分屏游戏机(console gaming)的时代可能已经结束，但这并不意味着我们不能在 PC 上使用分屏。几十年来，控制台一直是完美的沙发合作平台，但现在已经不是这样了。通过一些准备，我们实际上可以在一台 PC 上将任何多人游戏变成分屏。
本指南将引导您完成在 PC 上运行分屏的每一步。请仔细(Please)阅读每个步骤，并确保您阅读了整个“开始之前需要做的事情”部分。
开始之前需要做的事情
在开始之前，您需要做很多事情。下面提供了完整列表。
- ASTER（让这一切发生的软件）
- Sandboxie –适用于多实例 Steam
- 如果不是免费的，每场比赛的两个副本
- 两台显示器和两组键盘/鼠标
- 高端游戏PC
- 设置、测试和掌握软件大约需要 1-2 小时
ASTER Multiseat是我们将用来将您的一台 PC 变成两种不同的体验的软件，它们都可以接收来自不同硬件的不同输入。我们将在下面详细解释如何使用ASTER(ASTER below)进行设置。
现在，您可以访问此处的购买页面(purchase page)并尝试 30 天免费试用。ASTER 可能有点贵，终身许可证的费用约为 60 美元。1 年许可证的价格约为 17 美元。
Sandboxie是用于多实例您的游戏和平台（如Steam ）的软件。能够同时打开两个游戏至关重要。
如果您打算玩像GTA 5或Rust这样的游戏，两者都有价格标签(price tag)，您还需要拥有两份游戏。
虽然(Whilst)从技术上讲，这是一个“分屏”游戏教程，但您仍然需要两台显示器——这样，每个玩家都会拥有自己的屏幕。目前没有办法使用本文中的方法将屏幕一分为二。
最后，拥有一台高端游戏 PC 以在两个屏幕上获得流畅的性能非常重要。您将需要具有大VRAM的图形卡，因为资源将在两个游戏之间共享。还建议使用功能强大的CPU 。凭借高端规格和中(end specs and mid)低游戏设置，您可以轻松地在游戏的两个实例中实现一致的高帧速率。(frame rate)
一切就绪
在我们开始之前，是时候设置所有硬件了。你必须找到两个键盘、两个鼠标、两个显示器。然后，您必须将所有这些硬件插入您的 PC。确保(Make sure)两台显示器都连接到同一个显卡。显示器不需要是相同的尺寸或型号(size or model)。
插入所有硬件后，您可以访问ASTER：Multiseat 下载(Multiseat download)页面并完成安装过程(installation process)。
请注意：(Please note:) 虽然 ASTER(Whilst ASTER)在大多数情况下运行没有问题，但您可能会遇到潜在问题。因此，在开始之前创建还原点非常重要。(restore point)幸运的是， (Thankfully)ASTER 安装(ASTER installation)向导中内置了执行此操作的选项。
创建还原点(restore point)并安装ASTER : Multiseat 软件(Multiseat software)需要几分钟时间。安装后，您应该重新启动计算机。
另一个注意事项：(Another note:)如果您使用NVIDIA 卡(NVIDIA card)，请卸载Geforce Experience。将Geforce Experience与ASTER一起使用可能会导致一些意想不到的后果，包括不兼容问题或系统崩溃。
开始使用 Aster
重新启动 PC 后，打开ASTER: Multiseat并按照本节中的步骤操作。首次打开时，系统会要求您执行更新。单击(Click) 确定(OK)。
接下来，如果您购买了ASTER(ASTER) ，则单击以激活您的许可证，或者单击我没有 ASTER 激活 ID(I do not have an ASTER activation ID) 以开始试用过程。
您现在可以开始使用Aster进行设置了。首先(First)，让您熟悉ASTER UI 布局(ASTER UI layout)。
在“常规设置”(General Settings)选项卡上，您将看到您的“地点”——这是(Places)ASTER启动后将在您的 PC 上创建的每个工作场所。默认情况下，您将启用 2 个位置，并且两个位置都将具有Display Login Dialog。此处的默认设置无需更改。
接下来，看看Workplaces选项卡。这是ASTER中需要您大部分注意力的选项卡。一旦ASTER启动，您将在这里控制哪个工作场所可以控制哪个硬件。
