No input for guest

[l-eber-a-c-87]

When I try to invite someone who is using a Switch Pro Controller, Steam detects it properly but the Remote Play window says "No input detected for this player" and they can't move in-game (they can still watch and hear perfectly).

[m4dEngi]

I'm not sure if it's actually a RPW related issue...

[l-eber-a-c-87]

Well the issue is only there when I use RPW, if I use the normal Steam Remote Play the input works properly

[m4dEngi]

What's the game in question? Does steam in-game overlay work properly with it?

[l-eber-a-c-87]

It would be Biped, Untitled Goose Game and Rogue Heroes, can confirm at least until RPW 0.1.6 we were able to play Rogue Heroes without any problem.

[m4dEngi]

Those games officially support remote play together feature so there's no need to use RPW to force enable it for them. So this really looks more like a steam client issue.
Probably related bug reports:
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/homestream/discussions/0/3111395750245269848/
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#7715

[l-eber-a-c-87]

Just tried with Cemu, Yuzu and Retroarch, same problem and those used to work with RPW 0.1.6

[aisopos72]

I'm also experiencing the same problem - haven't been able to test the 0.1.6 version but both 0.1.7 and 0.1.8 versions do not recognize controller input from guests.

Normal remote-play-together supported games work fine, but both

1. steam games without remote-play-together support
2. and non-steam games
   do NOT recognize guest controller inputs while using RPW.

Host & Guest OS : Windows 10 64 bit
Guest controller : Xbox 360 / Xbox One (tested with both)

EDIT : steam games without remote-play-together support DO WORK

[zafjr]

Same issue still persists in RPW 0.1.9
Client connecting wont have their gamepad recognized. Steam seems to have changed the way the gamepad initializes for connecting clients? Maybe extra information is needed from the one sending the invite

[soredake]

Same with 0.1.10 on windows 10.

[TheFigBird]

having the same issue. Keyboard and Mouse work fine but Controller does not register, appears as a Yellow exclamation mark and controller input won't work.

[Phakes]

I have the same issue as well with epsxe and pcsx2 sometime controller will work but it got mapped to keyboard instead

[soraxas]

Thanks heaps @m4dEngi for this wonderful application!

I am experiencing the same issue as above (I can enable remote keyboard/mouse but the remote controller does not work). Everything else works faultlessly.

[FlySlime]

I experience the same problem as stated above! Nothing new to add sadly

OS: Arch Linux
Guest: Xbox 360 controller and Windows 10

[MrReBot]

Having the same issue on Windows 10

[Sildurs-shaders]

Does it still work with RPW 0.1.6 though?

[matthex]

I have the same issue, i.e., a guest does not get his controller recognized. I tried with multiple games, e.g., the non-Steam versions of Moving Out and Party Hard.
What I observe is, that Steam recognizes the controller of my friend (see right part of screenshot, the Xbox controller is mine, the PlayStation controller is the one of my friend). However, in Steam Remote Play (see left side of the screenshot), the controller of my friend is not working.

I am using Windows 10 and the newest Steam client (non-beta).

Does it still work with RPW 0.1.6 though?

I tried some time ago. It did not work

[m4dEngi]

It could be somehow related with AppID being set to one of steam client/config itself and not having gamepad profile defined for that AppID or the fact that RPW switches client to desktop streaming mode instead of game streaming for non-steam games...

... or remote tracking AppID mismatch. ( that one could be hard to fix )

Does it work correctly with RemotePlayDetached?

[matthex]

I think, your interpretation is correct: It looks like that the remote player “plays” Steam:

While I play the actual game Hidden in Plain Sight (again, non-Steam version), my friend whose controller is not recognized is displayed as playing Steam.
Another observation: My friend sees my entire desktop, not only the game.

With RemotePlayDetached (and Pummel Party as donor game) it works.

[SjorsMaster]

Same issue, maybe instead of teamfortress, let us pick a game that supports a controller by default?

[kamijoan]

Wanted to recompile it with another steam ID but too noob to get cmake and ninja to work.

[Uklosk]

I have not tested this in depth but I have experienced the same problem. I'm struggling to build it with MINGW64/MSYS2.

[Uklosk]

I have found an AppID that works with non-steam games using the conventional trick (downloading the game, replacing the content and renaming the exe): 1853840

The game is free to own and has full controller support (this is key).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/

Could you please give it a try? Thanks.

[m4dEngi]

I have found an AppID that works with non-steam games using the conventional trick (downloading the game, replacing the content and renaming the exe): 1853840

The game is free to own and has full controller support (this is key).

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/

Could you please give it a try? Thanks.

So to make controllers work with non-steam games we need to make sure that non-steam process assigned valid AppID matching invite AppID. That's not possible without initializing steam api from non-steam process.

