Borderlands 2 PC (Steam) split-screen / dual-monitor guide

[botman]

Originally Posted by jaredhite1

What gives there? Is there any way to change this behavior?

Any game that utilizes SteamWorks (the API that Steam uses for services like matchmaking, voice communication, etc.) will have this issue. The guys at Steam said it's because the Steam client wouldn't know which instance of the game to send responses back to when the game makes an API request (many requests are queued and handled asynchronously). Since the Steam client can't keep track of which instance sent a request, Steam only allows 1 application (using SteamWorks) to run at a time.

BL1 didn't use SteamWorks (it only added cloud save later which doesn't require the SteamWorks API) so that's why you could run multiple instances of BL1.

---------- Post added at 08:07 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:06 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Addsy

is there any way to force the HUD/UI to be bigger?

No, the HUD/UI is scaled to your window size. If you want a bigger HUD/UI you'll need to use a larger window size (like running on a second monitor).

---------- Post added at 08:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:07 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Pathologic

This is very annoying, and not easy to avoid. I signed up here hoping someone could tell me a workaround.

Using 2 Xbox360 controllers is the best way to play 2 instances on the PC.

[LapinD]

Hey there, thank you for in advance for your responses, also, excuse my poor english as it is not my native language : )
I've tried to follow your steps but i'm kind of a newbie and i don't understand how to make bat files and how to run them ? Also i've followed your steps with sandboxie, but when i try to launch borderlands for the second time, steam launch successfully, but then i've got the message that there is an error "The game is currently unaivalaible (Unknown error)"..
I don't know what to do ! And is it possible to run the game with one keyboard + mouse and one controler ?
Thank you all : )

[Sycdan]

For the batch files:

• Open Notepad (Windows Key + R -> "Notepad" -> Enter)
• Copy/paste the line from my guide into Notepad and adjust as needed
• Go to File -> Save As, select "All Files (*.*)" from the "Save as type" box, enter the filename you want with .bat at the end and press Save

Regarding the Unknown error:
Have you tried loading the Sandboxie one first?
Did you add the Steam folder to the Direct Access section of Sandboxie?
Also, you could try putting /elevate before /box:Steam2 in the line that starts Sandboxie, to force it to run in administrator mode.

It is possible to run with keyboard/mouse and 1 controller, but that works best if you have 2 screens and can run both games in WindowedFullscreen mode.

[Dark_Novak]

Alright. I have both the batch files, but when I try to run them both (Is that what I do? Double click them both to run them?) Sandboxie says that free version only allows one Sandboxie program at a time. Have I done anything wrong?

[SneakyNoodle]

Originally Posted by Pathologic

Hi. I got both players working nicely on my single 1280x1024 monitor.

There's just one problem with it. Since we can't use windowed fullscreen mode for the Mouse + Keyboard player due to the offset problem, that means we have to use windowed.

The problem with that is, aiming up fast enough with the mouse can drag the Windows cursor over the top of the window, and the window can be accidentally maximized or dragged.

This is very annoying, and not easy to avoid. I signed up here hoping someone could tell me a workaround.

Hey, I had this very same problem, both players on one screen, one player using a controller and another using mouse/keyboard. I would always end up moving my window when looking up and it was so annoying.

Download the program called Cursor Lock. It allows you to set an executable to lock, pick the borderlands 2 exe, then go into user mode, set the lock to window interior, and finally set the poll rate to anywhere under 50ms. Here's the download: http://download.cnet.com/Cursor-Lock...-10767852.html

Hope this helps!

[korzal]

Originally Posted by ~Exlair

Maybe I'm completely missing something here, but how exactly do I get the .bats to run properly without encountering the Steam error of;

"Steam.exe (main exception): Cannot open blob archive file: CMultiFieldBlob(mem-mapped file): Failed to open existing file, Win32 Error 32 "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

Certainly related to running different processes of the game, but I think I've done everything detailed here.

Any help would be appreciated.

Would just like to chime in that I am getting this error too.


edit: for anyone having bad luck with this method, I ended up copying my steam folder and the borderlands install to a new folder, installed a no-steam crack, and used the tool found in this thread http://forums.gearboxsoftware.com/sh...d.php?t=156994
sucks to have to resort to a crack, but at least I have my regular game separate so I can play online with friends and then played the "cracked" version locally with my gf

[Dark_Novak]

Only one player has saved, the other one the blue icon stays up and we can't travel because of it. Was this already asked/what is the solution?

[Addsy]

Botman, is there a way to change player 2's username in the game? Tr one that appears on the main menu and above the players head. At the minute my name appears on the girlfriends screen.
Managed to get a second monitor by the way and its working perfectly thanks for the advice on that

[icarussc]

This is great -- I'll try it tomorrow -- but it's hardly what I'd call a simple solution. Any chance of something more user-friendly coming, botman? I remember you saying you were working on a hack a couple weeks ago.

[Addsy]

Originally Posted by Dark_Novak

Only one player has saved, the other one the blue icon stays up and we can't travel because of it. Was this already asked/what is the solution?

Make sure that the player 2 shortcut or bat has -SaveDataId=2 at the end of the target line