Controller Help!

[professorcephalopod]

Hello. I bought a used PS3 copy of Terraria and loved it so I purchased the real thing on steam and I cannot get my computer's gamepad to work. It's a CSL - USB Gamepad, and I've definitely used it for gaming before. I've tried it on Dungeon Fighter through Steam just to see if it works, and I can move the character around fine (thought the gamepad is not very useful for that game). When I try altering the controller scheme through Terraria nothing happens. It seems to not recognize the controller at all. My system is Windows 8. By the way, I LOVE this game. Anyone who can get me playing on my computer will be a saint to me. Cheers

[Aroused By Turds]

Can you not just use a mouse? It's better that way, anyways.
I recommend it anyways, keyboard and mouse give the game a better experience (I've played on computer, console and...... mobile. Around 700 hours logged on console before switching over to steam and logging over 2000 hours with multiple steam profiles.)

[Aroused By Turds]

You're using steam big picture, right? If you're not, try that. Sorry, but I dinno what to say. Not having this problem on windows 10.

[professorcephalopod]

The mouse is certainly better for some things, but I am useless in combat. Too many years spent as a console gamer, or maybe I just lack to coordination with keyboard. I just die and die and die. When it comes time for hardmode, I won't even be able to build a house if I cannot Mario my way out of it on the gamepad. Yes, I am using Big Picture mode, but thanks for the suggestion! I only recently learned how important that was.

[Zappy]

Does Steam's Big Picture mode recognize the controller? If so, try using Steam's "controller remapping" thing to re-map it into an XBox-style controller, then launch Terraria through Big Picture mode, and then Terraria should hopefully see it as an X-Input controller and allow you to play with it.

(And if not, maybe you can try plugging your DualShock 3 (main PlayStation 3 controller) to your computer if you still have it, as Steam might recognize that. Steam definitely supports a DualShock 4 (main PlayStation 4 controller) if you have one of those.)


However, I must warn you that Terraria on a console (probably) plays differently than Terraria on Windows with a gamepad (the former is ported specifically for gamepad controls, while the latter seems to just have it as a sort of "there's no reason not to" feature if I understand it correctly), so while you may get to play with your controller, you might not be able to pull off all of the moves that you're used to doing on a console.

Disclaimer: I have not tried to play Terraria with a gamepad, so I can't say for certain whether or not the above instructions are correct.

[professorcephalopod]

Okay, thanks for the tip!

[Jah]

Try downloading DS4 windows, playing with a controller feels great!!!

[professorcephalopod]

So I gave up and bought a controller several times more expensive than the game itself. A wired XBOX 360 controller. And, after just plugging it in and waiting for the automatic updates and drivers, yes, Terraria recognizes my controller. I can use it to move my character around and do things. But why the hell can't I change settings? I go to the damn controller settings and select what I want and NOTHING changes. Why is the only game I'm interested in playing so unfriendly to controller interface? If you google, you will find YEARS of people having crazy issues trying to use controllers with Terraria - usually trying to find which program will emulate XBOX controlls - but I got a damned XBOX control and it's still a pain in the rear! And, by the way, the default controller settings are insane. I don't know about you, but about six different GENERATIONS of gaming have taught me where the jump button might be and it sure as hell isn't L1.

[Jah]

loool do you have ds4 to let your controller commuinicate with the PC? Terraria has its own controller compatibility but alone will only take you so far

[Zappy]

Originally posted by professorcephalopod:

So I gave up and bought - A wired XBOX 360 controller. - Terraria recognizes my controller. - I go to the damn controller settings and select what I want and NOTHING changes. -

Just to make sure, are you changing keyboard/mouse or controller keybindings? (Are the current controls listed as keyboard keys (e.g. "Space", "Right mouse"(?), "W", et cetera) or as Xbox controller buttons (e.g. a big green circle with an "A", a big blue circle with an "X", a steel-grey shape with an "LB", et cetera)?)

At the top-left of the keybindings screen, there's a button for keyboard and mouse, and a button for gamepads. Make sure to click on the latter button. I'm not expecting that you did not do this, but just in case that you didn't, I felt that I should mention it.

