SDL_CreateHapticEffect(3)

💖 SDL_CreateHapticEffect(3) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the SDL3 FUNCTIONS section of the manual, and today's main character is SDL_CreateHapticEffect — the girl whose whole job is making a new haptic effect on a device you picked out. yes, we're doing vibration lore today. sit down, hydrate, let's go. 🫶

---

✨ NAME ✨

SDL_CreateHapticEffect — create a new haptic effect on a specified device. like, you point at a device, you hand over the deets of the vibe you want, and boom: a fresh effect exists. 🌸

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <SDL3/SDL_haptic.h>

SDL_HapticEffectID SDL_CreateHapticEffect(SDL_Haptic *haptic, const SDL_HapticEffect *effect);

the way that return type is SDL_HapticEffectID and not just an int… obsessed. 👑

---

✨ FUNCTION PARAMETERS ✨

• haptic — an SDL_Haptic device, aka the actual thing you want the effect created on. this is your target, your muse, your little motor. 🎀
• effect — an SDL_HapticEffect structure that's holding all the properties of the effect you're trying to create. it's giving "here's the blueprint, now build it." 💅

---

✨ RETURN VALUE ✨

on success you get the ID of the effect back — treasure it, you'll need it later, that's literally how you refer to this effect from now on. 🦋

on failure you get -1. and listen, if that happens, do not spiral: just call SDL_GetError() for more info. she will tell you what went wrong, no cap. 😭

---

✨ AVAILABILITY ✨

this one has been around since SDL 3.2.0. so if your SDL is older than that… bestie. upgrade. 🙈

---

✨ SEE ALSO ✨

• SDL_DestroyHapticEffect(3) — for when the effect's era is over and you gotta let it go 💀
• SDL_RunHapticEffect(3) — actually set it off, make it buzz 🔥
• SDL_UpdateHapticEffect(3) — glow-up an existing effect instead of making a whole new one ✨

---

lowkey important: creating an effect is not the same as running it. SDL_CreateHapticEffect just brings it into existence. you still gotta run it. iykyk. 💜

---

and that's the whole page, bestie — no notes, ate, periodt. 🌈

this little love letter to haptics comes to you from Simple Directmedia Layer, sitting pretty at version SDL 3.4.18, filed under the SDL_CreateHapticEffect(3) page. mwah. 💖🎀🫶