kontroller

A demo project to read all SteamDeck input (including trackpad and gyro) via SteamInput without using a game engine.

Run

1. Switch to Desktop Mode on SteamDeck.
2. Download kontroller from release page, or build it yourself. Put it in SteamDeck.
3. Put redistributable_bin/libsteam_api.so in the PATH (e.g. /usr/lib).
4. Copy kontroller.vdf into /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/controller_config (create the folder if it doesn't exist), rename it to game_actions_480.vdf.
5. Run kontroller on SteamDeck. This should open a new window, but your input can't be captured now. Close the window.
6. Start steam client on the Desktop Mode. In your library, you should find a game called Spacewar. Edit its input mapping.
7. Run kontroller again, you should get the input you want.

Build

Note

You'd better build the project on SteamDeck.

cargo build --release

FAQ

• Why not to use a game engine?
  • This app doesn't need high quality UI update, but need to read input as fast as possible.
  • Besides, I want the built binary to be as small as possible.
• What GUI library do you use?
  • iced.
  • Steam Input requires a window to be focused to read input, so a GUI library is required.
  • WebView-based GUI lib seems not working. Tested with Tauri and web-view
  • The GUI process should be the same as the main process.
• Why the name is Spacewar and the app id is 480?
  • 480 is a commonly used app id for testing for steamworks developers. The name Spacewar is the name for the app with app id 480.
• I tried to start the executable file on SteamDeck but no window shows up.
  • Make sure you have libsteam_api.so in the PATH.
  • Start the executable in a terminal and show me the output by opening an issue.
• What if I just want to use joysticks and buttons?
  • That is much easier. See my another project stickdeck.