Steam Controller Get! First Impressions and Discussions

[DefunctTheory]

To add to what inmunitas said, all the buttons on the controller function more like keyboard keys when it comes to set up. Specifically, for an RTS, you'd bind the 'd-pad' keys to WASD, the trackpad to mouse movement, and the two right shoulder buttons to the mouse buttons. That would be the basic set up, and you could bind all your shortcuts to everything else.

Valve developed the firmware so you can easily map keyboard keys to the buttons and touchpads on the controller.

Really?! That's superb! I might actually consider getting one now, when I have a bigger budget. The idea of playing Civilization 5 from the relaxed position of my bed as if I were console gaming is awesome.

To give you an idea how how detailed the settings are...

Spoiler

Perhaps the worst thing about the control settings is there's TO MUCH customization, and its very intimidating. I mean, the D-Pad alone has six different function types before you start dicking around with the specifics of each type.

Luckily, Steam has dozens of different 'standard' settings you can choose to start with, then tinker with to get exactly what you want, so you don't have to start from scratch every time. YOu can even share you controller scheme with others.

As for the thread, I apologize. Things are happening that are slowing me down when it comes to testing. I'll try to do better in the coming days.

 

[Vigormortis]

That's good to hear, as the Force Feedback, it's good to hear mostly because it would be weird to not have it after being used to it since I can remember.

It's taking some getting used to, but mapping the movement to the left pad and the primary attack buttons to the right pad, triggers/shoulders, and the backside buttons is surprisingly responsive.

Sadly, my available library of fighting games is limited. I only had access to Street Fighter IV and MKX (both owned by a friend), and Yatagarasu (only fighting game demo I could find on Steam in short notice).

It worked decently for Yatagarasu. I tried "Click Required" on and off on the left pad. On provided a bit more tactile feedback, simply by the familiar act of pushing down, but Off felt a LOT faster, since I need only swipe my thumb from point to point.

The former two games worked pretty well by using the Steam Controller as if it were default mapped to an Xbox360 controller. I'll try testing it out with other games and other configurations when I can. Going to be a busy week for me, I'm afraid.

 

[Kae]

That's good to hear, as the Force Feedback, it's good to hear mostly because it would be weird to not have it after being used to it since I can remember.

It's taking some getting used to, but mapping the movement to the left pad and the primary attack buttons to the right pad, triggers/shoulders, and the backside buttons is surprisingly responsive.

Sadly, my available library of fighting games is limited. I only had access to Street Fighter IV and MKX (both owned by a friend), and Yatagarasu (only fighting game demo I could find on Steam in short notice).

It worked decently for Yatagarasu. I tried "Click Required" on and off on the left pad. On provided a bit more tactile feedback, simply by the familiar act of pushing down, but Off felt a LOT faster, since I need only swipe my thumb from point to point.

The former two games worked pretty well by using the Steam Controller as if it were default mapped to an Xbox360 controller. I'll try testing it out with other games and other configurations when I can. Going to be a busy week for me, I'm afraid.

That's good enough for me though, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one at this point, if all I have to do is get used to it then that's fine I can use that controller and my friends can use the more traditional Logitech controller, should work fine.

Anyway thanks for the info.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Having thought more on it the design is perhaps a hurdle I might be unable to traverse. With a controller I tend to use my thumb for the analog stick on the right, my forefinger for the buttons and my middle and ring fingers for the shoulder/trigger buttons, left side is thumb analog, forefinger and middle for shoulder/trigger. I'd have a very tough time switching my thumb and forefinger functions for FPS/TPS games.
I guess its cool for people who don't use or own a controller already and for some reason want to forgo mouse and keyboard, personally I have an Xbox 360 controller for when I want to use one and of course m+k. So I probably won't be buying this as even if my 360 controller goes poopy, I have about 6 more lying around unused. Backups are wonderful.

 

[Vigormortis]

That's good enough for me though, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get one at this point, if all I have to do is get used to it then that's fine I can use that controller and my friends can use the more traditional Logitech controller, should work fine.

Anyway thanks for the info.

You're welcome.

And just to add to my previous post:
I've had a bit more practice with the controller in fighting games and, I gotta say....while it still feels really weird to just swipe my thumbs around on the track pads to move and use attack actions, it also feels quite fast. Shockingly fast. As in, I think I may be able to play better than I might've with my 360 pad.

I'm by no means an expert on fighting games (at best I'm marginally better than a novice) but I get the feeling a better player than I could learn to use the thumb-swipe method of input to amazing effect. If only because of the sheer speed possible.

I'm going to try some racing and RTS games next. I'd like to see if it's possible to use the pads as steering-wheel-like inputs.

 

[Vigormortis]

Having thought more on it the design is perhaps a hurdle I might be unable to traverse. With a controller I tend to use my thumb for the analog stick on the right, my forefinger for the buttons and my middle and ring fingers for the shoulder/trigger buttons, left side is thumb analog, forefinger and middle for shoulder/trigger. I'd have a very tough time switching my thumb and forefinger functions for FPS/TPS games.

With the underside buttons and mappable trackpad, you wouldn't necessarily need to switch the function of your fingers.

Still, I appreciate issue. My biggest hurdle thus far is training my brain NOT to instinctively reach up for the face buttons. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I still find myself occasionally reaching up. Case in point, I tend to find myself reaching up, feeling for the B button, to go back a page in a games UI.

