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About this mod
My Steam Controller Profile, to be used alongside various mods on the Nexus, to make playing Oblivion with a controller (almost) perfect with referenced QoL mods support built in. Designed for Xbox controller(s).
- Requirements
- Permissions and credits
I decided to make a custom profile using Steam Input (the best thing Valve have ever introduced to Steam IMO). I made the basic controller profile to almost match the original XBOX 360 controller (made a few personal/modern changes e.g. the B button crouches rather than opening the Inventory) layout thinking it would work flawlessly.
Oh how wrong I was.By Default the games Keyboard controls are a mess for navigation. Arrow keys have to be used to move selections in menus rather than WASD, pressing the Up arrow in dialogues doesn't move the selection up but rather closes the dialogue interaction so you have to use the mouse (or Joystick Mouse in this case) to select dialogue options, pressing up/down keys on menu prompts (e.g. choice between Yes or No) doesn't highlight the relevant option for you to then manually select it but rather just activates that choice. Sounds good in theory but in practice its jarring. Pressing Left/Right arrow keys doesn't change the categories in the Inventory but does in all other menus (Character, Spells and Quests). There were many other very weird default keyboard controls that made creating a Controller Profile difficult as everything just felt nonsensical and borderline unusable.
Luckily for Oblivion (and us controller users) the Nexus has some amazing modders that have released mods to make menu navigation smooth and work like it logically should.
With all of the below mods installed I made this Controller Profile to make playing Oblivion with a controller (almost) perfect.
However,
I also wanted to use Loot Menu and, a few other QoL mods, so I further tweaked the profile to make controlling them with a controller possible using Button Chords, without that feature in Steam Input it would have been far more convoluted to make using some mods possible or even possible at all.
The Auto-Move key (Q) has to be rebound in game, otherwise it will overlap with the Spell Favourites Menu that comes with Extended UI mod. If it isn't rebound your character will automatically move forward while the Spell Favourites Menu will also open. No other vanilla keys or mod specific keys have to be changed.
Requirements
These mods are required for this controller profile to work as it is intended:- UICO - UI Controls for Oblivion - Controller Compatible - Fixed Menu navigation so it works like it logically should (Hurrah!).
- Oblivion Script Extender - Required for many mods below.
- Use WASD in Menus (OBSE) - Pretty self explanatory, also makes the Space or E key select options in menus and allow continuous scrolling in menus with WASD keys.
- MenuQue (OBSE) - Required for the below mod(s) and seems to add some other UI fixes/changes.
- Link++ - Allows you to change settings of supported mods in game, Extended UI and some QoL mods are supported. If you have the original version of LINK that also works fine, I used that first before changing to Link++ as it's more up to date.
- Extended UI - Primarily used for its Keyboard Menu Shortcuts. Disable 'WASD Navigation' for this mod in game (using Link++) as it is Enabled by default. It if is enabled you will get overlapping menu navigation controls (pressing WASD once to navigate menus will register as 2 presses of the button rather than one) as it will overlap with Use WASD in Menus (OBSE). I did try to use this mods WASD Navigation controls on it's own but it didn't work for me personally hence the need for Use WASD in Menus as well.
QoL Mods
These are mods I also use in my game which this controller profile has support for but are not required:
- DarNified UI & UHD Fonts for DarNified UI - Gives Oblivion a much more PC friendly UI along with customisation options in-game.
- Loot Menu - Brings a Fallout 4 style real time loot menu to the game.
- SupreMe Overhaul - Adds the ability to Sprint into the game and optional changes to encumbrance and many other things.
- Drop Lit Torches OBSE - Allows you to equip/unequip a Torch with a Hotkey.
- Bookworm - Mark books/scrolls as 'Read' and a few other QoL changes related to them.
- Simple Keyring - Adds a Keyring to your inventory, stashing keys onto it for a less clutter.
- Av Latta Magicka - Overhaul and expansion of the games magic. Adds Night Eye toggle.
So what are the controls?
Glad you asked. Here are the basic in game controls and the mod that allow those function to be possible:
A Button
- Activate objects/Pick up items etc, select menu options (Use WASD in Menus)
B Button
- Toggle Crouch
- (Long Press) Open Inventory/close menus and back out of dialogue (Extended UI)
X Button
- Draw/Sheathe weapon
- (Long Press) Equip/Unequip Torch (Drop Lit Torches OBSE)
Y Button
- Jump
- Open locked doors/chests with key on your keyring. (Simple Keyring)
- Select Take, Next, Previous and Close when reading books. (Pressing E to select these must be a vanilla function?)
