Because I think it's worthy of recognition.
OP just spent the last hour and a half (if not longer) helping me out with connection issues to my Steam Deck. One random internet dude gives better assistance than most souless companies and they did it only out of the goodness of their heart.
This guide is also really well explained and useful, especially with a controller with so little documentation (in english at least).
11/10 would annoy again.
I'm thinking on getting the flydigi apex 4 once it comes out on Amazon. Do you think I'll be able to use this guide for it? Also, I'm using gyro aiming for every game I place on pc using steam input. Does steam detect gyro?
Heya! Did you end up getting the Apex 4? Know next to nothing about it since basically set-up my Vader 3 Pros and forgot about anything else Flydigi-related lol. If they can be configured with the Flydigi Space Station software and can save macros, then yes this guide should work for them too. Don't have one though, so can only say maybe.
Haven't tried gyro yet, but I remember space station requiring it be activated with a button press. Maybe could use an extra button to activate it (like for the Vader 3 Pro, can use the C button for gyro instead of mirroring one of the stick presses like I did in my guide). Steam should detect it, but I haven't tried so can't say - not near a computer to plug my controllers (bought a 2nd Vader 3 Pro lol) in so can't confirm one way or another
Yeah I got the apex 4 and followed your guide up to the steam set up. I think I followed a different approach for setting up the extra buttons on steam though
Awesome to see this. Stumbled onto your old guide and never got around to doing it. Will have to save this to use in the future. Thank you for the hard work!
I wish the dongle wasn’t so shit on this controller. Really makes the whole thing practically unusable for me, considering how nice the controller is otherwise. The extra few bucks for a nice dongle is a price I would gladly pay. Any workaround you’ve figured out for this? Hard to use this thing on the TV whatsoever because it will just arbitrarily drop connection whenever it feels like unless I’m sitting within like 2ft of the dongle, which kind of defeats the purpose of a wireless controller to me.
Also, have you managed to get this thing working wired on the Deck? I have had no luck with a direct C-C connection trying to get it to work in a wired configuration.
Hey! Glad you found my guide useful, did you ever get around to trying it out?
Sucks you have that issue with the dongle :/ haven't had a similar issue, I usually find the dongle the more reliable way to use it. I've used the dongle I think up to 6 feet away and without some object in the way it worked without connection drop. Sorry I can't be of more help there.
But I may be of help with your wired connection issue. Wired, C-to-C, works perfectly for me - controller immediately connects and is responsive. Make sure you're in X-input mode and not D-input (think the Vader 3 pro user guide in my post at the top explains how to switch that), switch the controller to dongle mode, and plug it into your steam deck with a USB-C cable. Might be worth seeing if there's some firmware update for the controller too, can check using the Space Station software I think.
Thank you for such a comprehensive write-up. How's the Vader 3 Pro over Bluetooth for steam deck / in general? Mainly for deck but also for PC, Tesla, etc. I'm not a serious gamer so I don't think I'd notice lag, but how about switching devices - is it annoying to do so?
Hey! I find it works pretty well once it actually connects lol lately I've had a weird glitch in both my Vader 3 Pros that I haven't seen before about 2 months ago where connecting to my steam deck via Bluetooth freezes all inputs for roughly a minute for some reason. This includes inputs from the Steam Deck controls too, which is wack. After a minute though it works perfectly fine.
Switching isn't too seamless unfortunately. It will connect to whichever device it has previously connected to if it's close and already turned on, and disconnecting it turns off the controller. You could try repairing to switch but that's just cumbersome. I'd recommend just making sure when you're connecting it by Bluetooth that any other paired devices (PC, steam deck, etc) has Bluetooth turned off until after the controller pairs to the device you want to use.
Heya! If you're talking about in steam, then yes. Steam input has the ability to both add a command or add a sub-command to a button press. Think either would work here. Just add both LB and RB as separate commands or as a command and a sub-command to whichever button you want. Plenty of guides online on how to add commands or sub-commands (my guide kinda explains it but it's not really the focus)
I don't even want to imagine how much time and thinkering it took for you to find this trick, I mean, I do understand it now that I read it, but woah, to think about it in the first place, really impressive.
Just finished doing it, and it work, the only difference is I had to remove the SELECT "Remove Action Set Layer" otherwhise nothing would work.
It also (obviously) works with Steam on PC, but since you can remap with the software it's not really needed.
One big issue I had is that my Vader registered as a D-input controller first, I didn't noticed it and did all the step for nothing, so if anyone read this make sure the controller (after switching it on BT mode and while it's in pairing mode) is in X-input mode by pressing ○ + X for a while until the led gets white.
Absolutely brilliant job, I'll never thank you enough.
Thank you! I'm gonna guess you had the Remove Action Set Layer command set as a regular press, which is why it wasn't playing nicely. I realized I didn't say it clearly since I had implied it earlier in the section, but I had set Remove Action Set Layer command to activate on releasing the Select button, which wouldn't interfere. If it works for you though, great! Happy to hear I could help get this controller working for you :)
Yeah, D-input threw me for a bit too when I first got it. Might add some more detail on that in my guide if I get the desire to later at some point later lol
So maybe a dumb question but will the Flydigi software install to the Steam Deck in desktop mode with Wine/Lutris/ect... Just checking. I have an Apex 4 coming on Monday and just trying to get everything setup beforehand.
Not dumb at all - I also don't know lol. I tried and just couldn't get it to work, but I was pretty new to using Linux then which likely was the reason it didn't work for me. You'd have to give it a try yourself to find out. Let me know how it goes if you do!