All I can say is, if you get the chance, try one out. Could be it's terrible and does nothing for you. Could be that it fills a need better than your 360 pad did. Who knows?

 

[CrystalShadow]

It seems that the overall opinion is that the controller takes a bit of getting used to but feels less like a traditional analog sticks and d-pad and more like a handheld analog to the mouse-keyboard setup, perhaps with a little less accuracy. The things I've heard about it though are that it has some issues when paired with a traditional controller like an issue where using an Xbox 360 controller with it tends to recognize both controllers as the same player. Also there were reports of the mouse-analog function having issues when streaming and other issues of controller confusion while streaming (an issue I've also noticed with the Xbox One to Windows 10 streaming). And some Big Picture issues where the controller did not function perfectly
Other negative issues were about the feel of the shape not necessarily being as comfortable as the 360 controller, but that could just be a subjective thing.
Overall I am intrigued by the Steam Controller and may end up waiting until its been tinkered with a bit more. Maybe wait til generation 2 of it. I'm very wary of the feel of it in my hands as I'm partial to the feel of the 360 and XBox 1 controllers (love the XB1's feel). It sounds cool, but yeah I'll wait it out for a 2nd gen version just to be sure.

Honestly, I'm not surprised. Leaving aside hacks for console controllers, I have 4 gaming specific input devices already.
(Xbox One controller, Razer Hydra, A joystick, and rudder pedals)

And it is a major pain in the ass. Basically there's Xinput games, and DirectInput games. (some games support both, but not many).
If I have all 4 plugged in at once, a large number of games, particularly Xinput ones get horribly confused.

They're optimised for the Xbox 360/One controller (which is why I have it; Less hassles than trying to get one of the others to work, even though in terms of controls, the hydra could replicate it perfectly) - However, if any of the other 3 are plugged in, they quite often seem to interfere with games that use the xbox controller. Not in a good way either, since it seems to result in thinking you have one of the analog sticks permanently pushed downwards.
Most of my USB ports being on the back of my computer, means plugging things in and removing them constantly is a headache.

I could easily see the steam controller doing the same thing, because that seems to be PC's for you.

On the other hand, it's good to know the Steam controller does kinda work.
I mean, not surprising, because I know what touchpads are like. Not as good as a mouse, but quite decent.
(Just that the ergonomics of a laptop trackpad make it especially hard to use with games.)

So... It'd make sense that a pair of trackpads would do a decent job...

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

With the underside buttons and mappable trackpad, you wouldn't necessarily need to switch the function of your fingers.

Still, I appreciate issue. My biggest hurdle thus far is training my brain NOT to instinctively reach up for the face buttons. I'm starting to get the hang of it, but I still find myself occasionally reaching up. Case in point, I tend to find myself reaching up, feeling for the B button, to go back a page in a games UI.

All I can say is, if you get the chance, try one out. Could be it's terrible and does nothing for you. Could be that it fills a need better than your 360 pad did. Who knows?

I'd definitely try it out, I'm just not 100% sure it would replace mouse and keyboard nor a standard controller. But if I got one somehow, I wouldn't pay for it but I'd give it a fair chance. Its a neat concept and I could see current generation gamers who're not used to M+K but love controllers embracing it more. Easier transition and whatnot.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Got the chance to try it out yesterday at a friends house and I have to say it is not bad. I only got to try Portal 2 and Age Of Empires 2 on it before we moved on but it handled well if a little strangely.

For Portal 2 it worked fine I tried a few setups but the hardest thing was getting used to the weird feeling of the trackpad instead of the right analog stick. I dont think it will ever equal a mouse but in FPS games if you take the time to get used to the controller I can see it working well for you but on first pick up I found aiming accurately quickly extremely difficult.

Next we tried AOE2 mainly to see how it would feel with a strong keyboard and mouse based genre and it handled ok the game is playable but I cannot see it replacing mouse and keyboard for anyone including myself who generally prefers controllers.

I did not get to try a fighter or platformer as my friend dislikes those types of games and so has almost zero of them which is a shame as I really wanted to try it for fighters in particular and see how it stacks up to stick, Hitbox and other controllers for me but it was not to be.

The device is pretty comfy in your hands about as comfy as any of the current and last gen controllers anyway which is good. The flap buttons were also pretty decent but the ones on top were not fantastically placed and it felt a bit awkward but it was not a major problem and it was no worse than say the 360s front top two buttons. Ther analog stick is also fine and feels nice.

I did not like the left trackpad at least for moving it just does not feel satisfying to me and also less responsive than the analog (yes I did adjust sensitivity) I did want to try it for fighters and see what it was like for things like double 360 motions and double quarter circles but I was unable to so as it stands I am not a fan of that. The buttons likewise while not absolutely awfully placed are just not great in their position and are a little to small for my liking.

Overall however the things is not bad at all but the trouble is that unless you loath the current controllers or have none and desperately want one I dont see an reason to get one except perhaps you love FPS games and want a possibly slightly better experience but hate mouse and keyboard. I will not be buying one unless I get to try it with a fighter and find it amazing for the genre. If you dont have a PS3/4 or 360/One pad however and want a general use pad for PC then this pad is worth consideration. Really could not find anything amazing or awful about it.