[HL25] Steam Deck | Linux - Can't change controller template from official

[CEOofUnhandledExceptions]

For some reason and for the last few months any time I attempt to use my own template, the game will forcefully reset my template back to the official one, rejecting all other templates as "incompatible" under [My Layouts]

This problem is exclusive to Half-Life, no other GoldSrc title in my library yet experiences this. Another user on HL's Steam discussions mentioned they were experiencing the issue as well.

[kisak-valve]

Hello @CEOofUnhandledExceptions, managing controller layouts is handled by the Steam client instead of the game itself, so I've transferred this to the steam-for-linux issue tracker.

[ghost]

Update: after the latest update today, the issue still persists. Regardless of whatever is at fault, the problem continues effect Half-Life - and after testing just now, Half-Life 2 as well.

[ghost]

Found the fix!

Under ../steamapps/common/Half-Life/valve/controller_configs/

deck_controller_config_gyro.vdf deck_controller_config_standard.vdf hl1_manifest.vdf

Are forcefully overriding any unofficial layout applied to the game, including minor modifications to the official layouts.

The fix is simple; gut them.

;^)

[ghost]

This issue is still ongoing, for both HL and HL2. Steam occasionally overwrites the blanked-out controller .vdfs with the misconfigured defaults that do not allow for use of any other alternate Steam Input template or even minor modifications to the existing ones, so the aforementioned ""fix"" is only applicable until Steam decides to refresh those files. Will this ever be addressed, or am I just expected to use some alternative method to permanently force prevent Steam from periodically overwriting those specific files myself?