Is there absolutely no way to disable Steam's controller settings completely?

[Zombie Kenny]

Hello,

The problem:
I want to play f.e. Portal 2 on splitscreen with a friend. I've connected a PS4 controller and started DS4Windows so it will be recognized as a Xbox controller.

I disabled ALL Steam controller settings i could find and tried to launch the game. No matter what i do the controller is not recognized as a controller but is always triggering my keyboard and mouse like Steam's controller settings would do it.

Every splitscreen game that has worked before is now broken because Steam is always messing with my controller settings and i can't find any way to turn this off. Black ops 3 has the same problem. I don't want Steam to access my controller in any way. Is it possible to accomplish that? I googled for a while and tried out anything i could find but nothing seems to work.

Thank you very much for any answer!

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Hmmmmmm....

You mess with the controller options, then blame Steam for messing up, ok... Did I get that right?

You do realize most games won't recognize your PS4 controller right? That why Steam added it, to emulate as Xbox controller. If you don't want Steam to emulate, then get a Xbox controller.

I suggest reset everything back by default be for the controllers settings for Steam.

[Zombie Kenny]

Originally posted by Dr.Shadowds 🐉:

Hmmmmmm....
You mess with the controller options, then blame Steam for messing up, ok... Did I get that right?

No i only started to change settings when it already stopped working and i also tried setting everything back to default but no matter what i did , nothing worked.

Originally posted by Dr.Shadowds 🐉:

You do realize most games won't recognize your PS4 controller right? That why Steam added it, to emulate as Xbox controller. If you don't want Steam to emulate, then get a Xbox controller.

That's what "DS4Windows" is for. It does nothing else than emulating your PS4 controller as a Xbox Controller and it always worked without any problems. "Black Ops 3" for example does recognize PS4 controllers and it didn't need any third-party software to work. However, Black Ops 3 now has the same problem. It worked for about a year and now everytime i connect a controller it will always trigger my mouse/keyboard and the game won't show it as a second controller. No changes have been made meanwhile.

I have a Xbox One controller and it works just fine, but I have often guests here who prefer PS4 controllers. The PS4 Controller with DS4Windows works perfectly with non-steam games that's why I'm sure the problem is in Steam and i only want Steam to not do anything with the controller at all. I can't imagine this is too hard to accomplish. I mean why would they implement such a feature with no way to turn it off?

Originally posted by Dr.Shadowds 🐉:

I suggest reset everything back by default be for the controllers settings for Steam.

I tried that but the problem still occurs.

Thanks for your answer!

[Supafly]

By started DS4 do you mean started DS4windows? or just turned the DS4 on?

If thats started DS4windows close Steam. Close DS4windows and turn off the DS4.

Remove the wireless controller from devices
Load DS4Windows
Pair the DS4
In settings make sure Hide DS4 is ticked
Load Steam

When you want to use your DS4 you need DS4windows loaded before you load Steam. The DS4 doesn't need to be connected before loading Steam but DS4windows must be loaded first. If you load DS4Windows after Steam it can cause weird s*** with the DS4.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Well DS4Windows and Steam have conflict issues. If I remember right, you need to be running DS4Windows first before running Steam.

[Zombie Kenny]

Originally posted by Suicidal Monkey:

By started DS4 do you mean started DS4windows? or just turned the DS4 on?

Sorry, my bad. i meant DS4Windows. i've just edited my post. i'll try this out.

Originally posted by Dr.Shadowds 🐉:

Well DS4Windows and Steam have conflict issues. If I remember right, you need to be running DS4Windows first before running Steam.

will definitely try this.


But there's another thing which i wrote in the comments before.
For example "Black Ops 3" does work with DS4 controllers (so ds4windows is not running). Usually you would launch the game, go into the menu. There will be a text on the screen saying something like "Connect Controller for Splitscreen".
If you would connect a xbox or ps4 controller then the text would turn into a button saying "Activate Splitscreen". This worked for a long time.
Now when i connect a controller the "Activate Splitscreen"-button won't show up but if i push any buttons on the controller then you can see that the controller is triggering my mouse/keyboard and is not recognized as a controller by the game.

What can I do about this?

If you need some info about my settings etc. then just tell me what exactly you need to know. Playstation Controller Support is turned off and i don't have a controller configuration loaded. It was never necessary.

Again thanks for all answers and to everyone who is trying to help!

[Supafly]

Originally posted by Ethereum:

But there's another thing which i wrote in the comments before.
For example "Black Ops 3" does work with DS4 controllers (so ds4windows is not running). Usually you would launch the game, go into the menu. There will be a text on the screen saying something like "Connect Controller for Splitscreen".

Can't comment on that game as I don't own it. I will say

I had no issues loading DS4Windows after Steam earlier in the year. Either Steam update or Windows changed something. Not sure what or which. But if I try to use my DS4 without DS4windows running it may or may not work in a game. Either way when I try to use DS4windows again it's problematic because Steam keeps stealing control of my DS4 and DS4Windows steals it back a few seconds later. Then its keeps bouncing between the them making playing a game impossible.

Thats why I've stuck to using DS4Windows all the time now. DS4Windows works and while Steam and individual game support for DS4 is nice. It's not perfect. I got used to the different button prompts years ago so seeing ABXY doesn't make a difference as I instinctively know what they mean. I'll probably still be stiuck to DS4Windows even if Steam DS4 support is perfected.

[Zombie Kenny]

I've found the solution. This worked for Portal 2 and will probably also work for Black Ops 3. I didn't try it though.

Launch Big Picture > Launch Game > Press Ps/Xbox-Button > Controller Options > Rearrange Controller Order > Move your Controller from 1 to 2 so the controller will be assigned to Player 2

Steam will assign the first controller connected to Player 1 by default. I have no idea why I had to this since it worked before and i never had this problem but anyway, it works for now.