Smash Box on PC

The Smash Box is an incredible alternative to a keyboard or fight stick on PC. Not only can it be used for a variety of genres like platformers and unique games like Rocket League, but the Smash Box is a fantastic controller for fighting games. This post will act as a guide to set up your Smash Box for PC and take advantage of its strengths.

Overview:

Adapter Compatibility
Driver Installation
Testing
Dolphin Setup
Steam Compatibility
Steam Setup
Additional Compatibility

1. Adapter Compatibility

The first thing to do is to ensure you are using a GameCube adapter that is compatible with a Smash Box. The following adapters are what we recommend to use (other adapters may not work):

Hit Box GC Adapter
4-port Mayflash

Plug in both USB cables to use with Smash Box

Official Nintendo

2. Driver Installation

You will need some drivers in order to use the GameCube adapters on PC.

2A. Zadig - Switch/WiiU mode compatiblity

Zadig is a driver that allows you to use the Nintendo adapter and the other adapters in "Switch/WiiU" mode on the PC.

This driver will allow you to play Dolphin natively and Steam games with GameCube controller compatibility (ie, Rushdown Revolt, Slap City, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl).

Download Zadig (link is directly above)
Plug in your adapter

Set to "Switch/WiiU" mode
No controller plugged in

Open Zadig and select "Options" then select "List All Devices"
Choose "WUP-028" and then "Install Driver"

Caution: Only use the Zadig driver for "WUP" devices. Installing Zadig onto other devices may cause them to malfunction.

2B. Mayflash driver

If you have a 4-port Mayflash adapter, you will need to install its driver to ensure that it will work on PC and properly with the Smash Box.

Download the driver: Mayflash driver download
Unzip the download
Open "W012 GC Controller Adapter 4 Ports Firmware V.05"
Plug in your Mayflash

Plug in both USB cables
Set to "PC" mode
No controller plugged in

Select "Update Firmware"

If at any point through these instructions you were not able to solve your issue, email us: support@hitboxarcade.com. Please include your name, order number, a link to this post, and a description of where you stopped in the instructions.

3. Testing with Joy.cpl

Now that you have all of the needed drivers, you can test to make sure your Smash Box and adapter are working on your PC.

Note: This step is only applicable to adapters with "PC mode."

First, open up joy.cpl on your computer. You can search for it in your Windows search bar. (We recommend having joy.cpl as a Desktop shortcut for easy controller troubleshooting)

Next, plug both of the USBs of your adapter into your PC and move the switch on the back of the adapter to "PC."

Four lines of "GameCube Controller Adapter" should appear in the window. These four lines represent the four ports on the adapter.

Once your adapter is showing up in the window, plug your Smash Box into the first/left-most port in the adapter, then double-click on the top controller in joy.cpl.

This is where we will check to see if inputs are being read by the computer.

Note: the port you have to select in joy.cpl - or any other program - may not correspond with the port you have your controller plugged into. Be sure to select every port to ensure you are able to test your controller.

Press the buttons on your controller to see if they are being read by the program.

If your Smash Box is not being read by joy.cpl, here are troubleshooting steps to try in order:

Unplug and plug your Smash Box back in
Select another port to test in joy.cpl
Plug your Smash Box into another adapter port
Plug the adapter into another USB port on your PC
Unplug other devices that send inputs to your computer, then plug in your adapter and Smash Box (plug in your other devices after confirming that Smash Box is working or not working)
Restart your PC and try the above again
Test that your Smash Box sends inputs on a GameCube or Wii

If your Smash Box works on this step, then the issue is either PC or adapter related

If your Smash Box still is not being registered, please contact us: support@hitboxarcade.com

Once you have confirmed that your controller is working and interacting with your PC, then it can be used on gaming programs on your PC.

4. Dolphin Setup

Dolphin is a popular GameCube and Wii emulator on PC, and the most used gaming program on PC among Smash Box users!

Ensure you have Zadig installed (step 2A above) before continuing.

Plug in your adapter, and set it to "Switch/WiiU" mode (the Nintendo adapter does not need to do this).

Open Dolphin and select the "Controllers" option.

Within that menu, choose the port that corresponds to what your Smash Box is plugged into, then click on the drop down menu to select "GameCube Adapter for WiiU" (or something similar). Dolphin will read the Smash Box natively from here, so all of your mapping and buttons should be set up and ready to go.

