I have a problem with macros on my controllers.

[GoatHerder500]

I wonder if there is a way to create a button macro for a second controller because whenever I use separate profiles the macro triggers buttons on both profiles. I will post a screenshot of what happens. Is there any way to allow controller 2 to create a macro?

This is what I want to be able to do on both profiles.

I set up that same macro on both profiles and when the button is pressed it gets duplicated on the other controller.
This has worked perfectly when using just a single controller.
Here is my log (I haven't had any issues connecting).

macro_issue.txt

Here are my two profiles (They are essentially the same except for the title).
Also, I converted them to .txt so I could post them here.

3xP 3xK.txt
3xP 3xK #2.txt

Both controllers are PS4.

[Yohoki]

The macro feature's a pretty old feature made during the early days when Jays2Kings was the maintainer. It's REALLY buggy. Having a macro applied to 2 controllers at once causes issues. This is a known issue that I've brought up before. You cannot have the same macro on two controllers, as pressing it on either controller will cause a loop.

Unfortunately, I don't think this is getting fixed anytime soon. Ryochan has mentioned that it's not coded well, and needs reworked badly to make any new tweaks to it, without breaking things. He's also mentioned that several large communities ban or shun the use of DS4Windows, simply because the macro feature is seen as a potential cheating device. I have a feeling that Ryochan would rather erase the macro system entirely than try to fix the code in it.

[GoatHerder500]

I appreciate your reply. It gives me a better understanding of the situation. I only wish I knew enough to work on it myself. It's sad to know that we might be limited by cheaters because I was only looking for a solution to do button combinations for old fighting games which are somewhat impractical on a game pad. Luckily, MAME allows you to do this. Do you have any idea of a fork that supports macros better or what part of the code causes this issue?

[Yohoki]

I would recommend AutoHotKey. It's perfect for doing scripts or macros. I use it in combination with DS4W for games like Valheim, where you have to use the keyboard numbers to select your items.

I don't think AHK can send controller inputs, though. So you may have AHK detect the controller inputs, but send Keystroke to MAME.

[GoatHerder500]

Actually, MAME allows me to do exactly what I need. It's things like MUGEN, or the PS2 emulator that I have trouble with. Even Dolphin allows you to do things like: button a = button a OR button b OR button c; which, in games like Soulcalibur, allows you to do extra moves with one button press (it's tricky to explain in a short comment).

I'm curious do you use a controller with some keys set to it so you can swap quickly; like RB to 9 or RT to 5?

[Yohoki]

I don't normally have macros set up for games. The only one I Really needed it for was Valhiem, because the hotbar only switches with number keys, and has no scrolling feature.... You HAVE to press 1 for the first hotbar slot.

So for this game, looking at my profile and script... It looks like I bound DS4 to keyboard+mouse only, because the game doesn't use controllers. And I've set the dpad Left/Right to +/- keys, that the game doesn't use. The AHK script has a number and it listens for the + or - key to be pressed, and presses the next/previous number, and remembers where it is in my hotbar.

I don't normally have complicated things like that set up, though. The one macro I do consistently use is my share button is normally mapped to alt+esc (similar to alt+tab, but better). But, I noticed very quickly that if I tried to tab out in multiplayer games, the macro would rapid-fire. So I have to have a profile with my macro for player 1 and a profile without for player 2+, to avoid this rapid-fire macro issue.

[GoatHerder500]

Very cool. I was going to mention antimicro but I think AHK was probably the better option for that.