GameControllerMIDI

Audio plugin (VST3/CLAP/VST2) that translates game controller inputs into MIDI messages. Play virtual instruments with your gamepad.

BTW: This project is a experiment of reviving one of my old side projects with vibe coding, testing possibilities of today's LLM and agent tools on a modern C++ codebase.

Features

• Button-to-MIDI mapping: Notes, chords, CC (momentary/toggle), octave shifts
• Axis-to-MIDI mapping: CC and pitch bend with configurable deadzone
• Trigger octave control: LT/RT for real-time octave shifting
• Per-button shift keys: Independent shift modifiers for different button groups
• Dual-mode UI: Play mode for performance, Edit mode for configuration
• JSON presets: Fully configurable mappings via embedded presets
• State persistence: Configuration saved/restored by DAW

Quick Start

Require cmake and vcpkg.

git submodule update --init --recursive
cmake -B build -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
cmake --build build

Output: build/bin/GameControllerMIDI.{vst3,clap}

Documentation

See AGENTS.md for developer guide and docs/ for detailed documentation.

Dependencies

• DPF - DISTRHO Plugin Framework
• SDL2 - Game controller input
• Dear ImGui - User interface
• Boost.Lockfree - Thread-safe MIDI queue
• nlohmann/json - Preset parsing

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