I assumed this was just a Steam Controller issue, but I pulled out my 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless controller and experienced the same issue. Steam Input Game Actions simply do not work at all. Gamepad and Keyboard inputs will work, but games that use Game Actions tend to replace dropdown options for joysticks and trackpads like "Gamepad Joystick" with Game Action equivalents, which means you can't even do that as a workaround, let alone will that futz with onscreen input glyphs.
I've also attempted running the game inside of Gamescope, as well as running Steam and the game inside Gamescope together, to no avail.
Games which use Game Actions and run with Proton as a compatibility layer (such as Deadlock) function properly.
Steps for reproducing this issue:
Boot a native Linux game that uses Game Actions while any controller that uses Steam Input is connected. (For this test, I used Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2.)
Attempt to use any input bound to a Game Action (which is often all of them.)
Observe that no input occurs in the game.
Rebind a button that uses a Game Action to a controller or keyboard input.
Use the input.
Observe that the input is properly replicated (for example, my 8BitDo has the DPad bound to 1, 2, 3 and 4 for selecting weapons in TF2, and I can see these numbers get typed into the game's developer console when I press the buttons.)
I thought this was just a problem with my new Steam Controller, but no it's not working with any of my controllers, so it's just broken.
Your system information
linux-zen 7.0.14.zen1-1)Please describe your issue in as much detail as possible:
After following the instructions on the Arch Linux forum to make the controller world readable I was able to get my new Steam Controller to masquerade as a gamepad. However, I found a more pertinent issue that any native Linux game that uses Steam Input "Game Actions" does not work at all.
I assumed this was just a Steam Controller issue, but I pulled out my 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless controller and experienced the same issue. Steam Input Game Actions simply do not work at all. Gamepad and Keyboard inputs will work, but games that use Game Actions tend to replace dropdown options for joysticks and trackpads like "Gamepad Joystick" with Game Action equivalents, which means you can't even do that as a workaround, let alone will that futz with onscreen input glyphs.
I've also attempted running the game inside of Gamescope, as well as running Steam and the game inside Gamescope together, to no avail.
Games which use Game Actions and run with Proton as a compatibility layer (such as Deadlock) function properly.
Steps for reproducing this issue: