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GameMaker Possible to use more than 4 Xbox gamepads on GMS2 games?

O.Stogden

O.Stogden

Member
Hello,

I realize there's XInput limitations in place that seem to suggest that you cannot have more than 4 Xbox 360/XBO controllers plugged in at once, however I've run into a bit of an issue.

Basically my game supports up to 8 players via Gamepads, in testing it was fine, I had 2 XBO pads, 1 Xbox 360 pad, 2 PS4 pads and a PS3 pad all connected, the game ran fine. So that was 3 Xinput and 3 DirectInput pads.

Unfortunately, Valve have said the game must be playable STRICTLY with Xbox gamepads, so they said I need to make the game support 8 Xbox controllers simultaneously before they will allow the game onto the store, as they do not test PlayStation and other DirectInput gamepads.

I'm unsure how to handle this, I could make a reply saying that this appears to be a limitation on a OS-level, or potentially a limitation of GMS2, but I'd rather be sure of myself before getting involved in a back-and-forth with Valve.

Is there any workaround to getting 8 Xbox gamepads working?

Thanks.
 
kburkhart84

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
I'm understanding that this is something with the XInput API, and GMS can't work around that. I'm not sure how Steam/Valve wouldn't be aware of that. I'm also not sure why they would say the game has to be playable with only XBox gamepads, as they don't generally make that kind of requirement. Not all games really work with gamepads at all, much less needing to work with 8 of them. You can give them this link though, which clearly explains from the source(microsoft) that XInput is limited to 4 gamepads. That said, I'm wondering if there simply isn't some mis-communication here between you and them. That's what I'm leaning to honestly.
 
O.Stogden

O.Stogden

Member
Failure:
Your build has failed our review because the "Partial Controller Support" category appears on the store page, but the game does not appear to fully support the Xbox One controller during local multiplayer.

- Controllers 5-8 have no functionality and unable to activate players 5-8.

For Controller Support, it is expected that the app works entirely with an Xbox or similar controller and that all players can use a controller during local multiplayer.
Click to expand...


It seems that they're not trying it with DirectInput controllers, and are trying to use 8 Xbox pads to test 8 player multiplayer, which will never work. As they say Players 1-4 work fine, but they can't get a pad to connect afterwards, I'm going with that as a fairly safe bet.
 
kburkhart84

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
OK, so your issue then I guess is assuming that players 1-4 are only for those XInput gamepads, while 5-8 have to be other gamepads. Does that make sense to you? That's what it sounds like to me. What you will need to do is program it to allow players 5-8 to use gamepads 1-4, instead of limiting those players to XInput devices. I can't guarantee, but it seems like that is what the actual issue is.

The other issue, is if for some reason GMS2 is specifically not supporting the XBOXONE controller. I have a 360 one and know it is supported, but if for some reason it doesn't support the newer ones someone, then that could be an issue, but I'm leaning more towards the first one.
 
O.Stogden

O.Stogden

Member
It checks all 11 slots for players joining, and I can join in any player slot with any controller.

I have played as Player 1 with both a PS4 and an Xbox 360 controller, and as Player 5 with an XBO controller. This isn't the issue.

GMS2 definitely supports the XBO controller.

I'm guessing they only have Xbox One controllers on hand, and don't have PlayStation controllers lying around to test, they effectively say as much by saying the game doesn't "fully" work with their Xbox One pads (but it obviously does as they connected 4).
 
kburkhart84

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
O.Stogden said:
It checks all 11 slots for players joining, and I can join in any player slot with any controller.

I have played as Player 1 with both a PS4 and an Xbox 360 controller, and as Player 5 with an XBO controller. This isn't the issue.

GMS2 definitely supports the XBO controller.

I'm guessing they only have Xbox One controllers on hand, and don't have PlayStation controllers lying around to test, they effectively say as much by saying the game doesn't "fully" work with their Xbox One pads (but it obviously does as they connected 4).
Click to expand...
Well, I threw my guesses out there. I would respond then asking for clarification. They should know good and well that only up to four XInput devices can be used in general. That said, these controllers also work as DInput devices(with limitations, like on the L/R axes being combined into 1). In my input system I even have to check the XInput side first so it doesn't use them as DInput devices. So, if your game is using DInput controllers as well, then I would think it would support the 5th(and up) XInput controller to be used with DInput at the least, though I don't know how you made yours and don't know what is going on. Either way, I'd go ahead and start that back and forth with them. In the end it may be worth it to just remove that "partial gamepad support" from the category thingy and just put in the description that it does actually support them.
 
O.Stogden

O.Stogden

Member
Yeah, I might have to remove it.

I sent them a reply back asking if they had tried to use 8 Xbox gamepads, as Windows wouldn't allow that. And suggested they try 4 Xbox gamepads and then a combination of PS3/PS4 pads for Players 5-8, as the game supports those.

Ultimately if they reject that, I'll just remove mention of controller support.

Is there anyway of creating "dummy" xbox controllers that are controlled with a keyboard? Might be useful for future testing if I can emulate 8 xbox gamepads, as I obviously don't own that many.
 
kburkhart84

kburkhart84

Firehammer Games
O.Stogden said:
Is there anyway of creating "dummy" xbox controllers that are controlled with a keyboard? Might be useful for future testing if I can emulate 8 xbox gamepads, as I obviously don't own that many.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be surprised if there was such a thing, but I've never used it or searched for it.
 
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