controller update made my game unplayable via ghost controllers#717

since the large november 18th controller update my game has been completely unplayable. upon boot up the game takes no input from any input method or controller type. i can mash click to occasionally get an input. if i make it into a vs screen it will show that i have at least 2 conttollers plugged in even if none are. if i press a button on my controller it pops up as a new player. not as one of the ghost controllers. the menus accept no input as these 2 ghost controllers also have priority over my actual controllers. i have uninstalled and reinstalled the game multiple times, i have tried the suggested steam input settings and this also has no change. 3 patches later my game is still completely unplayable. please help :(

the game also can no longer be down patched to a working patch for me as the previous patch was replaced with one of the broken builds and now my controller works on neither

You may get a faster response doing a bug report in discord

You’ve gotta mention what controller you are using

i use gamecube controller myself, but i did say at the start of the post it doesnt take inputs from any input method or controller type except mashing click. the input methods i tried includes, xbox controller, ps4 controller, ps5 controller, gamecube controller, keyboard & mouse and a box controller. they all have the same issue with the phantom controllers having priotiy over them so the game is unresponsive

as of all patches since this post my game is still completely unplayable please help or at least mark as under investigation

How many controllers does steam input say there are?
Maybe check your devices settings on Windows too to see if a dummy controller is listed too

You probably have a USB device or virtual device that is stealing the inputs and creating the phantom controllers. Although you should be able to navigate the menus if it’s only taking 2 slots. Perhaps it’s passing constant neutral data and overriding other controllers.

The first step would be to identify what is causing this issue. It could be a lot of things.

First would be to uninstall vjoy if you have that since that can clog all 4 slots and interfered with Rivals 2 even before the controller update.

Next would be to unplug every other USB device from your computer including your keyboard, mouse and headset. Then plug them in one by one to pinpoint which device is hogging the inputs. If you find it, you can send us information about it and we can maybe exclude it from being read as a controller.

If neither of those work, then try going into device manager and see if you have any weird virtual devices (similar to vjoy) installed on the machine and disable or uninstall them. They could be creating phantom controllers. Also go to Control Panel and Game Controllers and Devices to see if a weird phantom controller is listed there.

Also try turning steam input completely off for Rivals 2. (you can do it just for that game by right clicking it in the library and going to properties) Perhaps a generic controller is getting mapped and hogging the inputs.

If none of that works, come back to me and we’ll see if we can get it sorted.

hey dan! thanks for the response! im trying your steps and i have some new info i have found while trying to fix this myself.

new info first. 2 days ago i was able to get into the game and play it normally on my GCC after switching from my mayflash adapter to an offical nintendo adapter. however upon playing the game again today the nintendo adapter was now experiencing the same issues and when i tried swapping back to the mayflash suddenly the mayflash was now reading inputs from my GCC but as xbox inputs. otherwise it worked normally. after closing rivals briefly, i reopened it and now neither the mayflash or nintendo adapters are being read and both have the same original problem and both were tested being plugged in independently.

its also worth mentioning i know both of these adapters are fully functional on this patch because i can use them on my family laptop which runs current patch with the same GCC and adapters im using on my desktop without any issue. the same controller and adapters also worked on the previous patch so it leads me to believe theres something going on with this patch and my desktop specifically, but im unsure what it could be. i am also only seeing one phantom controller since one of the previous patches. previously saw up to 2 ghost controllers

next for the steps your reccomended. i unplugged everything from my computer and tested everything one at a time. im not getting any stray inputs that i can find. i have a webcam, mic, keyboard, mouse, controller adapter, micro usb and a headset with the last 4 plugged into a high speed powered usb hub.
edit: i also tested launching the game with all usb devices other than my mouse unplugged. the mouse is flickering as usual and seems to control the phantom slots CSS marker but cant deactivate the charecter slot or navigate further into the game.

i have searched my device manager and cant find anything virtual that may be a culprit. i dont use vjoy and never have so theres no trace of it on my set up. to be safe i removed any controller i could find in the control panel and that also didnt effect the phantom controller appearing in game.

steam input is off entierly.

as a disclaimer, im not THE most computer savy person so im gonna have a person more educated double check this stuff for me tomorrow to make sure i didnt miss any virtual controllers or test any input stuff wrong. however im fairly confident in most of this info. and want to share the new information we had for you asap.

ill post again tomorrow if we learn anything new when smarter people check me. thank you so much again for trying to help dan. love your game so much! :)

The mayflash reading as Xbox inputs at the top of your message is very suspect. Either Steam Input is still on for Rivals 2, or you have something emulating your controller to xinput. (did you ever install vjoy to use an offiicial adapter in Rivals 1 for example?)

Steam Input can sometimes look like its off, but its still on for certain controller types especially if you are in the steam client beta. The best way to ensure that it’s off is to right click your game and turn it off just for Rivals 2.

Also could you try plugging in a different mouse and see if you still have a phantom controller with that?

Also do you normally try to use your mayflash in PC or Wii/Switch mode?

when my friend helped me take a closer look they were able to find a really well hidden instance of vjoy from an old speedrun i did and helped me remove it. once i did and rebooted everything seems to be working normal now. im so glad to be able to play again! thanks for taking the time to help me troubleshoot this and getting me back into the game. ive picked up the new galvan bundle because its sick and as a thank you for helping resolve this. love the game and keep it up!