Steam Deck Controller Layout

[Ghostship]

I've recently been using a Steam Deck and thought I'd share my controller layout.

 

To install the layout select the game in Steam and click the little controller icon to the right of the Play button. At the top of the controller settings page you will see a large box displaying your current layout. This is probably one of the default templates which you can go back to at any time. Click it and then navigate to the Community Layouts tab. You will then see the layout named "City of Heroes: Homecoming (Steam Deck) v1.5". Select it, and you will see a prompt at the bottom of the screen "X to Apply". Press X and then follow the below in-game setup steps to ensure the layout works correctly.

 

This layout is designed for the Homecoming "Classic" keybind profile. Newly created characters are now set by default to the new "Modern" keybind profile which doesn't use the traditional middle mouse camera method.

 

IN-GAME SETUP: (use right trackpad as mouse & left bumper to left click)

1. (optional: if your UI is incorrectly scaled) Navigate to Windows tab of Options menu and set window scale to around 112%

2. (optional: if chat is too small) Scroll down to Chat section of Windows tab and increase Chat Font Size to around 15

3. Navigate to the Keymapping tab of the Options menu and set Keybind Profile to Classic

4. Navigate to Controls section of Options menu and set Free Camera Movement to Enabled

5. (requied for targeting Allys) Navigate to Keymapping tab of Options menu and set the following (use Steam button + X to open / close keyboard):

Target Next Friend	Shift+>
Target Previous Friend	Shift+<
Target Nearest Friend	Shift+}
Target Furthest Friend	Shift+{
Target Furthest Enemy	PageUP

 

 

HOW IT WORKS:

Before simply listing all of the controls here is a brief overview of how things work.

 

• X, Y, and B, in combination with holding Left Trigger or Right Trigger, activate powers in slots 1-9 of all three power trays.
Using this method powers in tray 1 are activated with a single click, powers in tray 2 are activated with a double click, and powers in tray 3 are activated with a long click (holding for 1 second).
Suggestion: Prioritise placing your most frequently used powers in power tray 1 firstly, and then in power tray 2, since these are faster to activate. Then place less frequently used powers in power tray 3.

 

• The Right Trackpad acts as your mouse, but also when clicked activates the ability in slot 0 of your power tray.
Reserve slot 0 in all three power trays for Location AOE powers (if you have any), which are activated by manually placing a target; for example Shield Charge / Ice Slick / maybe Teleport if you haven't set up a macro for it on your F key, as many do.
Click and hold the trackpad, slide your thumb around to position the target, then release the click to activate the power in tray:1 slot:0. Hold the Left or Right Trigger while doing this for tray:2 or tray:3.
Note: You can place any power in slot 0, not just Location AOEs. Any power in slot 0 will trigger when clicking the trackpad.

 

• Tab targeting is done via the Grip buttons L4 (previous enemy) and R4 (next enemy).

While holding the Left Trigger, L4 and R4 will instead target allys.

Double click L4 or R4 to target furthest or nearest enemy / ally.

• Inspirations and Emotes/Macros can be used via the DPad in combination with triggers. See full control list below for details.

 