每个工作场所本质上都是一个单独的Windows 10实例，它们将彼此并行运行。与其他方法（如虚拟机）不同，ASTER在平均分配两个工作场所之间的性能(performance power)方面做得非常出色。这就是让玩GTA 5(GTA 5)等高端游戏的两个实例成为可能的原因。
从上图中可以看出，已检测到多个不同的硬件“节点”。您将在这里看到键盘、鼠标、显示器以及单独的音频硬件。
您的工作是将一个键盘和鼠标(keyboard and mouse)移动到Place 2，旁边是一台显示器。Place 2将用作Player 2的硬件(s hardware)。您可以通过使用它们来确定哪个键盘和鼠标。(keyboard and mouse)当您在键盘上键入或移动鼠标时，您会看到相应的图形在ASTER上以蓝色方块突出显示。
一旦您确定了您想要播放器 2使用的(player 2)鼠标和键盘(mouse and keyboard)，请将相应的图形拖放到Place 2上。您还应该移过播放器 2(player 2)的显示器。默认情况下，这应该是 1.2。如果您不确定，可以将鼠标悬停在每个监视器图形上以查看其名称。
当您拖动监视器时，您可能会收到有关共享监视器的警告消息，但您可以忽略它。(warning message)您现在应该有如下图所示(image below)的内容。
位置 1(place 1)可能有多余的键盘图形，但您可以忽略它们。它们很可能是其他硬件正在使用的其他USB端口。(USB)
现在您的鼠标和键盘(mouse and keyboards)都在正确的位置，您可以单击左下角的应用(Apply)来保存更改。
将弹出一条通知消息，告诉您需要在常规选项卡上启用ASTER工作场所。单击(Click)常规设置(General Settings)选项卡。
我强烈建议您单击“如何开始工作场所(How to start workplaces)”下拉框并通过“运行 ASTER 工作场所”按钮手动(Manually by the ‘Run ASTER workplaces’ button)选择。这将确保ASTER只能手动运行，并且在尝试在没有(ASTER)ASTER的情况下运行 PC 时不会遇到任何问题。之后，单击应用(Apply)以保存设置。
准备好运行分屏 PC 后，您可以单击Enable ASTER 并重新启动 PC(Enable ASTER and reboot PC)。请注意(Please note)，每次您要启用或禁用ASTER时，都需要通过ASTER常规设置选项卡重新启动。
重启后采取的步骤
重新启动 PC 后，再次打开ASTER。您现在应该看到常规设置选项卡略有变化。左下角的选项卡已更改为显示ASTER现在处于活动状态。
您现在可以单击运行 ASTER 工作场所(Run ASTER workplaces) 按钮。这会将您的 PC 拆分为您在重新启动之前设置的单独工作区。
您现在应该注意到您的第二台显示器已打开。它会要求您登录到Windows。您现在已经设置了两个 PC 实例。是时候开始玩一些游戏了。
运行游戏
现在您已经启动并运行了Aster ，您需要使用(Aster)Sandboxie进行多实例 Steam 。您可以在这里免费下载Sandboxie(Sandboxie for free here)。
在我们完成 Sandboxie 的步骤之前，您必须导航到PC 上的Steam 文件夹。(Steam folder)默认情况下它应该是C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam。之后，右键单击并复制您的SteamApps文件夹。
接下来，上一层C:\Program Files (x86)\并创建一个新文件夹并将其命名为Sandbox。打开文件夹并右键单击> paste。这将需要一些时间——它将复制您在Steam上安装的所有游戏。如果您安装了较旧的HDD 并(HDD and dozens)安装了数十个游戏，这可能需要数小时。
最后一步，右键单击C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam文件夹中的Steam.exe ，然后单击(Steam.exe)复制(opy)。导航到Sandbox 文件夹(Sandbox folder)并右键单击> paste。之后，您的新文件夹应该看起来像这样。
这一步很重要，因为与本教程的其他方面一样，您需要两个 Steam 文件的副本，以便可以同时访问它们。
接下来，打开Sandboxie 安装程序(Sandboxie installer)并完成Sandboxie 安装(Sandboxie installation)向导。完成后(Sandboxie)，运行Sandboxie(Once)。教程将开始，但您可以简单地关闭它。我将带您完成起步所需的步骤。
