ReStory Steam Deck guide: controls, rotation, and gamepad fixes

Slow controller cursor: try the trackpad as a mouse

A September 3 Steam Deck player reported painfully slow movement even with Steam controller sensitivity at maximum. A reply says assigning the trackpad as a mouse restored normal pointer speed. Another player used the touchscreen for dragging parts to the cleaner or shredder.

These are community workarounds. A PS5-controller user in the same thread reported jumping, drift and missed input after trying mouse-style controls. Save your current layout, change one binding at a time, and test cursor movement before changing the rest.

Scroll palettes without changing the paint order

In a Steam Deck discussion, players report holding STEAM while using the trackpad for mouse input. Another reports mapping R3 and R4 to mouse-wheel directions to scroll the palette list. If your selector is the only thing stuck, test scrolling before buying another palette.

The thread also asks for the hint-button binding, but the checked replies do not establish an answer. We do not have a verified universal hint key to add here.

Start with the current game, not the old workaround

The first Steam Deck report came from the playtest. The player could move the cursor, click, and cancel, but could not find the right-click action needed to rotate a part. A community reply supplied a Steam Input workaround. That thread is still useful, but it predates the release build and every August patch.

Patch 1.0.013r changes the order of operations. Update ReStory, launch it once with the current controller prompts, and test the native layout before replacing it. The official note adds gamepad tooltips, fixes the dialogue selector, and makes the firmware mechanic work on gamepad. None of those lines names Steam Deck, but all three remove reasons a controller player might have needed a mouse.

Test the controls that can block a repair

A layout can feel fine in the shop and still fail at the bench. Walking, clicking, and opening the computer do not prove that teardown is complete. ReStory also needs a right-click-style hold for rotating parts, reliable dialogue navigation, and access to software tasks such as firmware updates.

Use a disposable repair or a separate save for the test. Pick up a part, rotate it through a full turn, clean more than one face, and back out of the view. Open a dialogue with multiple choices and move the selection in both directions. If you have a firmware order, confirm that the computer action can be completed without touching the trackpad or a mouse.

1. Install pending ReStory updates and restart the game.
2. Test object rotation, cleaning, and ordinary left-click interactions.
3. Test a dialogue with more than one selectable response.
4. Test the shop computer and a firmware action if one is available.
5. Change Steam Input only when one of those actions is still missing.

Use a mouse-style Steam Input layout as the fallback

In the pre-release thread, switching to Mouse + Keyboard or Mouse Only exposed the missing right-click behavior. The suggested mapping put right click on the left trigger and used the right stick for movement while that trigger was held. This turned rotation into a controller action without changing the repair itself.

Treat that mapping as a fallback, not an official release preset. Steam Input templates can change, and a community layout may map the same action to another button. The important piece is the behavior: one control must hold the game's right-click equivalent while a stick or trackpad moves the cursor. Check the preview before applying a layout so you do not overwrite a native action that already works.

1. Open the Steam controller settings for ReStory.
2. Change the current template to Mouse + Keyboard or Mouse Only.
3. Confirm that left trigger is mapped to right mouse click.
4. Hold left trigger and use the right stick to rotate the part.

Separate rotation, dialogue, and firmware failures

These problems can look like one vague "controller support" failure, but they come from different interactions. Missing rotation points to a right-click binding. A choice that will not move points to the dialogue selector. Firmware that works with a mouse but not a controller points to the software interaction fixed in v1.0.013r.

Test one interaction at a time. If rotation fails, inspect the Steam Input binding before reinstalling the game. If dialogue fails, capture the screen and the selected option. If firmware fails, compare the same order with mouse input and then follow the dedicated firmware checklist. A clean comparison gives the developer more information than a general compatibility complaint.

Do not turn one playtest report into a performance verdict

The original poster said the playtest otherwise ran smoothly. That is one older hardware report, not a release-build benchmark and not a Steam Deck Verified result. Patch 1.0.013r fixed memory leaks and the official history mentions performance work in nearby updates, but those notes do not publish frame-rate targets for Valve's handheld.

Keep performance separate from controls. Record the Steam Deck model, resolution, power profile, frame-rate cap, and the room or device that causes trouble. A rotation binding cannot fix a memory leak, and lowering graphics does not create a missing right-click action. Mixing the two makes both problems harder to diagnose.

Build a layout you can recover

Before editing several buttons, export or note the current layout. Change the smallest possible set of controls and retest the bench. A practical Deck setup keeps ordinary click and cancel on comfortable face buttons, puts the right-click hold on a trigger, and leaves one stick or trackpad available for precise movement.

Avoid copying a layout that hides what each button does. The point of the v1.0.013r tooltips is to make controller actions easier to identify. If a community template replaces every label with keyboard keys, keep a short note beside the guide or save a screenshot of the mapping. You should be able to restore the native layout without guessing after the next patch.

Report the exact input path that breaks

A useful report states whether the problem happens on the native gamepad layout, a Steam Input template, or both. Include the ReStory version, Steam Deck model, layout name, failed action, and whether mouse or trackpad input completes the same step. For rotation, show the part and the right-click binding. For firmware, show the order and the software screen.

The evidence boundary matters. The official patch proves that gamepad work was shipped. The playtest thread proves that a mouse-style mapping once restored rotation for one Deck player. Neither source proves that every current layout works on every handheld. Keep that distinction in the report and another player can reproduce the same path instead of starting from scratch.