CONTROLS:	DEFAULT (not holding triggers)	WHILE HOLDING LEFT TRIGGER (L1)	WHILE HOLDING RIGHT TRIGGER (R1)
Left Trigger (L1)	• Hold for alternate button modes
Right Trigger (R1)	• Hold for alternate button modes
X	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:1	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:4	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:7
	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:1	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:4	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:7
	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:1	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:4	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:7
Y	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:2	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:5	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:8
	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:2	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:5	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:8
	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:2	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:5	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:8
B	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:3	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:6	• Single Click = Power Tray:1 Slot:9
	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:3	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:6	• Double Click = Power Tray:2 Slot:9
	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:3	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:6	• Long Click (hold 1 second) = Power Tray:3 Slot:9
A	• Jump / Fly Up	• Fly Down	• CTRL (usage: hold R1+A, then click a power with L2 to set auto activation)
Small button above Right Joystick	• Z (cancel queued power)
Small button above Left Joystick	• ESC (deselect chat / deselect target / cancel power)		• Quit Game (displays log out menu)
Right Trackpad	• Mouse	• Mouse	• Mouse
For Location AOEs. See above.	• Click then Release: Power Tray:1 Slot:0	• Click then Release: Power Tray:2 Slot:0	• Click then Release: Power Tray:3 Slot:0
Left Trackpad	Radial Menu:
	• Map (M)
	• Chat (enter)
	• Reply to Tell (backspace)
	• Tell Target (send tell to selected ally)
	• Contacts
	• Mission
Left Bumper (L2)	• Left Mouse Click
Right Bumper (R2)	• Right Mouse Click
Left Grip 4 (L4)	• Target Previous Enemy	• Target Previous Ally
	• Double click to Target Furthest Enemy	• Double Click to Target Furthest Ally
Right Grip 4 (R4)	• Target Next Enemy	• Target Next Ally
	• Double click to Target Closest Enemy	• Double click to Target Closest Ally
Left Grip 5 (L5)	• Zoom Camera In
Right Grip 5 (R5)	• Zoom Camera Out
DPad Left	• Inspiration Slot 1 (F1)		• Useless "RUN!" emote bound to F6 key. Create your own F6 macro to replace it.
	• Double Click for Inspiration Slot 4 (F4)		• Double Click: Useless "ATTACK!" emote bound to F10 key. Create your own F10 macro to replace it.
DPad Up	• Inspiration Slot 2 (F2)		• "Ready!" emote bound to F7. Maybe leave this one as it's useful in teams.
	• Double Click for Inspiration Slot 5 (F5)
DPad Right	• Inspiration Slot 3 (F3)		• Useless "Whistle" emote bound to F8 key. Create your own F8 macro to replace it.
DPad Down	• F (fly or teleport macro if you have one)		• "Looking for Team" emote bound to F9. Displays in Local chat channel with limited range. Replace it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21 by Ghostship

[jediandrew]

Dude thank you, I can't wait to try this out. However I still am trying to get COH on my steam deck running ;/

[Ghostship]

On 7/11/2024 at 4:20 AM, jediandrew said:

Dude thank you, I can't wait to try this out. However I still am trying to get COH on my steam deck running ;/

I installed it using Lutris.

 

• In desktop mode open Discover (blue icon on taskbar), search Lutris and install.

 

• Launch Lutris and click the + button at the top left. Choose "Install Windows game from executable".

 

• In the Game Name field enter a folder name for the game you are installing. City of Heroes, or CoH, or whatever.

 

• Choose the location you want to install. It probably defaults to home/deck/games/<folder-name> so leave it as this unless you need to specify another location. Click Continue.

 

• Use the Browse button to navigate to the Homecoming installer. If you downloaded it using your Steam Deck it should be in the Downloads folder. Click Install.

 

• The Homecoming installer will now do its thing. Just leave the default folder location when it prompts you. This will probably say C:drive, which Lutris will create for you. You don't need a desktop icon to be created if you're planning to add the game to the Steam Library.

 

• Lutris will then install dependencies like .NET as required.

 

• Once it's finished installing don't bother pressing the Launch button. If you do press Launch you can use the touchscreen to close the Homecoming launcher.

 

• In Lutris you should now see an icon for the game. Right click it and choose Create Steam Shortcut. This adds the game to your Steam library.

 

• Return to Game Mode (shortcut on desktop).

 

• Find the game in the Non-Steam section of your library. Click on it then click the little cog icon to the far right of the Play button to open game settings. In the game settings choose Properties.

 

• In Properties rename the game to something more appropriate like City of Heroes: Homecoming. Next, on the left navigate down to Compatibility. When I installed the game I needed to tick 'Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool', then choose Proton Experimental. Other people have found that the game works without enabling this option, so maybe try launching the game first, then come back to this setting if it doesn't launch.

 

The game should now be playable. I'd highly recommend installing GridDB via DeckyLoader. This will enable you to easily add icons and artwork for games in your library. It gets the images from a database, and there are plenty of nice images for CoH. It will look much better in your library.

*Note: Once you have GridDB installed, keep in mind the Change Artwork option never appears for me the first time I click the cog icon to open settings. If this happens for you too just click the cog again and it should be there.

