

Enable emulation

Turn emulation on. The driver is installed with OmniControl and set up automatically the first time you run it, so no separate download is needed. The virtual pad now appears to Windows and to your game.

Point the game at the virtual pad

If the game lets you choose an input device, select the virtual controller rather than your physical one. Some games detect it automatically.

Common use cases

Play a PlayStation pad in an Xbox-only game. Read a DualSense or DualShock 4 and present it as a virtual Xbox 360 controller so XInput-only titles accept it with correct button prompts.
Get native prompts in a PlayStation game. Present a virtual DualShock 4 so the game shows the right glyphs and can use DS4 extras.
Bring remaps and custom curves into a game. Controller-to-controller remaps and your stick and trigger curves only reach the game while emulation is running.
Play controller-only games with keyboard and mouse. Keyboard and mouse input drives the virtual pad through emulation.
Use Dolphin with a modern controller. Bridge any pad to a Wii Remote, Wii Remote with Nunchuk, or GameCube controller.

Best practices

Pick the output the game handles best. Xbox 360 is the safe default; switch to DualShock 4 only when a game reads PlayStation input directly.
Save one emulation output per profile so the right pad loads with each game. With Pro Game automation, emulation can start on its own when a game launches.
Keep only the controllers you need connected. A single clear input source avoids the game binding to the wrong pad.
If a game reads both your physical controller and the virtual one, disable or unplug the physical pad, or point the game's input setting at the virtual device.
For gyro in emulators, connect a DualSense over USB and enable the DSU motion server.

Tips

Emulation powers other features

Emulation is what drives the pad in Keyboard and mouse mode, and macros that play back controller input turn emulation on for you. If a controller feature is not reaching your game, confirm emulation is enabled first.

Troubleshooting

The game does not see the virtual controller. Confirm emulation is on and the output pad is selected. In the game's input settings, choose the virtual controller. If the game reads two pads, disconnect the physical one.

Rumble stopped working. Rumble passthrough routes force feedback from the virtual pad back to your physical controller. Check that the physical pad is still connected and that the game is sending vibration to the virtual device.

Button prompts are wrong. Switch the output. Xbox prompts come from the virtual Xbox 360 pad; PlayStation prompts come from the virtual DualShock 4.

A game refuses the virtual pad. Some titles, usually those with anti-cheat, reject virtual controllers on purpose. This is expected, and OmniControl does not bypass it.

Emulation does not defeat anti-cheat

OmniControl is built for single-player and controller-friendly games. It is not a tool for defeating anti-cheat, and kernel-level anti-cheat competitive shooters are out of scope by design. Emulation presents a genuine virtual device through ViGEmBus rather than injecting into a game, but that does not exempt any title's rules. If a game blocks virtual controllers, OmniControl respects that block.

FAQ

Is emulation free?

No. Emulation is a Pro feature. You can configure remaps and tuning for free and preview them; they reach the game once emulation runs. See Pricing for current plans.

Does emulation inject into the game?

No. ViGEmBus creates a virtual controller in the Windows driver stack, the same layer as a physical pad on USB. Nothing touches the game process.

Do I need to install a driver myself?

Not by hand. The ViGEmBus driver is a separate install, but OmniControl fetches and installs it for you: open Settings, find the Drivers card, and press Install next to ViGEmBus. Windows asks for permission once. Note that the OmniControl installer does not carry the driver, so if Windows is reset or refreshed, ViGEmBus goes with it and reinstalling OmniControl does not bring it back - install it again from the Drivers card.