Steam Controller thread

It's single-handedly one of the worst controllers I have ever had the displeasure of holding. And yes, I'm including mad catz shit. Everything about the controller feels flimsy and cheap. It's light. The buttons feel terrible. The stick is okay, I guess. But christ, those pads. Terrible to touch, un-responsive, awkward to maneuver. It's really just awful on all fronts. The only way I could possibly recommend it is if you have to, and I mean absolutely fucking HAVE to play a mouse-only game with a controller. How they got away with peddling this dumpster-tier hardware is beyond me.

Just save up a little money and get a 360 controller on the cheap or any of the current-gen pro controllers

Probably the closest you can possibly get to a mouse/keyboard when using touchpad aim + gyroscope controlls. I had a lot of fun playing Left 4 Dead 2 with it. Works great with everything from FPS games to Minecraft.

Has ridiculously good controller config ability, allowing you to set up controls in nearly any way you can concieve.

Cons? I did manage to brick it during an update once, but unbricking is as simple as holding the trigger while you plug it in, and literally dragging and dropping a new binary on just like a flash drive file (there are tutorials for this).

Don't bother with a Steam Link unless you absolutely must play Steam games in another room than your main rig. Video quality is great and lag is nearly zero, but it's a $50 expense.

>>376986230
I get that you don't like it an all, but UNRESPONSIVE touchpads? Did you even use the damn thing, they're more sensitive than a clitorous and can be configured to a WIDE range of sensitivities, accelleration, etc.

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>>376985995
Too small.

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>>376986335
>Works great with everything from FPS games to Minecraft.
>Works great from everything from first person games to first person games

>>376986435
Alright, I can chalk that one up to poor configurations, but I stand by everything I said about the build quality.

>>376986506
The build quality could have been better. It does deel a little lightweight and cheap.

>>376985995
You WILL get hand cramps the first few times you use this thing. It has a somewhat awkward shape. You will get used to it after a few hours.

I didn't mind it but the steep learning curve with some games made it a hassle.


I did play dark souls 3 with it and it was pretty great.

The battery life with is good also.

I no longer have it though.

>>376986594
That's too bad about the build quality. At least I got it 15 dollars off. Hand cramps shouldn't be a problem, one of my favorite controllers is the dreamcast

How hard is it to configure for games?

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I just checked my Amazon delivery and its fucking 1-2 MONTHS when I have it set to free 2 day Prime.

Would switching it to paid 1 day set my order above the peasantry or no?

>>376985995
I have had mine for over a year now, and I love it.
It's no replacement for a "normal" controlelr, though. The lack of a D-pad is annoying.

The precision is also so much better than an analog stick that you can't play versus shit with friends if you only have one Steam controller. It would be extremely imbalanced.

>>376985995
It needs a D-pad and second stick. The right touch pad is nice in some games, but it's no substitute for a stick, and the left one is pretty much entirely useless. The grips are are a nice touch though, it's kind of nice to have two extra buttons that no game uses so you can configure them however you want.

Still, I wish I bought a Dual Shock 4 instead for the touch-pad, d-pad, and two sticks.

>>376987686
>the left one is pretty much entirely useless
This. What the fuck were they thinking?
What would you even use it for??

>The grips are are a nice touch though, it's kind of nice to have two extra buttons
Yeah, that was a really pleasant surprise.
I always use them for jumping and crouching in FPS games, and it makes everything so much quicker and smooth.

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>>376987860
>I always use them for jumping and crouching in FPS games
oooh that sounds nice

I have absolutely no idea what people mean when they say it feels cheap/lighttweight. It feels slightly heavier than my wired 360 controller and equally sturdy. I feel like that's a meme that some guy said to try to get people to not give Valve money and then people started repeating

If you've used an actually cheap controller like Sony's blue PS2 controllers that you can literally break by twisting with your hands then your frame of reference might change

But anyway I'm not convinced so far that this thing is actually good for FPS games. It just doesn't have anywhere near the combination of speed and precision and intuitiveness that a mouse does, although maybe I just need to practice more and tweak some settings. Trying to play FEAR on the thing made me feel like how my dad must feel when he tries to play shooters on a gamepad

It's great for (slow in some respects, admittedly) desktop navigation and emulators though, the former due to how basically every function you need is there and the latter due to the extra buttons (map them to save states/speedup/etc.)

>>376986471
Pretty sure he ment like actual shooters, not something laid back like Minecraft.

Buy Dualshock 4 like mentally sane people would

>>376988080
It really is!
I always hated that you had to let go of the stick to jump in most console FPS games, but that's not an issue with the Steam controller.

>>376988163
This is your brain on Sonybro

>>376988086
>It just doesn't have anywhere near the combination of speed and precision and intuitiveness that a mouse does
Of course not.
It is 94 times better than an analog stick, though - That's the point.

>>376987860
>grips for jump and crouch
Holy shit, this is something I have to try now

>>376987860
>What would you even use it for??
I use the left touchpad for leaning or for savestates in emulators. I've tried mapping movement to it in 2D games as well and it seems like it'd probably be slightly better than an analog stick after getting used to it

But yeah a plus pad would be better, though the on-screen keyboard would suffer (I know there's the daisy wheel as well but I prefer the other method)

>>376988163
>Dualshock 4
Wut, why waste money on DS4, when a DS3 works just fine on PC?

Do you think this controller is going to be good with Vanquish? How is it with MGR or Bayo?

>>376988323
Because he said he needs a new a controller

>>376988263
I'm actually not convinced of that yet, really. It's such a small surface yet so sensitive, I find myself just twitching my aim all over the place sometimes. I've been trying to aim with both the gyro and the pad in conjunction though, maybe that's my problem. Would probably be a good idea to get used to aiming with just one before incorporating the other.

