Full Controller Support (On Public Beta)

[[BMS] Adam-Bomb]

Controller support for Black Mesa has now been given the love and attention it has been seeking. Black Mesa now fully supports and integrates with Steam Input, allowing both us as developers and you as the community to create your own custom controller bindings and share them!

With Steam Input now implemented, we now support the following devices:

• Xbox One Controllers
  
• PS4/PS5 Controllers
  
• Nintendo Switch Controllers
  
• We have also implemented proper Gyro support for Steam Deck!

To get started, simply navigate to the Steam Controller Layout configurator and select one of our official layouts and hit 'Apply Layout'.

With this change, we've also updated our HUD hints to display the correct controller icons. These are the 'future-proof' icons that Steam Input provides (Note though the new GameUI does not currently use these icons).

Multiple User Interface bugs relating to controller navigation were also fixed. We also fixed up the mouse options screen on the old GameUI.

Auto-aim

We've massively overhauled our old auto-aim implementation. We've resurrected the original auto aim system built into Source. We even brought back PS2-style dynamic auto-aiming reticles for your retro-pleasure!

This is a major change to how auto-aim was done in the past with Black Mesa. Previously, auto-aiming simply made your bullets magnetic. No aim "assistance" was provided. With this new implementation, Auto-Aim now actually assists with aiming. Your crosshairs and aiming angles now magnetically attract to enemies you encounter.

This is all configurable via console variables per skill level. Please note though that:

• Auto-Aim is not available for multiplayer games
  
• bms_autoaim_scale is no longer relevant

Configuring Auto Aim

You can configure auto-aim behavior via the console variables. These are broadly broken into the following categories:

General

sk_autoaim_enabled: Set to `1` to "request" that the auto-aim system is enabled. This request will be ignored if you join a multiplayer game.

sk_autoaim_mode: Leave this as `1`. This corresponds to `AUTOAIM_ON` and other values won't do anything.

sk_autoaim_debug: Fun developer convar. Set to `1` to view the list of entities Auto-Aim is tracking on the server, along with the computed auto-aim scores. Set to `2` to actually see the screen-aligned bounding circles we use to figure out when to 'attract' your crosshairs to an enemy. Yellow circles mean the entity is a valid target for auto-aim consideration. Gray means not considered.

Scaling

The first problem Auto-aim needs to solve is to determine what entity to target. This is done by generating screen-aligned bounding circles around each enemy (which can change per enemy type) and then trying to determine whether or not your crosshairs intersect with that circle.

This screen-aligned circle is typically `24` units in size for most NPCs. This circle is then scaled by the auto-aim scaling factor for your difficulty. When your crosshairs intersect with this circle, auto-aim will start to attract to that entity. This means larger scaling values mean larger circles which in turn, means enemies at greater distances will be considered by auto-aim.

The following console variables control this behavior:

sk_autoaim_scale1: How much to scale screen-aligned bounding circles for enemies in EASY difficulty.

sk_autoaim_scale2: How much to scale screen-aligned bounding circles for enemies in MEDIUM difficulty.

sk_autoaim_scale3: How much to scale screen-aligned bounding circles for enemies in HARD difficulty.

Magnetism

The second problem Auto-aim needs to solve is actually updating your aiming angles once an entity is selected for targeting. The higher these values are, the faster your aim will approach the target. The tradeoff however, is that larger numbers may cause your view to jitter.

The following console variables adjust how quickly your aim angles are corrected once a target is selected:

sk_autoaim_magnetism1: Degrees per frame to correct your aim in EASY mode.

sk_autoaim_magnetism2: Degrees per frame to correct your aim in MEDIUM mode.

sk_autoaim_magnetism3: Degrees per frame to correct your aim in HARD mode.

EDIT: Both Scaling and Magnetism can be edited permanently in the skill.cfg.
Black Mesa\bms\cfg\skill.cfg then scroll to the bottom of the text file.

User interface

hud_draw_active_reticle: This draws an active targeting reticle which will target whatever enemy auto-aim is currently selecting as your target.

hud_draw_fixed_reticle: This draws a fixed reticle which turns red when auto-aim is targeting something under the crosshairs.

