So, having spent quite a bit of time on this with Sega, I figured I'd make a guide on your controller configuration.
If you've tried to get your controller to work with the PC version, you've probably noticed that it's pretty ridiculous.
See, all newer controllers (this includes the 360/One controller, and the PS3/4 controllers) use the XInput standard for connectivity. It's the reason you can just plug it in and most of your games will recognize it straight away. Works straight out of the box, no hassle. Surely it works for Final Fantasy VII's PC rerelease, right?
Wrong. The game does automatically detect it, but this is a problem, because it won't recognize the dpad, forcing you to use the analogs for everything. This doesn't sound too bad until you actually try to play it like that. I've changed rows in the middle of battle so many times it's ridiculous. It's just best to use the dpad.
There's also the issue of it screwing with some of the controls, depending on what controller you're using. I've been pitching this (goes in "My Documents/Square Enix/FINAL FANTASY VII Steam" folder by default) as a fix for that for a little while now, though that still leaves the problem of the analog sticks.
Now, at this point you might ask: "Why not just remap the buttons?"
Well, that'd be a fantastic idea, if FF7PC wasn't so dated; the Steam rerelease didn't really change much of anything except the display driver. The problem is that when you remap the keys, you're getting overlapping inputs: FF7's and your own. FF7's keybindings you can't bind to the controller; you can't change those at all to my knowledge, and probably not to your liking in any case, since you still can't use the dpad. There is no setting or file I'm aware of that you can change to just flat out turn that off. So, we're forced to go the other route.
Well, something we kept seeing are people saying to go and pick up a controller with both DirectInput -- an older standard that isn't really used much anymore -- and XInput capabilities, so that's exactly what I did, and it worked.
Setup
The Logitech F310 isn't the most glamorous of game controllers, but for this it's exactly what we need: affordable, and it has a switch on the back to go between DirectInput and XInput.
It's about $20 at Walmart, $15 at Best Buy (I know, I was shocked, too.)
After you have the F310, you'll need to go here (scroll down and it's right there) and download Logitech Gaming Software. Sometimes it won't recognize your controller. For me what I did was switch it to XInput, which it sees and notifies you it can only configure it in DirectInput, and then switch it back so it works. Sometimes if it won't recognize your controller it's because of a driver conflict.
The game's keybind list isn't very helpful, so I went out of my way to find a visual representation myself.
You don't need to configure the left stick. I don't even know what they're using that for.
Yes, this is an image from XPadder, but XPadder doesn't work in DirectInput (at least not for me) so we're not using it.
From there, configuring your controller should be relatively straightforward, but if you have any questions, post and I'll see if I can help you out.
Edit: It is worth noting that this should theoretically also work for the F510 and the F710 Logitech controllers, as they too can switch between DirectInput and XInput. So if you wanna go the extra mile, feel free.
Edit 2 [10/13/2015]: The controller picture is incorrect. L2/LT should be Camera (Home), R2/RT should be Target (End), and Select should be Assist (Delete).
This post has been edited by Advent: 13 October 2015 - 07:36 PM
