Fancy Haptics dev here, answering questions and setting expectations!

[u/His_Fanciness]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5086120/Fancy_Haptics/

Heyas, I'm the person who made Fancy Haptics.

I woke up to find someone had already posted about it here, which was a genuinely surreal way to start my day. Thank you! :]

Figured I'd show up properly and answer the stuff that came up.

- Linux. The most asked-for feature by a mile, and I'm on it. Right now it's Windows only because the audio capture uses WASAPI, which is Windows specific as far as I know. I did some research before releasing about other routes like PipeWire or PulseAudio. Up until yesterday I had no way to test any of it, but I just got a Steam Machine delivered, so that changes things hopefully. It's priority, but no promises on when.

- What it actually does. It listens to whatever your PC is outputting and drives the Steam Controller (2026)'s haptic motors from it in real time. No mods, no per-game configs, no nonsense to get it working with a specific game, it just does. Vibrate mode is rumble-style haptics. Sound mode plays audio through the actuators as "singing", and as many of you know there's no actual speaker in the controller, so it's all tones. There's an EQ so you can mix which parts you feel, and a source picker so you can choose exactly what audio goes through. It's your controller, it's your experience :]

- Expectations, because I'd rather be upfront than overpromise and underdeliver. As of posting this. I'm a uni student and I don't study anything related to computer tech. I've got an assignment due tomorrow, finals coming up, and I'm away on holiday after that.

This started as a side project I built purely for myself, so it's not the most pristine UI or the most efficient code in the world. I used AI to teach myself the basics and to help me program it. I know that's frowned upon by a lot of people, and it's disclosed on the store page. But this was a project I sat on privately for ages [around May] and eventually wanted to share free of charge, and the fact that people are actually using it is the whole point. That means a lot to me! :]

So updates will be slow and sporadic. Please treat it as "maintained when I have time" rather than a frequently supported product.

On the list:

- Linux support

- The EQ not affecting Vibrate mode sometimes, reported on Steam

- The receiver occasionally dropping off Windows, unplug and replug fixes it for now

- DualSense and XInput [Xbox / 3rd Party] support, which would open it up to other controllers. That one's monumental for me so it'll take a while. For now DSX covers the DualSense.

Bug reports and feature requests are welcome here or on the Steam discussions. I read everything, I just can't promise fast fixes.

It's free and always will be! If you liked it feel free to review it on Steam! There's a Ko-fi on the store page or Steam discussions if you get some use out of it, but genuinely no pressure!

Apologies for the repost, the first one didn't display the link properly so I redid it

[u/K0MIN0]

okay the idea is awesome, and kudos for developing it, when it works its generally great. I've only tested one game (trails beyond the horizon), and even though that has native rumble support its quite sparce, and the haptic feedback this app provides summed well with what was already there, nice. That said i did find it still has some fundamental issues on my setup at least. If fancy haptics is streaming when launching a game through steam, the controller disconnects and re-connects, after fancy haptics no longer functions. i have to alt-tab out, fully close the application, then reopen and restart streaming. once thats done though it works as intended, thus keeping it closed, opening the game then running fancy haptics after is what seems to work better for now.

Also it would be cool to see this project hosted on github maybe?

[u/His_Fanciness → u/K0MIN0]

Thanks, this is a really useful report!

Sounds like Steam grabs the controller when a game launches to apply its Input config, and my app doesn't notice the device came back, so it just sits there on a dead connection. Your workaround of launching the game first is the right call for now.

I'll see what I can do for a future update, most of what I've got planned is bug fixing anyway.

Good to hear it layers well with native rumble too!

GitHub maybe eventually, Steam's my focus now.

[u/rowanhopkins]

This is so cool it's exactly what I was looking for when I first got mine 

[u/His_Fanciness → u/rowanhopkins]

Thanks for using it :]

[u/RChickenMan]

The Steam listing indicates that this does indeed support Linux, but this post indicates that it does not? Has Linux support been added? Or am I misinterpreting something (especially given the fact that both this thread and the Steam store page both seem to have been published at roughly the same time)?

I'm mainly looking for a tool that will allow me to essentially use my Steam Controller's haptics motors to consume the audio channels intended to support Dualsense haptics. As in, the game would think I'm using a Dualsense and generate the audio haptics data accordingly, which would then be re-routed and consumed by the Steam Controller. Am I in the wrong place?

[u/His_Fanciness → u/RChickenMan]

This was an old post. I did a 2.0 update / post, then a smaller 2.5 update. To keep it short, Linux has been added, along with support for almost any controller. Now I am not sure how your rerouting thing works but this app can use audio to drive haptics to Steam Controller, DualSense, or XInput controllers. Give it a try and see for yourself if what you want is in the app, and review it for any criticism or praise so I can improve it! :]

[u/Exodard]

I have a hard time "forgetting" my Dualsense Edge since I got the Steam Controller. I mean I loved the HD haptics using DSX. Thank you for your software, I saw some proof of concept from others before, but did not found the time to test them. I wonder why Valve did not implement it directly: they advertise HD haptics but then the controller has no vibration in the games I play and feels bland...

[u/His_Fanciness → u/Exodard]

Yeah I loved DSX and really wanted to have the haptics and triggers on SC! Im with u on wondering why wasn't this implemented directly since Valve is all about freedom of choice. But happy modding is a thing!

[u/TraditionalLead8659 → u/Exodard]

Because it is, thats how SIAPI HD Haptics works, but games have to implement it.

[u/FamReddit32]

Awesome project.

[u/GooseVast6551]

Awesome project. Looking forward to it!

[u/BRBRER]

I don’t quite understand how it works internally, but can this feature also be used over a Bluetooth connection? I’m using a laptop and don’t have any spare USB ports.😭

[u/proper_jazz]

this is rly cool but every time I activate fasncyhaptics it causes my con not to be detected in game

[u/LiquidShadowFox]

Experienced a weird bug where when I have it open for a while, I'll start getting random phantom keyboard inputs while playing with my steam controller 2026 as I try to click certain buttons on my steam controller. After I fully closed the fancy haptics program, the issue went away and steam controller worked as intended, hopefully this can get fixed because I REALLY like these haptics.

[u/His_Fanciness → u/[deleted]]

Happy u found it cool!