SideWinder controller profiles
SWG and SWX files store Microsoft SideWinder controller preferences and control mappings.
REDGUARD.SWG is the profile for the Microsoft SideWinder Gamepad.
redguard.swx is the profile for the Microsoft SideWinder Freestyle Pro.
Both use the same version 3 binary layout.
Overall Structure
[Header — size, version, signature, device identifier, and settings]
[Control records — fixed-size labels and mapping data]
Integers use little-endian byte order. The header occupies 142 bytes, and each control record occupies 684 bytes. Each shipped profile contains 27 control records and occupies 18,610 bytes.
Header
| Offset | Size | Type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0x00 | 4 | u32 | file_size | Total file size, including the header. |
0x04 | 4 | u32 | version | Profile version, 3. |
0x08 | 4 | u32 | field_08 | Zero in the shipped profiles. |
0x0C | 10 | [u8; 10] | signature | ASCII SideWinder, without a terminating NUL. |
0x16 | 16 | [u8; 16] | device_id | Device identifier bytes. |
0x26 | 104 | [u8; 104] | settings | Opaque controller settings. |
The Gamepad identifier is 84 CE 48 C9 26 90 D0 11 9F FE 00 A0 C9 11 F5 AF.
The Freestyle Pro identifier is 86 CE 48 C9 26 90 D0 11 9F FE 00 A0 C9 11 F5 AF.
Control Records
Offsets in this table are relative to the beginning of a control record.
| Offset | Size | Type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
0x00 | 64 | [u8; 64] | name | Label ending at the first NUL, or at the end of the field. |
0x40 | 4 | u32 | field_40 | Stored control value. |
0x44 | 616 | [u8; 616] | mapping_data | Opaque mapping and macro data. |
Labels include Use/Attack, Jump, and Inventory in the Gamepad profile,
and Button A, Button B, and Button C in the Freestyle Pro profile.
Both profiles contain direction labels such as Up + Right.
An empty label does not remove its record. Bytes following the first NUL remain part of the stored field. Text bytes map directly to Unicode code points U+0000 through U+00FF without selecting a Windows code page.
These profiles are controller configuration files. They do not contain game assets, save state, or swap memory. KEYS.INI describes the separate game keyboard bindings.
Modern controller input uses game actions and bindings directly. These profiles remain references for the original SideWinder presets; their hardware-specific mapping data is separate from the game’s input configuration. See Bundled support resources.