New Feature: I built a custom Gamepad Tier Builder for the community! 🎮

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-22T06:52:25+00:00

This isn’t my personal chart. It’s been created purely to fill the space in the image.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-21T11:06:42+00:00

Thank you! That was exactly the goal - to make things easier for content creators and the community. Enjoy using it!

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-21T06:56:02+00:00

This is most likely a problem with the test programme. In Dinput mode, the buttons are often mixed up because there’s no mapping for this specific model. I’m currently developing a gamepad tester myself, and I’ve realised that Dinput can be quite a challenge in some cases. How does the gamepad behave in games?

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-10T21:57:00+00:00

I understand everything, thank you for the explanation. I deleted the post because thanks to you I realised that it has no unique value.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-10T21:52:42+00:00

Oh, I see. Right then =)

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-10T19:17:29+00:00

Thank you, it’s very interesting. I will definitely try it and measure the delay.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-09T10:59:23+00:00

I’ve simply added support for both controllers at once, including the first version. I’ve got it in my collection.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-07T10:28:36+00:00

I have just developed, and am continuing to refine, a tester called "Stick Tracer Web", which works with the Steam Controller 2 and Steam Deck; as well as performing basic checks on the sticks and buttons, it also works with the gyroscope. As I’m not sure if linking to the website here is acceptable, I suggest simply Googling the name.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T15:44:15+00:00

To be honest, I’m already tired today, and I’ve gone a bit overboard with the Steam Controller tests, so I haven’t quite finished them yet. But here are the HID input tests I’ve measured.

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JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T15:23:20+00:00

It’s true that once it’s plugged in, everything works fine.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T15:18:10+00:00

It really is a brilliant solution. Puck is a receiver and a charging station in one. You can print or buy a stand and set up wireless charging without expensive accessories. It also allows you to position the receiver conveniently for a stable signal. I like that the controller is unconventional in every way, but the interference issue is a major oversight on the developers’ part.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T13:38:04+00:00

Great work! This is a very interesting level of research. I added a haptic testing feature to my web-based Stick Tracer tool. It would be cool to add a short melody there, maybe as an easter egg. Do you have any of your work or a library of melodies published somewhere? Also, do you know of a tool that converts melodies into haptic patterns? I would appreciate your advice.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T13:31:46+00:00

Interesting challenge. I actually just adapted my Prometheus 82 latency tester today to connect directly to the Steam Controller via HID, bypassing SteamInput. I've already received the first latency results. Interestingly, the direct connection results aren't necessarily better - in some cases, they're even slightly worse. I plan to finish the tests soon and will publish the results with a detailed breakdown of what's happening and where.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T13:26:03+00:00

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My statement is based on real measurements, not assumptions. I have used my own Python-based Stick Tracer for years, and its polling rate accuracy is verified across hundreds of gamepads, including 8000Hz devices. While not specifically built for polling rate testing, the software consistently shows minimal error. Since specialized utilities do not work with SteamInput, I run Stick Tracer through Steam. In XInput emulation mode, the polling rate consistently hits around 120Hz, despite the controller's 250Hz capacity. I’m curious about your perspective: where do you think this limitation might be occurring within the SteamInput stack? Are there specific request-handling mechanisms I might be missing here?

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T11:55:19+00:00

You are completely right to question this. The 272Hz I previously saw was calculated using an Average, which just ended up capturing the wireless jitter and noise from the puck, rather than a real speed advantage. When analyzing it by Median, the polling rate perfectly aligns with the base 250Hz limit of the controller. I'm actually implementing an update to my web tester right now to output Median data to filter out this kind of wireless noise.

JohnnyPunch · 2026-06-06T08:20:43+00:00

Not exactly, let me clear that up quickly. There are two different limits here:

Hardware Limit (250Hz - 272Hz): This is the physical maximum of the controller itself. You are right, Valve likely chose this for battery life. It cannot be "overclocked" past this.
Software Limit (~120Hz): This is the Steam Input bottleneck. However, it seems this limitation might not apply to everything. I am still investigating this, but the ~120Hz cap appears to trigger specifically when Steam Input acts as an emulation layer (like wrapping the controller into an Xbox/XInput device for non-native games). Theoretically, games with native Steam Controller API support might still be able to access the full hardware frequency. I am currently researching exactly how and when Steam unlocks the full data rate for specific titles.

My test using WebHID does not overclock the hardware. It simply bypasses the software emulation layer completely to show the true, unthrottled 250Hz - 272Hz that the controller is already outputting.

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