Steam Input Configurator

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Steam
Gamepad
Gaming
Steam Input Configurator is a powerful gamepad rebinding tool that is bundled with
Steam
.
[1]
The configuration files are stored in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<USER_ID>/241100/remote/
Steam Input Configurator (SIC) requires a controller to be connected for it to be accessible. Game specific configurations can be accessed through the gamepad icon right of the
Install
/
Play
button. Desktop configurations can be found in
Steam
>
Settings
>
Controller
>
Desktop Layout
. Global bindings that are accessible everywhere by holding the controller home button can also be found here under
Guide Button Chord Layout
.
Basic rebinding
View Layout
takes you to an overview where you can select the button you want to reconfigure and
Edit Layout
takes you to this menu directly. Here you can select an input and bind it to any gamepad, keyboard, or mouse action. Various system actions are also supported.
Multiple commands in the same button
By selecting the gear icon next to the binding, you can add more than one action into the same button.
Add sub command
creates a command that will be pressed simultaneously with the parent command and
Add extra command
creates a separate binding with its own settings and activation logic.
The topmost gear menu entry is used to set the activation logic. With this a single button can have multiple bindings depending the button was pressed once, twice or with a long press. The details can be adjusted in the
Settings
menu right below it.
Layouts
In the main view of the configurator, selecting the top button with the layout name allows you to browse available layouts.
Recommended
contains layouts set by the developer or Valve
Your Layouts
contains layouts that the user has saved. One of these is an auto-save that updates every time a change is made to the currently active layout, although it is not self-evident which one it is
Templates
contains layouts that are available for any game. Valve provides some of these, but the user can create their own templates by exporting the currently active layout.
Community Layouts
contains layouts that other users have shared for a given game.
Search
allows you to search through all the community layouts for the current game as well as every personal layout
Community layouts for non-steam games are defined by the game name. It is possible to browse layouts by changing the name to match what you want to find. To browse steam game layouts, match the game name with a game store page ID.
Gyro
Many games benefit from using gyro for more fine tuned aiming. It is recommended to use
Gyro To Mouse
as it's less prone to errors than the old
As Mouse
. Depending on a game not having simultaneous mouse and controller support it might be good to select the
Gyro To Joystick Camera
.
Gyro calibration
To calibrate the gyro, first the Dots per 360° needs to be adjusted to be as accurate as possible. Take any button binding and in the
Camera
input tab select
Turn Camera 360°
. Now inside the game stare at a fixated point while pressing the
Turn Camera 360°
binding. If you do not return you to the point you started in, adjust the
Gyro Angles to Mouse Pixels (Dots Per 360°)
in gyro settings until you do. This setting does not only apply to gyro, but also Flick Stick and the previously used turn camera command.
Now adjust
Gyro ° Sensitivity
setting to match our desire.
Common gyro configurations
It is common to use a trackpad or a joystick to do major movements while using gyro for fine-tuned movement. The simplest is setting a trackpad
As Mouse
or a joystick with the
Joystick
setting and then setting gyro activation to trackpad or joystick touch.
Flick Stick
is a more advanced method where the direction of the joystick determines the facing direction, allowing for instant turns but limiting y-axis turning to gyro. When using Flick Stick, it is reasonable to adjust the Vertical/Horizontal ratio to 35% and then increasing the sensitivity until it feels comfortable.
Action Sets and Layers
Sets and layers are convenient ways of including multiple control schemes in a single layout. They can be configured at the bottom of the configuration menu. Layers are applied on top of the current set, which is useful for minor adjustments. You might want the configuration to function slightly differently when aiming down sights or running. Sets on the other hand start from scratch. A common usecase for this is to switch to a gamepad mode when in desktop so that gamepad input is possible without adding the application as a non-steam game
Switching between these happens with a binding. Open your desired input button binding and in the
Action Sets
tab select the action you want. Adjust the activator if you want the action to trigger on long press.
Notes
Button Chord, Mode Shift and Action Layers essentially do the same thing but in different scopes.