HEADS UP ABOUT REMOTE PLAY CLIENT SOUND / BUSY HOST
Hello! Short PSA here. As you might have noticed, Valve is doing some Remote Play tweaking that has caused some widespread issues, both for VR and non-VR local games. If you are getting no sound on the client or are getting the "host busy" message, this should fix it.
As with everything related to Remote Play Together, remember you can check on the official Steam Discussions to see if other users also have similar problems, and of course you can send Valve a support ticket if you have an easy to reproduce bug report. I've been dealing with Remote Play being a pain in the behind for a bunch of years now, so you can also join the Escape from Mandrillia Discord and we might help you troubleshoot.
CLIENT IS GETTING NO SOUND: Fixed by host going into Steam Client Beta (Steam > Settings > Interface > Beta Client Participation). The fact that this is fixed on the beta means that this will be probably fixed for everyone soon on the main branch.
CLIENT IS GETTING "HOST IS BUSY" MESSAGE, CAN'T CONTROL THE GAME: Fixed by making sure Steam Overlay is enabled (Steam > Settings > In Game > Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game).
Finally, this is a long-running one, but I'm throwing this here just in case:
CLIENT WANTS TO USE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE: This one Valve is aware of, and seems to be caused by the fact they might be in the process of unify Big Screen, Steam Deck, and Steam VR dashboard UI. When playing with someone over Remote Play in VR, the host does not get the "assign controller" window, and remote play defaults to controller, so if the client wants to use keyboard they're out of luck. TEMPORARY FIX: activate Big Screen, then go to the "Quick Access Menu" (Ctrl + 2), and the control assign will be present there. I want to think that Valve intends to have the quick access menu be a thing inside the VR dashboard at some point in the future.
That's all for now! As a little sneak peek, here's how the new, chunky Item Spawner looks like in the upcoming Firing Range scene:
As with everything related to Remote Play Together, remember you can check on the official Steam Discussions to see if other users also have similar problems, and of course you can send Valve a support ticket if you have an easy to reproduce bug report. I've been dealing with Remote Play being a pain in the behind for a bunch of years now, so you can also join the Escape from Mandrillia Discord and we might help you troubleshoot.
CLIENT IS GETTING NO SOUND: Fixed by host going into Steam Client Beta (Steam > Settings > Interface > Beta Client Participation). The fact that this is fixed on the beta means that this will be probably fixed for everyone soon on the main branch.
CLIENT IS GETTING "HOST IS BUSY" MESSAGE, CAN'T CONTROL THE GAME: Fixed by making sure Steam Overlay is enabled (Steam > Settings > In Game > Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game).
Finally, this is a long-running one, but I'm throwing this here just in case:
CLIENT WANTS TO USE KEYBOARD AND MOUSE: This one Valve is aware of, and seems to be caused by the fact they might be in the process of unify Big Screen, Steam Deck, and Steam VR dashboard UI. When playing with someone over Remote Play in VR, the host does not get the "assign controller" window, and remote play defaults to controller, so if the client wants to use keyboard they're out of luck. TEMPORARY FIX: activate Big Screen, then go to the "Quick Access Menu" (Ctrl + 2), and the control assign will be present there. I want to think that Valve intends to have the quick access menu be a thing inside the VR dashboard at some point in the future.
That's all for now! As a little sneak peek, here's how the new, chunky Item Spawner looks like in the upcoming Firing Range scene: