Gamepad for Geometry Nodes - Driving Game Part 1

Check out my other courses: nodegroup.xyz/
We want to control Blender with a gamepad so that we can build our game. If you're on Windows, you can use the Xinput Reader addon I've made. Install the addon, install the library, restart Blender, and it should ✨just work✨
Controller addon: github.com/Erindale/XinputReader
Linux alternative: [let me know if you know one]
Mac alternative: [let me know if you know one]
Lesson files and resources: / 102454909
Geometry Nodes Toolkit: gum.co/erintools
Merch? erindale.threadless.com/
Discord: / discord
My Courses:
www.canopy.games/p/advanced-g...
www.canopy.games/p/bcs-geomet...
www.canopy.games/p/procedural...
Contents:
00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Addon Installation
05:45 - Setting up Screen Controls
11:37 - Control nodes for screen controls
18:16 - Control nodes for gamepads
20:35 - Connect Gamepad to Screen Controls
23:27 - Outro
Patreon: / erindale
Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/erindale
Twitter: / erindale_xyz
Instagram: / e.r.i.n.d.a.l.e
TikTok: / erindale.xyz
Gumroad: gumroad.com/erindale
Blender Market: blendermarket.com/creators/er...

[@nyquilthegreat]

Blender foundation contemplating coming full-circle to their game engine roots after this video 😂

[@Erindale]

There’s definitely space in Blender for interactive experiences like this! Even if not a full game engine, I’d love to see them support more hardware inputs

[@mehmeterendesign]

@@Erindale Add this series to watch list that said people will be surpised what you can do phyton code and ardinio :)

[@EduTerrataca]

I've been waiting for something like this for about 3 years, thanks for your video!

[@Erindale]

Hope it’s useful!

[@Erindale]

Let me know if you have a Linux or Mac alternative for gamepad controls!

[@thomasaull]

AntiMicroX is a cross-browser software (no macOS I'm afraid) to map controller inputs to key events. I'm not sure what they use under the hood, but it might be something to look into

[@ThePinkOne]

And here I thought RBC having controller support was wild, holy cannoli. This is beyond impressive!

[@Erindale]

I can’t believe the Royal Bank of Canada has controller support!

[@ThePinkOne]

@@Erindale I know right?! I was so shocked when they added it in the latest update, and the gameplay really feels like a million dollars

[@cluelesstooth4552]

Thanks so much for this, chief.

[@alexandermoyle9034]

thank u for making this great series, gonna learn a lot from it!

[@Erindale]

I hope you enjoy!

[@user-pt3kl9zh5i]

This is beautiful man. ❤🎉

[@shallowandpedantic2320]

It's been 5 minutes and I'm losing my mind. WOW! 😁

[@ramennoodleenjoyer]

We got controller nodes before gta 6

[@martinmckee5333]

This is all super fun. It really makes me want to start a new project just to learn more about it... but I've got too many going as it is!

[@Erindale]

I feel you! Took me from August to now to get around to posting this 😅

[@mehmeterendesign]

Amzing work!

[@Erindale]

Thank you!

[@darrennew8211]

Ah. Custom plug-in. I was wondering "why haven't I heard about this before??" :-) Very cool.

[@Erindale]

A few people have done it generally but this is specifically catering to node workflows

[@KillinSmallz]

Here we go!

[@Erindale]

Rock n roll baby

[@pharazustrah5411]

Thanks a lot for this amazing tutorial! :p I have a question though: I've been trying for a while now to animate the position of some object using the XInput Reader node group driving the offset in a Set Position node within a simulation zone. This works well but the problem is that I can't seem to figure out how to then then bake the cached simulation data (probably using the Bake node I suppose), so I could effectively record the position for further use. It seemed rather straightforward so I've been wondering whether there perhaps exists a good/known way to achieve this? :)

[@stereocodes]

mind = blown.

[@lajawi.]

It would absolutely wonderful if support for keyboard could be added, for example how it works in Unity!

