BertaDualSense
BertaDualSense is an independent Unreal Engine 5.8 Runtime input-device plugin for native Sony DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers on Win64. It uses SDL3 to deliver normal Unreal input, selected DualSense hardware features, and standard UE output paths without a dependency on BertaDevKit.
Requirements and installation
- Unreal Engine 5.8
- Win64
- A supported C++ toolchain when building from source
Copy BertaDevKitHost/Plugins/BertaDualSense/ to <YourProject>/Plugins/BertaDualSense/, build the project, and enable BertaDualSense in the Plugins window. The plugin is disabled by default. It owns SDL3 3.4.14 and stages/loads its DLL from the plugin deployment, so no system-wide SDL installation is required.
Supported hardware
BertaDualSense accepts only Sony controllers with these USB vendor/product identifiers:
| Controller | VID | PID |
|---|---|---|
| DualSense | 0x054C |
0x0CE6 |
| DualSense Edge | 0x054C |
0x0DF2 |
Other SDL gamepads are ignored. USB and Bluetooth DualSense connections are supported through SDL3.
Input
Standard gamepad input
Face buttons, D-pad, shoulders, thumbstick clicks, sticks, analog triggers, trigger-threshold buttons, and derived stick-direction buttons are delivered through standard Unreal Gamepad_* keys. Cross, Circle, Square, and Triangle use positional face-button mappings. Create maps to Gamepad_Special_Left; Options maps to Gamepad_Special_Right.
Enhanced Input can bind these normal Unreal input events without a Berta-specific API.
Touchpad and special buttons
| Physical control | Unreal key | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Touch contact | Gamepad_Special_Left_X, Gamepad_Special_Left_Y, Gamepad_Special_Left_Touched |
One stable primary touch stream; X/Y are SDL normalized coordinates. |
| Touchpad click | BertaDualSense_TouchpadClick |
Physical touchpad depression only. |
| PS button | BertaDualSense_PSButton |
Separate from Create and Options. |
| Microphone/mute button | BertaDualSense_MicrophoneButton |
Input only; it does not change the microphone LED. |
| Create | Gamepad_Special_Left |
Standard gamepad key. |
| Options | Gamepad_Special_Right |
Standard gamepad key. |
The BertaDualSense_* special keys are registered as gamepad keys and can be bound through Enhanced Input. Touchpad click is intentionally not an alias for touch contact or Create.
DualSense Edge inputs
For PID 0x0DF2 only, BertaDualSense registers these gamepad keys:
| SDL control | Unreal key |
|---|---|
| Right rear paddle | BertaDualSense_Edge_RightPaddle |
| Left rear paddle | BertaDualSense_Edge_LeftPaddle |
| Right Fn button | BertaDualSense_Edge_RightFn |
| Left Fn button | BertaDualSense_Edge_LeftFn |
Edge-specific input is implemented but remains hardware-unverified in this project.
Sensors
When SDL reports support, the plugin enables the gyroscope and accelerometer. It sends gyroscope radians/second as Unreal Rotation Rate and accelerometer data, divided by standard gravity, as Unreal Gravity through the standard motion-input path.
The plugin deliberately sends zero Tilt and Acceleration. SDL accelerometer data includes gravity, and BertaDualSense does not perform sensor fusion or fabricate linear acceleration.
Output
| Feature | UE path or API | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Standard rumble | SetChannelValue / SetChannelValues |
Maps UE large channels to SDL low-frequency rumble and small channels to high-frequency rumble. |
| Lightbar RGB | SetLightColor, ResetLightColor, and light-color device properties |
Uses the SDL RGB LED capability when available. Reset sets black. |
| Player LEDs | Automatic on connection | Uses the UE platform user's local index when SDL reports player-LED support. |
| Microphone LED | UBertaDualSenseBlueprintLibrary::SetMicrophoneLed(int32 ControllerId, bool bEnabled) |
Explicit Off/On output independent of the microphone button. |
| Adaptive triggers | UE trigger device properties | Supports Reset, Feedback, Resistance, and Vibration for the selected trigger mask. |
Legacy ControllerId output callbacks are routed to every connected BertaDualSense assigned to that resolved UE platform user. They cannot select one exact FInputDeviceId when several controllers share the same platform user.
Get Connected DualSense Devices and Get DualSense Device Info are explicit callable telemetry operations. Get DualSense Devices For Controller Id maps a legacy UE ControllerId to every BertaDualSense assigned to its PlatformUser; multiple devices may be returned. Their opaque exact-device handles can set/reset one lightbar and set one microphone LED, while ControllerId output remains PlatformUser-scoped. Serial-backed reconnects reuse the handle during the plugin lifetime; reconnects without a serial receive a new handle.
The existing primary touch remains Gamepad_Special_Left_X, Gamepad_Special_Left_Y, and Gamepad_Special_Left_Touched. The second physical contact uses BertaDualSense_Touchpad2_X, BertaDualSense_Touchpad2_Y, and BertaDualSense_Touchpad2_Touched. The plugin provides neither touch pressure nor gesture recognition.
Adaptive-trigger note
BertaDualSense uses SDL3's PS5 effect path for trigger output, not trigger rumble. Reset, Feedback, and Vibration map to their supported SDL PS5 effect modes. UE's generic Resistance property includes start/end positions and strengths; SDL's available feedback mode cannot faithfully encode the complete interval. The current Resistance mapping starts at StartPosition and uses the mean of StartStrengh and EndStrengh; EndPosition is not represented. Treat it as an approximation rather than a linear resistance curve.
Connection behavior
BertaDualSense polls SDL gamepads explicitly and does not use SDL's event queue. On connection it registers and maps a UE input device. An SDL serial, when available, is the persistent signal used to reuse its FInputDeviceId on reconnect during the plugin's lifetime. Without a serial, a reconnect receives a new UE device ID to avoid falsely identifying another controller.
Disconnect and shutdown release held buttons, clear analog/touch state, clear active trigger output, stop rumble, disable enabled sensors, unmap the UE device, and close the SDL gamepad. A reconnect starts with neutral cached input and output state.
Windows coexistence and duplicate input
BertaDualSense filters only the native Sony IDs above; it does not claim a device exclusively or suppress other UE input backends. Keep another backend from processing the same physical Sony controller if it produces duplicate gamepad events. In particular, configure GameInputWindows gamepad processing deliberately when it is enabled; UE's GameInput settings warn that simultaneous gamepad backends can duplicate input.
XInput can continue to handle Xbox/XInput controllers. Steam Input, DS4Windows, and similar software can expose a DualSense as a separate virtual Xbox/XInput controller; BertaDualSense cannot suppress that virtual device. Disable or configure the emulator's virtual controller when duplicate input is not wanted.
Limits
- Win64 and UE 5.8 only.
- Only the listed Sony VID/PID pairs are accepted.
- No custom touch gestures, touchpad pressure, speaker/audio, or custom HID transport API.
- The PS and microphone buttons are custom keys, not standard Unreal gamepad aliases.
- Packaged-project behavior and DualSense Edge hardware behavior still require project-specific manual verification.
The normal DualSense path has been manually exercised during development for standard input, touchpad, sensors, LEDs, rumble, adaptive-trigger behavior, and the three special buttons. This is not a substitute for verifying a target project's mappings and input-backend configuration.