The days of split-screen console gaming may almost be over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get split screen to work on PC. For decades, the console was the perfect platform for couch co-op play, but now it isn’t. With a little preparation, we can turn any multiplayer game into split screen mode on one PC.
This guide will walk you through every step to get split screen up and running on your PC. Read each step carefully and make sure you read the entire What You Need Before You Begin section.
The things you need before you start
There are a number of things you need to know before you start. A complete list is provided below.
- ASTER (the software that powers this)
- Sandboxie – useful for creating multiple instances of Steam
- Two copies of each game, if it is not free.
- Two monitors and two sets of keyboard / mouse.
- A high-end gaming PC.
- Approximately 1-2 hours to install, test and master the software.
ASTER Multiseat is the software we will use to turn your computer into two separate interfaces that can receive separate input from different hardware. We will explain in detail how to set up ASTER below.
Until then, you can visit the buy page here and try a 30-day free trial. ASTER can be quite expensive, with a lifetime license costing about $ 60. An annual license is available for about $ 17.
Sandboxie is a program that is used to create multiple instances of your games and platforms such as Steam. It is very important to be able to open two games at the same time.
If you plan on playing games like GTA 5 or Rust that have a price tag, you will also need two copies of the game.
While this is technically a split screen tutorial, you still need two monitors – this way each player will have their own screen. There is currently no way to split the screen in two using the method described in this article.
Finally, it is very important that you have a high-end gaming PC to ensure smooth operation on both screens. You will need a graphics card with a lot of video memory because the resources will be shared between both games. A powerful processor is also recommended. With high-end specs and medium to low game settings, you can easily achieve consistently high frame rates in both instances of the game.
Get everything
Before we get started, it’s time to set up all of your hardware. You should find two keyboards, two mice, two monitors. Then you have to connect all this hardware to your PC. Make sure both monitors are connected to the same graphics card. The displays do not have to be the same size or model.
Once you have all your hardware connected, you can visit the ASTER: Multiseat download page and walk through the installation process.
Please note: although ASTER works without problems for the most part, you may encounter potential problems. For this reason, it is very important to create a restore point before starting. Fortunately, the ability to do this is built into the ASTER installation wizard.
It will take a few minutes to create a restore point and install the ASTER: Multiseat software. After installation, restart your computer.
One more note, if you are using an NVIDIA card uninstall Geforce Experience. Using Geforce Experience with ASTER can cause some unintended consequences including incompatibility issues or system crashes.
Getting started with Aster
After restarting the computer, open ASTER: Multiseat and follow the steps described in this section. When you first open it, you will be prompted to update. Click OK.
Then either click to activate the license if you have purchased ASTER, or click “I do not have an ASTER activation ID†to start the trial version process.
You are now ready to take the first steps in setting up with Aster. First, let’s take a look at the ASTER UI layout.
On the General settings tab, you will see your Places – this is each workplace that will be created on your computer after starting ASTER. By default, you have 2 locations enabled and both will display the login dialog. There is no need to change the default settings here.
Then take a look at the Jobs tab. This is the tab that will require the most attention from ASTER. After starting ASTER, you will be able to control which workplace and which equipment it controls.
Each workstation is essentially a separate instance of Windows 10 that will run in parallel with each other. Unlike other methods, such as a virtual machine, ASTER does an excellent job of evenly distributing performance between both workstations. That is why it is possible to play two copies of high quality games such as GTA 5.
As you can see from the image above, several different hardware “nodes” were discovered. Here you will see keyboards, mice, monitors, as well as separate audio equipment.
Your task is to move one keyboard and mouse to place 2 next to one monitor. Seat 2 will be used as Player 2’s equipment. You can determine which keyboard and which mouse are using them. When you enter text on the keyboard or move the mouse, you see that the corresponding figure is highlighted in a blue square on the ASTER.
After you have determined which mouse and keyboard you want to use for Player 2, drag the appropriate graphic into place 2. You should also move to Player 2’s monitor. By default, this should be 1.2. If you are unsure, hover your mouse over the image of each monitor to see its name.
