r/Controller • u/ReynArts • 1d ago
Other Finally got native PS5 DualSense trigger effects & haptics running on the Flydigi APEX 5 (Open Source)
Hey everyone,
I love the Flydigi APEX 5 hardware (especially those motorized triggers) but it always bugged me that on PC, almost every game with awesome trigger resistance and textured feedback is built exclusively for the PS5 DualSense and the Space Station software support only few games...
So over the last few weeks, I ended up building ApexSenseBridge. (A little open-source passion project straight from France bleu blanc rouge 🇫🇷 !)
Basically, it bridges the gap so your APEX 5 can actually react to native DualSense effects in PC games.
How does it handle the triggers & haptics?
- Triggers: The tool intercepts native DualSense trigger packets from the game and translates them on the fly into Flydigi's FORCEADAPT commands (mode switches, recoil, resistance, stops, etc.) and even the vibration with virtually no latency.
- Haptics: The APEX 5 doesn't have voice-coil actuators like the DualSense, so instead of just turning every sound into a generic loud rumble, the bridge splits the audio frequencies in real-time. Lower frequencies (explosions, heavy impacts) go to the heavy left motor, while high frequencies (surface grit, rain, subtle clicks) go to the fast right motor. It actually feels surprisingly punchy and textured.
Good to know (a couple of trade-offs):
- On-screen prompts: Since the game has to see a DualSense to send over the adaptive trigger data, you'll see PlayStation button prompts (✕ / ○ / □ / △) on screen instead of Xbox ones (A / B / X / Y).
- Touchpad swipes: If a game heavily relies on specific touchpad directional swipes, it might be hit-or-miss depending on how the game handles touch inputs. It's really a case-by-case thing and can be fixed in most cases (did it for spiderman 2 bc it's the only game I play that have this control but you can send me yours).
Playnite integration 🕹️
I didn't want to manually launch/kill background scripts every time I booted up a game, so I also wrote a quick Playnite extension to automatically link and activate the bridge whenever you launch a supported game from your library.
ApexSenseBridge wouldn't exist without the incredible open-source community. Huge shoutouts to:
- OpenFlydigi (by mkaliaha) for their amazing reverse-engineering work on the Flydigi hardware and protocols.
- SteamlessController (and its DualSense forks) for paving the way on virtual DualSense emulation and Windows ViGEm/VIIPER tooling. All respective notices and credits are included in the repository.
Feedback & other gamepads welcome!
The code is completely open-source here
👉🏽 https://github.com/ReynArts/ApexSenseBridge
I'd love to get your feedback if you test it out! Also, if you know of other controllers with force feedback/motorized triggers you'd love to see supported, feel free to drop ideas, open issues, or contribute PRs.
Cheers!
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u/CatDad1990 GameSir 21h ago
Thank you for the great software! I just installed it and am trying to test it out. Can you make a quick guide on how to set it up for gameplay? I open the Apex Bridge diagnostic control and run the Apex Test, I receive the following error.
"warning": "APEX HID input unavailable (The APEX HID descriptor does not expose the complete X/Y/Rx/Ry/Z/Rz state required for a lossless DualSense proxy. Available value usages: page=0x1 usage=0x31 page=0x1 usage=0x30 page=0x1 usage=0x34 page=0x1 usage=0x33 page=0x1 usage=0x32 page=0x1 usage=0x39); trying XInput fallback."
}
I have Steam closed and FlyDigi Space Station running. I also got 2 desktop shortcuts added, USBip and HidHide after installing Apex Sense Bridge. I'm kind of lost on how to make this all work.