Easton Dark
Member
Said no one ever.
Steam Controller trailer, $50
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Said no one ever.
no valve steambox.
yes you store games on it. its basically a linux PC. the Link is for just streaming. Note that since linux you can only play linux supported games.. rest you can stream from your pc (or install windows on it etc.)
stan423321
Member
1) As long as I'm aware, no they don't, they want their partners to feel good about having their own SMs and not "knock-offs" in perception of a moron consumer.
2) The idea is not to stream, but the SM is perfectly capable of receiving a stream as a stopgap solution since many PC games run only on Windows/MacOS while SMs are supposed to ship with Linux. However this is more like PS4ita/WiiU than PS Now - it's you who provides the "server".
Supercollider
Banned
I just don't want to use up bandwidth by streaming games (if this is the future of gaming, then it's going to be costly and annoying at first, isn't it?). I want to be able to download single player games onto my Steam Machine and then play them using the stored files, rather than streaming.
The "streaming" people are talking about is not an "online" service, it is in-home streaming from a computer you already have located somewhere else in your home on your home network. The Steam Machines do both this streaming (if you want) but are designed to download games from Steam that will be stored on the machine and played from it
I'm not really sure why they have only partnered with one company in some areas. In the UK it is understandable since there really are not choices, yet in Europe they have quite a few partners
Supercollider
Banned
I know. Both methods will use up a lot of bandwidth, no?
If you stream within your home network why does the bandwidth it uses matter?
Supercollider
Banned
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something. How does that change things? I'm still streaming something, which uses up my monthly GB allowance.
You don't use internet data streaming within your home network
It's all inside your local network. You don't communicate at all to the internet.
You can test it right now even using a xbox 360 controller and a keyboard.
No. Your monthly GB is only for things from the Internet. This stream is only in your local network so your internet provider has nothing to do with it. Think about it like coping files from a PC to another one using your local network.
Should be fine on either. I'm not familiar with Gamestop, but for GAME in the UK they make a specific not that pre-ordering now will get you the controller for October 16th "while stock lasts" after which point you have to wait till November 10th to receive it.
Edit - actually just looking up the US site, it states clearly that you get it October 16th
quickwhips
Member
Will buy controller during steam sale.
I've played a lot of games that switch on-the-fly between keyboard and controller, but as I understand it there's still a little delay between them. Or at least it takes a second for the game to switch the HUD icons between controller and keyboard.
Anyway, if that isn't a problem then this could really be cool. I hope I can make a game interpret the Steam controller's analog stick as the left analog stick while interpreting the right track pad as the mouse. The icons are probably gonna be switching back and forth like crazy though.
Anyway, if that isn't a problem then this could really be cool. I hope I can make a game interpret the Steam controller's analog stick as the left analog stick while interpreting the right track pad as the mouse. The icons are probably gonna be switching back and forth like crazy though.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I already locked my order in and was mulling over canceling. Think I'm going to keep it.
Neverforget
Member
It's looks nice and all but I'll wait for the reviews, at this point it can go either way.
Gangxxter
Member
I'm located in Austria and just checked the Austrian GameStop site, but unfortunately there is no release date listed, only that the Steam Controller and Steam Link are available for pre-order at store (online pre-order coming soon).
Supercollider
Banned
Oh. Really? Wow. I'm totally uninformed on this. Thanks.
Does that also apply to the Steam Link device that is coming out?
Yep. All network traffic going through your local network is completely free (and should be *much* faster) and just dependant on your equipment.
Steam link (and similar devices) are just sending and receiving data to and from your PC directly, it doesn't leave your home network, your ISP won't even know about that data. You could even disconnect your internet connection and it should all still work.
Yes. The Steam Link's purpose is to basically act as a middle-man device between your PC and TV. This saves you, say, having to lug your PC into another room and hook it up to the TV directly -- instead you just hook up the Steam Link unit and let it do its thing.
Supercollider
Banned
That's really cool. I want one now. Thanks for bearing with me. Evidently, I'm just starting to figure out all the facts about this.
If there's no HL3 this fall, then revisiting HL2 via Steam Link on my HDTV with that awesome new controller will have to suffice.
If there's no HL3 this fall, then revisiting HL2 via Steam Link on my HDTV with that awesome new controller will have to suffice.
viveks86
Member
You can't make the steam controller's input be interpreted as an analog stick. It will always be interpreted as a keyboard and mouse. It can be calibrated to simulate the effect of an analog stick, but the game isn't going to see it as a gamepad. So there is no switching back and forth that will happen
EDIT: Just catching up with that conversation and I see that the controller can actually be recognized as a gamepad as well. Did not know this!
