UT2004 — game controller and cursor fix ; Steam Input + borderless-window notes

[keigimada]

Sharing two things from getting UT2004 ECE running with a controller on Linux (Bazzite, native x86-64 build, OldUnreal patch 3374), in case it helps others or the devs.

1. Native joystick appears dead on the SDL3 Linux backend (patch 3374)

The new SDL3 [SDLDrv.SDLClient] backend doesn't seem to implement native joystick input:

- Setting UseJoystick=True in ~/.ut2004/System/UT2004.ini (game closed) has no effect — the client rewrites it back to UseJoystick=False at startup. Confirmed the on-disk value is False while the game is running, right after setting it True with the game closed.
- The log never shows a joystick being opened, and no Joy* binds do anything.
- [WinDrv.WindowsClient] UseJoystick is Windows-only and irrelevant here.

Controller was a standard XInput pad, present in evdev and /dev/input/js0, so the pad itself is fine. If this is a known SDL3-backend limitation (or a config I'm missing), I'd love a pointer; otherwise flagging it as a possible gap in the SDL3 joystick path.

Workaround that works: launch via Steam and use Steam Input — right stick → mouse-look, left stick → movement. If the left-stick click (L3) halts movement, set the left stick Behavior to Directional Pad (bound to your movement keys) rather than "Joystick Move".

Controller mapping (Steam Input + User.ini)

This is what I ended up with — it plays well and avoids the L3 problem. Movement is on the arrow keys (left stick as a Directional Pad), so no WASD dependency. Two halves: the Steam Input layout (start from the "Keyboard (WASD) and Mouse" template, then set these), and the matching User.ini binds.

Steam Input layout:
- Left stick -> Directional Pad, bound to arrow keys (move + strafe)
- Left stick click -> None (avoids the L3 movement-halt bug)
- Right stick -> As Mouse (aim)
- Right trigger -> Mouse Left Click (fire)
- Left trigger -> Mouse Right Click (alt-fire)
- A -> Enter (Use)
- B -> Space (Jump)
- X -> Page Up (PrevWeapon)
- Y -> Page Down (NextWeapon)
- LB -> Left Ctrl
- RB -> Left Alt
- Start / Menu -> Tab (chat)
- Back / View -> Escape (menu)



Matching ~/.ut2004/System/User.ini binds (edit with the game closed — User.ini is rewritten on exit):

Up=MoveForward
Down=MoveBackward
Left=StrafeLeft
Right=StrafeRight
Enter=Use
Space=Jump
PageUp=PrevWeapon
PageDown=NextWeapon
Tab=Type
Escape=ShowMenu
Delete=LookUp

The idea is just: pick whatever key each pad button sends in your Steam Input layout, then bind that key to the UT2004 action you want in User.ini. Adjust to taste.

2. Bonus: invisible menu cursor under gamescope / Game Mode → use a borderless window

On a SteamOS-style Game Mode session (gamescope), the Steam-Input emulated mouse cursor vanished in menus and wouldn't come back (it's an upstream gamescope hide-timer issue, ValveSoftware/gamescope#1602 — emulated stick motion doesn't reset the timer).

Fix that worked without touching Steam Input or gamescope flags: run the game as a borderless window at native resolution instead of exclusive fullscreen —

[SDLDrv.SDLClient]
BorderlessWindow=True
StartupFullscreen=False
WindowedViewportX=<native width>
WindowedViewportY=<native height>

Cursor stays visible and aim is unaffected. (Raising gamescope's hide-cursor delay and using an absolute mouse_region pointer did not help; borderless did.)

Setup: native Linux build, patch 3374, 4K@60 display. Happy to provide logs/ini if useful.