[@Erindale]

Interesting idea! I don’t think xinput library would handle it but maybe the inputs library 🤔

[@w.lf404]

man this is opening up a whole new world for me.. i was thinking about setting up a geometry node setup that can react with sound for my dj friends to make some cool live visuals but with this i could propably link the dj controller directly to blender and make it even better in the way it interacts with the music.. is there a way to make a displacement blob which is controlled by the stick control? so if i push up the blob distorts upwarts and if i press the a button it adds an extra noise or something like that, the triggers turn the noise scale up and down and stuff like that.. you are the smartest blender geometry node person i know, you think there is a way to set up something like that?

[@Erindale]

Oh yeah for sure! This addon is just bringing the controller data in as 0..1 floats and Booleans so you can map that to whatever you want. Maybe look at my metaball stream I did last week so see how you might get some crazy reactive geometry shapes working

[@ventiladordesuco]

You can use a ready made Arduino project that can take midi inputs and output a xinput compatible HID

[@hadriscus]

You may want to check out TouchDesigner if you haven't already

[@freakygreenfish]

I‘m currently working on an interactive art project. I mainly work in geo nodes and i really dont want to export it into unity and build the logic there💀

[@Erindale]

This game is literally the result of me working for Unity and feeling like it would be better if I never had to leave Blender 😅

[@AbdulAziz-cj4hg]

Ive always been interested in this topic! i will bookmark this video first! anyway, can i use playstation controller for it? i only got PS4 controller for now

[@Erindale]

I would have thought so but I've not tested. You might need to modify the addon script for it. If you look at line 104-123 in the init file you'll see where the xinput reader values are being mapped to the "xinput_reader_empty". You'll want to find what your PS4 controller is sending through xinput and add the entries there

[@rumoKartenspiel]

what works for me is to start Blender through Steam(Games/Add a non-Steam Game..)

[@AbdulAziz-cj4hg]

@@rumoKartenspiel make sense, since steam can read my ps4 controller directly. thanks man!

[@TokenArtist]

I'm thoroughly impressed with all your content as usual, but my overwhelming question before watching all these hours of content is.... Why do this in blender? It can't be exported as an interactive experience, right? Is this just for the novelty And learning experience?

[@Erindale]

It’s a good way to explore the simulation zone and data flow and attributes. The best way to teach is to trick people into learning while having fun

[@rodeobot]

Would it be possible to control a puppet like figure using a game pad with this method?

[@Erindale]

Yes absolutely. The gamepad is just sending 0..1 values into blender so you can use them however you want via drivers or geometry nodes

[@rodeobot]

@@Erindale This..... this is very exciting.... I will let you know what I come up with!

[@Erindale]

Good luck!

[@mikhailhumphries]

Bro we need your megamind in unity shader graph

[@Erindale]

I did not get on with Unity shaders 😅 maybe I should have another go but so much of it is really half baked nodes (which I can confirm is actually how they are, not just user error, because I worked there for 2 years and we did not like them 😂)

[@freakygreenfish]

U think this is compatible with blender game engine?

[@Erindale]

I would think UPBGE would have controller support surely?

[@freakygreenfish]

@@Erindale Thanks for ur answer why didnt u build it in bge so u can export it afterwards into an application? 🧐

[@Erindale]

I’ve added another video to the series that kind of handles the export. It’ll be out tomorrow. The reason is that this is an exercise to help people understand geometry nodes and simulation zones. I wouldn’t really recommend anyone actually builds games this way. People don’t realise how much they’re learning if they’re having fun though. I’m just tricking them into learning

[@JohnWesleyDavison]

I fear the cursor, but cannot look away.

[@Erindale]

Truly a magnanimous God

[@mostafaeid2275]

THIS IS greaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat

[@SefaR_atoR]

Стой, то есть ты действительно делаешь такую серию обучений бесплатно? Уважение +

[@Erindale]

The Blender community is built on sharing!