在 Sandboxie 中，单击 顶部的Sandbox 。接下来，单击Create new Sandbox。
为新沙盒(Sandbox)命名，然后按OK。您可以为Sandbox选择任何名称，但请确保记住它。我们选择了“分屏”。
您现在将看到您的新Sandbox出现在Sandboxie 界面(Sandboxie interface)的列表中。右键单击(Right click)它，然后单击Sandbox Settings。
在设置页面上，单击“资源访问”(Resource Access) 选项旁边的‘+’之后，单击“文件访问(File Access)”旁边的“+” 。最后，点击完全访问(Full Access)。这是你应该看到的。
单击“广告(Ad)”按钮，然后导航到先前创建的沙盒(sandbox) 文件夹。单击确定(OK)后，应用(Apply)，然后确定(OK)。如果出现任何弹出通知，请关闭它。
在任何时候，玩家 2(player 2)现在可以转到Sandbox 文件夹(Sandbox folder)并右键单击Steam并单击Run Sandboxed。选择您之前创建的选项。对我们来说，它是splitscreen。单击以 UAC 管理员身份运行( Run as UAC Administrator)，然后单击确定。
玩家 2(Player 2)现在将拥有自己的Steam沙盒版本，他们可以在其中登录自己的帐户并打开他们拥有的任何游戏。玩家 1(Player 1)也可以这样做并打开自己的游戏。
您现在可以像往常一样打开任何游戏一起玩，包括GTA 5、方舟(ARK)：生存进化(Evolved)、反恐精英(Counter Strike)、刀塔 2(Dota 2)等游戏。对于其他启动器上的游戏，例如Battle.Net 或 Epic Games(Battle.Net or Epic Games)，您必须使用上述相同的Sandboxie步骤，但其他启动器的文件和文件夹除外。
潜在问题和总结
并非所有游戏都会同时进行。例如，带有Easy Anti-cheat 的(Easy Anti-cheat)游戏将不允许同时出现两个实例。性能也会有所限制，具体取决于您的硬件。
您需要注意每个游戏使用系统资源的方式，因为它可能导致任一工作场所的爬行速度变慢。如果一个工作场所表现不佳，请尝试降低另一个工作场所的游戏内设置。
虽然(Whilst)Valve没有确认，但此方法的一些用户担心在玩反恐精英和 Dota 2 等游戏时可能会导致不公平的(Counter Strike and Dota)VAC 禁令(VAC ban)。我们建议您自担风险使用此工具。
最后，确保在关闭 PC 之前单击以禁用ASTER 。
对这个过程有任何疑问吗？如果你这样做，请告诉我，我会在评论部分回答你的问题。
How to Turn Any Multiplayer Game into Split-Screen on One PC
The split-ѕcreen console gaming days may almоst be over, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get split screen working on PC. For decades, the console has been thе perfect couch co-oр platform, but that’ѕ not the casе anymore. With a bit of preparation, we can actually turn any multiplayer gаme into split-screen on one PC.
This guide will take you through every step to get split-screen running on your PC. Please read through each step carefully and make sure you read the entire ‘things you need before you get started’ section.
Things You Need Before You Get Started
There are a number of things you’ll need before you get started. The full list has been provided below.
