Nvidia Controller Support

[mochibandit]

I've recently started on a troubleshooting odyssey. I wanted to test playing PZ on my shield tablet via gamestream. I fired up PZ via the Big Picture Mode gui on gamestream. Here are the steps I have taken to try to play via nvidia controller/shield tablet:

 

1. Fired up game via BPM. used built in touchpad on controller to navigate pointer to options to see if controller was seen to be used in game.
2. Upon initial inspection, controller did not seem to be found. However, I noticed a blank checkbox in the list of detected controllers. I checked the box and selected it in the drop down menu to test.
3. All push buttons responded. Axes 0-4 unresponsive.
4. Had a thought and decided maybe the issue was interference with an overlay since the analog sticks are used to navigate.
5. Disabled gamepad mapper and virtual mouse in the shield tablet. No change.
6. Decided to remove the tablet and all the game streaming out of the equation. I connected the controller directly to the host PC.
7. Started up BPM and fired up PZ. The issue persisted. I exited game and disabled in-game overlay. No change in axes.
8. Thought to remove BPM out of the equation and started PZ through standard steam launcher (note: I was sure to run in 32-bit each time). No change.
9. Tested controller in other games via non BPM launch. controller worked fine.
10. Tested controller in other games via BPM launch. controller worked fine.

I did some searching in both these forums and the steam forums. No one had any threads dealing with this particular controller/problem, so I thought I'd document my quest here. I did read that controller/multiplayer support is very "beta in the beta". I fully understand that, but just wanted to note my findings because I feel like I'm like 95% there to streaming PZ to my tablet. I suspect the Nvidia shield controller must need something customized to work correctly. Perhaps it's a driver issue on Nvidia's end. I have seen similar complaints in my searches regarding this controller and other games not seeing the axes, but the threads did not mention specific games. I'm filing a tech support report to nvidia to see if they have any input.

 

Have contacted Nvidia support and received a response. They were intrigued by the issue, but said they believed the problem was in the game, not a geforce driver issue. I don't know who to believe. My world is shattered and I am a consumer adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

[EnigmaGrey]

Project Zomboid isn't compatible with nVIdia Experience (only about 100 games are). nVidia would have to make the changes necessary to accomodate it. Not sure if that matters in this case, but just throwing it out there.

[mochibandit]

I figured as much. That's why I started a ticket with them. I don't expect they will place a high priority on it, but at least the issue has been documented with them. I guess I just have to hope and wait. Thanks for the feedback!

[Rathlord]

There's a config file to edit that lets you change controller bindings; have you made sure everything is bound right? There should be a screen in the PZ menu that gives feedback on what buttons you're pushing (unless that's not in the public build, I'll hafta check when I get home).

[mochibandit]

I checked the config file and the test screen is what led me to see that the analog axes were not being registered and the digital buttons were(thanks for that screen, btw. I wouldn't have gotten this far if I hadn't seen what the game was reading for inputs). it matched the setup of a Logitech F310 I have used before the nvidia pad to play. It has the same number of axes as the logitech, Basically mirroring an xbox 360 controller layout. On that note, I have also used a wired xbox 360 controller with no problems. Both the logitech and xbox worked fine and had the same default config settings working. Just for grins, I might try to hook up one of the wired usb controllers into the nvidia shield tablet via OTG and see if it works that way. I suspect it is because the drivers for the nvidia controller are written weird. The controller shows up as a device in device manager, but if you go to the windows controller test util, the controller doesn't show up. I mentioned that to the nvidia tech support and they said what I saw was how it worked. My running theory is this: When you are streaming the controller is paired to the shield tablet or shield tv. The host pc has it's own driver for the controller (geforce experience is required to use the controller direct to pc and for streaming), and when you are streaming it's basically running the inputs in parallel (maybe pass-through) to the pc drivers. Another thing I have not tried is to boot into linux and see if the controller works correctly there. I love my shield and I love project zomboid and I just need them to kiss and make sweet, sweet boolean love. The ultimate goal here is to play PZ while I'm pooing, and then while I'm eating, and then while I'm reeling on the floor because I had dairy and I'm lactose intolerant. This is about freedom. Let's figure this out for freedom.

 

update: tried to connect wired logitech controller into tablet and tried streaming again, just to see. Same results as the nvidia controller. The controller shows up as a blank check box in the list of detected controllers and then when I go to check the inputs, the axes do not work. The axes inputs work if plugged into host pc. Even turned on streaming with tablet sitting right next to PC and ran the controller direct into pc successfully. I'm pretty sure it's something to do with whatever driver nvidia is using to control through geforce experience. Based on what I'm seeing, no matter what type of game controller is plugged into the nvidia shield, it's using that driver built into geforce experience and also using that driver when the shield controller is directly connected into the pc.