[2018] Controller Limitation is Inexcusable

I have to point that for a game that puts a lot of focus on local multiplayer, it sure is disappointing that you can't more than 4 players local while using Steam Link (and/or Steam Controllers). Kills this as a possibility for a party game for me. Not sure if it's a limitation of Unity, but even if so, then apparently they chose the wrong engine to build this game on :(

I'm sorry, but I am also just as frustrated about it as you are. That is actually a limitation of the steam link itself. It requires xinput to be enabled and as far as I know also requires xinput-based controllers. 4 players is a limitation of xinput itself. I hate to tell you to hook your PC up to your TV to play more than 4 players but unfortunately that's the only way around it. Steam controllers also require xinput to work so you are locked into 4 of those max, steam link or not. However, you'd be able to use direct input controllers (e.g. PS4 controllers) in addition to the steam controllers if not on the steam link. Do you have any other games that support more than 4 players on the steam link? I'm willing to talk to the devs of those games if they know something I don't.

Of course! And thank you for providing me with some examples! I did some more digging myself and I may have a solution. We are using Rewired for our controller-handling library (it's amazing) and I just found this in their documentation:

"Windows requires that you enable XInput or use Direct Input as the primary input source in order to support the Steam Controller, Steam Streaming, and Steam Link. The recommended primary input source setting is Raw Input + Use XInput."

It appears Steam Controller and Steam Link could also work if I set Direct Input as the primary input source instead of using XInput. I have a hunch that this may allow for more than 4 players on the Steam Link. I ordered a Steam Link so I can test it myself before making the change officially. I'll follow up and let you know what I find!

A follow-up on this -- my Steam Link arrived and I tried out using Direct Input as the primary input source instead of using XInput, and unfortunately the controllers don't work at all on the Steam Link when I do that. I'm going to reach out to the devs you mentioned and see if any of them can point me in the right direction. In the meantime, some of the forums I looked at talked about using VirtualHere as a workaround -- not sure if that's something you tried yet or not.

Alright I have a tweet out to Chainsawesome (Knight Squad devs) to see what they did. Thanks again for the info!