Short(-ish) summary of the things that you need to have and steps that you need to perform in order for the Shared Screen Coop to work for the Steam version of The Ascent
Intro
Despite the unintuitive UI, The Ascent still can be enjoyed in Couch Coop via Steam, and even in Remote Play Together, which allows you to buy 1 copy of the game and play with up to 3 friends.
It took some time to investigate how this features work exactly, but here some tips for you so you won’t have to waste any more time and play the game:
Shared Screen Co-op on the same PC
You can play in Shared Screen coop on the same PC, but only if you have 2 joysticks. Setup with 1 keyboard/mouse and 1 joystick unfortunately isn’t working, because game treats both this inputs as one.
Thinks that you need:
- 1 Beefy PC to run the Ascent
- 1 The Ascent game in your Steam Library
- 2 Joysticks (for 2 players coop)
Steps:
1) Connect Joysticks to your PC. It can be even different joysticks. I’ve tested with on DualSense and one XBOX 360, with both of them being connected wirelessly.
2) Launch the Game.
3) Select Local Coop mode (Couch Coop) from the Main Menu Screen.
4) Load existing save/character or start new, this one is up to you.
5) As first player, navigate the screen with your joystick, so that Press ‘A’ to join button is highlighted
6) As second player, press ‘A’ (XBOX) or ‘X’ (PS) on your joystick. After that the character selection screen is opened. You can select any existing save data, or create new (in this case your character will copy its look from the host’s character)
7) As first player, Start the game session.
Remote Play Together
The two downsides for this feature are
- Players who joining you (guests), can only play with Joysticks
- You, as a host, should also have your joystick connected.
If not, the second player won’t be able to open Character Selection screen, because, as you remember, the game treats friend’s joustick and your keyboard/mouse as one input. That’s why each player need their own joystick.
Things that you need:
- 1 Beefy PC to run the Ascent and good internet connection
- 1 The Ascent game in your Steam Library
- 1 Joystick for each player in the session (min – 2, max – 4)
- 1 Steam account for each player in the session (Accounts should be friends with Host)
- Good internet connection for each party member
Steps:
1) Each player should connect their joysticks to their PC, including Host
2) As Host, launch the Game.
3) As Host, select Local Coop mode (Couch Coop) from the Main Menu Screen.
4) As Host, load existing save/character or start new, this one is up to you.
5) As Host, open Steam Overlay and invite the friend via Remote Play Together.
6) As Host, close Steam Overlay. Whenever Steam Overlay is opened for the Host, guests can not access the game stream. Also, only the game is visible to the guests, so Host should not worry regarding any other data from other apps.
7) As Guest, accept invite.
8) As Host, navigate the screen with your joystick, so that Press ‘A’ to join button is highlighted
6) As Guest, press ‘A’ (XBOX) or ‘X’ (PS) on your joystick. After that the character selection screen is opened. You can select any existing save data, or create new (in this case your character will copy its look from the host’s character)
7) As Host, Start the game session
