Keyboards and mice
Play with one keyboard and mouse, or give every player their own: how they join, the End key that locks them to their windows, and how to get your cursor back.
Keyboards and mice come in two flavours with Nucleus Co-op, and each handler says which one it supports. On the hub, the game page lists it, and the catalogue in the app can filter on Keyboard and mouse and Several keyboards.
| Handler supports | What it means |
|---|---|
| Keyboard and mouse | One player can use the PC's keyboard and mouse; everyone else uses a controller. That player plays in the window that has the focus |
| Several keyboards and mice | Every player can have their own keyboard and mouse, and they can be mixed with controllers |
Joining with a keyboard and a mouse
Keyboards and mice appear in the lobby once you use them: press a key, or move a mouse. A keyboard joins the next free place with a key press. To give that player a mouse, drag the mouse onto them; the player card then shows both devices.
Seeing more keyboards than you plugged in? Gaming keyboards, mice with programmable buttons and laptop touchpads often register as several devices. Use the one that lights up when you type, and leave the others in the tray.
Locking inputs with End
With several keyboards and mice, Windows still has a single cursor and a single focused window. Nucleus Co-op works around it once you lock the inputs:
- Launch, and wait until every window is in place. Don't touch the mice while windows are being placed.
- Press End. Each keyboard and mouse now talks to its own player's window only. The Windows cursor is parked, and each window shows its own cursor when its player moves their mouse or clicks.
- Play.
- Press End again to unlock and get your normal cursor back, for example to use another program.
The session screen shows whether inputs are locked, and has a Lock inputs button. Some handlers lock the inputs by themselves once every window is ready, and some hide the taskbar while inputs are locked.
Good to know
- Click once in your window after locking if a camera keeps turning or a window ignores its mouse.
- The first player is often the keyboard player in handlers that support one keyboard and mouse: check the handler notes.
- Reminder at launch. Nucleus explains the lock key when you launch a session with keyboards and mice. Turn it off with Settings › General › Don't remind me to lock inputs.
- Not every game can do it. Many games read the keyboard and mouse in ways that can't be split per window, and some only accept one mouse for the camera. If the hub doesn't list several keyboards and mice for a game, don't expect it to work.
Writing a handler? The handler side is in Proto Input and Keyboard and mouse support.