[m4dEngi]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:

Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

[Scr34mik]

The only game where controllers are working for me and my friends is "Kane & Lynch : Dead Men" (app id 8080)

[l-eber-a-c-87]

Can confirm the "conventional" method also works installing Retroarch (steam version, obviously) and then using the appid.
No problem at all with that.

[m4dEngi]

No need to install, we just need to have that license associated with account then we can freely use that appid for remote play, steam client will do the rest.

I think it's possible to automate whole process of requesting license and appid file creation, but that's all we can do for non-steam games without modifying steam client.

[Ihmoda]

Can confirm the "conventional" method also works installing Retroarch (steam version, obviously) and then using the appid. No problem at all with that.

Conventional method isn't necessary for Steam version of RA - it supports RemotePlayTogether out-of-the-box within the Steam Deck's native UI.

[SilverDash]

So are you flat out refusing to fix this issue? It seems to be massively common.

[m4dEngi]

There's not that much we can do about it. We're limited to whatever API is provided by steamclient lib.

It's possible to integrate 'conventional' way of enabling remote play for non-steam games into RPW, but that's all we can do without patching steam client.

[SilverDash]

Ah. Yeah I kinda figured that out a bit late and forgot to update my post. Sorry about that.

[PeaceDuck4221]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:

Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)

This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

[agustinsau]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)

This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

[BgueC6595]

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

could you solve this issue? @MetalThunder66

[agustinsau]

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

could you solve this issue? @MetalThunder66

I couldnt. I'm still using remote play whatever. At least with games that hasnt have native remote play it works fine most of the time.

[ElClarke]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)
This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

Im having the same issue (Host busy) Do anyone know a solution for this?

[agustinsau]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)
This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

Im having the same issue (Host busy) Do anyone know a solution for this?

Finally, today i found a workaround. Download 8bit Fiesta. Go to the game files, delete everything except the .exe (named nw.exe). Now, with the game you are having trouble move all the game files to the 8bit party folder and change your non steam game exe to nw. So u execute that game through steam when you hit play. It fixed it for me to play FIFA.

[GabrielSomething]

that workaround works but i really wonder if there's more workarounds other than that one

[GabrielSomething]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)
This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

Im having the same issue (Host busy) Do anyone know a solution for this?

Finally, today i found a workaround. Download 8bit Fiesta. Go to the game files, delete everything except the .exe (named nw.exe). Now, with the game you are having trouble move all the game files to the 8bit party folder and change your non steam game exe to nw. So u execute that game through steam when you hit play. It fixed it for me to play FIFA.

does this workaround WORKS for normal games that aren't emulators? something like super smash flash 2????

[agustinsau]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)
This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

Im having the same issue (Host busy) Do anyone know a solution for this?

Finally, today i found a workaround. Download 8bit Fiesta. Go to the game files, delete everything except the .exe (named nw.exe). Now, with the game you are having trouble move all the game files to the 8bit party folder and change your non steam game exe to nw. So u execute that game through steam when you hit play. It fixed it for me to play FIFA.

does this workaround WORKS for normal games that aren't emulators? something like super smash flash 2???

Yes. Like i Said, i tested it in FIFA (building an .exe to point fifa's exe). This helps if you have More than 1 game u wanna play so u dont need to drop all the files into the 8bit folder.

[RuslPRiME]

It looks like 'conventional' method can be reduced to just:
Add https://store.steampowered.com/app/1853840/Polygunners/ to your library (or any other game that support RPT and controller)

1. Add a non-steam game to your library
2. Create steam_appid.txt text file with only text 1853840 for Polygunners (or just 480 for spacewar) inside non-steam game root/work directory, this should initialize steam api with desired AppID ( at least on windows )
3. Start the game from steam library and send invites to your friends like you would normally do with supported game, you don't even need RemotePlayWhatever or going through tedious process of downloading and replacing game files...

(Sorry for the English, I'm writing through a translator)
This method worked, the gamepad is displayed, but RemotePlay requires you to deploy the Polygonners game (which, in fact, is not even running). If you write 480 for SpaseWar, then the guest's gamepad is still not recognized.

I tried doing that also. The game recognizes my friend's controller but what he sees is The host is busy. Like if i press Alt + Tab and he can even move his controller but this message is displayed. Any hint of this? You dont get this error?

Im having the same issue (Host busy) Do anyone know a solution for this?

Finally, today i found a workaround. Download 8bit Fiesta. Go to the game files, delete everything except the .exe (named nw.exe). Now, with the game you are having trouble move all the game files to the 8bit party folder and change your non steam game exe to nw. So u execute that game through steam when you hit play. It fixed it for me to play FIFA.

does this workaround WORKS for normal games that aren't emulators? something like super smash flash 2???

