The Steam Controller!

[iFreilicht]

I didn't know about the gyro. Pretty cool, though I'm not sure whether I'd ever use it. Do we know how many controllers can be used with a single dongle at once? I'd really like to connect up to 8 controllers for Gang Beasts, but I don't know whether that's actually possible.

 

[EdZ]

Then Wii U gamepad (the one with the screen) can do a similar 'assisted aiming' trick. In Windwaker HD, for example, you can aim the hookshot with the thumbsticks, or by physically turning the gamepad, at the same time. And because the gamepad has absolute location tracking (due the the top/rear mounted tracking camera and the 'sensor' bar) you're actually turning and/or translating the gamepad left or right and up or down, rather than 'rotating it like a steering wheel' due to pure IMU input (sensing the g-vector moving is easy, but 'yaw' motions are trickier due to gyro drift and 3-axis magnetometers being a lot harder to take advantage of than is immediately obvious). It actually works very well in practice.
Valve could replicate this with a future Steam Controller variant with integration of their Lighthouse tracking system, at the cost of added bulk to accommodate the marker constellation.

 

[rawr]

Indeed I have heard many positive reports about gyroscope aiming with the Wii U, hopefully Valve can capitalize.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

Has anyone ordered this? I'm tempted since I'd like to beam some games to my TV via Steam Link, but I've heard mixed feelings about the controller, and that basically makes or breaks the experience.

 

[iFreilicht]

It doesn't though, you can use an Xbox 360 Pad with the Steam link as well. Not sure about other controllers, but everything with a USB connection should work.

I didn't order it yet, want to wait until more reviews are out and until I've actually got money to spare. Maybe it would be a good christmas gift for myself.

 

[rawr]

Has anyone ordered this? I'm tempted since I'd like to beam some games to my TV via Steam Link, but I've heard mixed feelings about the controller, and that basically makes or breaks the experience.

I don't think this is something an early impressions review can really demonstrate the qualities of.

To many, this is just such an alien and weird concept, and it may take weeks, months to actually get used to. If you think of the first analog controllers, we had a similar situation; they just seemed really weird.

Perhaps constantly playing with it will reveal its true potential. Perhaps not.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

It doesn't though, you can use an Xbox 360 Pad with the Steam link as well. Not sure about other controllers, but everything with a USB connection should work.

But that won't work for games that really depend on the modality and accuracy of a mouse. And even for games that can use a controller (like most FPS offerings), the disadvantage of a traditional controller is so significant in multiplayer so as to ruin the experience for someone who predominantly plays on PC (raises hand).

Having a way to play PC games on my TV, with close-to-as-accurate controls as a keyboard and mouse, is really the only reason I'd consider the Link. Otherwise I don't see the point in my own use case.

I don't think this is something an early impressions review can really demonstrate the qualities of.

To many, this is just such an alien and weird concept, and it may take weeks, months to actually get used to. If you think of the first analog controllers, we had a similar situation; they just seemed really weird.

Oh, I agree completely. I'll let this gestate in the market for some time before committing to a buying decision either way.

 

[EdZ]

Having a way to play PC games on my TV, with close-to-as-accurate controls as a keyboard and mouse, is really the only reason I'd consider the Link. Otherwise I don't see the point in my own use case.

Then just plug a USB keyboard and mouse into the Steam Link. All the Steam Link is is a dedicated low-power box to use the existing Steam in-home streaming service.

 

[iFreilicht]

But that won't work for games that really depend on the modality and accuracy of a mouse. And even for games that can use a controller (like most FPS offerings), the disadvantage of a traditional controller is so significant in multiplayer so as to ruin the experience for someone who predominantly plays on PC (raises hand).

Having a way to play PC games on my TV, with close-to-as-accurate controls as a keyboard and mouse, is really the only reason I'd consider the Link. Otherwise I don't see the point in my own use case.

Ah, I thought you considered it for use with couch-coop games or racing games and stuff like that.

 

[Phuncz]

It is indeed a totally different way of gaming, between FPS/RTS and action/race games. You can always feel when an FPS game is designed for the console and modified to work with a PC. Let's not forget the horribly narrow FOV that works well on console but is a nightmare on a desktop PC.
Ofcourse it's not set in stone, 3rd person shooters work well on consoles too. With a good steering wheel and seat, I'd rather have an 21:9 or triple-monitor setup close to me. So Steam Link might be the best option, since it enables the lowest cost of having an additional couch setup besides your desktop PC if it's located in another room.

