SDL2 Gamepad Tool by General Arcade
SDL2 Gamepad Tool is now open source! Latest source code and binaries are available on GitHub.
A simple GUI tool to create and modify gamepad mappings for games that use the SDL2 Game Controller API. Created as an alternative to Steam Big Picture gamepad configurator.
Features
- Simple graphical UI
- Automatic updates of mappings database from https://github.com/gabomdq/SDL_GameControllerDB
- Local storage for newly created or changed mappings
Screenshot
Download
- GitHub Releases (latest)
- Windows (~25mb) (outdated)
- OS X (~10mb) (outdated)
- Linux (deb/zip/snap) (outdated)
How To Use
- Connect the gameapad to a computer
- Launch the app. If you connected mupltiple gamepads select the one you want to use in a dropdown
- If the app displays that mapping is available go to step 5
- If mapping is not available or available but you would like to change it press Make New Mapping and follow the instructions. Go step 3
- There are two approches how to force games to pick new mapping. First is to set environmental variable, then all SDL2 games will pick new mapping automatically. To do this simply click Set Mapping As Environment Variable. Second approches is to find mappings database file in the game folder, usualy it’s called gamecontrollerdb.txt and add mapping string to the end of the file
Games That Use SDL2
- Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition
- Shadow Warrior Classic Redux
- Hotline Miami
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- Orx Portable Game Engine
- Retrobooster
- And many more…
Changelog
| Version | Date | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | 27.03.2026 | Initial open-source release. Latest SDL2 and QT. Support for grip buttons and touchpad. Bug fixes |
| 1.2 | 28.02.2018 | Support for new SDL 2.0.6 mappings format. Compiled with SDL 2.0.7. Bug fixes |
| 1.1.2 | 30.01.2017 | Updated SDL to 2.0.5; updated QT to 5.8 |
| 1.1.1 | 24.03.2015 | Bug fixes |
| 1.1 | 23.03.2015 | Added option to set mapping as environmental variable SDL_GAMECONTROLLERCONFIG |
| 1.0.1 | 16.03.2015 | Fixed crashes with multiple gamepads; Fixed mapping string curuption; UI fixes |
| 1.0 | 10.03.2015 | Initial release |
Support
Found a bug or have a suggestion send us a mail to support@generalarcade.com