Yes. Like i Said, i tested it in FIFA (building an .exe to point fifa's exe). This helps if you have More than 1 game u wanna play so u dont need to drop all the files into the 8bit folder.

Not sure if it's just me but lately all the games without exception I tried the file replacement trick with just return a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error when you try to launch them. I tried different steam games to replace files with different games and every time there's this error.
I have an old one that I did that with and it still works but maybe something was patched in Steam in recent months?
Anyone else have this issue?

[agustinsau]

Not sure if it's just me but lately all the games without exception I tried the file replacement trick with just return a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error when you try to launch them. I tried different steam games to replace files with different games and every time there's this error. I have an old one that I did that with and it still works but maybe something was patched in Steam in recent months? Anyone else have this issue?

Im using the .txt method now And works without problem too. U must be sure that the game id you use has TOTAL joystick compability. Im using 8Bit Fiesta game for example and works fine. Even with 4 players in remote play. Try that game id, ITS: 382260.

[RuslPRiME]

Not sure if it's just me but lately all the games without exception I tried the file replacement trick with just return a "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error when you try to launch them. I tried different steam games to replace files with different games and every time there's this error. I have an old one that I did that with and it still works but maybe something was patched in Steam in recent months? Anyone else have this issue?

Im using the .txt method now And works without problem too. U must be sure that the game id you use has TOTAL joystick compability. Im using 8Bit Fiesta game for example and works fine. Even with 4 players in remote play. Try that game id, ITS: 382260.

Well when random stuff didn't work at fist I tried the stuff that people were mentioning most including 8bit fiesta. Pummel Paladins comes up a lot, Spacewar that this app uses, some others I don't recall right now. Anyway still get an error like this

wondering what's this all about

[RuslPRiME]

Ok so I did the ID replacement with a txt file thing but now there is a half broken textless Remote Play window in the middle of the screen for whoever connects and it is unremovable and my friend still can't control anything.... any ideas on what to do about this?

[agustinsau]

Ok so I did the ID replacement with a txt file thing but now there is a half broken textless Remote Play window in the middle of the screen for whoever connects and it is unremovable and my friend still can't control anything.... any ideas on what to do about this?

This bug Is beyond this method. Is some steam build issue. Im in the family sharing beta AND the ui Is broken since months now. It also happens with official remote play games

[RuslPRiME]

Ok so I did the ID replacement with a txt file thing but now there is a half broken textless Remote Play window in the middle of the screen for whoever connects and it is unremovable and my friend still can't control anything.... any ideas on what to do about this?

This bug Is beyond this method. Is some steam build issue. Im in the family sharing beta AND the ui Is broken since months now. It also happens with official remote play games

no way around it?

[RuslPRiME]

Guess that's a no huh...

[o-mosca]

Ok so I did the ID replacement with a txt file thing but now there is a half broken textless Remote Play window in the middle of the screen for whoever connects and it is unremovable and my friend still can't control anything.... any ideas on what to do about this?

I'm having the same problem with this window on the middle, using steamID (382260) workaround.
But my friend gamepad is working.

[RuslPRiME]

Ok so I did the ID replacement with a txt file thing but now there is a half broken textless Remote Play window in the middle of the screen for whoever connects and it is unremovable and my friend still can't control anything.... any ideas on what to do about this?

I'm having the same problem with this window on the middle, using steamID (382260) workaround. But my friend gamepad is working.

It doesn't seem to depend on the ID at all - I used like a dozzen of them and even used one from a non-free game that I own that seems to have the exact same remote play and controller support...

[rodrigohpalmeirim]

I think I have found a simple solution that doesn't require replacing executables.

Using the steam_appid.txt file method, the only game that doesn't seem to show the "Input is temporarily disabled while the host is busy" window is Spacewar (ID 480), but, by default, the controllers won't work when using it. I figured out that the issue is not that Spacewar doesn't have "Full Controller Support", because it does. The problem is that the inputs are being translated by Steam Input, which has a default controller layout for Spacewar that doesn't map the inputs properly.

So, my solution is:

1. Create a steam_appid.txt file containing 480 in the non-steam game's directory.
2. Start the game and invite someone to play together.
3. In the Steam Library, right-click Spacewar -> Properties -> Controller -> Controller Configurator.
4. After selecting the controller you want to configure, you will see that the default layout is the "Official Layout for Spacewar". Click it to change.
5. On the "Templates" tab, select "Gamepad":
6. Click "Apply Layout" at the bottom right.

In theory, you should only need to configure this once as the settings will stay between sessions.
I hope this helps! :)