Probably many of you know that it is possible to use certain steering wheel models to play our favorite driving games (like Speed Dreams) on Linux, and actually Logitech is the brand that currently have better support, and is the only one that besides mapping axes and buttons, also has support for Force Feedback.
This support, which has made us enjoy car games, was incomplete and only implement constant force, the most common effect of Force Feedback, present in most games. This situation caused that in some games this feature did not work, especially in ETS2/ATS or many games with Wine/Proton.
Since then, several developers (like Simon Wood - @mungewell) had tried to include more effects in the driver, achieving advances, but finding problems that made them stop the development. Because of this, @berarma ( https://github.com/berarma ) , that many of you will know as the creator of Oversteer ( https://github.com/berarma/oversteer ) , decided to retake the work already done and give it its own focus. Tired of seeing how the support of his steering wheel was not on a par with Windows, he decided to work to try to make it easier for developers to port more driving games to Linux.
Previously to start the development of the driver, he created a utility called FFBTools ( https://github.com/berarma/ffbtools ) , which allowed to collect the Force Feedback logs in Logitech wheels, as well it correct some bugs with workarounds in some games with Wine/Proton, games such as Project Cars 2 or Dirt Rally 2. With this tool he collected valuable information that helped him to better understand the work of the FFB in the games, to then use it in the new driver.
During weeks of hard work, multitude of hours of coding and testing, he has come to a pretty complete and functional version of the new controller, which, in addition to the constant force, includes the following:
-Support for most of the effects (except inertia) defined in the Linux FF API ( https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/input/ff.html ) : Constant, Periodic, Spring, Friction, Damper, Rumble...
-Asynchronous operations with real time effects management.
-Limits the speed of data transfers to the device with some latency.
-Combines accelerator and clutch (designed for flight simulators).
The new driver has been tested with a multitude of video games, getting that natives such as ETS2 or ATS, the Force Feedback works without any plugin; and that games that need Wine or Proton to be executed acquire this precious feature with results similar to Windows.
In JugandoEnLinux.com ( https://jugandoenlinux.com/ ) we have been helping in the driver testing process in its different stages and we can confirm that the following games are now supported:
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 (native, without plugin)
- American Truck Sumulator (native, no plugin)
- RACE 07 and all its expansions (Wine/Proton)
- Automobilista (Wine/Proton)
- rFactor 1 (Wine/Proton)
- rFactor 2 (Wine/Proton)
- KartKraft (Wine/Proton)
The new driver could only be tested in the Logitech G29, but it is designed to work also in the Logitech wheels with GNU/Linux support (DFGT, G25, G27...), so u/berarma, its author would appreciate you to try it and leave feedback on the issues ( https://github.com/berarma/new-lg4ff/issues ) .
The installation requires compiling the code, but the process is quite simple and you have information on how to do it in the project page ( https://github.com/berarma/new-lg4ff ) . In the future @[b]berarma will try to include this code in the kernel as well as the current driver or "pack it" for easier use.[/b] Now you just have to plug in your steering wheel and enjoy your favorite car games!
This article is a modified copy/paste of the original reddit thread ( https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/c ... r_for_our/ ) about this driver.