 

[Soul_Est]

I own one currently and consider it great for gaming in the living room. Just wish I could keep the configurations I use without having to manually export them every time as I move between places with and without internet.

 

[iFreilicht]

I'm owning two right now, though it's too early for a final sentiment. Saving configurations on the controller seems to be a feature that is currently in the Steam Client and Controller Firmware Beta, at least from what I've understood.

Baseline right now is: The touchpads are NOT suited as an analog stick replacement for the steering in racing games, but are a little bit better than a D-Pad for 2D platformers if you configure them correctly. If you want to control a camera, they do a decent job, as a trackball on the desktop it works quite well if you need it. The triggers can also easily replace regular shoulder buttons, the tactile feedback on them and the touchpad works great for digital input. You can really feel when you cross the activation border, it's a completely new feeling.

Initially I thought you could only pair a single controller to each wireless dongle, but you can actually connect four per dongle, you just have to pair them manually once in the client.

 

[Soul_Est]

I'm owning two right now, though it's too early for a final sentiment. Saving configurations on the controller seems to be a feature that is currently in the Steam Client and Controller Firmware Beta, at least from what I've understood.

Baseline right now is: The touchpads are NOT suited as an analog stick replacement for the steering in racing games, but are a little bit better than a D-Pad for 2D platformers if you configure them correctly. If you want to control a camera, they do a decent job, as a trackball on the desktop it works quite well if you need it. The triggers can also easily replace regular shoulder buttons, the tactile feedback on them and the touchpad works great for digital input. You can really feel when you cross the activation border, it's a completely new feeling.

Initially I thought you could only pair a single controller to each wireless dongle, but you can actually connect four per dongle, you just have to pair them manually once in the client.

For racing games, you can try using the gyroscope to steer. I'm still working on that for ETS2 myself.

 

[jØrd]

 

[iFreilicht]

For racing games, you can try using the gyroscope to steer. I'm still working on that for ETS2 myself.

That's a good point, and I should really try that for something slower like TDU, but when we're talking about RocketLeague (which kind of is a racing game in some aspects), motion controls are absolutely useless.

The few times I've tried it, I also noticed that the controller doesn't care where the floor actually is, it sets its zero-orientation just where it was when you started the game. Maybe that has been fixed by now, or you can work around it by setting a secondary action for the gyro, maybe that could reset it as well.

 

[Soul_Est]

That's a good point, and I should really try that for something slower like TDU, but when we're talking about RocketLeague (which kind of is a racing game in some aspects), motion controls are absolutely useless.

The few times I've tried it, I also noticed that the controller doesn't care where the floor actually is, it sets its zero-orientation just where it was when you started the game. Maybe that has been fixed by now, or you can work around it by setting a secondary action for the gyro, maybe that could reset it as well.

I have usually set a button for switching the gyro to none rotate to zero (or as close as possible), release it and continue. Helped a lot in ETS2.

 

[iFreilicht]

Ah, that's exactly what I was thinking about. Good to know that it works.

 

[Soul_Est]

Ah, that's exactly what I was thinking about. Good to know that it works.

I went back to using the right pad as a mouse for mouse steering. I set the sensitivity in the game all the way down and adjusted the sensitivity of the controller as needed.

 

[K888D]

It takes some getting used to if you are used to a console style setup and its not perfect, but I'm finding it is a good and enjoyable compromise for PC gaming on the couch. The Touchpad/mousepad thingy is surprisingly accurate aswell

 

[iFreilicht]

Yeah that's what really struck me as well, you can really use it as a good mouse replacement. Even the typing is nice when you're using the built-in browser.
The only thing that is somewhat annoying is that you can only do Alt+Tab or stuff like that if you're in desktop mode. If a window launched behind your game or focus shifts to a different window, the controller is still in the configuration for the game, and even with the steam-button you can't change that.
I think it would be much more useful if the controller configuration changed with the window focus, though I recognise that might be impossible to implement without doing sketchy stuff with the OS.

It's also annoying that you can't access the in-game menu for the controller if you didn't launch the game from big-picture mode.