Vibration doesn't work with PS4 controller in wireless mode

[Storm]

Wired, PS5 both wired and wireless, Xbox controllers - no issues, but why PS4 and wireless? This is the closest modern controller I have as PS1 controller replacement and they did that... Maybe there is a way to force it or fix it?

[Nightmare]

I actually have the same problem with my Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2.
But to be honest, I really don't care.
Maybe it's because there is no vibration on keyboard and mouse either.
Or sometimes vibration can be annoying.

But would be nice to know how to get it working.

Cheers!

[Storm]

Still not fixed in patch 4...

[aeglosistarion]

As far as I know this is a Windows-level issue due to the lack of full official driver support for the DS4. It's not something that can be adressed on a game level.

You can fix it yourself by installing DS4Windows[ds4-windows.com] and configuring your controller through that, though. If it's set up correctly, it emulates a wired DS4 instead of your wireless one, which gives you access to the full feature support even when connected via Bluetooth.

Things to note:

- DS4Windows defaults to emulating a Xbox 360 controller which is not fully supported by the game. By editing the profile and switching it to DS4 emulation you can get rumble working as it should. Similarly, you need to set the touchpad output mode to "Passthru" to restore its intended function - by default it's set to act as a mouse/trackpad.

- The installation guide on the DS4Windows website stresses that rumble is not supported when emulating a wired DS4, but that appears to be outdated information. In my testing, whether or not rumble works when emulating a wired DS4 seems dependent on whether or not the game itself natively supports wired DS4s. TR Remastered does, so it works.

- DS4Windows creates a virtual (wired) controller that exists alongside your real (wireless) one - that means you will technically send two inputs for each button press. For TR Remastered this shouldn't be an issue, but in games with support for multiple controllers it might be a problem. This can be adressed with the HidHide tool that is strongly recommended in the installation guide and offered as an optional download during the setup process.

- It's probably best to make sure that Steam Input is disabled when using DS4Windows, since the two tools might overlap in their functionality and interfere with each other. That's just a hunch though, I haven't tested this thoroughly.

[Storm]

It should work without emulation, which is obsolete method since Steam Input implementation. Game has full native support of PS4 and PS5 controllers. As I said in the opening comment, every single combination of Steam Input settings, layouts, PS controllers and connections works properly, BUT dualshock 4 in native wireless mode lacks rumble for some reason even with Steam Input enabled, definitely an issue on a game level.

[aeglosistarion]

Originally posted by Storm:

It should work without emulation, which is obsolete method since Steam Input implementation. Game has full native support of PS4 and PS5 controllers. As I said in the opening comment, every single combination of Steam Input settings, layouts, PS controllers and connections works properly, BUT dualshock 4 in native wireless mode lacks rumble for some reason even with Steam Input enabled, definitely an issue on a game level.

If you need Steam Input to solve it, it's not on a game level. Steam Input is doing the same thing as DS4Windows - emulating a different controller type to get around compatibility issues. And using a wireless DS4 has always been dicey on PC.

There are games that have rumble when using a wireless DS4 with Steam Input, so if the devs really wanted to, they could solve this with a better integration of that API - but with the one-size-fits-all nature of the game - one version across all platforms, making it easier to maintain - that seems unlikely.

And with the way Steam Input is treated by most dev teams - as a free built-in backup for people who don't use standard controllers - I think there's a real chance that most people working on games these days don't even know what it can do, let alone how.

Anyway, the solution is there if you want it. Or you could buy an extra-long USB cable.

[Nightmare]

My Xbox one style controller (PowerA), which is wired, has vibration in Tomb Raider.
My Cordless Rumblepad 2 doesn't.

In case this helps you somehow

[aeglosistarion]

Originally posted by Nightmare:

My Xbox one style controller (PowerA), which is wired, has vibration in Tomb Raider.
My Cordless Rumblepad 2 doesn't.

In case this helps you somehow

I don't think it's a wired vs. wireless thing in your case, it's more likely XInput vs. DirectInput. I assume the PowerA controller is newer than the Rumblepad?

When using the Rumblepad, does turning Steam Input on or off change anything?

Under Steam --> Settings --> Controller, do you have the following enabled:

- Game rumble

- Steam Input for generic controllers?

