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[Widge]

When do actual updates happen and not beta?

I'm not on the beta path after reading issues people have had with the hardware when being on it.

 

[TyrantGuardian]

When do actual updates happen and not beta?

I'm not on the beta path after reading issues people have had with the hardware when being on it.

I mean you can always switch back to non-beta if you stumble upon any issues. Otherwise, there's no downside to it.

 

[lensoftruth]

How do you change between feature sets? Thinking this would work great for swapping between wiimote and gamecube configurations for Dolphin Emulator.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

I think the Steam controller is the 2nd best purchase iv made in recent years. I love it..

I had trouble at first but I really like mine now but for a very niche use. Slower mouse controlled games. Best examples for me are:
Sunless sea
Invisible Inc
Darkest dungeon
Shadowrun Hong Kong.

For that relatively small niche of games its so good. I suffer from upper back pain fairly easy and it flairs up quickly if I'm using a mouse and being rather idle with it. It's not so bad in an fps as I'm moving my hand / arm enough and will maybe let go and stretch now and then. But games like the above leave my arm practically motionless and it can end up being really uncomfortable.

I have tried to play shooters with this thing but my brain just can't do it. On mouse or controller I play inverted. Always have and its how my brain works. However with this thing it doesn't know what it wants to do. If I play inverted, half the time my brain wants to do the opposite. If I switch it to normal my brain gets confused and wants to randomly be inverted. It's very strange.

Plus aiming with right trigger and right pad throws off my aim even more. I have to use left pad on the bottom and it doesn't interfere.

But no matter what I can't use it for that.

But for the types of games I mentioned I absolutely love it.

 

[Unai]

I wish that the Big Picture overlay would let me see the people I met online. It's not an issue with the controller itselft but now I have to use it to get the controller working it is an inconvenience.

 

[Sophia]

Wish they'd fix the bug with the Big Picture Mode overlay outside of it. Hitting the steam button twice accidentally causes the whole overlay (and by extension, the controller) to shut off in non-Steam games. Source of much frustration. ;_;

 

[atr0cious]

So is they're a designated way to do action sets? Like how does the controller know its in a certain menu, or is it just more mode switching which requires giving up the default buttons? Like would it be possible to have buttons switch when a contextually menu pops up? Trying to make a good hitman bind, but still end up leaving a few options off the table which the console version double binds.

 

[catabarez]

Didn't realize they added a rumble option. The haptics do a pretty good job of emulating it.

 

[Eusis]

I have tried to play shooters with this thing but my brain just can't do it. On mouse or controller I play inverted. Always have and its how my brain works. However with this thing it doesn't know what it wants to do. If I play inverted, half the time my brain wants to do the opposite. If I switch it to normal my brain gets confused and wants to randomly be inverted. It's very strange.

Plus aiming with right trigger and right pad throws off my aim even more. I have to use left pad on the bottom and it doesn't interfere.

But no matter what I can't use it for that.

If you want to break out of inverted controls or at least be able to handle non-inverted this is your best opportunity.

Can't help as much on your aim being thrown off though. Maybe for games like Borderlands map left soft pull to aim down sights and full pull to firing? And use the right trigger for hip firing?

 

[Soodanim]

I'm one of you now.

The clicking doesn't annoy me like I thought it would, but I certainly need to disable feedback from analogue stick movements. Those get silly.

I tried a tiny bit of Oniken to see how the dpad is without click to press and I'm not used to it yet, but it's not bad. Overall the controller is very comfy and the UI for everything is very nice. It's fantastic going through games and seeing configs you hadn't dreamed of.

This controller might even convince me to get back into some games I left unfinished, so that could be a bonus. Oblivion was one of those games.

I also want to try something that takes advantage of the dual stage triggers at some point.

 

[Boombox On]

has anyone tried playing Need for Speed with this? I have no idea what the developers were doing when they mapped the controls but it seems like a complete bust here.

EDIT: Apparently, no matter what input you use, it won't work if you launch it through Steam.

 

[DizzyCaffeine]

Oh wow, just got this controller as a present, and after a couple hours in Firewatch and Superhot, I'm in love. It's so unusual yet intuitive at the same time....I can't wait to try other games with it. How do I access the overlay in games, by the way?

