SquareBox the PadBoard gets you full control of your PC using only a Gamepad! It allows you to use keyboard hotkeys, write text and control the mouse with your Gamepad Controller right there in your hands.
- Are you trying or thinking about building a pc to use as console or emulation station in your living room?
- Were you connecting your laptop to the TV, getting ready for watching a movie, when you realized you had no easy way to control your favorite media confortably from your bed?
- Are you playing your favorite game with your PS4 Controller and you need to write a quick message to your team buddy?
If the answer to at least one of these question is yes, then a small bluetooth touchpad + keyboard may solve your problems.
But, if your are broke lazy to buy it, good news! you can still solve your problems with SquareBox and your favourite Gamepad.
INFO: SquareBox the Padboard is inspired by the PSP Danzeff OSK popular in the Homebrew scene of the (g)old times of PSP. Google it for reviving good memories.
- Control the keyboard (press hotkeys, keys combinations and write text) with a combination of Analog stick + 4 main action buttons.
- Control the mouse with a combination of Analog stick + Arrow buttons.
- Support rapid-fire: if you keep a button pressed, it will repeat the expected action until the button is released
- Gamepad Plug and Play: the app instantly works everytime you connect your Gamepad (most important doesn't crash when you disconnect the Gamepad :D)
Example of typing with a Gamepad
DISCLAIMER: At the moment, Squarebox supports only Windows and if 2 or more gamepads are connected, the first one will control the PadBoard. Supported controllers: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS4 (if you install DS4Windows driver)
You can download the last version of the Windows executable (.exe) HERE.
Alternatively, if you don't trust the executable, you can easily build it yourself.
- Install all necessary python packages listed in requirementes.txt
- Run in the project folder the following command:
pyinstaller -F -w squarebox_padboard.py - Enjoy your new exe placed in
dist/squarebox_padboard.exe
Here you'll find a comprehensive list of all the buttons combos Squarebox the Padboard uses:
- L1 + START + SELECT: Hide (and disable) or Show (and re-enable) the PadBoard
- D-Pad: Simulate Keyboard directional arrows.
- L-Stick: Select 1 of the 9 boxes in the current padboard grill
- X, Y, A, B (if you are using a Xbox controlled): Press 1 of the 4 letters from the selected box
- R-Stick: Move the padboard on the screen
- L1: When pressed, shows the alternative grill of the current padboard layout.
- L2: Equal to press ALT on a Keyboard
- R2: Equal to press CTRL on a Keyboard
- R1: Equal to press SHIFT on a Keyboard
- L3: Changes the current keyboard layout
- R3: Toggle the Mouse Mode
When the Mouse mode is active, this alternative combos are active:
- D-Pad Left,Right: Left or Right Mouse click
- D-Pad Up, Down: Mouse scroll Up or Down
- R-Stick: Move the mouse coursor (Slow and precise mode)
- L1 + R-Stick: Move the mouse cursor (Fast mode)
- Configuration File (at least: custom keyboard sizes and custom keyboard layouts)
- Start on-Windows-startup option
- Make the keyboard moving only within the display boundaries
- Macros (in place of some letters) support
- Clean code! Espacially the input part (decouple input events from actual actions)
- SquareBox cannot suppress Gamepad events. So, if another app (like steam) is using controller inputs, they will be both "doing stugg" reacting to the same controller inputs
- Spike in CPU usage when the keyboard windows is moving for > 20 secs. It shouldn't happen in normal usage as it mostrly happen when the R-Stick movements are spammed for long time (> 20 secs)
- Keyboard may appear too big on small screen or too small on big screens (will be solved by the "custom keyboard size" option)`
- Squarebox executable has a big size considering to the code used. This is likely due to the size of libraries imported used in the code. It's not a critical point at the moment as it is still a manageable 18MB-ish executable. But is something to have a look at.