Left Bumper
- Sprint - You must already be moving forward to be able to Sprint (SupreMe Overhaul)
- (Double Press) Grab function, when Left Bumper is released the item will drop (Double Press used as it could potentially overlap with Button Chord functions).
Right Bumper
- Cast Magic
View Button
- Inventory Menu
- (Double Press) Spell Menu
- (Long Press) Quests/Map Menu
Menu Button
- Pause
DPad Up
- Hotkey 1
- (Double Press) Hotkey 5
DPad Right
- Hotkey 2
- (Double Press) Hotkey 6
DPad Down
- Hotkey 3
- (Double Press) Hotkey 7
DPad Left
- Hotkey 4
- (Double Press) Hotkey 8
Right Trigger
- Attack with weapon
Left Trigger
- Block, Mark books/scrolls as 'Read' (Bookworm)
Left Joystick
- Move character forward, back, left and right, navigate menus (WASD in Menu Controls)
- (Click In) Toggle walk/run
- (Click In & Hold) Wait
Right Joystick
- Move camera around as expected and move mouse cursor in menus.
- (Click In) Change between 1st and 3rd person camera.
- (Click In) Take All in Container Menus (Extended UI)
- (Click In & Hold) Toggle Nighteye spell on/off. Spell must be cast first. (Av Latta Magicka)
What about these 'Button Chord' controls and what are they?
This allows all buttons on a controller to have an added function assigned to it when another button is held. For example, on its own the A Button takes one item in a stack but when the Left Bumper is held, and the button is pressed, it will instead take all items in a stack in container menus. Cool huh?
All of these functions have the Left Bumper assigned as their 'Chord' so it has to be held and then the below button pressed to do the desired function. These are the Chord functions for each of the controller buttons and the mod that allow that function to be possible:
A Button
- Transfer all items in a stack. Can be used in Container Menus when looting/storing, and when buying/selling. (WASD in Menus & Extended UI)
B Button
- Alternate between Inventory and container when looting/storing using the container menu. Alternate between your inventory and a merchants inventory. (Extended UI)
X Button
- Drop an item from inventory. With this simulating a vanilla game function the mouse cursor MUST be hovering over the item you want to drop.
Y Button
- Transfer one item from a stack. Can be used in Container Menus when looting/storing, and when buying/selling. (WASD in Menus & Extended UI)
Right Bumper
- Toggles Spell Favourites menu (Extended UI)
Menu Button
- Open Character Menu.
DPad Up
- Move selection up in Loot Menu mod and Spell Favourites Menu. Turn to the previous page while reading books.
DPad Right
- Scroll down through menus quickly, same applies when reading scrolls.
DPad Down
- Move selection down in Loot Menu mod and Spell Favourites Menu. Turn to the next page while reading books.
DPad Left
- Scroll up through menus quickly, same applies when reading scrolls.
Right Trigger
- Alternate between Inventory and container in container menus, change between your inventory and merchants inventory and change between Character Menu, Inventory, Spells and Quests/Maps.
Left Trigger
- Same as above.
Left Joystick
- (Click In) Quick save
Right Joystick
- (Click In) Quick load
How do I download this Controller Profile?
The easiest way to download it would be through Steam Input Community Layouts or download the file from this mod page and paste the link into your web browser.
Steam Input Community Layouts:
- Connect your controller to your PC (otherwise you wont be able to open Steam Input)
- Click on Oblivion in your Steam Library and then click 'Controller Layout' to open Steam Input window
- Click the top box which will probably say 'Keyboard (WASD) and Mouse'
- Click 'Community Layouts' at the top and it should be down in that list as 'Oblivion Modern Controller Overhaul'
- Click on the config to show an overview of the layout, click 'Apply Layout'
- Of course you can then customise it to your liking. See here for Steams own documentation on how to use Steam Input.
Other Things to Note
Again, likely due to the vanilla games awful/lacking default keyboard controls in menus, not everything is perfect. Below are a few examples I've noticed so far:
- The Persuasion Minigame in dialogues has hybrid like controls. To select Joke, Coerse, Admire and Boast you have to use the Right Stick & Right Trigger to select. Moving the Left Joystick Up will bribe the NPC, moving it Left will start the Persuasion Minigame, moving it Down will back out of the Persuasion menu and moving it Right will spin the wheel (when unlocked via Speechcraft).
