OCTOPATH TRAVELER - Xbox 360 Controller Fix

Having trouble getting your Xbox 360 Controller to work with OCTOPATH TRAVELER? Then this guide may be for you. (Guide may also work for other games and controller configurations)

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Xbox 360 Controller Fix

Greetings Fellow Travelers,

This simple little guide was created to show you how to fix a problem with Octopath Traveler not detecting an Xbox 360 Controller. The solution found herein may also work with other games/controller configurations, but you'll have to experiment with that for yourself.

Now, until recently, I hadn't experienced any problems with Xbox 360 Controllers and Steam games. 360 Controllers have worked just fine with myriad games on Steam, old and new, and often with little to no configuration on my part; plug and play as it were.

However, with Octopath Traveler, the Xbox 360 Controller wasn't recognised despite being shown as available and working in my Windows 10 devices. I looked around forums and found a few people posting that they'd experienced similar problems. Most of the resolutions given were workarounds like running Steam in Big Picture mode or downloading some shady-looking third-party software. Although running the game via Steam's Big Picture Mode does technically fix the problem and no doubt the third-party software solution probably works too, neither of those solutions was to my liking. So, if you don't mind using Big Picture Mode to run your games, then there's no need to follow this guide any further. My guide is for those that aren't satisfied with the aforementioned workarounds.

Anyway, I poked around Steam's configuration settings trying to find an alternative. Eventually, I found a solution, one which forces Octopath Traveler to detect my 360 Controller whilst running in standard Steam mode.

Plug in your Xbox 360 Controller and start Steam in Big Picture Mode

Once you've opened Steam in Big Picture Mode, head to Octopath Travaler either directly through the Library or via the Recent section.



Once you've found the game, click Manage Game as shown below.



This will bring up a number of options.
You want to choose Controller Configuration just below the Steam Input header.



You'll then be met with an image of your controller and a default configuration (yours may appear differently to mine). You want to choose Browse Configs by pressing X on your controller.



You'll see various controller configuration types on the left-hand side.
I suggest clicking on Recommended and choosing the Xbox360 Controller Configuration (Square Enix)



You'll be taken back to the previous page with the new configuration imported and you'll want to click Done by pressing B on your controller.

You must then navigate to Steam's application settings (still within Big Picture Mode)

When there, choose Controller Settings.



Within Controller Settings you'll see several check boxes. Some may already be checked, but assuming, like me, you're trying to get the Xbox 360 Controller to work, you want your settings to be identical to mine. NB: I'm not entirely sure what Guide Button Focuses Steam does, but I left it checked.

So, check Guide Button Focuses Steam if not already and Xbox Configuration Support, make sure the Xbox 360 Controller appears under Detected Controllers and then click Back at the bottom of the screen. (if for some reason the Detected Controllers isn't populated, try disconnecting and reconnecting your controller).



Returning to the previous screen, choose Base Configurations.



This section is more or less the global controller configuration for Steam and it's the area where we will change the default controller configuration for Desktop/standard Steam mode.

On this page, choose Desktop configuration.



Another image of your controller and a default configuration will appear. It may already be populated with a config or it may be blank. Here you want to choose Browse Configs again.



This time, on the Controller Configurations - Import page we're going to choose Your Other Games from the left-hand pane.



If you followed the steps correctly up to this point, you should have [OCTOPATH TRAVELER] Xbox360 Controller Configuration as an available config. Select it.



You'll be taken back to the previous page with a preview. You want to Apply Configuration by clicking the button at the bottom of the screen.



And that, folks, should be all there is to it.
You can now exit Big Picture Mode and return to standard Steam.
Play Octopath Traveler and your Xbox 360 Controller should now work.

I hope this helps.

TheHermit

[FF1M]

Just wanted to leave a comment to say that this fix also works with PS4 controllers (Obviously just tick the PS4 box instead of XBox but otherwise the same method.)

[Ember]

Guide Button Focuses Steam basically means steam pops up when you hit the guide button.

Thanks for the info!