 

[Unai]

Oh wow, just got this controller as a present, and after a couple hours in Firewatch and Superhot, I'm in love. It's so unusual yet intuitive at the same time....I can't wait to try other games with it. How do I access the overlay in games, by the way?

Just press the buttom with the Valve symbol in the middle of the controller. If it doesn't work try pressing shift + tab in you keyboard to check if the overlay is working properly. If you can't open it with they keyboard and won't also open with the controller.

 

[8BitCerberus]

Plus aiming with right trigger and right pad throws off my aim even more. I have to use left pad on the bottom and it doesn't interfere.

Have you tried the trigger dampening settings? I don't really bother with them because squeezing the trigger doesn't really mess up my aim, but it's a setting specifically designed to lower the mouse sensitivity when pressing the trigger(s) and some people find it perfect for combating any aim shifting while squeezing the triggers.

 

[Foxyone]

Making working action sets stills seems broken for me : /

 

[AJ_Wings]

After messing around with it for a couple of days, I like it! It's not ideal and I do prefer 360 controller over it in a lot of cases, I can find myself getting my head around certain configs.

Also, to anyone wanting to replay the first Mass Effect with a Steam Controller, you'll probably run into an issue where it wont recognise the controller after launch. Thats because of the UAC prompt that appears after launching preventing the use of the controller which is really annoying. To stop the UAC prompt, I ran steam in admin mode and then launched the game with the controller support no problem. Then after finishing my session, I unchecked the admin box off. Its not ideal since this might cause some issues with some steam features but I dont know of a better solution. I wonder what Valve can do with games that causes the same issue.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Does anyone else keep getting "Failed to load controller configuration..." when trying to configure the controller for Dying Light Enhanced Edition or another game?

Its been like this since launch. Only game that it happens with too.

 

[rottendevice]

My biggest gripe is the haptic pads aren't rubber (or at least semi-rubber). I expected they would be when I bought it. Particularly for shooters, there's potential for high precision gaming, but it's too easy for your thumbs to slip.

Otherwise it's not so bad. Six shoulder buttons is cool. Err.. maybe shoulder / rear.

 

[riflen]

My biggest gripe is the haptic pads aren't rubber (or at least semi-rubber). I expected they would be when I bought it. Particularly for shooters, there's potential for high precision gaming, but it's too easy for your thumbs to slip.

Otherwise it's not so bad. Six shoulder buttons is cool. Err.. maybe shoulder / rear.

I'm curious. Why do you want more friction in a trackpad? When I think about swiping my thumb across the trackpad, the last thing I want is friction.
If you can't get the required precision with the trackpad alone, I suggest enabling the gyro.

 

[Rinさとり]

I'm curious. Why do you want more friction in a trackpad? When I think about swiping my thumb across the trackpad, the last thing I want is friction.
If you can't get the required precision with the trackpad alone, I suggest enabling the gyro.

I agree with this.

 

[shockdude]

If you want to break out of inverted controls or at least be able to handle non-inverted this is your best opportunity.

Can't help as much on your aim being thrown off though. Maybe for games like Borderlands map left soft pull to aim down sights and full pull to firing? And use the right trigger for hip firing?

Using the Steam Controller taught me how to play non-inverted on traditional controllers. It's pretty convenient.

 

[MarcoZombieCannon]

Using the Steam Controller taught me how to play non-inverted on traditional controllers. It's pretty convenient.

I'm super weird in that I have to play inverted on the steam controller too.

 

[8BitCerberus]

My biggest gripe is the haptic pads aren't rubber (or at least semi-rubber). I expected they would be when I bought it. Particularly for shooters, there's potential for high precision gaming, but it's too easy for your thumbs to slip.

Otherwise it's not so bad. Six shoulder buttons is cool. Err.. maybe shoulder / rear.

I'm with riflen on this, more friction on the pads would be no bueno.

And you weren't technically wrong with 6 shoulder buttons. 2 on the bumpers, and 4 on the triggers.

I'm super weird in that I have to play inverted on the steam controller too.

