I don’t own any controllers.

I started playing Dark Souls 3 which I now understand has a controller strongly recommended. I may as well just look into getting a controller of some kind as I have a few games that have somewhat janky kbm controls and are better enjoyed with a controller.

I just wanted to ask for general advice about what controller to get in terms of compatibility. Also if someone has made a controller that’s more in the spirit of foss that also works fine with Steam and Proton games that would be nice?

I know Steam is pretty good with Playstation controllers and I used to use a PS controller (don’t remember what generation) with some native Linux Steam games, not sure how the whole PS vs Xbox controller thing is affected by running games through Proton if at all? If it matters let me know, and I’ll see if I can procure a controller for myself.

  • Björn Tantau
    13•13 hours ago

    At least on the Steam Deck it’s great. With or without Steam. In terms of compatibility it’s probably best to get an Xbox or PlayStation controller. As far as I know most off-brand controllers present themselves as Xbox controllers.

    If you want to do emulation I’d recommend PlayStation controllers because some PlayStation games only work with those because of unique features like the touchpad and motion controls.

    Most modern games actually show different buttons depending on whether you have a Nintendo, Microsoft or PlayStation controller. And they all have Linux drivers and also work especially well with Steam and Proton.

    • MentalEdge
      5•12 hours ago

      Worth adding that several PS5 games that have come to PC support some of the special features of the DS5. For example, Ghost of Tsushima, Rift Apart and Forbidden West, will all utilize the adaptive triggers when played with a DS5.

      And this works on both windows and linux.

      • @[email protected]
        1•11 hours ago

        Wait really? That’s impressive. I assume that’s on steam (because Linux), but doesn’t Steam try to emulate Xinput all the time?

        • MentalEdge
          1•4 hours ago

          No.

          You can turn that off and just let the game access the controller directly. Steam will even tell you when using steaminput is a bad idea with a specific game.