Release Candidate 4.6.1 Hotfix — Dial In Your Aim, Safer HidHide

Release Candidate 4.6.1 Hotfix — Dial In Your Aim, Safer HidHide

RC4.6.1 adds a simple way to dial in flick-stick aiming, cleans up trigger settings, prevents the startup-task failures reported in #98 and #103 from aborting setup, and protects against the confirmed HidHide configuration-client crash caused by Windows app-execution aliases.

Dial in a full 360° turn

• Open Axis Config → LS or RS → Output Mode: Flick Stick and choose a 360° test button beside Real World Calibration.
• Save the profile, face a recognizable landmark in-game, and tap your chosen button. Increase Real World Calibration if the turn falls short; decrease it if it goes too far.
• Each tap requests one approximately one-second turn. Holding the button does not repeat, and extra taps during a turn do not build a queue.
• The test button's normal mapping is reserved while configured. Choose Not assigned when finished to restore it; your original binding is never deleted. A trigger assignment reserves both its soft and full-pull outputs.
• Changes to the profile, stick mode, assigned button, or controller connection cancel unfinished turns. Flick Stick also safely handles a controller disappearing during mapping.

This is a manual calibration aid for games that accept mouse look, not automatic camera tracking. Use a spare button and keep other aiming inputs still for a repeatable result. The setting is in Axis Config, not button remapping or Special Actions.

Cleaner trigger settings

• Removed the legacy Trigger Effect, Trigger Start, and Trigger Strength controls from Axis Config. Trigger Lab remains the place to configure adaptive effects.
• Normal trigger dead zones, curves and sensitivity remain available. Existing saved trigger effects, Trigger Lab restoration and native game-provided feedback are preserved.

Safer HidHide configuration

• Prevent DS4Windows from registering Windows app-execution aliases that can crash HidHide's Applications list.
• Check the configuration before opening HidHide through DS4Windows, with clear feedback when it cannot be read safely.
• If unsafe aliases are found, offer a confirmation-based, backed-up repair that removes only those entries. Other applications, hidden-device rules and hiding settings are preserved. Unsafe or changed configurations block the repair instead of guessing.

This addresses the confirmed alias-related crash, not every possible HidHide failure. An external tool can still add an unsafe entry; launch HidHide through DS4Windows to use the guard.

Startup-task recovery (#98 and #103)

• Setup keeps the original RunVIIPER and RunDS4Windows names. Existing definitions at those two reserved root names are backed up before replacement, including manually created or incomplete tasks. No alternate task names are introduced.
• Registration, verification or Task Scheduler access failures produce a startup warning instead of canceling installation. Setup can start the verified executables directly; automatic logon startup may need a later Repair.
• Verification diagnostics identify the mismatched fields instead of reporting only a generic failure. The #98 log proves verification failed, but does not contain the task definition needed to establish which field failed on that PC.
• Launch and uninstall still check the task's contents. An unsuccessful repair never authorizes running an arbitrary task just because its name matches.

Backups are stored under %ProgramData%\DS4Windows\Installer\task-backups. Tasks outside the two reserved root names are untouched. Windows can still refuse registration; this release makes that failure non-fatal, not invisible. Driver integrity, pending-reboot, USB/IP compatibility and VIIPER API checks remain required.

Packages and updates

• Release/update tag: VIIPERRC4.6.1. Windows application, MSI and installer version: 5.0.7.0, advanced for reliable upgrade ordering.
• Complete offline x64 installer and portable ZIP, including VIIPER 0.1.5-rc4.6, the required Xbox output identity, and matching source/notices. Portable users should extract the entire folder.
• DS4Updater 2.0.6 remains compatible; no separate updater or broker upgrade is required for this hotfix. USB/IP remains 0.9.7.7.
• Audio, haptics, adaptive-trigger transport, and Nintendo rumble tuning are unchanged from RC4.6.

Validation

This is an unsigned release candidate. The complete local x64 suite passed 5,991 tests with zero failures, with 11 explicitly gated tests skipped. Calibration uses the canonical mapper and recording test outputs; no input is injected into the desktop by the tests. Calibration light/dark UI layouts were inspected at normal and 150% scale. Existing profile, trigger restoration, native feedback and Nintendo regression checks remain enabled.

In-game calibration still depends on mouse sensitivity and acceleration. Hardware/gameplay acceptance is not replaced by automated tests, and this release makes no new claim about the previously unattributed rare movement interruption or issue #81 gameplay acceptance.

Source evidence: calibration and trigger UI, calibration guide, startup-task collision, and HidHide safeguard.