Steam Getting the Steam Controller to work in GameMaker

MrDave

Member
GM Version: 1.4
Target Platform: Windows
Download: Gamepad tester gmz
Links: Guide can be found here

It doesn’t matter if you own a Steam Controller or not, I will try to explain everything as I go along, however if you are putting gamepad support in I would highly recommend that you at least test with some kind of gamepad. Currently the most popular gamepad used for PC gaming is the Microsoft Xbox controller.

Not everyone has a Steam controller so I’ve written a guide about how each button relates to a normal gamepad. Also the Steam controller works very differently when a game is published on the Steam platform and not everyone has access to a Steamworks developer account. This guide is filled with all the interesting nuances and odd intricacies I have found from my research.

I have also included a link to a GMZ project file that I used for testing, it’s a simple project that displays any inputs from gamepads and joysticks. This might be useful to anyone wanting to add gamepad support to their game.

This will be a living document so I will keep it up to date as I find more information to add. Here's the intro to the article, which is a bit long for this topic. Please follow the link to read the entire article.
*********************
Getting a Steam Controller to work with GameMaker
I am writing this as a place for me to record information about how to get GameMaker working with a Steam controller.




This is an ongoing document and I will update it from time to time as I get new information.

I’m going to split the guide into two; those who have a game on Steam and those who don’t.

I have an exe file / I’m running the game through the Play Button in GameMaker:

So I’m guessing the majority of you will be in this group just wanting to get the basic controller working with your game. Once you publish your game on the Steam platform you get a huge amount of customisability on how the inputs from the controller get sent to your game, but I will cover that in the next section.

These are the controls as they come out of the box. Steam does provide some very extensive tools for the player to change what everything does. But these are the default settings:
[table on website]
**********************
The full guide can be found here: http://www.davetech.co.uk/gamemakersteamcontroller
 
Last edited by a moderator:
C

ComfyMan

Guest
I read through the article and really appreciate what you shared.
 
A

ASpaceWorm

Guest
Thanks for this tutorial! I'm still getting started, but I would like to dev with the steam controller, since that's what I use and I've always been curious about the grip buttons and why they always seem to mimic the A and X buttons. Thanks for explaining!
 

MrDave

Member
Thanks for this tutorial! I'm still getting started, but I would like to dev with the steam controller, since that's what I use and I've always been curious about the grip buttons and why they always seem to mimic the A and X buttons. Thanks for explaining!
Yeah, this came as a shock to me when writing the article. Like I said you can change it once you get a Steamworks account otherwise you can't distinguish between the two because fundamentally the Steam Controller is recognised to Windows like an Xbox Controller and that doesn’t have buttons underneath.
 
T

tris2n

Guest
Very useful guide, thanks!

I have a steam controller so I'll try this out in my current project tomorrow.
 
R

Rukiri

Guest
The steam controller is standard xinput, and I had 0 issues with it in GMS 2 and 1.4.
I have a steam controller, prefer my Elite Controller or my Nintendo Switch Pro Controller tho...

Useful! +1
 
S

Snayff

Guest
Glad to have found this, just picked up a steam controller so looking forward to getting it working. Thanks buddy!
 
Top