- To scroll the Local/World map you have to move the Right Stick with the Right Trigger held down (this is probably obvious to everyone but worth mentioning).
- If you use Oblivion XP Update then again, the menu has to be navigated with the Right Joystick and Right Trigger to select.
- There might be other menus that have to be navigated with the Right Stick and Right Trigger but I haven't gotten around to testing them in game yet (i.e Enchanting/Recharge Menus).
FAQ's
Q. How can I change the sensitivity of the Right Joystick?
A. Simply open Controller Layout in Steam and edit 'Right Joystick sensitivity' to your liking. This setting applies to both looking around in game and mouse cursor in menus. Due to it simulating a mouse you might find its perfect in menus but too fast/slow in game (or vies versa). It's just a matter of tweaking and testing to find the sweet spot. I play at 4K resolution and 80% sensitivity is about right.
Q. Why do I have to hold down 'B' to open the inventory/close menus and why does the 'View' button have 3 functions assigned to it?
A. All due to personal preference. Pressing 'B' to crouch just feels better to me, as I sneak quite a lot in Bethesda games, it felt better to assign Crouch to a button which is in immediate reach and reacts immediately. IMO Steams default time to detect a Long Press is fine, it's not as if you have to hold the button down for 3 seconds to close menus. The 'View' key has three functions so that controller players can access the relevant player menu they want to immediately.
Q. Why do Hotkeys 5,6,7 & 8 have to be Double Tapped to activate?
A. In the game when assigning items/spells to hotkeys the relevant button has to be held down to open the hotkey menu for you to then assign it. This meant that when assigning something to Hotkey 1 (single press) the hotkey menu would open and Steam Input would trigger hotkey 5 (long press) instead, same thing applies to hotkeys 2,3, and 4.
Q. Alright, why not just make a Virtual Menu instead?
A. I did have the idea to do that. I've used it for other games I've made personal profiles for (Thief 1 & 2) but I just didn't want a Steam Overlay menu popping up in this game for immersions sake.
Q. Why use Button Chords over a dedicated 'Action Set' for menus?
A. Similar to above, I have used it myself in older games and it's a great feature but overall Button Chords feel much more responsive. I have had issues with Actions Sets getting 'stuck' and not reverting to default controls or sometimes having a delay in the action set activating/deactivating. Action Sets absolutely have their place for certain games but Button Chords work best for Oblivion IMO. I absolutely would have used a 'Global Action Set' to automatically switch between gameplay controls and 'Menu' controls when the mouse cursor is on screen; however Oblivion uses a Software based mouse cursor and Steam Input can only detect Hardware based cursors so it won't work (I did test it anyway but no luck sadly).
Q. How can I change the 'Chord' button to something else?
A. You can change this in Steam Input:
1. Open Controller Layout with the profile assigned and click 'Edit Layout'
2. You will see that under each category pretty much all buttons have a Command that says 'Button Chord' next to it. To change the chord button click on the gear icon on the right and then click Settings.
3. At the top will be a 'Chord Button' box. Click in there and then select which ever game pad button you want to assign instead.
This will have to be done individually for each Command you want to change the button 'Chord' for. NOTE: some Commands with Button Chord also have a 'Sub Command' assigned to them (this simulates pressing 2 keyboard keys at the same time). As the Sub Command is linked to the primary Command only the top one needs editing in the Settings to change its Button Chord. E.g to change the Take All Stack function Button Chord only the setting for 'Command 2 Button Chord Shift Key' needs to be changed.
Q. I'm having trouble installing the Required Mods/QoL Mods (or they don't work), can you help me?
A. I can try. I personally use Vortex for all my modding. I just downloaded them all, Installed/Enabled them and in the words of Todd Howard "It just works" (or 'worked' in this case?) If you use MO2/Wyre Bash or something else then I'd recommend looking through the relevant mods 'Posts' section for other people who might have answers for you, they will be much more help than I will with those mod managers.
Q. NorthernUI has controller support, why didn’t you just use that?
A. I did try NorthernUI but I didn't like it for various reasons. DarNified UI is perfect for me hence the need to create a controller profile.
Q. Will you make another Profile with Virtual Menus/Actions sets?
A. Maybe. I think this profile works well enough as is but I do love making Controller Profiles for old games to be used with controllers using Steam Input. If people ask for it then I'll probably look into making one for the fun of it.
If, after using this Controller Profile, you quite like it then please ENDORSE THE MODS referenced in this page. This Controller Profile would not have been possible or as capable as it is without all these mods.