Let us know of an issues or feedback for the controller support and auto aim. Thanks!

[AlexTECPlayz]

Awesome stuff, thank you!

[The Heist daddy]

Great, will make playing on steam deck far more manageable

[NovaGT]

AAwwesome....gonna try it

[sp!nat]

I hope they will fix my old bug list: https://steamcommunity.com/app/362890/discussions/9/3279193518773992997/

[frist_008]

Will Dualsense features be supported?

[endless.insomnia]

I use original wireless Xbox ONE controller. Right stick drifting to right bottom angle with Steam controller input. Maybe this is Valve issue because in Cyberpunk 2077 i have same problem if Steam controller input turned ON. And in game i see vibration option, but this thing never working with my wireless Xbox ONE controller. Even if i use usb cable.

[thatmoodyguy]

For some reason the custom controller layout I want to use keeps getting reset to the default one. I've found it gets reset when alt-tabbing between the game and another window (I play with borderless fullscreen), and infuriatingly, when closing the Steam Overlay, not the Big Picture Overlay.

[GyroGamer #FixTF2]

It's good the game is now getting proper controller support. But I do have a question, since it now has Gyro support for the Steam Deck, will it be applicable for the PS4/5 and Nintendo Switch controllers too?

[The Asskins Diet]

Seconded. If I remap the only way to get my remap to work is to export a copy. But it'll reset all the time. Just going into steam overlay to post will trigger a reset. Only way to implement the remap is with an export. Updating an export results in a reset and it doesn't save the update, so the only way to update is making new exports. I thought I had figured out how to work around it, but then I found a ladder and ladder climbing seems to be broken. Works on keyboard still.

[VeeRay111]

Originally posted by thatmoodyguy:

For some reason the custom controller layout I want to use keeps getting reset to the default one. I've found it gets reset when alt-tabbing between the game and another window (I play with borderless fullscreen), and infuriatingly, when closing the Steam Overlay, not the Big Picture Overlay.

Yes, same here. I spent considerable time perfecting a custom layout for my X360 controller on Steam to make the game playable and enjoyable for me (as previously the game basically treated my controller as a mouse and its internal gamepad settings had no effect).

But after the Necro Patch self-installed today, Steam Input has become useless as well, as it keeps resetting to defaults every time I launch the game. Now I am unable to finish it, as the defaults don't work for me. Very disappointing, I was all the way to Lambda Core... : (

[[BMS] Adam-Bomb]

Originally posted by VeeRay111:

Originally posted by thatmoodyguy:

For some reason the custom controller layout I want to use keeps getting reset to the default one. I've found it gets reset when alt-tabbing between the game and another window (I play with borderless fullscreen), and infuriatingly, when closing the Steam Overlay, not the Big Picture Overlay.

Yes, same here. I spent considerable time perfecting a custom layout for my X360 controller on Steam to make the game playable and enjoyable for me (as previously the game basically treated my controller as a mouse and its internal gamepad settings had no effect).

But after the Necro Patch self-installed today, Steam Input has become useless as well, as it keeps resetting to defaults every time I launch the game. Now I am unable to finish it, as the defaults don't work for me. Very disappointing, I was all the way to Lambda Core... : (

We'll look into it. It shouldn't reset anything. It might be loading the game defaults, or there may be a bug in the Steam Input.

[whiterspon]

Finnaly Controller Option come Live in the Game Finally i Apreciated that move a lot

[Agent Slacker 🎮]

I came here to also confirm that my layout keeps resetting every time.

[Carnage]

Is it possible for a server owner to enable auto aim on multiplayer or is it just not an option at all?

[BouncingBreasts]

Originally posted by BMS Adam-Bomb:

We'll look into it. It shouldn't reset anything. It might be loading the game defaults, or there may be a bug in the Steam Input.

Whenever I change the control ... at the Steam Controller icon, the game always say "Unable to sync (the cloud sync feature)" I wonder if it's the cause. I'm having this problem too. Can't change the controls for my controller.