Ah, sorry. I always make the assumption that Gamespot is US specific when it isn't. I'd assume a date will show up when pre-ordering get going there. Seems pretty much everywhere is still doing the Oct 16th deal
viveks86
Member
Hey can you explain the "mapping as controller" part? Are there any screenshots you can share of this configuration being done? Where do you set the controller to start sending xinput instead of kb/m commands? I thought the only 3 modes for the touchpad are 4 directional, 8 directional and mouse?
Crayon
Member
I was playing mount & blade last nite and wishing for this controller. I kinda want to play right now. I'm new to it and it's amazing but using the keyboard and mouse for hours on the couch is a drag.
I find games that can be played soley with the keyboard or the mouse the be pretty comfortable tho. Using both restricts your posture and positioning, but I can handle one and sit however I want.
ashecitism
Member
I posted a screencap of the vid about the templates earlier. The trackpads can also emulate thumbsticks. The Witcher 3 part is basically switching between thumbstick and mouse.
Zeyphersan
Banned
As far as I know, Link only receives game streams at 1080p, regardless of what resolution your desktop is rendering the game at
EatinOlives
Member
I wonder how much the resolution is currently bandwidth limited.Steam Link is only 1080p
Probably not, it's easy to approach gigabit speeds on even cheap home LAN equipment.
I can't imagine a big increase in cost to manufacture a streaming box that could drive 4K resolutions. It's not doing much leg work itself, just needs to output the pixels. I'd be interested to see an explanation for the 2K limit if bandwidth was not an issue.
I find it much easier to believe they just decided not to take on the cost of more capable hardware (and maybe the in-home streaming software that hasn't been tested at 4K) than bandwidth. I highly doubt bandwidth is the issue here given how widespread and cheap capable gigabit home networking equipment is.
Look at it this way: If you don't have the LAN bandwidth for 4K, you don't have to use it. If they put the hardware in capable of 4K streaming, then the cost is more expensive regardless of if you need the capability or not.
viveks86
Member
I knew they could simulate thumbsticks, didn't know they actually emulated them, as in send xinput commands as opposed to translating input to mouse coordinates. I assumed the controller would still present itself as keyboard/mouse to the OS, regardless of template. So if that is indeed the case, wouldn't it bring up the issue of constantly switching button prompts in "legacy" games?
So if I switch to "gamepad" as template, would it be all xinput?
ashecitism
Member
Linus has managed to stream 4k during IHS beta before bandwidth limit was upped. HW is a big factor.
urgh, oh well, will wait for wider release and use a shipping forwarder if needed.
Sir Abacus
Member
The problem is that IHS is entirely CPU encoded because the low latency encoding basically abuses the H.264 codec in ways that it was never meant to be abused. Once you start getting up to 4K frames the encoding process starts to actually take CPU time. I think you can use hardware encoding but it would increase latency, not sure how noticeably considering there's virtually no link latency. Not like it would matter because I don't think anybody supports the Level 5.2 encoding you'd need to get 4K60 streaming happening.
Also, given Linus's videos on the subject I suspect Valve is using Level 4.1 encoding to make sure it doesn't overwhelm the hardware decoding available for a wide variety of GPUs. Pre-kepler supported a maximum of level 4.1 and I'm pretty sure GCN pre-1.2 (i.e. anything pre-R9 285) is the same. All Intel graphics pre Iris is level 4.1 as well. This pretty much limits you to 245,760 macroblocks per second which is 1080p30. Any higher resolution and you risk breaking the spec (there is supposed to be a max macroblock frame size) and you would have to trade off frame rate for resolution to stay under the max macroblock rate. Going to Kepler/Maxwell/GCN 1.2 would probably give you a lot more hardware decoding breathing room but why are you streaming if you have to own a fairly recent GPU anyway to decode it.
Steam Link probably has some ARM chip with Level 4.2 hardware decoding given the 1080p60 restriction and the low price.
This part of the dilemma I have as well. For the lounge, link would be great, but then I want to have full surround sound and also the possibility of 4k. So I think I might hold off on the link to see what comes next
Crimsonclaw111
Member
Will the controller work for Origin games as well? Girlfriend is a huge Sims fan.
viveks86
Member
Most certainly. You can use the controller to operate your OS if you want. So it should work for any game.
Yes, you can put the individual games as non-steam apps and then create bindings or find community ones for those.
Crimsonclaw111
Member
This sounds like an awesome companion for Streaming then, thanks. I'll probably get one.