With twin-stick controllers, I'm an invert Y guy, but with mouse I never have been. My brain sees the stick as just a miniature joystick like I used to use for flight/space sims, pushing the joystick forward put you into a dive or looked down. When controllers added joysticks and reversed that, 15 years of muscle memory screamed out in horror every time I tried to do anything with any semblance of competence. At least until I found games that offered to invert Y.

So with the Steam Controller, since I use it primarily in Mouse or Mouse Joystick, pushing forward goes up, just like using a mouse and how my brain works. But before there was Mouse Joystick I was setting up my Dark Souls binding as the one game I needed to use Joystick Camera for (since that game has atrocious mouse support), and I reflexively went for invert Y, but oddly enough I found that not to work for me. For some reason, probably the lack of the physical stick, my brain isn't interpreting it as a joystick but as a mouse, even if it's in Joystick mode.

 

[basic_text]

Does anyone else keep getting "Failed to load controller configuration..." when trying to configure the controller for Dying Light Enhanced Edition or another game?

Its been like this since launch. Only game that it happens with too.

Are you in the Steam beta by any chance? The only way I got it working was by opting out of it.

If you have any joy with the lockpicking on the haptic pad then please let me know as I can't get it working.

 

[rottendevice]

I'm curious. Why do you want more friction in a trackpad? When I think about swiping my thumb across the trackpad, the last thing I want is friction.
If you can't get the required precision with the trackpad alone, I suggest enabling the gyro.

I guess it depends on the game. For something like an RTS or world building game, I understand your perspective. But for a shooter, I want the ability to make very slight movements. The trackpad's surface is too slippery for that.

Again, maybe a good middle ground would be a material that's sort of rubbery, like the material used on a Tupperware lid.

 

[Soodanim]

I've only had a couple hours with it since I got it, but I was trying stuff out and the trackball setting does some very strange stuff if you hold your thumb still, at least in Dark Souls 1. The camera was going all over the damn place!

I've spent more time looking through my library and community configurations than actually playing games so far.

 

[riflen]

I guess it depends on the game. For something like an RTS or world building game, I understand your perspective. But for a shooter, I want the ability to make very slight movements. The trackpad's surface is too slippery for that.

Again, maybe a good middle ground would be a material that's sort of rubbery, like the material used on a Tupperware lid.

I still don't understand. I've played so many FPS games with the controller and never once thought I needed more friction on the track pad. You need to do so much rapid swiping that having the surface fight you sounds like a nightmare. I do not think it would help precision, but, well opinions.

When I was learning to use the controller, (almost exclusively with first or third person shooters) I found most of the following features really useful for improving accuracy. I prefer to use plain mouse without trackball.

- Gyro set to plain mouse. Lower the sensitivity right down. I use always on but most use the default I think. Also reduce the vertical axis sensitivity. Trackpad is mainly used to orient the camera.

- Sensitivity dampening. Sensitivity is lowered on button press. I didn't test this very much because I got what I needed without it.

- Reduce vertical sensitivity for your trackpad. Most games don't require a lot of looking up and down and it massively helps mitigate accuracy mistakes.

- Spend time to get rotation set suitably for your swiping action, or you have to constantly correct for vertical axis inaccuracies.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Are you in the Steam beta by any chance? The only way I got it working was by opting out of it.

If you have any joy with the lockpicking on the haptic pad then please let me know as I can't get it working.

Yes i am. Sounds like it could be a pain to play with anyway. Ill stick to ye olde 360 controller for now.

 

[8BitCerberus]

I've only had a couple hours with it since I got it, but I was trying stuff out and the trackball setting does some very strange stuff if you hold your thumb still, at least in Dark Souls 1. The camera was going all over the damn place!

I've spent more time looking through my library and community configurations than actually playing games so far.

Dark Souls 1 has really atrocious mouse support, even with an actual mouse. You're going to want to use gamepad for everything, and Mouse Joystick on the right pad.

Dark Souls 2 supports simultaneous gamepad and mouse great, however.

Beyond that, holding your thumb still on the pad should not be causing movement unless you have the gyro on and set to activate on right pad touch (it's default activation), and the movement is probably coming from you moving the controller. There can be some slight jitter if you press the entire pad of your thumb to the pad, but not anything that would cause wild camera movement all over the place. Still, best you use the tip of your thumb, and I don't mean you have to crook your thumb at 90 degrees, just don't have it resting completely flat on the surface of the pad.

