Support NeoGAF

[Tobor]

I think the big thing the Steam Controller will have to prove is why it should be used instead of a PC Gamepad, a PC Arcade Stick, and a mouse & keyboard. It needs to prove itself intuitive enough to replace all three.

No, it needs to prove itself as a replacement for the mouse and keyboard when on the couch.

There is an entire catalog of games without existing controller support. They will never get controller support. This is the controller for those games.

Valve needs to stop trying to sell this as the one controller to rule them all and focus on the original purpose for this thing. Bring KB/M games to the living room.

 

[Game Guru]

No, it needs to prove itself as a replacement for the mouse and keyboard when on the couch.

There is an entire catalog of games without existing controller support. They will never get controller support. This is the controller for those games.

Valve needs to stop trying to sell this as the one controller to rule them all and focus on the original purpose for this thing. Bring KB/M games to the living room.

While you have a point in that getting mouse & keyboard based games onto the comfy couch should be a priority, you ignore the mentality people have to use the default control method to play their games. The controller serves as the default input method for consoles, so the majority of console games use the controller and are designed around the limitations of the controller. The mouse and keyboard serves as the default input method for PC, so the majority of PC games use the mouse and keyboard and are designed around the limitations of the mouse and keyboard. The touchscreen serves as the default input method for mobile, so the majority of mobile games use the touchscreen and are designed around the limitations of the touchscreen. The Steam Controller is to be the default input method for the Steam Machines, so it needs to work with a majority of Steam's games, which means not only focusing on making it work with mouse & keyboard games, but also gamepad games and arcade stick games. The Steam Controller will be what the majority of people using Steam Machines will be playing with at least, if it becomes more than a niche thing.

 

[MutonCommander]

I am quite certain that most negative impressions are due to unfamiliarity with the controller and its nuances. The touchpads will require some getting used to for both KB&m and gamepad users. The issue of sensitivity is also important, Valve seems to have settled on very high sensitivity at default settings but most people seem to prefer lower settings. I'm sure the controller will be great but maybe Valve should have tried a different PR approach. Letting random people test the controller for 10 minutes at a time creates negative impressions. Beta testers like TrialByGame have tested the old controller thoroughly and found it to be more than adequate for a wide range of games.

 

[ashecitism]

Went to the Black Mesa forum to see if there's any update about the game and saw this SC impression:

I got to go to GDC and check out Valve's booth and got my hands on the latest controller. IT felt pretty good to hold.

The face buttons and d-pad aren't hard to reach, but they press way too softly for my liking. I asked one of the Valve devs if they were thinking of using mechanical switches for the face buttons, and he said the last version did, and people thought the buttons felt cheap, so they put in silicon membrane switches instead. Makes me sad.

The triggers are analog, but with mechanical switches too, so it can act as analog input or digital input , or both simultaneously, on the software end. The accentuation force was at the very end of the trigger's depression so it doesn't move very far after the click. I would have liked to see the accentuation force a little further out.

Seen a lot of articles on the internet saying the touchpads felt way too twitchy and sensitivite. They definitely weren't as nice to use as a mouse, but I would say it's still a lot better than using two analog sticks.

Asked a couple other questions of the devs there:

So far no games are implementing the haptic of the touchpads to pass through information such as explosions in the way a standard controller's rumble does. I asked him about implementing that in first party games, he made it sound like they really weren't interested in doing so, but that if they decided they wanted to they would and could. It's a little dissapointing, I'm not sure why he seemed completely disinterested in implementing a feature that is considered standard in all other controllers. Perhaps they aren't using it because it'd mess with the haptic feedback used to emulate physicality, but the tone I got from him seemed to be that they just really didn't consider it a worthwhile feature.

Portal 2 has native support now as opposed to legacy support, so the left touchpad is actually implementing analog movement as opposed to emulating WASD key presses. Didn't seem very noticeable or practical in game when I tested it out. The final wireless version will be using a proprietary wireless stack and a USB dongle. The current wired version is using mini USB as opposed to Micro (bizarrely enough the dev I asked this one didn't even seem certain of she answer, so maybe it isn't mini US. All this is also very disappointing. I asked why they weren't using bluetooth, but she didn't seem to know very much and couldn't answer.

You will be able to change whether or not the controller is emulating an analog stick or a trackball from the steam overlay. This also works in legacy mode, so you could say, set the right touchpad to register as a trackball to the computer, and the left toucpad to register as a standard controller's analog stick. This way, if a game without native support steam controller supports analog input via a standard controller, you can still get analog movement out of the steam controller in legacy mode. Pretty cool.

http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=574824&postcount=276

I talked to some touchpad devs near Valve's booth who were showing of a super low latency touch surface. I asked them if they were talking with Valve about getting their tech in the steam controller. He said "Yeah we've talked to them about it and we're interested and they seemed interested, but the stuff they got in there is terrible one dollar stuff, and our stuff is like five dollars so I'm not sure it's going to happen."

http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=574931&postcount=280

 

[PandaPedinte]

Went to the Black Mesa forum to see if there's any update about the game and saw this SC impression:



http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=574824&postcount=276


http://forums.blackmesasource.com/showpost.php?p=574931&postcount=280

Finally interesting info.

 

[ashecitism]

T3: http://www.t3.com/reviews/valve-steam-controller-review#null

Control will always evolve, and it's exciting that Valve is trying to prompt another sea change, bringing mouse subtleties to a gamepad in an all new way, even if we're not sure we're quite ready for it yet. We look forward to trying it in the comfort of our own office, not in the harsh open lights of a trade-show floor.

Finally interesting info.

Pretty telling we get better coverage from gamers or devs than the press, save for Tested.

 

[flaxknuckles]

You will be able to change whether or not the controller is emulating an analog stick or a trackball from the steam overlay. This also works in legacy mode, so you could say, set the right touchpad to register as a trackball to the computer, and the left toucpad to register as a standard controller's analog stick. This way, if a game without native support steam controller supports analog input via a standard controller, you can still get analog movement out of the steam controller in legacy mode. Pretty cool.

That's only really useful in games that let you simultaneously use gamepad and M+K (which most of them do though). Even then, you'll have to deal with the on-screen prompts constantly changing from xbox buttons to key presses, which could be incredibly annoying. I hope most devs adopt this controller moving forward so we can just get native support.

 

[ashecitism]

Rev3Games: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8mqpIUxb8