Once you have set up your controller configuration in Dolphin, you are ready to play your favorite emulated games!

For more instructions regarding Slippi specifically, please use our other blog: Smash Box and Slippi Netplay.

5. Steam Compatibility

5A. Switch/Wii mode Compatibility

With Zadig installed, these games will work in "Switch/Wii" mode natively:

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Rushdown Revolt
Slap City
Slayers For Hire

5B. PC mode Compatibility

In "PC" mode, the adapter will output Dinput. This output is not compatible with most games.

Here is a list of some games that do work in "PC mode":

Fantasy Strike
GG Xrd REV
GG XX ACCENT
KOF '97
KOF '98
Mortal Kombat 11
Power Rangers BFTG
Rivals Of Aether
SAMSHO V
Skullgirls
Tekken 7
Thems Fightin' Herds
Ultimate Marvel V. Capcom 3
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Under Night In-Birth EXE:L[cl-r]

5C. Additional Compatibility

If you are trying to use the Smash Box through an adapter for games that are not mentioned in the sections above, we recommend going to the "Additional Compatibility" section at the bottom of this blog. In that section, you will greatly improve the compatibility of your Smash Box with other games.

6. Steam Setup

Note: Steam will not read "Switch/WiiU" mode directly. If you are playing a game that can use "Switch"WiiU" mode natively, you will not have to go through this Steam setup.

First, ensure that you are not trying to play a game from the list of games in step 5B.

Next, set your adapter is set to "PC mode." This should be a switch on the back of your adapter.

Open up the Steam program.

Go to the "Steam" menu at the top left of the window, and go to "Settings." Then go to "Controller" and then "General Controller Settings."

Once you have that open, you should see the adapter being read at the bottom of the settings options.

Turn off all of the "Configuration Support" options to help ensure Steam's compatibility system does not interfere with the adapter.

To map your buttons you will have to select the opposite adapter port that you selected in joy.cpl. If your Smash Box is in port 1, select the bottom port in Steam; if your Smash Box is in port 4, select the top port in Steam.

From here you can map all of the buttons in Steam. Once you are finished, select "Save" at the bottom of the window.

Now you should be able to play games on Steam!

If you are still having issues with Steam, please read through our troubleshoot blog post: Controller Troubleshoot on Steam. Or, continue to the "Additional Compatibility" section below.

7. Additional Compatibility

To ensure you can play on as many games as possible, you may want to use an input wrapper to improve compatibility on your PC.

Below are the four most used input wrappers among Smash Box users - if you have any questions regarding these, we recommend going into our Discord and posting in the #smashbox-discussion channel.

X360CE: Emulates an Xbox 360 controller.

We recommend using this input wrapper.
https://www.x360ce.com/ (Includes links to latest downloads and tutorials)
Once you have X360CE set up with your Smash Box, follow our Hit Box on Steam blog to get everything working on Steam.

AntiMicro: "Graphical program used to map keyboard buttons and mouse controls to a gamepad. Useful for playing games with no gamepad support."

https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro
Try this if you plan on playing games other than fighting games, or if X360CE did not work for you.
Note: If the game you are trying to play does have any gamepad/controller support, using Antimicro will send multiple inputs to the game.

To mitigate this issue, you can use HidHide: https://github.com/ViGEm/HidHide

Joy2Key: "Enables PC game controllers to emulate the keyboard and mouse input, so that windows applications and web games can be controlled with your favorite joysticks!"

https://joytokey.net/en/
Try this if you plan on playing games other than fighting games, or if X360CE did not work for you.

DHC: "A DirectInput/XInput wrapper DLL that implements controller hotplugging for games that don't do so themselves. It pretends that there are always a fixed number of PS4 controllers plugged in at once, and maps the inputs of real controllers onto the virtual controllers as they are plugged in."

https://github.com/jmgao/dhc

Select the "Code" drop-down menu, and then choose "Download ZIP" to download.

This input wrapper is designed to work for specific fighting games only. Determine if the game you are trying to play is on its compatibility list: https://github.com/jmgao/dhc/wiki/Compatibility

Note: If you have a Gen2 Smash Box (received between December 2018 and July 2020) you will not need an adapter. You can follow the most of the instructions above, but can also use our other post: PC Mode on Smash Box.

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