- ASTER (the software that makes it all happen)
- Sandboxie – useful for multi-instancing Steam
- Two copies of each game if it isn’t free
- Two monitors and two sets of keyboard/mouse
- A high end gaming PC
- Around 1-2 hours to set up, test, and get to grips with the software
ASTER Multiseat is the software we will be using to turn your one PC into two separate experiences that can both receive separate inputs from different hardware. We’ll explain in detail about how to get setup with ASTER below.
For now, you can visit the purchase page here and try the 30 day free trial. ASTER can be somewhat expensive, with a lifetime license costing roughly $60. A 1-year license is available for roughly $17.
Sandboxie is software that’s used to multi-instance your games and platforms like Steam. It’s crucial for being able to open two games at the same time.
If you plan to play a game like GTA 5 or Rust, both of which have a price tag to play, you’ll also need to have two copies of the game.
Whilst technically this is a ‘split-screen’ gaming tutorial, you will still need two monitors – this way, each player will get their own screen. There is currently no way to split the screen in two using the method in this article.
Finally, it’s very important you have a high end gaming PC to get smooth performance across both screens. You will need a graphics card with large VRAM because the resources will be shared between both games. A powerful CPU is also recommended. With high end specs and mid to low in-game settings, you can easily achieve a consistent high frame rate across both instances of the game.
Getting Everything Set Up
Before we begin, it’s time to get all of your hardware set up. You must find two keyboards, two mice, two monitors. You must then plug in all of this hardware into your PC. Make sure that both monitors are connected to the same graphics card. The displays do not need to be the same size or model.
After you have all of your hardware plugged in, you can visit the ASTER: Multiseat download page and go through the installation process.
Please note: Whilst ASTER runs without problems for the most part, you can run into potential issues. For this reason, it’s very important that you create a restore point before you begin. Thankfully, the option 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. Once it has installed, you should restart your computer.
Another note: If you use an NVIDIA card, please uninstall Geforce Experience. Using Geforce Experience alongside ASTER can cause some unintended consequences including incompatibility issues or system crashes.
Getting Started With Aster
After you have restarted your PC, open ASTER: Multiseat and follow the steps in this section. When you first open, you’ll be asked to perform an update. Click OK.
Next, either click to activate your license if you purchased ASTER, or click I do not have an ASTER activation ID to start the trial process.
You will now be ready to take the first steps to getting setup with Aster. First, let’s get you familiarized with the ASTER UI layout.
On the General Settings tab, you’ll see your Places – this is each workplace that will be created on your PC once ASTER starts up. By default, you’ll have 2 places enabled and both will have Display Login Dialog. The default settings here do not need to be changed whatsoever.
Next, take a look at the Workplaces tab. This is the tab that will require most of your attention from within ASTER. Once ASTER starts up, this will be where you’ll control which workplace has control of which hardware.
Each workplace is essentially a separate instance of Windows 10 that will run alongside each other. Unlike other methods, like a virtual machine, ASTER does an excellent job at evenly splitting performance power between both workplaces evenly. This is what makes playing two instances of high end games like GTA 5 possible.
As you can see from the image above, there are multiple different hardware ‘nodes’ that have been detected. You’ll see keyboards, mice, monitors, and also separate audio hardware here.
Your job will be to move one keyboard and mouse to Place 2, alongside one monitor. Place 2 will be used as Player 2’s hardware. You can determine which keyboard and mouse is which by using them. When you type on a keyboard or move a mouse, you’ll see the corresponding graphic be highlighted with a blue square on ASTER.
Once you’ve determined which mouse and keyboard you’d like for player 2, drag and drop the corresponding graphics over to Place 2. You should also move over player 2’s monitor. This should be 1.2 by default. If you’re unsure, you can hover your mouse over each monitor graphic to see its name.
When you drag over a monitor, you may get a warning message about sharing monitors, but you can ignore that. You should now have something that looks like the image below.
