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[Temporal Mess]

That looks... wildly uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.
Does anyone with tiny baby hands like mine have one? How is it for your stubby little fingers?

 

[Boombox On]

Do you guys think Valve is going to send the press HW to review them (this also includes the Link)? A bit more than two weeks till "early birds" ship, I haven't seen anyone from the press mention they got any.

Good question, but I almost dont want them to because of the misinformation surrounding it now. Better the people who pay huge attention to it first be the ones to get the word out before the inevitable "I'm only reviewing this because I got it" people at more popular sites.

 

[Astral/H3X]

That looks... wildly uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.
Does anyone with tiny baby hands like mine have one? How is it for your stubby little fingers?

The ergonomics are quite a bit different from a standard controller, so I think you'd be fine. The controller sits in the hands completely differently.

 

[Nymerio]

So apparently they're sending the controllers from the Netherlands, the tracking link from the client takes me to a GLS page and shows me this:

 

[Shy]

I'm in the uk and i ordered one in an hour of it going up, and i still don't have a confirmation email yet. I must have displeased the Gaben in some way. :_:

Europe here!

I'm in Austria.

Huh. thanks for letting me know.

 

[MNC]

So apparently they're sending the controllers from the Netherlands, the tracking link from the client takes me to a GLS page and shows me this:

Fuck! I want my confirmation mail! Send that thing to me right now!

 

[arcoN]

I'm in the uk and i ordered one in an hour of it going up, and i still don't have a confirmation email yet. I must have displeased the Gaben in some way. :_:



Huh. thanks for letting me know.

i ordered mine on the sixth of june

 

[Krejlooc]

Is the only way to customize controls through BPM? That could be a problem as I usually don't use BPM as it incurs heavy frame rate drops for me when it's on.

No, if you launch a game from desktop that you have preconfigured in bpm, your settings will still load. You only need bpm to set it up the first time.

 

[DeaviL]

So apparently they're sending the controllers from the Netherlands, the tracking link from the client takes me to a GLS page and shows me this:

Awesome, that means i'd get it a day after i order it.
Good.

(well, after they ship it anyway)

 

[trialbygame]

No, if you launch a game from desktop that you have preconfigured in bpm, your settings will still load. You only need bpm to set it up the first time.

I hadn't tested that because I assumed it wouldn't work. That's great news. That means someone could set up an alternative launcher, like one of the emulator launchers, and create a binding for the launcher, then separate bindings for each emulator. Neat!

 

[Garrett Hawke]

I wonder when GAME UK will dispatch theirs. I'm waiting to replay Infinite until it arrives

 

[Krejlooc]

I hadn't tested that because I assumed it wouldn't work. That's great news. That means someone could set up an alternative launcher, like one of the emulator launchers, and create a binding for the launcher, then separate bindings for each emulator. Neat!

Yup, this is possible. You can even do game by game button changes with something like ICE Roms.

 

[Nzyme32]

I wonder when GAME UK will dispatch theirs. I'm waiting to replay Infinite until it arrives

They won't. Those shipped so far are all from Steam to international customers, set to be received on Oct 16th which is when they are expected to release. So GAME UK will likely be intending to deliver for the same release date

 

[Blizzard]

Can I use this on non steam games like GOG or Origin?

As long as you keep Steam itself running, yes. I think you can have Steam minimized to the system tray for example.

 

[alexandros]

Invisible Inc seemed to play great, which is awesome because I want a Steam Controller exactly for games like it.

 

[DouglasteR]

I need this =/

Why not Brazil Valve ? WHHHYYYY

Spoiler

Dont you dare leave us in the shadow with the Vive

 

[Unai]

I need this =/

Why not Brazil Valve ? WHHHYYYY

Spoiler

Dont you dare leave us in the shadow with the Vive

Yeah, I wanted to buy it since the pre orders opened, but I couldn't. I hope we can buy it in November.

 

[Foxyone]

I don't think I've been this hyped for something gaming related since Halo 3 in 2007.

 

[Dogtooth]

I don't think I've been this hyped for something gaming related since Halo 3 in 2007.

I'm getting feels comparable to a handheld console launch.

 

[megateto]

So apparently they're sending the controllers from the Netherlands, the tracking link from the client takes me to a GLS page and shows me this:

I'm in the same situation.