When you drag a monitor, you might get a monitor sharing warning message, but you can ignore it. You should end up with something similar to the image below.
There might be some extra keyboard graphics in place 1, but you can ignore that. These are most likely other USB ports that are being used by other equipment.
Now that the mouse and keyboard are in the right place, you can click Apply in the lower left corner to save your changes.
A notification will appear stating that you need to enable ASTER jobs on the “General” tab. Click on the General Settings tab.
I strongly recommend that you click the “How to start workplaces” drop-down list and select “Manually” using the “Start ASTER workplaces” button. This ensures that ASTER will only be started manually, and you will not face any problems when trying to start the computer without ASTER. Then click “Apply†to save the settings.
When you are ready to start your split screen computer, you can click Turn On ASTER and restart your computer. Please note that every time you want to enable or disable ASTER, you will need to restart it through the ASTER general settings tab.
Steps to take after rebooting
After restarting the computer, open ASTER again. You should now see that the general settings tab has changed slightly. The tab in the lower left corner has been changed to show that ASTER is now active.
Now you can click the Launch ASTER workstations button. This will split your computer into separate workstations that you configured before restarting.
You should now notice that your second monitor has been turned on. You will be prompted to log into Windows. You now have both PCs configured. It’s time to play games.
Games management
Now that you have Aster, you need to install multiple instances of Steam with Sandboxie. You can download Sandboxie for free here
Before we go through the Sandboxie steps, you must navigate to the Steam folder on your PC. By default, it should be C: Program Files (x86) Steam. After that, right click and copy the SteamApps folder.
Then go up one level to C: Program Files (x86) and create a new folder and name it Sandbox. Open the folder and right click> paste. It will take some time – all the games you have installed on Steam will be copied. If you have an old hard drive and dozens of games installed, this can take many hours.
For the last step, right-click Steam.exe in the C: Program Files (x86) Steam folder and click Copy. Go to the Sandbox folder and right click> paste. After that, your new folder should look something like this.
This step is important because, like any other aspect of this tutorial, you will need two copies of the Steam file to be able to access them at the same time.
Then open the Sandboxie installer and walk through the Sandboxie installation wizard. Once complete, launch Sandboxie. The tutorial will start, but you can just close it. I’ll tell you how to get off the ground.
In Sandboxie, click on Sandbox at the top. Then click Create New Sandbox.
Give the new sandbox a name, then click OK. You can choose any name for your sandbox, but be sure to remember it. We chose split screen.
You will now see your new sandbox appear listed in the Sandboxie interface. Right click it and select Sandbox Settings.
On the settings page, click the “+” next to the Resource Access option. Then click the “+” next to File Access. Finally, click Full Control. Here’s what you should see.
Click the Announce button and navigate to the previously created sandbox folder. After clicking OK, Apply, then OK. Close all pop-up notifications if they appear.
At any time, Player 2 can go to the Sandbox folder, right-click on Steam and select Run Sandboxed. Select the variant you created earlier. For us it was a split screen. Click Run as UAC Administrator, then click OK.
Player 2 will now have their own isolated version of Steam in which they can log into their account and open any games they own. Player 1 can also do the same and open their own games.
You can now continue as usual and open any co-op games, including GTA 5, ARK: Survival Evolved, Counter Strike, Dota 2, and more. For games on other launchers such as Battle.Net or Epic Games, you must use the same Sandboxie steps above, but for files and folders of other launchers.
Potential issues and summary
Not all games can be played at the same time. For example, games with Easy Anti-cheat do not allow two copies to be used at the same time. Performance will also be somewhat limited depending on your hardware.
You have to be careful with how each game uses your system resources because it can slow down your desktop scan. If one workplace is not performing well, try lowering game settings in another workplace.
Although there is no confirmation from Valve, some users of this method are concerned that it may cause an unfair VAC ban when playing games like Counter Strike and Dota 2. We suggest using this tool at your own risk.
Finally, do not forget to turn off ASTER before turning off your PC.
Have questions about this process? If so, let me know and I will answer your questions in the comments section.
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