what are your experiences using game controllers with linux, I’m especially interested in the xbox series s controller because it’s the one I have, but I’m also interested in other controllers. From my experience the latency is disappointing, but I have no way of proving it.

So, I primarily use this controller in bluetooth mode using xpadneo. There’s definitely noticeable latency, but in most games it’s fine, I played through a lot of games without bother… until I played Conker: Live and Reloaded. On the infamous race level, it took me like two days to pass it, and I only made some progress when i connected the cable and dropped BT. Even that was fine though, It was just one old game and just one level, there could be a number of things to blame for that. Come hollow knight, as the game got harder after beating Hornet, it quickly became apparent that I couldn’t get far without the cable, save for traversing the world, still, not that bad… until I got to fight radiance. It has been extremely frustrating, I tried it for days and eventually I started just doing a few attempts every few days, without any improvement, finding it hard to get to the second phase. Today I visited my parents and in the late evening decided to try it on a windows computer I left here, mind you, the last time I played was more than a week ago. So, I start the game, plug the same controller in, with the same cable, I beat Radiance on the fucking first try, with half health bar left…

It literally happened 10 minutes ago, I’m still riled up, this doesn’t make sense, this has to be latency, there is no way I got that better just like that, It is literally impossible.

So, after all that, I need to unfuck the latency of my controller someway… Ok, it’s fine on most games, but this situation is… frustrating

  • smeg@feddit.ukEnglish
    2·
    14 hours ago

    I have an xbox controller (I think it’s a “series” one, but could be a “one” one, they look the same) and it seems to run fine with a steam deck. There’s probably a little latency, but it’s pretty negligible.

    • Yttra@lemmy.world
      2·
      9 hours ago

      I believe the One controllers have proper cross/plus-shaped dpads, while the Series controllers moved back to an extremely clicky variant of the 360’s disc-shaped dpads. At least, that’s how I tell the difference…

      • edinbruh@feddit.itOPEnglish
        2·
        8 hours ago

        You are correct, it also lacks a decorative groove that the “one” one has near the top.

        I think the “series” d-pad is the best modern d-pad, especially since Nintendo forgot how to make them just before releasing the Wii u. I’d say on par with classic Nintendo d-pads, maybe a bit less comfortable for platformers though.

        On the other hand, the 360 d-pad is the worst most horrible piece of crap ever devised.

  • Jumuta@sh.itjust.works
    1·
    23 hours ago

    I think you do tend to get better at some things after you leave it for a while, your brain just has more time to process it or something idk

    I don’t think the usb connected controller part would have any latency, that’s basically just another USB input device. I’d guess that it’s between the OS and your eyes (graphics driver latency, wine shenanigans, display refresh rate+pixel refresh latency)

    • edinbruh@feddit.itOPEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      That’s a flattering thought, but I think that kind of improvement is a pipedream.

      The os shenanigans might be the reason tho

  • Xirup@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    23 hours ago

    I didn’t notice any lag, my problem with Xbox Series controller is the FUCKING disconnecting problem even with xpadneo, how did you fix that?

    • Domi@lemmy.secnd.me
      1·
      16 hours ago

      Do you use a USB bluetooth dongle?

      If yes, add a small USB extension cable between the dongle and the port, a few centimeters are enough.

      If no, antennas improve reliability a lot. I swapped my internal M.2 bluetooth module to a more modern one and added magnetic antennas to the side of my case. No more disconnects since then (without xpadneo).

  • thingsiplay@beehaw.org
    2·
    1 day ago

    I used the Xbox 360 game controller for years on PC, then switched to Xbox One, then Xbox One S and then to the Xbox Series S controller. So we speak about decades at this point. I played extensively Steam games and emulation for all kinds of systems (where input latency is extremely important in some games). At the same time I also have used extensively a wired classic SNES like shaped controller that is wired connected and recently I replaced my Xbox controller with a 8bitdo wireless controller.

    So you see there is some experience in using and in comparison. Latency was never an issue and I never felt it. But the common theme here is, I never used Bluetooth and always use the (even if its proprietary) dongle by Microsoft for connection. That’s because it should provide superior connection stability and better input latency. I always had issues with Bluetooth before (I mean with any other kind of hardware connection) and always hated it and avoid it.

    Having said this, Bluetooth can be good. In example the Playstation consoles and their controller are using Bluetooth and its not an issue there. But you have to make sure that the driver and the Bluetooth dongle (or chip) is compatible and working fine, in combination with the controller. If you notice a difference between wired and wireless, then its a sign that the wireless connection doesn’t work properly for your setup. I think my best advice is to buy the proprietary dongle from Microsoft (as I hate doing this, but its the best for Xbox controllers). You will also need to change the driver from xpadneo to xone.

    However I switched recently to a different controller because I experienced a few issues with the driver. Because the driver wasn’t updated for a while and it broke with a new Linux Kernel update on my Archlinux based system.