Using the Wiimote to play PC games

pvtjohndoe · 11-15-2006, 09:16 AM

I've been reading through the Wii specs and I noticed that the Wiimote communicates with the console via Bluetooth.

My guess is that Nintendo probably kept their hardware compatible with the official Bluetooth specification for simplicity's sake. This would mean that getting the Wiimote to work as a PC game controller shouldn't be too difficult. It would be a simple matter of creating a device driver.

I know that the aiming function would be a little more difficult to implement due to the sensor bar's proprietary connection, but there is another possibility: Nyko's wireless sensor bar, which I've read uses Bluetooth.

If my assumptions about the Wiimote and Nyko's Sensor Bar are correct, I should be able to hack together a Windows driver in a fairly short amount of time.

Let me know if you're interested in dedicating some time and energy to this project!

conorlap · 11-15-2006, 09:29 AM

COOL that would be class!

domain freek · 11-15-2006, 09:35 AM

if you can do it. do it!!! that would be really cool and everybody would love you!

otacon138 · 11-15-2006, 11:01 AM

That would be so cool. I would love to play the original Far Cry with the wiimote, especially since my mose is busted.

tuned · 11-15-2006, 11:42 AM

I dunno... I think the controller is way more complex than the XBOX controller (which was very easily to re-solder for standard USB). But, if you do manage to get one working, all the better to ya! Keep us updated!

cokebottle tuque · 11-21-2006, 10:26 AM

The sensor bar is nothing more than a handful of IR LEDs(if you do not believe me unplug it and put a maglite in its place), the wiimote has a 1MP IR camera in the front that tracks these points so it would require rather more than a driver to get it running on a computer. That said, we already have drivers for the 360 controllers and once we get a working wiimote driver it should be simple to get the 360 drivers working in reverse. Then the posibility arises to use the wiimote on the 360. just thing gears of war with the wimote.

-Matt

edit: tuned, the wimote uses bluetooth so there should be no need for any hardware modification whatsoever.

pvtjohndoe · 11-21-2006, 05:45 PM

Thanks cokebottle. I just managed to figure out how the sensor bar worked yesterday. The sensor bar's connection to the Wii is only to power the IR LEDs. The Wiimote probably tracks the IR points on it's own and only outputs simple X, Y, Z coordinates. Sending the raw data from the 1MP sensor to the Wii using Bluetooth would eat an unnecessary amount of battery power and bandwidth, which I'm sure Nintendo figured out.

I also got the Wiimote connected with a Windows PC yesterday with minimal effort. Now I just need to figure out what info needs to be sent back and forth between the PC and the Wiimote to get the Wiimote set up and assign it a player number.

vagrant · 11-21-2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cokebottle tuque

The sensor bar is nothing more than a handful of IR LEDs(if you do not believe me unplug it and put a maglite in its place), the wiimote has a 1MP IR camera in the front that tracks these points so it would require rather more than a driver to get it running on a computer. That said, we already have drivers for the 360 controllers and once we get a working wiimote driver it should be simple to get the 360 drivers working in reverse. Then the posibility arises to use the wiimote on the 360. just thing gears of war with the wimote.

-Matt

edit: tuned, the wimote uses bluetooth so there should be no need for any hardware modification whatsoever.

Excepts for the fact that games have to be designed to recognize the wiimote

pvtjohndoe · 11-21-2006, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vagrant

Excepts for the fact that games have to be designed to recognize the wiimote

The games don't have to be designed to recognize the Wii remote. All that is needed is a driver that makes the game "think" that the Wii remote is an Xbox 360 controller. That's the basis I'm using to develop a Windows driver for the Wiimote.

zealotnic · 11-21-2006, 09:32 PM

DUDE not that it would be legal but ppl would pay for the wiimote on their computers! Then u can pay off your Wii (if you have one)

cokebottle tuque · 11-22-2006, 12:23 AM

well I assumed it would go without saying, but there would need to be some sort of GUI so that you could remap the buttons and analog sticks to different buttons/sticks on the 360 controller. I would hope that any one that does in fact manage to get a wimote driver working would share the source code with the rest of us. WiiLi.org :: Wii Remote and Nunchuck might also be worth keeping an eye on for any one that is serious about trying to get this working. Gmane -- Mail To News And Back Again seems to be trying to get an effort together to write a driver, I would offer my assistance, but I am only a armature programmer at best and have never worked with buetooth or drivers.