How To Play HELLDIVERS With A Gamepad

Used to be a forum post, now is a guide. Learn how to set up a controller for the HELLDIVERS game, both in-game, and potentially in the system, with some extra focus on Dualshock 4 controllers. This also covers some of the common issues found with the controller in the game.

Scope and Purpose

I've seen several posts and threads having problems with controllers in the game, mostly about repeatedly summoning a clone unintended. This post is in hope that it can provide a definitive answer and guidance to this issue for the posts already present, as well as to provide reference for future players with such issues.

This post concerns what to do in-game once your gamepad is up and seen by your system, differentiating between XInput and non-XInput controllers (XInput is a bus used by X360 controllers and is supported in this game). It also concerns a specific setup of a Dualshock 4 controller, as it needs a bit of tweaking.

Setting up an XInput controller in-game

No setup needed. XInput is supported by HELLDIVERS.

Setting up a non-XInput controller in-game

• Plug your controller in and start the game.
  
• Go Settings -> Map Gamepads and see that your controller is displayed in the menu. Select your controller.
  
• The game will now have you translate your controller to an XInput one (X360 controller). It will prompt you with an X360 button, press whatever button on your controller would correspond with it. This also configures analog stick axes, hold your axis for a short time to select it when prompted.
  
• When done, exit the game and move on to the next section in this post. Your keybinds will be already set up to the X360's default scheme.
  
• If something is amiss, move on to Troubleshooting, then comment below.

Using a controller in-game

It is not as straightforward as it might seem. It does absolutely not suffice to simply to go controls settings and changing keybinds to your controller's buttons, as you will suffer from the "unintentional cloning" issue. In fact, changing keybinds is not at all necessary.

Detailed steps to correctly setup the controller are then below.

• Plug the controller in before starting the game. Otherwise, the game may not see your controller.
  
• You can use the controller's buttons to skip intros. Once you arrive to the main menu, it is imperative that you press a button on your controller when you select the "Play" option.

The reason for this is that the game uses this juncture in time to determine which device is to be used for Player 1 in the game. If you press a keyboard button at that time, your keyboard becomes the main control device. If you press a controller button at that time, controller is the main control device. It is important to abide by this, because this overrides all keybinds set in settings.

If you enter the game with a keyboard, no matter if you set all keybinds to the controller, the game will still try to summon a second player on pressing X/A button, thinking another player wants to play there, as it thinks you want to play on the keyboard.

Setting up a Dualshock 4 controller

A Dualshock 4 controller is not that well supported on Windows officially, unless you purchase the official Sony BT adapter. While you can wire it to your system, I found it unstable on its own. I discovered a utility called DS4Windows[ds4windows.com] that converts DS4's I/O into XInput, which HELLDIVERS well communicates with. All buttons and vibration function normally. The utility even allows using touchpad for swipe gestures (emulated into keypresses) or as a mouse, and facilitates Bluetooth communication if your machine has a BT module.

DS4Windows needs to install a driver on its own to your system, this can be easily done after launching the program for the first time. If you are not on Windows 8+, you will also need an Xbox 360 driver[www.microsoft.com] downloaded separately.

Alternative software

DS4Windows is an old utility that is considered deprecated. The reason it is still listed, however, is because it works smoothly, unlike its successor, Inputmapper.[inputmapper.com] InputMapper way work for most people, but I've been facing too many stability issues and the way Steam brawls with it makes it a pain to use sometimes. Your experience may be smoother. InputMapper functions the same in principle, but in a better UI solution and active development and support.

Using the Dualshock 4 controller

If you only wish to use your DS4 via USB, restart your computer and try to plug it in to see if the program registers your controller (the program must be running at all times). If it does, congratulations, you may simply start HELLDIVERS and play as with an XInput controller.

If you want to use the DS4 via Bluetooth (assuming your machine has a module, even a dongle should function), then follow this:

• Turn on your BT module, you may have it in private (invisible) mode.
  
• Take your DS4, hold the SHARE button and then the PS button for 5 seconds. Its lightbar should begin double-strobing.
  
• If your controller is double-strobing, it is in BT pairing mode. Have your PC search for device to pair with, a "Wireless Controller" should be detected. Pair with it.
  
• If a pairing code is requested, enter 0000.
  
• Windows may attempt to install drivers, but the DS4Windows/InputMapper drivers should be detected.
  
• Your controller may turn off after pairing. Wait for the driver business to finish, then turn on the controller again. The program should pick up on it, and display a controller connected. Successful connection may also be indicated by a "X360 Controller For Windows" device under Devices and Printers Control Panel.
  
• You may start HELLDIVERS and play as with an XInput controller.

Troubleshooting

Bluetooth mode misbehaving

The DS4 controller may not want to settle into your system so easily, especially over Bluetooth. It may happen that the pairing is lost, and you may need to re-pair again. If that occurs, never just turn on the controller, but have it enter pairing mode again. If you attempt to just turn it on, it will still attempt to connect to your PC, and the PC will ask for permission, but this never works out.

Drivers of the controller installed incorrectly

Your PC may also get stuck installing drivers from Windows Update. It will not find any, ever, and attempts to cancel installation may often be fruitless. If you wish your controller to work, you may need to disable automatic driver installations. To do this on Win 7, go to Devices and Printers, right-click the computer itself, select Device Installation Settings, and disable automatic driver installation.

My non-XInput controller does still not work

Lastly, your non-XInput controller may not work with HELLDIVERS in the way described above. You can try to make it work by emulating it as an XInput controller. A utility called x360ce[www.x360ce.com] may help you. Download it, place it into the same folder as the game executable, and launch it to set up your controller and settings. It should not need to be running in the background before launching the game. When launching the game, you should hear a Windows' notification sound. This indicates the x360ce may have kicked in. Detailed use of the utility should be available on Google, or use common sense.

I still have the player clone issue

Make sure you follow the instruction above in the guide.
Try exiting the game, unplug your controller for at least 10 seconds (yes, this time period may be actually needed). If you hear the disconnection sound more than once (or two times when using InputMapper/DS4Win), you're good. If not, plug it back in, start the game, see what that gives you.

Doesn't work? Enter Steam's Big Picture mode and make sure your controller has disabled configuration in Big Picture mode. Even when out of Big Picture, Steam tries to toy around with your controller, and this may create double input.

Conclusion

Hopefully this has provided the information you could use to successfully make your controller work with HELLDIVERS. Any questions or other issues not addressed in the guide should be noticed and responded to, though I cannot guarantee I may successfully replicate and solve the issue.

Thanks to Kobi Blade for some observations that happened to be a little more on-the-spot than mine.

[Spec oups]

Thank you, this helped a lot!

[Deus]

i´m using DS4Windows. it really improves the communication between the pc and my PS4 controller

[AlexZ]

My personage doesn't move either. Same problem as Doc. Reed(post below)

[Doc. Reed]

I have a problem, I play with the keyboard and when my brother wants to play with me I give him the gamepad so he joins the game. The problem is that he can't move, when he moves the left stick his Helldiver uses his quick chat messages like "Roger That!" and so on, you know if there is a way to solve this? I'm using an XInput Controller

[Torun]

Yes, you can! However, I do not like Big Picture for the unoptimized mess that it is, working poorly on my laptop and making any game played perform noticeably worse. I also do not enjoy the UI very much. I am also used to setting the controller up this way since I also play some games that are off Steam, and while I could have Steam launch these, it isn't worth the Big Picture trouble.

[Zennock]

Nowadays, with updates to Steam big picture can you just plug in the dualshock controller to the game and expect it to work?