>>376988283
Do it! It made a huge difference for me

>>376988345
Seems it will be perfect for Vanquish.

>>376988345
gabepad is basically made for autisming in CS:GO in big picture mode

>>376988418
It takes a bit of practice, but it is extremely much more precise than a stick once you get the hang of it.
It makes it possible to play fucking Q3A and UT2k4 with a controller, which just blows my mind. (Again, you need two controllers or more if you plan on playing with other people though, as it can't compete with M+KB and analog stick controllers don't stand a chance against it)

>>376988373
And?

I don't like having to be in Big Picture mode in order to use different configs, but other than that it's mostly fine.

>>376986335
Don't bother with a Steam Link unless you absolutely must play Steam games in another room than your main rig. Video quality is great and lag is nearly zero, but it's a $50 expense.

Well, it is just 20 USD this week, and I say it is worth it because of the fact that controllers connect to IT as opposed to the PC, which can solve peripheral conflicts.

I love the Steam controller, bought it on release with the link and use them both pretty extensively. Literally the only downfalls of the Steam controller is that it needs to be configured to reach its full potential on a per-game basis (which not everyone has the patience for), and you're forced to use Big Picture in order to configure it. Beyond that, it's incredible for the asking price.

I've played a few dozen games of Dota on it and it's honestly incredible how well it plays. Civ plays great on it too, as do most games that are console/PC multiplats. If the port is done right, you can have simultaneous xinput/mouse input - which means you have analog stick movement with precision aiming.

This isn't me shilling, either. I've got every modern console and use them pretty regularly, even on my PC.

Anyone else find it easier to aim in track-ball mode?
I also like the ability to slide my thumb swiftly to the side to "spin the ball" and turn around completely in an instant.

>>376988873
>the only downfalls of the Steam controller is that it needs to be configured to reach its full potential on a per-game basis (which not everyone has the patience for)
You know you can just click the steam button to bring up the menu and select a community made preset, right?
It's one of the things I love the most about this thing

I like it, but I have quite a few complaints
>vibrations are too loud
>it needs a 4-pole minijack
>maybe a microphone
>touch panels should be easier to press
>trigger travel should be longer
>make the gamepad xinput compatible when the Steam is off
>add battery level indicator
>improve the gyro
>for local multiplayer add the controller number display
>>376988818
You don't have to, just right click on the game entry to see a controlled configuration option

>>376988842
Just use a wired connection with the Steam Lik, I don't know why they even bothered with wireless.

>>376989004
Of course, that was literally its main selling point at launch. Problem is that for games that aren't controller-focused (and even for many that are), a lot of the community configurations have things enabled that I either don't like (acceleration on the trackpad, for example) or will be as generic as possible and still require extensive configuration to fit my personal wants for the game. The presets provide a nice template, though, for sure.

>>376985995
>got a wired 360 for 10 bucks
botw got 100% more C O M F Y

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This is my go to controller for when I want to play one of those weird PC games where an xbox controller wouldn't suffice. It's also somehow surprisingly good for racing games.

>>376988086
>Trying to play FEAR on the thing made me feel like how my dad must feel when he tries to play shooters on a gamepad

this pretty much sums up my entire experience with this thing

I use it as a glorified remote when I switch my desktop to the television while I'm on the couch

>>376989183
>vibrations are too loud
The clicking sound?

>it needs a 4-pole minijack
What? What for?

>maybe a microphone
A microphone in a controller? Why on earth?

>touch panels should be easier to press
Yeah, they feel a bit weird

>trigger travel should be longer
Absolutely not. In what games are soft triggers ever even useful? It's just analog lag on your input if you use it for shooting.

>make the gamepad xinput compatible when the Steam is off
It is?
I really hate that you have to use Big Picture to get presets and stuff, though.

>add battery level indicator
Could be nice, but the batteries last 5ever, so it's not really necessary.

>improve the gyro
Haven't really used it myself, to be honest. What's bad about it?

>for local multiplayer add the controller number display
Ah, yeah, that would help.

The only thing I really don't like is the extra pad instead of a D-pad.Such a waste.

>>376989437
>>376988086
Why?
It instantly felt amazing to aim with to me.
Such a freedom to not have to struggle with the slow stick on normal controllers.

>>376989605
>The clicking sound?
Yes
>What? What for?
To stick my headphones in it
>A microphone in a controller? Why on earth?
When headphones doesn't have one
>In what games are soft triggers ever even useful?
Racing games
>It is?
It's not. It works as keyboard and mouse emulator as default. Setting up emulators in BPM is pure pain
>Haven't really used it myself, to be honest. What's bad about it?
It requires calibration too often

I don't understand. The only reason I use the Xbox 360 controller is because a game plays like shit with mouse and keyboard, why would I want a controller that is "a decent compromise between controller and mouse+keyboard" when I want something that is good at one of the sides.

>>376990154
Because it's comfy to use a controller?
It's a really nice option for single player FPS games, in my opinion, and it can be great fun in local multiplayer if you have more than one.
It's also a comfy option for controlling slow and menu-heavy games, like CIV and grand strategy games.

>>376990356
>Because it's comfy to use a controller?

lel

>>376989678
>Why?
>It instantly felt amazing to aim with to me.
Well for one thing it's pretty hard to consistently draw a straight line across it with your thumb just due to how the human thumb moves (and yeah I know that you can rotate the pad's input directionality or whatever)

But idk like I said I probably just need to use it more. The main problem is that it's just not very big, you need more real estate for fast and precise aiming