Hi,
I think I can clear up some confusion here. As mentioned in the Editing guide, the Steam Hook input (legacy mode) is all about whether the rudimentary Steam Input functionality of the Steam client, the basic XInput emulator that is, can hook and manipulate the input of the game or not. Note that this parameter is not relevant at all for games that use the full Steam Input API functionality as those don't rely on the basic XInput emulator.
The only guaranteed way of testing whether Steam can hook input is to actually test it, as mentioned in the guide:
- > Having a controller configured in Steam's Controller settings, launch the game and make sure that the settings profile for the controller propagates from Steam Big Picture into the game.
What this means in practice is that it requires a customized controller profile set up, e.g. one that disables a button, remaps a button, maps the analog stick to the mouse cursor, or something random like that. Once that's done, the game needs to be launched and checked if the custom controller profile is actually active and being used.
If the custom controller profile is not being used, the parameter should be set to false. If it is being used, it should be set to true.
- > The way to check this if I am correct is to go to Manage>Properties>Controller on Steam. Games which do support the hook input will list "Enabled, set by developer" for Xbox controller, Playstation, Nintendo Switch and Generic controller in the "Steam input status:". Games without hook input will have those four fields empty.
I can see where the confusion there comes from, but in reality that particular configuration you're looking at doesn't really mean anything. The "Enabled, set by developer" might mean that Steam can hook the input, or it might mean the developer tried something that had no impact and never bothered to disable it since, well, it has no effect so it doesn't matter whether it's set or not.
Similarly, empty fields doesn't mean anything other than no dev having bothered checking it or does not want to forcefully enabling the functionality since there are various downsides with it such as conflicts with third-party XInput emulators and whatnot that would have affected their users.
So to recap: actually testing the game and whether Steam Input is able to manipulate input by using a custom controller profile is the only way to know for sure how to fill that parameter out.
Br,
Aemony
