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.

  • @rtxnEnglish
    6•8 hours ago

    I have an Xbox One controller. It worked well out of the box on my previous machine, but the current one somehow maps the buttons incorrectly when I connect with bluetooth. Installing the hid-xpadneo kernel module (xpadneo-dkms on the AUR), which is a driver specifically for Xbox controllers, fixed it completely.

    It works flawlessly with everything I’ve tried, including emulators. The hardware is also extremely durable. It’s survived several drops over five years (bought it for Sekiro’s launch) and being mangled by a dog. The only disadvantage is the stupid fucking flimsy micro-USB port, but the newest Series models have USB-C. If you can, get a rechargeable battery pack and a charging dock.

    If you care about repairability, it’s not the worst, but not particularly good either. Parts of the shell are held by plastic tabs that are easy to damage, the internals are all located on one PCB, and the wires to the haptic motors are soldered on.