Originally posted by professorcephalopod:

- Why is the only game I'm interested in playing so unfriendly to controller interface? -

Because that Terraria "relies" on quick precise mouse aiming and you're playing on a version of the game that has keyboard and mouse support, leaving controller support "unnecessary" to most people and thus "unimportant" to most people.
(Keep in mind that I'm saying "most people", not "all people". There are some, but far from many, who want to play the computer version with a controller, I know.)

Originally posted by Gaza Prince:

loool do you have ds4 to let your controller commuinicate with the PC? -

If by "DS4" you mean "DS4", DS4 is short for DualShock 4, which is the normal controller for PlayStation 4, and professorcephalopod just said that they're now using an Xbox 360 controller.

If by "DS4" you mean "DS4Windows", that's a program which's sole purpose is to emulate DualShock 4 controllers into X-Input (Xbox 360/Xbox One) controllers instead, as several games support X-Input but not DirectInput and/or support X-Input more than DirectInput (plus X-Input allows rumble support).
So DS4Windows is useless for professorcephalopod in this case, as they're both not using a DualShock 4, which is required for DS4Windows, and already using an X-Input controller, which is the intended "result" of DS4Windows.

Originally posted by Gaza Prince:

- Terraria has its own controller compatibility but [that] alone will only take you so far

What do you mean, exactly? Unless using a program to emulate controller buttons into a mouse and/or keyboard, a game only supports as much controller usage as it, well, supports.

Using something like DS4Windows will not make Terraria have more or better controller support. All it does is emulate X-Input controllers, which are simply more widely supported than DirectInput controllers, but it doesn't actually make games technically have better controller support, it simply tricks games into thinking that your controller is one that the game already has more support for.

[professorcephalopod]

Here is the shocking thing, I originally tried to click on the gamepad box as you were asking and the rest, BUT, not only would it not correctly map but it would not allow me to manually key in buttons. I could control certain things via the controller - I know this is weird, but on a desperate hunch I tried mapping the gamepad under the KEYBOARD option and it WORKED! Kind of. Not completely. So, I managed to bind jump to the A button (as God intended) but Terraria is pretty sure that's Left. It's not, and it works, but Terraria is definitely dumb. I haven't worked the kinks out entirely. Terraria does not recognize my B button as... a THING. It is a thing. It's a button with a B on an XBOX 360 Wired controller, but don't tell Terraria. That game is pretty sure it's just pretending to be a button. I'm still experimenting with getting, not all, even but just enough of the controller to work so I can build little fake houses out of pumpkins and snow, like the adult I am, and smile at them and make my wife look so she can say something to the equivalent of 'that's nice dear.' Heaven, right? Anyway, thanks for all your help.

[willy willington]

honestly you're probably better off with a keyboard anyway, because you can bind more keys to different actions which is useful for mods, and you have more precise controls thanks to a mouse.

[Zappy]

Originally posted by professorcephalopod:

Here is the shocking thing, -Snipped to keep the quote short-

It sounds like that something (possibly, but not necessarily, Steam) is emulating your controller as a keyboard instead.

On Terraria's title screen, go to "Settings" > "Interface" and make sure that "Gamepad Instructions" is enabled (set to "On"). Then do stuff with the controller. Does Terraria show any helpful button prompts at the bottom-left of the screen?

And in addition to the above question, if you open Notepad or such and press any/all of the buttons on your controller, does that result in you writing any sort of text?

(I need to know both of those things in order to hopefully help you more.)

[*****stat]

Might be a little too late to this party, but...

If it helps, I had similar problems with a wireless Xbox 360 controller, but the fix seems to be:

- right click on Terraria in the Steam library, then select Properties
- on the General tab, find "Steam input per game setting" and change it to "Forced Off"

Hope it helps.

[Vito_Crimini]

Originally posted by *****stat:

Might be a little too late to this party, but...

If it helps, I had similar problems with a wireless Xbox 360 controller, but the fix seems to be:

- right click on Terraria in the Steam library, then select Properties
- on the General tab, find "Steam input per game setting" and change it to "Forced Off"

Hope it helps.

It worked ! Thanks a lot, I was searching a solution for this problem for a while.

[alex /(.*.)/]

I had given up on playing Terraria for so long because of DS4 incompatibility. The following worked for me finally:

* Use DS4Windows. Its FOSS, not malware. No reason to not use it.
* Change "Steam input per game setting" to "...global Steam input settings"