 

• Additional Steps for Artwork:

 

Install DeckyLoader:

 

Install GridDB:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20 by Ghostship

[bigmarty]

On 7/11/2024 at 4:52 AM, Ghostship said:

I installed it using Lutris.

 

• In desktop mode open Discover (blue icon on taskbar), search Lutris and install.

 

• Launch Lutris and click the + button at the top left. Choose "Install Windows game from executable".

 

• In the Game Name field enter a folder name for the game you are installing. City of Heroes, or CoH, or whatever.

 

• Choose the location you want to install. It probably defaults to home/deck/games/<folder-name> so leave it as this unless you need to specify another location. Click Continue.

 

• Use the Browse button to navigate to the Homecoming installer. If you downloaded it using your Steam Deck it should be in the Downloads folder. Click Install.

 

• The Homecoming installer will now do its thing. Just leave the default folder location when it prompts you. This will probably say C:drive, which Lutris will create for you. You don't need a desktop icon to be created if you're planning to add the game to the Steam Library.

 

• Lutris will then install dependencies like .NET as required.

 

• Once it's finished installing don't bother pressing the Launch button. If you do press Launch you can use the touchscreen to close the Homecoming launcher.

 

• In Lutris you should now see an icon for the game. Right click it and choose Create Steam Shortcut. This adds the game to your Steam library.

 

• Return to Game Mode (shortcut on desktop).

 

• Find the game in the Non-Steam section of your library. Click on it then click the little cog icon to the far right of the Play button to open game settings. In the game settings choose Properties.

 

• In Properties rename the game to something more appropriate like City of Heroes: Homecoming. Then, on the left navigate down to Compatibility, tick Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool, then choose Proton Experimental.

 

The game should now be playable. I'd highly recommend installing GridDB via DeckyLoader. This will enable you to easily add icons and artwork for games in your library. It gets the images from a database, and there are plenty of nice images for CoH. It will look much better in your library.

*Note: Once you have GridDB installed, keep in mind the Change Artwork option never appears for me the first time I click the cog icon to open settings. If this happens for you too just click the cog again and it should be there.

 

• Additional Steps for Artwork:

 

Install DeckyLoader:

 

Install GridDB:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I followed this guide but when I hit play it loads for a couple seconds and then goes back to the main screen. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

[Ghostship]

5 hours ago, bigmarty said:

I followed this guide but when I hit play it loads for a couple seconds and then goes back to the main screen. Not sure what I’m doing wrong.

In Steam, under the game Properties, try some of the other compatibility options other than Proton Experimental and see if that works. Also try disabling the 'Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool' entirely to see if it makes any difference.

 

If not, go back to desktop mode, open Lutris and launch the game from there to see if the Homecoming launcher runs. If it doesn't, right click the game icon in Lutris and choose Configure. Under the Game Info tab it should say Runner = Wine. If so, under the Runner Options tab check which Wine Version it's using. Mine says 'wine-ge-8-26--x86_64'. Whatever yours says try some different options and launch again from within Lutris until it runs. Then go back into Game Mode and test, changing Compatibility versions until it runs from within Steam also.

 

If you still have no joy try uninstalling it from within Lutris and installing again. Let me know if it still doesn't work and I'll have a think what else could be wrong. *thumbs up*

Edited July 20 by Ghostship

[bigmarty]

5 hours ago, Ghostship said:

In Steam, under the game Properties, try some of the other compatibility options other than Proton Experimental and see if that works. Also try disabling the 'Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool' entirely to see if it makes any difference.

 

If not, go back to desktop mode, open Lutris and launch the game from there to see if the Homecoming launcher runs. If it doesn't, right click the game icon in Lutris and choose Configure. Under the Game Info tab it should say Runner = Wine. If so, under the Runner Options tab check which Wine Version it's using. Mine says 'wine-ge-8-26--x86_64'. Whatever yours says try some different options and launch again from within Lutris until it runs. Then go back into Game Mode and test, changing Compatibility versions until it runs from within Steam also.

 

If you still have no joy try uninstalling it from within Lutris and installing again. Let me know if it still doesn't work and I'll have a think what else could be wrong. *thumbs up*

Unchecking “force the use of a specific stream play compatibility tool” did the trick. Thank you.