 

[Kinthalis]

I don't think I've been this hyped for something gaming related since Halo 3 in 2007.

Aside from my love affair for new GPU's, this is the most excited I've been about hardware in a while. and I don't even do much couch gaming (I hav a family who would kick me to the curb if I started commandeering the TV for games), it would still be nice to kick back on my chair and play some strategy games on my monitor with this thing.

FPS games, I will always prefer mouse and keyboard though.

 

[RealityCheque]

I'm in the uk and i ordered one in an hour of it going up, and i still don't have a confirmation email yet. I must have displeased the Gaben in some way. :_:



Huh. thanks for letting me know.

I'm in Ireland, GameStop (i know, yuck!) is handling orders here. My order page still says pending, though I have a dispatch date of 16/10/15.

 

[trillbo]

Got my shipping confirmation today! Netherlands to Ireland, hopefully that means Friday delivery.

 

[ashecitism]

Got my shipping confirmation today! Netherlands to Ireland, hopefully that means Friday delivery.

There should be an estimated delivary date which should say Oct. 16. like it said for others.

 

[trillbo]

There should be an estimated delivary date which should say Oct. 16. like it said for others.

Yeah I noticed that. The wording is confusing though:

Shipping Status: Shipped
Estimated Shipping Date: 16 Oct, 2015
Shipped on 29 Sep, 2015 - Tracking #

Do you think they mean delivery date instead of shipping date?

 

[Shy]

I'm in Ireland, GameStop (i know, yuck!) is handling orders here. My order page still says pending, though I have a dispatch date of 16/10/15.

Thanks for letting me know.

 

[NotSelf]

Cool my shipping details went from pre-order to shipping soon.

 

[Chezzymann]

Okay so this probably a stupid question, but in terms of accuracy how is this much different than using an ipad for a shooter? People constantly say touch controls are terrible but from what I've seen a track pad isn't all that much different than using your thumb on a touch screen to control a camera. Taking this logic a little further, if the steam controller is better than a traditional controller at aiming in shooters, isn't it a logical step to say that a touch screen would also be better than a traditional controller at aiming? I understand the steam controller has haptic feedback to help you know where your fingers are but I'm mainly talking about accuracy.

 

[Nzyme32]

Okay so this probably a stupid question, but in terms of accuracy how is this much different than using an ipad for a shooter? People constantly say touch controls are terrible but from what I've seen a track pad isn't all that much different than using your thumb on a touch screen to control a camera. Taking this logic a little further, if the steam controller is better than a traditional controller at aiming in shooters, isn't it a logical step to say that a touch screen would also be better than a traditional controller at aiming? I understand the steam controller has haptic feedback to help you know where your fingers are but I'm mainly talking about accuracy.

• An ipad has no haptic feedback to give you any understanding of the state of the input
• An ipad is not simulating different inputs dependant on the game or user preference
• An ipad is not supporting different sensitivities, simulation of momentum / weight / trackball size etc etc

If you play an FPS, you most likely will have the Steam Controller set up for the right pad to be a trackball mouse. Movement on the pads are 1:1. It has simulated weight and size and feels like a literal ball under your thumb. You can feel it move under your thumb matching the size and weight simulated. You can flick it and still feel and hear that momentum that eventually runs out to a stop as expected. You can flick to spin it and then hard stop by putting your thumb back down. This allows for far more control than simple swiping of dragging, allowing for quick turning or even 180s similar to a mouse and far quicker and more accurate than an analogue stick.

As a simple example -

And this is just one of the myriad of possible scenarios and setups that could be created with the Steam Controller to suit different games, genres or play styles.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Okay so this probably a stupid question, but in terms of accuracy how is this much different than using an ipad for a shooter? People constantly say touch controls are terrible but from what I've seen a track pad isn't all that much different than using your thumb on a touch screen to control a camera. Taking this logic a little further, if the steam controller is better than a traditional controller at aiming in shooters, isn't it a logical step to say that a touch screen would also be better than a traditional controller at aiming? I understand the steam controller has haptic feedback to help you know where your fingers are but I'm mainly talking about accuracy.

iPads are fucking garbage because 1; there are no haptics, which this has, and 2: it is a simulated analog stick, with analog sticks already being pretty bad. Remove the feedback, and now you're left with nothing.