There may be excess keyboard graphics in place 1, but you can ignore those. They are likely to be other USB ports that are in use by other hardware.
Now that you have your mouse and keyboards in the right place, you can click Apply at the bottom left to save changes.
A notice message will pop up telling you that you need to enable ASTER workplaces on the general tab. Click on the General Settings tab.
I’d highly suggest for you to click on the How to start workplaces dropdown box and select Manually by the ‘Run ASTER workplaces’ button. This will ensure that ASTER will only run manually and you won’t run into any issues when trying to run your PC without ASTER. After, click Apply to save the settings.
Once you are ready to run your split screen PC, you can click Enable ASTER and reboot PC. Please note that every time you want to enable or disable ASTER, it will require a restart via the ASTER general settings tab.
Steps to Take After Restart
Once your PC has been restarted, open ASTER again. You should now see that the general settings tab has changed slightly. The tab at the bottom left has been changed to show ASTER is now active.
You can now click the Run ASTER workplaces button. This will split your PC into the separate workplaces you had set up before you restarted.
You should now notice that your second monitor has been switched on. It will ask you log in to Windows. You now have both of your PC instances set up. It’s time to start playing some games.
Running the Games
Now that you have Aster up and running, you need to multi-instance Steam with Sandboxie. You can download Sandboxie for free here.
Before we go through Sandboxie’s steps, you must navigate to your Steam folder on your PC. It should be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam by default. After that, right click and copy your SteamApps folder.
Next, go up one level to C:\Program Files (x86)\ and create a new folder and call it Sandbox. Open the folder and right click > paste. This will take some time – it will be copying every game you have installed on Steam. If you have an older HDD and dozens of games installed, this could take many hours.
For one last step, right click on Steam.exe in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam folder and click Copy. Navigate to the Sandbox folder and right click > paste. After, your new folder should look somewhat like this.
This step is important because like every other aspect of this tutorial, you need two copies of Steam’s file so that they can both be accessed at the same time.
Next, open the Sandboxie installer and go through the Sandboxie installation wizard. Once complete, run Sandboxie. A tutorial will start, but you can simply close that. I’ll take you through the steps necessary to get off the ground.
In Sandboxie, click Sandbox at the top. Next, click Create new Sandbox.
Give the new Sandbox a name, then press OK. You can choose any name for your Sandbox, but make sure you remember it. We’ve picked ‘splitscreen’.
You will now see your new Sandbox appear in the listing on the Sandboxie interface. Right click it and click Sandbox Settings.
On the settings page, click the ‘+’ next to the Resource Access option. After, click the ‘+’ next to File Access. Finally, click Full Access. This is what you should see.
Click the Ad’ button and then navigate to the previously created sandbox folder. After click OK, Apply, then OK. Close down any pop-up notification if it appears.
At any point, player 2 can now go to the Sandbox folder and right click Steam and click Run Sandboxed. Choose the option you created earlier. For us, it was splitscreen. Click Run as UAC Administrator, then click OK.
Player 2 will now have their own sandboxed version of Steam where they can log into their own account and open any games they own. Player 1 can also do the same and open their own games.
You can now go ahead as usual and open any games to play together, including titles like GTA 5, ARK: Survival Evolved, Counter Strike, Dota 2, and more. For games on other launchers, like Battle.Net or Epic Games, you must use the same Sandboxie steps above but for the files and folders for the other launchers.
Potential Issues and Summary
Not all games will play simultaneously. For example, games with Easy Anti-cheat will not allow two instances at once. Performance will also be somewhat limited, depending on your hardware.
You need to be careful with the way each game uses your system resources, because it can cause either workplace to crawl to a slow. If one workplace has poor performance, try lowering the in-game settings on the other workplace.
Whilst 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’d suggest using this tool at your own risk.
Finally, make sure you click to disable ASTER before you turn off your PC.
Have any questions about this process? If you do, please let me know and I’ll answer your queries in the comments section.
