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There's an open source Standalone Steam Controller Driver

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If you didn't know already, there's actually an open source Standalone Steam Controller Driver which could make it far more useful outside of Steam.

This is why I love the open source community, creating their own drivers and software to work for them.

QuoteThis project is a standalone userland driver for the steam controller to be used where steam client can't be installed.

Two modes are already working with haptic feedback:

xbox360: gamepad emulator
desktop: mouse, keyboard mode
The final purpose is to have support for custom mapping created with a stand-alone tool or imported from steam vdf files.

The initial target is GNU/Linux, but I'll welcome any contributor that want to port input generation for other OS (OSX, Windows, *BSD, Android/Linux, ...)

This project is licensed under MIT.

So it can already emulate an Xbox 360 gamepad, mouse or keyboard which is quite impressive.

I hope to see this project continue on and on, and eventually have it work alongside Steam as well. If you have the driver, you will need to disable it to use it properly inside of Steam, having that issue somehow sorted out by itself would be awesome without user interaction.

You can find the driver here on github, under the MIT license.

If you try it out, let me know how it goes for you! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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11 comments
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sarmad Apr 11, 2016
Nice. It's worth trying it with games that don't work with Steam Controller, like Kopanito All-Stars Soccer or Mark of the Ninja for example.
Snowdrake Apr 11, 2016
Nice. This will probably come up handy!
liberavia Apr 11, 2016
Hi,

I am using this driver for now since more than half a year and it works like a charm.

I use this as my default for my fork of SteamOS I'm currently working on, so here it will be preinstalled.

However, in the last state of the module that I know, keymappings are hardcoded but this issue is known and in progress.

BTW. For my Kodi-Based fork I made heavy usage of your suggestion of organizing steam games with playonlinux, which is such a great tutorial. If ready, you will see this work magically in the background :-)
hardpenguin Apr 11, 2016
Afaik you can also use the Steam Controller with non-Steam games if you add them to your client and run in Big Picture Mode, but not sure since I didn't try that by myself.
Shmerl Apr 11, 2016
It's stalled (didn't have any activity in a while) and it still doesn't support the main mode (i.e. custom bindings). So it's good that it's there, but it's not that useful yet.

Still, it's something. I won't really buy the controller until it will be usable without Steam.

Same problem is with Vive.


Last edited by Shmerl on 11 April 2016 at 7:17 pm UTC
s8as8a Apr 11, 2016
jordicoma Apr 11, 2016
Currently, it has two modes, the first emulates xbox controller, the second a mouse.
I think there is an exorter of some sort for the keybindings, I didn't try it.
melkemind Apr 11, 2016
It works for me. I played a little Karboom without having to go through Steam. What I'd really like to use it for, however, is Rocket League and other Windows games in Wine. Unfortunately, that didn't work. In mouse mode, this will be nice for watching movies without having to keep Steam running.
MaxPower Apr 12, 2016
Quoting: sarmadKopanito All-Stars Soccer.
It works for me now. If I remember right, you have to save the profil locally
liberavia Apr 12, 2016
Quoting: melkemindIt works for me. I played a little Karboom without having to go through Steam. What I'd really like to use it for, however, is Rocket League and other Windows games in Wine. Unfortunately, that didn't work. In mouse mode, this will be nice for watching movies without having to keep Steam running.

You could use the driver in xbox mode and qjoypad for mapping. This should work. It does for me.
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