This, however, for all intents and purposes, is a trackball. Feels like a trackball, behaves like a trackball, controls like a trackball. But, it also has the added benefit of being more configurable into, more or less, anything.

Trackballs btw are pretty good. You get the benefits of 1:1 aiming, without velocity nonsense, on two big, hulking surfaces, with the inertial movement of a trackball, all in the size of a controller.

Literally, aside from the fact that they use capacitive sensing, they are nothing alike with an iPad.

 

[danielcw]

Okay so this probably a stupid question, but in terms of accuracy how is this much different than using an ipad for a shooter? People constantly say touch controls are terrible but from what I've seen a track pad isn't all that much different than using your thumb on a touch screen to control a camera.

I do NOT have first-hand experience with a Steam controller, but I can think of 3 major advantages a Steam Controller should have:

• less input-lag, the typical resistive touchscreen on smartphones have noticeable lag, for exmaple compared to Nintendo 3DS touch screen
• you know where you finger rests, and have a defined central point to go back to
• it should feel better, than smooth glass

Also touch controls on smartphones and tablets aren't just about targeting or moving, it is also about touching a screen area for shooting and other action, instead of having a dedicated, feel-able button.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I do NOT have first-hand experience with a Steam controller, but I can think of 3 major advantages a Steam Controller should have:

• less input-lag, the typical resistive touchscreen on smartphones have noticeable lag, for exmaple compared to Nintendo 3DS touch screen
• you know where you finger rests, and have a defined central point to go back to
• it should feel better, than smooth glass

Also touch controls on smartphones and tablets aren't just about targeting or moving, it is also about touching a screen area for shooting and other action, instead of having a dedicated, feel-able button.

These are all valid, but ultimately, are pretty darn miniscule compared to the major advantages.

 

[Krejlooc]

Okay so this probably a stupid question, but in terms of accuracy how is this much different than using an ipad for a shooter? People constantly say touch controls are terrible but from what I've seen a track pad isn't all that much different than using your thumb on a touch screen to control a camera.

See that big, round, circular pad directly above the thing you're wishing was a d-pad? The thing your thumb naturally extends over? It acts as a d-pad.

And contrary to what someone else posted earlier in this thread, the touchpads are suitable for platformers.

You can also use the cell phone screen as such, but a flat surface doesn't look like the best substitute for a physical D-pad to me.

the difference being a cell phone screen is touch activated and provides no tactile feedback aside from vibrations, where the touchpads can be switch activated to provide a real, literal, physical button depressing.

In other words, the difference between sliding over glass with every slightes contact being represented as input, and depressing an actual button on the left side of the pad to move left, with only that button being depressed being recognized as input.

Which is a pretty huge difference.

Thats because of the inherent difference between how an analog stick and a mouse work. A post explaining the difference:

original forum post I made with pictures inlined

So, I've seen people (not necessarily here) who can't quite figure out the advantage this control affords over a traditional thumbsticks, so I've created the following images to explain.
Thumbsticks work by giving the user control over acceleration of movement. The thumbsticks themselves don't actually control where your looking, but rather how much your view changes every tick. So here is a thumb stick that is centered for 4 hypothetical frames:

when the stick is centered, the degree of acceleration is 0, and you see that the direction the person is facing remains the same for all 4 frames. But if we tilt the stick slightly, like so:

now we see that we have a 15 degree change. So, in frame 1, we're still looking forward, then in frame 2, our view has shifted 15 degrees, then further and further until by frame 4, we're looking to our right. Now, we can push the stick further and make the rate at which our view changes increase in speed, like so:

now the change is 45 degrees. You see that, by frame 3, we're now looking to our right when, if we'd pushed the stick slightly less, it took us 4 frames. This is actually what we have control over, how fast the things change. but the fundamental flaw with this control method is you still have to wait until the game updates enough for you to face the desired direction. These thumbsticks have limits to their extents, so, for example, there is no way to push the stick far enough so that, by the very next frame, we're facing the complete opposite direction. There is always a few frames we have to wait.
Now, with touchpads (or with a mouse) we can directly select exactly which directly we want to face, on any given frame. It works like so:

you can see from left to right is actually a gradiant of positions which encompasses our view in 360 degrees. When we press in the middle, or don't press anything, we're looking forward. However, we can slide to different positions on the gradient and our view will match within the colored circle instantly:

with touch (and mouse) controls, we're not inputting the rate of change. We're inputting exactly where we want to look. That is the advantage mouse users have over controller users - they can instantly select any angle to use, where as controller users have to wait to get there. These touchpads afford the exact same advantage, without the need for a mouse.

