The Binding of Isaac Co-op [without gamepad \ keyboard only]

How to play The Binding of Isaac cooperative, keyboard only, without gamepad.

Hello, everyone.

Not long ago Steam got the Remote Play feature that allows to play local coop games over Internet.

The Binding of Isaac has local coop feature but it requires to use a gamepad. How to deal with that if neither of players has a gamepad?

In this guide I’m going to tell you how to bypass this issue.

Program settings

Here’s what we need to play TBoI coop. The guest player doesn’t need to do anything but the host needs to:

1. Download and install the latest version of vJoy: http://vjoystick.sourceforge.net/site/index.php/download-a-install
   
   
2. Download UCR and unpack it anywhere: http://evilc.com/files/ahk/ucr/UCR.zip
   
   
3. Download XBox 360 Controller drivers for Windows: https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/ru-ru/d/xbox-360-controller-for-windows

Reboot the PC after installing drivers.

After installing everything:

1. Launch UCR. In top-left menu press IOClasses -> vJoy -> Install SCPVBus. It should download and install drivers.
   
   
   
   
2. Close UCR. It might minimize to system tray so ensure it’s closed.
   
   
3. Download my configuration settings to allow the guest player to play on keyboard: https://yadi.sk/d/61qBVW0WN9LpHw
   
   
4. Unpack this file into UCR folder. Press to replace files if a dialogue window appears.

And it’s done.

Controls.

Here are controls for the guest player:

1. «U», «H», «J», «K» - Walk;
   
   
2. «Y» - Pill \ Card, «I» - Bomb;
   
   
3. «Right Shift» - Item, «Right control» - Drop;
   
   
4. «Numpad 8», «Numpad 4», «Numpad 5», «Numpad 9» - Shot;
   
   
5. «T» - Map, «9» - Start (Enter the game).

If you want to change controls then you can do it in UCR, it has quite simple interface.

Start the game.

Before launching TBoI I recommend to install “True Co-op” mod to allow the guest player to use normal characters instead of babies:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1230784774

Now after everything is done you can play together:

1. Launch UCR.
   
   
2. Launch TBoI.
   
   
3. If you installed the mod then activate it in the game settings.
   
   
4. Choose the character and wait in the starting room.

Video proof.

RU: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1902399651

[Tjupo]

I only noticed this now after setting everything up, so I won't try to upgrade unless issues crop up, but: The UCR version on github is a lot newer

https://github.com/Snoothy/UCR

[Tjupo]

Be aware that the game still seems to receive the controller inputs even while tabbed out. E.g. while I am typing this, whenever I press "j" the cursor in the game menu is moving down. So it might be prudent to not change the mappings to have the confirm button on the keys you regularly use.

[Tjupo]

7. Downloading the config from the link in the post gave me a rar file that 7zip could not open. I have used some random website to extract it instead, but in case it also fails for you, I have pasted the contents of UCR.ini (the only file inside the rar archive) here: https://pastebin.com/hyF5u2ms

8. Open UCR again, the mappings from the config show up. Remap if you want.

9. Open The Binding Of Isaac Rebirth (with repentance in my case)

10. check that in the options the controller shows up. It is not the "Vjoy" controller, it is one in addition to it.

11. At least in single-player mode I had to explicitly select the right controller. I used the keyboard controls to open the settings from a started game, "select controller", then pressed Numpad5 to select it.

[Tjupo]

A few details are different nowadays. The current date is 02.02.2023, I'm on Win10 Pro 1703:

1. Download (and install) vjoy from https://sourceforge.net/projects/vjoystick/ because the link in the post no longer works.

2. Download UCR from the link in the post. You might have to paste it into the browser because the steam website acts up. http://evilc.com/files/ahk/ucr/UCR.zip

3. Do Not download the controller drivers. The link no longer has any. Windows will install them automatically once you have a simulated controller.

4. No reboot needed.

5. Launch UCR. In top-left menu press IOClasses -> vJoy -> Install SCPVBus. It should download and install drivers.

6. Close UCR. It might minimize to system tray so ensure it’s closed.

[Tjupo]

it seems that vjoy link is no longer working. I am going to use https://sourceforge.net/projects/vjoystick/ now - hope it's a legit one. I'll report back once it worked or failed.

[󠀡󠀡]

well, I don’t know, maybe your antivirus is wrong, look this program on other sites where these "viruses" are not present, or if you are afraid, then buy two gamepads and that's it

[bands]

sorry, im paranoid about stuff like this

[bands]

when i searched in google it said that they couldnt delete it and it had a virus in it

[bands]

well when i went on vjoy, i got a malware warning from the site and the mod.

[No U]

Okay yeah I had to change the buttons settings on the main menu.
Apparently there are no LT and RT buttons so you do need to rebind those
Options>Controls>Xinput Controlle...
Then replace the LT and RT buttons for LS and RS respectively (they are shown as L and R in the game)