Gamepad/Controller issues

[OniMuramasa]

Over the past few patches I have been coming across technical issues with my controllers playing on PC version, and I've been searching around for solutions but no one seems to be encountering what I am, so i'm hoping I can get a little help here as it's only happening on FFXIV.

The first issue started with my PS4 DS4 controller some months back, after a patch in the game all of a sudden my controllers right thumbstick is stuck on UP making my camera wonky and unplayable, it's not a physical problem as I have tried multiple controllers and got the same result, and it works fine on my PS4 and other pc games, it just happens in FFXIV. I can't even calibrate it to fix it, because it just is stuck in-game.

After giving up on trying to figure out the issue with the PS4 controller, I switched over to using a wired 360 controller, which worked out fine and had no issues, til today. I tried logging in and the game doesnt even acknowledge the controller anymore... tried restarting, tried updating drivers, tried different USB slots, you name it, but FFXIV just isnt even recognizing it and I know it works, as the middle button is green and my PC acknowledges it.

So I have no idea what's going on and why FFXIV is the only thing messing with my controllers, but if there's anyone else out there experiencing these issues, I'd greatly appreciate the help!

[Ariellendera]

Hello OniMuramasa, Thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

I would like to suggest going into "player settings" once you are in the game and making sure that it set to play with game pad.

Thank you for playing Final Fantasy XIV

[Xeon]

First things first:

Playstation controllers of any kind are not supported by Windows.

Are you using ds4windows for your controllers? If not, then you will need to install this and calibrate your PS4 controller within this software. It basically fools windows into thinking your PS is actually an X360 controller, and this, in iteslf, isn't perfect and does have it's share of problems. For this reason, anybody who is looking at this and considering using a controller, make your life easy and use an officially supported controller such as an XBOX 360 gamepad.

Are you using the PS pads wirelessly via bluetooth? If so, then you may be getting some outside interference that is causing this issue. You also may need to update the drivers for the bluetooth device itself. Also, calibration would take place within the ds4windows, not the ingame calibration tool.

[Xeon]

Also, I'm a big fan of 360 controllers for windows. They are higher quality than most controllers made to be used with PC, and have little issues functioning correctly within Windows. With that said, there are sometimes quirks with this, especially in windows 10. I have this very same problem once in a great while myself, and i've yet to figure out why it occurs, but for me, at least, it is windows itself. My controller occasionally disconnects within windows and then immediately connects back, but when it does this, Windows will detect it as a 2nd or even 3rd controller. I only use one. Switching USB ports alone or even uninstalling the multiple entries within device manager doesn't seem to fix this either. The only thing that does work for me for the time being is to completely restart my PC. After I restart and get back into windows, I then have to unplug the controller and then plug it into a different USB port. After that, it works fine again. It doesn't make sense but it's the only fix I've found for this so far. Next time you play, please look at which quadrant the green indicator lights up in. The top left quadrant needs to be lit up which indicates that it is controller #1. If any other quadrant is lit up, follow the steps in this post to resolve it. Any other quadrant indicates that it is controller #2, 3 or 4, and it will not function this way.

Hope all this helps. Try these things and post back here with your results.

[Rufalus]

First things first:

Playstation controllers of any kind are not supported by Windows.

Are you using ds4windows for your controllers? If not, then you will need to install this and calibrate your PS4 controller within this software. It basically fools windows into thinking your PS is actually an X360 controller.

I don't think this applies any more if people have up to date operating system. Windows 10 recognises PS4 controller, both wired and wireless, no additional software needed.

A long time ago, FF XIV PC was also patched to support PS4 controller so the buttons are all preconfigured and there's also a UI option to switch between ABXY Xbox button icons and Square, X, Circle, Triangle PS icons.

Steam also supports PS4 controller for custom remapping buttons, changing lightbar colors, emulating mouse with the touchpad, etc.

I have controller issues sometimes caused by conflicts in the Windows device manager, but it sounds different to what op has.

[Xeon]

Yeah, but it's still not native. Anybody who wants PS4 controllers to work with their games still has to specifically add in the support, which I see that steam and FFXIV have.

I would try un-pairing it and re-pairing it with the PC. It is also possible about another signal interfereing with the signal so I would try a wired connection too. Not sure this would make a difference, but if you've got the steam version, launch the exe file outside of steam and see if that does it for you aswell.

The X360 info I posted though, is valid. I've had problems with the controller disconnecting and reconnecting to windows where then windows would not indicate it as controller #1. Usually shows up as two or three even though I only have one connected. Have had this since upgrading from windows 7.

[Rufalus]

Not sure this would make a difference, but if you've got the steam version, launch the exe file outside of steam and see if that does it for you aswell.

yeah I've had that happen in many games, if the game supports PS4 controller but Steam is also trying to override its own control mapping to the game and it makes wonky behavior where some thing don't work and others are doing double things. can attempt to reconfig the controls in the Steam overlay or disabled Steam controller support, or just run the game outside of Steam like you said.

[Ariellendera]

Hello Rufalus,

Have you been able to resolve your issue with any of the suggestions Xeon provided? Please keep us updated. If you are still having issues, we can escalate.


Thank you for playing Final Fantasy XIV!

[Rufalus]

Hello Rufalus,

Have you been able to resolve your issue with any of the suggestions Xeon provided?

Not currently experiencing any issues, thank you. Don't know about the other guy, though. I happened to have bad problems recently but they seemed to be resolved by trying everything in Windows device manager one by one, disabling them until I isolated the faulty device that was causing interruptions to other input devices.

[Veridian]

The gamepad troubleshooting journey is a long one for XIV. I play on PC. I've gone through a Logitech f310, two Logitech f710s, one Steam controller, and finally settled on PS4 controller from Best Buy. Plug it into PC usb slot and never ever change usb slots for that controller. It's weird, but I think it's some Windows glitch. All the logitech controllers would make me run in one direction for 3-4 seconds longer than I intended, at random times. Steam controller worked but camera movement is horrendous. I even went as far as to buy new motherboard, GPU, CPU, and the problem followed. So by the time I bought the PS4 controller I established some rules for gamepad gaming on FFXIV. No wireless, straight cable to USB from gamepad, never change usb slot, don't install any third party drivers for PS4 controller, let Windows 10 do drivers on its own.