TUTORIAL - Getting the STEAM controller to play nice with SKSE

[thebunnyrules]

I just got my Steam Controller yesterday and was having a lot of difficulties configuring the device and after a bit of troubleshooting, I traced the problem to the fact that I was using the skse_loader.exe to lauch Skyrim instead of launching it via Steam Big Picture.

Since a lot of SKSE users with a Steam Controller will be in the same boat as I was, I thought it'd be worth putting up this mini-tutorial on how to fix this.

 

First off, game specific controller configuration options are only available when you launch Skyrim out of big picture mode. You get access to them by clicking the steam button. These options are not available when launching with the SKSE_loader.exe and are not available if you launch the game out of regular Steam. Don't be confused by the controller configuration options available in big picture mod while you are out of game, these are for desktop or non-steam games and will be automatically overwritten by in-game controller configurations.

 

Problem with needing to launch via steam big picture is that it sends you to the SkyrimLauncher.exe instead of skse_loader.exe. You can easily resolve this by renaming the skse_loader.exe to SkyrimLauncher.exe (just backup the original launcher somewhere) and then you can launch out of steam Big Picture normally and have access to your controller configs and activate rumble emulation and all those good things.

 

Enjoy

 

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UPDATE

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• Leave a copy of skyrim_loader.exe in the Skyrim directory as LOOT/Boss tend to freak out if they don't find it.
• I found another way to configure the game specific controller settings that doesn't need the Steam overlay. You can access a game's controller profile by click on the game in big picture and selecting Controller Options in the Manage Game tab on the left. Given Skyrim's chronic alt-tab issues when in full screen (seriously, WTF Bethesda), I'd stick with the overlay which is conveniently ingame.

Edited July 24, 2016 by thebunnyrules