Sprint mode doesn’t work correctly with an Xbox controller

[Someone7272]

After 20 years, I’d have expected this to have excellent controller support. Sadly, it looks like controller support was slapped on with Steam Input rather than using native Xinput or Windows.Gaming APIs (I have tried running this with Steam Input disabled, but the controller does not work).

It sucks. Pausing and unpausing the game causes unintentional sprint mode. Crouching and standing also causes unintentional sprint mode.

Once sprint mode is triggered (either by the above… I’ll call them “bugs” or by manually pushing L3), I can’t find any way of cancelling sprint mode. That causes the HEV suit to run out of power.

This is a game breaking problem for me. Did you encounter this problem, if so can you help mitigate this?

And yeah I hear all you KBM purists at the back shouting “use a keyboard and mouse!”

Yes, I originally played this with keyboard and mouse 14 years ago with a retail copy of The Orange Box. But now I want to experience this on my home theater setup, so a keyboard and mouse is not feasible.

[Kite]

there is an option in steaminput, Under game actions. Its called Hold Sprint, replace the sprint action with that and it works way more consistent!

[Someone7272]

Originally posted by Kite:

there is an option in steaminput, Under game actions. It’s called Hold Sprint, replace the sprint action with that and it works way more consistent!

Thanks for the quick reply but I can’t see any options to configure controller overrides? Note that I’m running the game with the -gamepadui mode so the interface seems very different from what I remembered.

Also, what is the intended sprint button, is it L3 or LB? Consider this based on the Xbox 360/PS3 versions.

[Kite]

I've never played those versions but I use L3 for sprint, but if you open up steaminput and remap the controls you should see a setting called Game actions, that is where you will find the option :) Edit : there are also options for like quick turn left 4 dead style and such, really handy! I rebound my left bumper to quick turn around for example.

[Kite]

I just looked up the intended button, it is LB for both ps3 and 360 versions of the game.

[Someone7272]

Originally posted by Kite:

I've never played those versions but I use L3 for sprint, but if you open up steaminput and remap the controls you should see a setting called Game actions, that is where you will find the option :) Edit : there are also options for like quick turn left 4 dead style and such, really handy! I rebound my left bumper to quick turn around for example.

Got it, thank you! Seems both L3 and LB were set to toggle sprint and conflicting with each other. That breaks the “toggle” mode, so this really shouldn’t have been the default configuration.

Originally posted by Kite:

I just looked up the intended button, it is LB for both ps3 and 360 versions of the game.

I have set hold sprint to LB and made L3 unbounded (unless it does anything in the Xbox 360/PS3 version?).

I’ve yet to play Left 4 Dead sadly as it doesn’t appear to be a singleplayer game.

[Kite]

I'm glad you figured it out! also you can play left 4 dead solo, I recommend l4d2 personally. It has bots and the campaigns can be played solo :), lots of cool mods on the workshop too! Anyhow have fun, without dealing with the jank default sprint settings lol.

[Someone7272]

Argh, even after remapping the controls it still seems inconsistent. It did fix the sprint issue, but regular button inputs repeats themselves way too quickly. Like, for example, pausing the game immediately unpauses it if I pressed Start a millisecond too long. I think this overall toggle sprint issue is related to unexpected repeated inputs.

I HATE Steam Input with a passion, it’s disgustingly bad for these reasons. I always disable it on any game that I know has native Xinput or Windows.Gaming API support. As most Source engine games don’t, it’s pushing me away from them.

Portal 2 is the only Source engine game I know that has native Xinput support, so it’s disappointing that they didn’t back-port it for Half Life 2 and Portal.

Originally posted by Kite:

I'm glad you figured it out! also you can play left 4 dead solo, I recommend l4d2 personally. It has bots and the campaigns can be played solo :), lots of cool mods on the workshop too! Anyhow have fun, without dealing with the jank default sprint settings lol.:bms_crowbar::gordon:

And then you gotta deal with them constantly triggering car alarms causing tons of infected to attack you. I guess it’s good for laughing at the YouTubers getting mad and vote-kicking bots 😂

[Kite]

I'm getting some issues pausing the game too lol, its still a bit janky. using a dualsense myself, i'm not sure how to fix that issue with double inputs either T-T. Hopefully Valve will patch it or something down the line as long as people get vocal about it! They probably didn't fully consider other wireless controllers and mainly just focused on steamdeck, though i havent tested it wired.

[Kite]

but I do remember hl2 did support xinput back in the day, when i bought it in 2013 i used a i think glowcandy xbox 360 controller, just type exec 360controller in the developer console. not sure if it still works but its worth a try! Aim assist wasn't an option back then though 0-o!

[Someone7272]

Originally posted by Kite:

I'm getting some issues pausing the game too lol, its still a bit janky. using a dualsense myself, i'm not sure how to fix that issue with double inputs either T-T. Hopefully Valve will patch it or something down the line as long as people get vocal about it! They probably didn't fully consider other wireless controllers and mainly just focused on steamdeck, though i havent tested it wired.

I did try my Xbox controller in wired mode and it’s the same. It even happens in the controller configuration menu outside of the game. Definitely a Steam Input problem.

Native input APIs are the best way, I don’t get why Valve tried to re-invent the wheel for controller inputs. Bet if you run a game with native PlayStation controller support, it’ll work perfectly.

It’s especially frustrating when Valve have done numerous console ported versions of this, yet still can’t get controller support working properly on the original platform. Which is a real shame, because the UI they’ve done for controllers is awesome. At this point, maybe I’ll leave this one for a future playthrough. Hopefully they’ll address these issues, but I’m not gambling on it.

[Kite]

I agree to an extent, its weird and janky. But steam input is really good for games that do not support controllers and its gyro feature can be a game changer. But valve being valve the jank is always present XD. (also if you do wired xbox controller try turning steam input off before launching hl2, the exec 360 controller option was way before all of that stuff) Not sure if it still works though :/

[Nang]

I have an issue with rumble, using an Xbox Series S controller.

[Kite]

The game doesn't support rumble unfortunately.

[Someone7272]

Originally posted by Kite:

I agree to an extent, its weird and janky. But steam input is really good for games that do not support controllers and its gyro feature can be a game changer. But valve being valve the jank is always present XD. (also if you do wired xbox controller try turning steam input off before launching hl2, the exec 360 controller option was way before all of that stuff) Not sure if it still works though :/

I can’t see how that would work, it would simply emulate WASD and mouse look camera which is never really gonna work properly in games with no controller support.

Anyway, I’ve sank nearly 2 hours into trying to get my Xbox controller working properly in Half Life 2. I’ll have another go tomorrow to try and see if I can get the legacy XInput working.

Originally posted by Kite:

The game doesn't support rumble unfortunately.

That’s even more laughable, but not a dealbreaker for me. Good to know though.

[Nang]

It has rumble support, it is just broken with the last update