Taking this logic a little further, if the steam controller is better than a traditional controller at aiming in shooters, isn't it a logical step to say that a touch screen would also be better than a traditional controller at aiming?

Most touch screen games merely emulate analog sticks, and those aren't better at all:

You get none of the advantages I spoke of above with these kinds of games. But when games use touch screens correctly, like this:

Or metroid prime hunters, or even N.O.V.A. from gameloft, then yes, they have the same benefits I describe and indeed are more accurate than an analog stick.

 

[anothertech]

Looks Dam huge

 

[Astral/H3X]

or even N.O.V.A. from gameloft,

Before someone hops in and says that Nova didn't control very well, you were also using a lot of virtual buttons and other such, as well as the form factor not being very well suited for it (compared to the steam controller). So while the ACCURACY of the aiming is there, the comfort of everything else isn't.

 

[Krejlooc]

Looks Dam huge

 

[Felix Lighter]

I have a HOTAS so I'm not actually planning on using it but I'm curious how well it works for Elite Dangerous. I used an DS4 when I first bought the game and it did a pretty good job so I assume it would be pretty good.

 

[Sorcerer]

So is the Steam Controller similar to the Xbox Duke in size?

 

[D3RANG3D]

Do you have duke for a size comparison?

 

[odhiex]

I'm not a fan of big controllers, but I'm willing to give it a try.

 

[Krejlooc]

Do you have duke for a size comparison?

Actually not at the moment, so this is the best I can do:

Steam controller and xbox one

Steam controller and ps4 controller

Steam controller and wave bird

Steam controller and xbox controller s

 

[MNC]

Got my order confirmation! Even though the release is 16th for early adopters, I still hold hope it arrives before this weekend or something silly like that.

I live in the Netherlands so it should be here like, now!

 

[KingSnake]

My order is still with the status "Information transmitted, no shipment available now" since I got the confirmation email. My guess is that The Netherlands is just the entry point in Europe for these and they are still shipped from US.

 

[Dingles]

I'm guessing these early dispatch emails are more of a pre-emption process. Mines been sitting on "Information Received" or whatever for the past couple of days.

So I guess they've not handed them over yet. I've not followed this thing too much since its announcement. Is there a wireless dongle in this final retail box?

 

[dsk1210]

I'm guessing these early dispatch emails are more of a pre-emption process. Mines been sitting on "Information Received" or whatever for the past couple of days.

So I guess they've not handed them over yet. I've not followed this thing too much since its announcement. Is there a wireless dongle in this final retail box?

Yes, there is a wireless dongle.

 

[Nzyme32]

I'm guessing these early dispatch emails are more of a pre-emption process. Mines been sitting on "Information Received" or whatever for the past couple of days.

So I guess they've not handed them over yet. I've not followed this thing too much since its announcement. Is there a wireless dongle in this final retail box?

Yes there is a wireless dongle - it can handle up to 4 controllers

 

[ashecitism]

8BitCerberus update:

09/29/2015 - Profiles for Diablo 3 and The Witcher are set up, ready for play testing. Could not stream tonight, will hopefully be able to tomorrow.

So, I guess later today.

Also Trial has been updloading further vids where he's palying the games in a relaxed environment with the controller, instead of just focusing on the controller

Spelunky: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY9MpW59mC8
Barony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm9Bw1lCokk
Rocket League again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqNwWhl6Ffo
Circa Infinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NQd2tqmqCU

 

[Krejlooc]

Got the controller on the 14th, and have been using it basically all day every day since as my primary mouse for my HTPC.

16 days later, the batteries are finally running dry. I used the batteries included in the box, dunno if they were new.

 

[bede-x]

Do we know where they are shipping the controller from? Import taxes can be quite high where I live, if for instance they decide to ship from outside the EU.

 

[CO_Andy]

Do you think it would be difficult to type up a paper with the Steam controller, Krej?