Btw, Lara's Home in TR3 is a good quick way to test the rumble: Just walk her into the fireplace - if it works, the controller should vibrate.

[Nightmare]

Yes, the PowerA is much newer.
I assume it uses Xinput while the 18 years old Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 uses DirectInput.
At least I'm very sure that's the case.

I can check the steam settings later when I'm on the pc.

[Storm]

So apparently somehow things getting worse after patch 4. I tried all my controllers once again, first of all now game is enforcing Steam Input even if it was disabled in Steam settings. The only controller that works perfectly fine now in every mode and connection is Dualsense, which is weird. Dualshock 4 and Switch controllers won't work at all without Steam Input now, which is downgrade because they were supported and had native support, button icons as they were released on those consoles. But what is the weirdest thing, now even Xbox controllers doesn't work properly without Steam Input and only in SI mode rumble is enabled. Well, that's sucks. I really don't like Dualsense and Xbox controllers in classic games... I guess the only option now to use Dualshock 4 wireless is to emulate it with 3rd party software and mods for PS button icons... In PS4 supported game...

Edit. HD rumble sucks on the actual Switch, so looks like except modern controls, controls in general aren't something that developers took with the same level of passion as the rest of remastered game.

[aeglosistarion]

Did some testing of my own, using my DS4 and an old wired 360 controller. It should be noted that I needed to restart Steam a couple of times because all the controller switching caused it to not show the Steam Input icon properly.

DS4 without DS4Windows:
Wired DS4 without Steam Input: Rumble works.
Wired DS4 with Steam Input: No rumble.
Wireless DS4 without Steam Input: No rumble.
Wireless DS4 with Steam Input: No rumble.

DS4 with DS4Windows:
Wireless DS4 emulated as Wired DS4 without Steam Input: Rumble works.
Wireless DS4 emulated as WIred DS4 with Steam Input: No rumble.
Wireless DS4 emulated as 360 pad without Steam Input: Doesn't work at all.
Wireless DS4 emulated as 360 pad with Steam Input: Rumble works.

Xbox 360 controller:
Wired 360 Controller without Steam Input: No rumble.
Wired 360 Controller with Steam Input: Rumble works.

So basically, if you can convince the game that you're using a wired DS4, you get rumble without Steam Input. If the game thinks you're using a 360 pad, you need Steam Input for rumble to work (which doesn't sound right - can any Xbox pad users confirm this?)

[aeglosistarion]

Originally posted by Nightmare:

Yes, the PowerA is much newer.
I assume it uses Xinput while the 18 years old Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 uses DirectInput.
At least I'm very sure that's the case.

I can check the steam settings later when I'm on the pc.

Not to jump the gun or anything, but I've looked into your problem some more, here are some additional ideas in case the fiddling with Steam Input doesn't solve it:

- The RumblePad should have originally come with its own driver. With it being as old as it is, you probably have used it on several different machines over the years - can you check if you have that original driver installed, or if you're using the generic Windows driver? The Logitech driver should be officially incompatible with Win10/11, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . At worst, installing it will do nothing, but there's always a chance...

- Since the RumblePad 2 is apparently a DirectInput controller, you could try to get it to work with DS4Windows. It's not listed as supported, but if the internals are a decent match for the stock PS controllers it might get results.

- You could also try to use x360ce, which is the old standby for getting generic gamepads to work. While DS4Windows is focused specifically on PS controllers, x360ce is meant to be a universal tool that works with everything.

In theory it should be able to emulate a 360 pad, which you could then combine with Steam Input to get the rumble working just like you would with a real one, or how it works with the 360 emulation in DS4Windows.

In practice however I wasn't able to get the vibration to work at all with it, even in the configuration tool itself. The 360 emulation worked as it should, but without working rumble I couldn't test it any further than that.

Still, you should give it a go with your setup, maybe you have more luck. x360ce has worked for me in the past, but that was on a different machine, a different OS, and with different controllers.

[Makusensu]

To natively have full set of features with the DS4 you need the official wireless dongle, hard to find nowadays.

The Dualsense do have better recognization over bluetooth as well as rumble, but just the standard ones, no haptics.