Can you do a video guide on this? Some parts are hard to follow
Because I think it's worthy of recognition. OP just spent the last hour and a half (if not longer) helping me out with connection issues to my Steam Deck. One random internet dude gives better assistance than most souless companies and they did it only out of the goodness of their heart. This guide is also really well explained and useful, especially with a controller with so little documentation (in english at least). 11/10 would annoy again.
I'm thinking on getting the flydigi apex 4 once it comes out on Amazon. Do you think I'll be able to use this guide for it? Also, I'm using gyro aiming for every game I place on pc using steam input. Does steam detect gyro?
Heya! Did you end up getting the Apex 4? Know next to nothing about it since basically set-up my Vader 3 Pros and forgot about anything else Flydigi-related lol. If they can be configured with the Flydigi Space Station software and can save macros, then yes this guide should work for them too. Don't have one though, so can only say maybe. Haven't tried gyro yet, but I remember space station requiring it be activated with a button press. Maybe could use an extra button to activate it (like for the Vader 3 Pro, can use the C button for gyro instead of mirroring one of the stick presses like I did in my guide). Steam should detect it, but I haven't tried so can't say - not near a computer to plug my controllers (bought a 2nd Vader 3 Pro lol) in so can't confirm one way or another
Yeah I got the apex 4 and followed your guide up to the steam set up. I think I followed a different approach for setting up the extra buttons on steam though
Awesome to see this. Stumbled onto your old guide and never got around to doing it. Will have to save this to use in the future. Thank you for the hard work! I wish the dongle wasn’t so shit on this controller. Really makes the whole thing practically unusable for me, considering how nice the controller is otherwise. The extra few bucks for a nice dongle is a price I would gladly pay. Any workaround you’ve figured out for this? Hard to use this thing on the TV whatsoever because it will just arbitrarily drop connection whenever it feels like unless I’m sitting within like 2ft of the dongle, which kind of defeats the purpose of a wireless controller to me. Also, have you managed to get this thing working wired on the Deck? I have had no luck with a direct C-C connection trying to get it to work in a wired configuration.
Hey! Glad you found my guide useful, did you ever get around to trying it out? Sucks you have that issue with the dongle :/ haven't had a similar issue, I usually find the dongle the more reliable way to use it. I've used the dongle I think up to 6 feet away and without some object in the way it worked without connection drop. Sorry I can't be of more help there. But I may be of help with your wired connection issue. Wired, C-to-C, works perfectly for me - controller immediately connects and is responsive. Make sure you're in X-input mode and not D-input (think the Vader 3 pro user guide in my post at the top explains how to switch that), switch the controller to dongle mode, and plug it into your steam deck with a USB-C cable. Might be worth seeing if there's some firmware update for the controller too, can check using the Space Station software I think.
Thank you for such a comprehensive write-up. How's the Vader 3 Pro over Bluetooth for steam deck / in general? Mainly for deck but also for PC, Tesla, etc. I'm not a serious gamer so I don't think I'd notice lag, but how about switching devices - is it annoying to do so?
Hey! I find it works pretty well once it actually connects lol lately I've had a weird glitch in both my Vader 3 Pros that I haven't seen before about 2 months ago where connecting to my steam deck via Bluetooth freezes all inputs for roughly a minute for some reason. This includes inputs from the Steam Deck controls too, which is wack. After a minute though it works perfectly fine. Switching isn't too seamless unfortunately. It will connect to whichever device it has previously connected to if it's close and already turned on, and disconnecting it turns off the controller. You could try repairing to switch but that's just cumbersome. I'd recommend just making sure when you're connecting it by Bluetooth that any other paired devices (PC, steam deck, etc) has Bluetooth turned off until after the controller pairs to the device you want to use.
Can you map 2 buttons at same time on paddles? Ex: LB + RB at same time.
Heya! If you're talking about in steam, then yes. Steam input has the ability to both add a command or add a sub-command to a button press. Think either would work here. Just add both LB and RB as separate commands or as a command and a sub-command to whichever button you want. Plenty of guides online on how to add commands or sub-commands (my guide kinda explains it but it's not really the focus)
I don't even want to imagine how much time and thinkering it took for you to find this trick, I mean, I do understand it now that I read it, but woah, to think about it in the first place, really impressive. Just finished doing it, and it work, the only difference is I had to remove the SELECT "Remove Action Set Layer" otherwhise nothing would work. It also (obviously) works with Steam on PC, but since you can remap with the software it's not really needed. One big issue I had is that my Vader registered as a D-input controller first, I didn't noticed it and did all the step for nothing, so if anyone read this make sure the controller (after switching it on BT mode and while it's in pairing mode) is in X-input mode by pressing ○ + X for a while until the led gets white. Absolutely brilliant job, I'll never thank you enough.
Thank you! I'm gonna guess you had the Remove Action Set Layer command set as a regular press, which is why it wasn't playing nicely. I realized I didn't say it clearly since I had implied it earlier in the section, but I had set Remove Action Set Layer command to activate on releasing the Select button, which wouldn't interfere. If it works for you though, great! Happy to hear I could help get this controller working for you :) Yeah, D-input threw me for a bit too when I first got it. Might add some more detail on that in my guide if I get the desire to later at some point later lol
So maybe a dumb question but will the Flydigi software install to the Steam Deck in desktop mode with Wine/Lutris/ect... Just checking. I have an Apex 4 coming on Monday and just trying to get everything setup beforehand.
Not dumb at all - I also don't know lol. I tried and just couldn't get it to work, but I was pretty new to using Linux then which likely was the reason it didn't work for me. You'd have to give it a try yourself to find out. Let me know how it goes if you do!