DIRT 5: Logitech G25 fix (and possibly other unsupported wheels)

Codemasters has added steering wheel support to DIRT 5 in a patch[dirtgame.com], but the venerable Logitech G25 was not among the different listed devices. And indeed, if you have that wheel connected, the game won’t work with it.

Fortunately, the game does actually see the device, recognize it as a force feedback steering wheel and sends data to it, it “just” won’t read its inputs. Actually, it is probably not missing much to make the G25 fully supported, but it is obvious by now this will never be corrected by Codemasters.

So, this guide will use an external software to provide the game with the inputs (steering, pedals and buttons) while the game will directly send force feedback data to it.

This guide is written with the Logitech G25 in mind, though this should work with other unsupported steering wheels as well, at least without force feedback (and maybe with it if the game sees the device as FFB compatible).

Lastly, it is written and tested on Windows 10 as it will require the software X360CE. I may update it for Linux/SteamOS later if possible with an alternative way.

X360CE is an application that allows you to map the axis and buttons of a physical controller to a virtual Xbox 360 gamepad, which will be used to control the game.

Please note that this guide will only detail the installation and basic use of X360CE. I invite you to read the official site[www.x360ce.com] for more informations on it before continuing.

The software is available to download here: https://www.x360ce.com/ or on GitHub: https://github.com/x360ce/x360ce/releases

The latest version as of writting is 4.17.15.0.

Copy the file x360.exe where you prefer (no need to put it in the game folder) and launch it, the software will first require a virtual controller driver to be installed as well. Select the Issues tab and click on Install to install the ViGEmBus Virtual Gamepad Emulation Driver. You may need to execute x360.exe as Administrator for that.

To start remapping the G25 to the virtual X360 gamepad, you need to click on the Add… button, and select the G25.

Now you can remap every needed key by clicking on it on the X360 photo and pressing the physical axis/button you want to use.

Note: in the game settings you can remap all the buttons with functions related to driving, but you can’t change the A/B/X/Y buttons to control the menu, so you should have them all mapped on the G25 even if you don’t use them during the race.

This is a mapping example:

• Virtual Triggers are mapped to the pedals
• Virtual Left Stick Axis X to the wheel
• Virtual A/B/X/Y to the 4 black buttons of the G25 shifter
• Virtual D-Pad to the physical one
• Virtual Bumpers (changed in-game to Gear Up/Down) to the paddles
• Virtual Back button (changed in-game to Handbrake) to the sequential shifter +
• Virtual Start to the first red buttons on the G25 shifter
• Virtual Right Stick Axis X to the following red buttons
• Virtual Stick Buttons to the red buttons on the wheel

Once done, you can save and minimise X360CE but remember you need it to be running with the game.

Now that the G25 is being mapped as a virtual X360 gamepad, you can launch the game and you should be able to control the menu with the keys you assigned to the D-PAD and A/B/X/Y.

If that’s working correctly, you will only have to check the game primary device, update one setting and remap the buttons to your liking before racing.

In the game Profile/Settings/Input Settings menu there should be now an XInput Pad (if you have other controllers connected to the PC, you can unplug them to spot the virtual one remaining).

While the G25 is seen and listed in the available controllers by the game, the main problem (and reason for this guide) is that the game won’t read its inputs, but fortunately it will still send the Force Feedback data to it, even if the controller being used to drive the car is the virtual one (hey, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature we will be using!).

Important: the game will only send the force feedback effects to the wheel if the G25 is the primary input device. When you select the G25, press the X button if this tooltip appears:

Note that if you want to tweak the force feedback effects, you can change them in the G25 settings, but don’t edit the other tabs (we won’t use these ones):

The “main” controller seen by the game will be the virtual X360 gamepad, thus the steering is expected to be via a stick and the game applies a deadzone to it. Select the XInput Pad and go to the Advanced settings to reduce the Steering Deadzone to the minimum:

Now you can remap the XInput Pad as well. The previous X360CE example is mapped like this in the game:

With this mapping, the menu is controlled by the D-Pad and the black buttons disposed like an usual X360 controller, and the paddles switch the tabs left and right like they do on supported steering wheels.

In the previous section, the Steering Deadzone was reduced, but the game will still continue to apply one. This is noticeable when looking at the car wheel in cockpit view and in the Input Reporting tab, around the center position.

Good news, Steam Input has an option to remove that deadzone, so that the steering will be seamless.

First, ensure Steam Input is enabled for Xbox Controller in the game properties. Otherwise, Steam Input can be enabled in the same menu or for all the games in Steam/Settings/Controller.

While in game, bring the Steam Layout (Shift+Tab by default) and edit the controller layout for the game:

Select the Left Joystick Edit button:

In the Dead Zones section, change the Deadzone Type to Custom, the output size to 100 and the Anti-Deadzone to 2500:

Now if you return to the game, in the Input Reporting tab the motion should be continue when turning the wheel. The Anti-Deadzone value is working fine for me, but you may have to tweak it if there is still a stutter around the center position.

With these modifications, the old but sturdy G25 will now be fully functional with the game!

I didn’t notice any drawback while playing, the wheel is now behaving like if it was natively supported. If you followed that guide, I hope it will be the same for you.

And as mentioned in the introduction, this may apply to other wheels that are not supported by the game as well. Either the game totally ignores the physical controller, then you can at least expect to play without any force feedback effects (only the auto-recentering of the wheel), or if the game is still sending FFB data, it may work like with the G25.

Remember to use X360CE when running the game, have fun!