 

[la_briola]

Anyone can recommend a good Diablo 3 ROS config?

 

[Unai]

The Steam Controller is a godsend to read comics in my 47" TV. It's actually better than using my tablet.

 

[8BitCerberus]

Anyone can recommend a good Diablo 3 ROS config?

Mouse Region, either on the stick or on the left pad, works great for movement. I have mine set on the stick. Right pad is set to Mouse and I turned off trackball for it to make it a little easier to stop on a target, or rummage through the inventory.

For the triggers I've got the right trigger set to soft-pull as left click, full-pull as space+left click so I can be using the soft-pull + stick to move around, then full-pull and mouse/right pad, or stick, to lock in place and aim.

Beyond that, it's just a matter of finding out where you're most comfortable putting the various skills and potions. I've got mine on the two bumpers, left trigger soft and full-pull, and grips, so I never have to take my thumbs off either movement or skills in combat. Inventory and other less critical things are on the face buttons, and I have my left pad set up as a Touch Menu with several additional commands like the town portal, view port zoom, banner, etc.

 

[la_briola]

Mouse Region, either on the stick or on the left pad, works great for movement. I have mine set on the stick. Right pad is set to Mouse and I turned off trackball for it to make it a little easier to stop on a target, or rummage through the inventory.

For the triggers I've got the right trigger set to soft-pull as left click, full-pull as space+left click so I can be using the soft-pull + stick to move around, then full-pull and mouse/right pad, or stick, to lock in place and aim.

Beyond that, it's just a matter of finding out where you're most comfortable putting the various skills and potions. I've got mine on the two bumpers, left trigger soft and full-pull, and grips, so I never have to take my thumbs off either movement or skills in combat. Inventory and other less critical things are on the face buttons, and I have my left pad set up as a Touch Menu with several additional commands like the town portal, view port zoom, banner, etc.

Sounds good, did you share your profile and can I import it?

 

[8BitCerberus]

Sounds good, did you share your profile and can I import it?

It was shared back before the change-over to the profiles and controller customization/personalization. That also brought a minimum of 1 hour play-time on the profile before it can be shared to the community and it was kind of a reset for existing profiles since there was no time tracking on them before that.

I haven't played any D3 since... pretty much since they added Mouse Region (it was the first game I thought about when that got added) when I re-worked my old profile with several mode-shifts to now have Mouse Region and Touch Menu and not really need any mode shifts. But that was still a couple of weeks or so, before the playtime requirement got implemented.

I've been wanting to pick up ROS, actually, and play back through the game since I pretty much stopped playing it shortly after initially finishing it back in 2012. I probably should at least get an hour or so in with the controller profile so I can get it up on the community again.

 

[Boxuv]

Hope the GDC presentation gets released soon and not in a few months time. The Vulcan presentations are up though so there\s hope for a quick upload (even though those are really low quality).

 

[Sorcerer]

Does anyone else keep getting "Failed to load controller configuration..." when trying to configure the controller for Dying Light Enhanced Edition or another game?

Its been like this since launch. Only game that it happens with too.

I keep getting please play the game one hour with this config when I try to load a custom config. Yet the game time clearly shows me at 50-70 hours on some games.

 

[8BitCerberus]

I keep getting please play the game one hour with this config when I try to load a custom config. Yet the game time clearly shows me at 50-70 hours on some games.

Is that 50-70 hours with the controller though, and specifically with that particular profile? The message may not be worded too well, but it's saying "play the game with this controller profile for one hour" before it will save to the community.

 

[Sophia]

Yeah gotta use a controller configuration for at least one hour, without modifying it in any way, in order to save it.

 

[la_briola]

It was shared back before the change-over to the profiles and controller customization/personalization. That also brought a minimum of 1 hour play-time on the profile before it can be shared to the community and it was kind of a reset for existing profiles since there was no time tracking on them before that.

I haven't played any D3 since... pretty much since they added Mouse Region (it was the first game I thought about when that got added) when I re-worked my old profile with several mode-shifts to now have Mouse Region and Touch Menu and not really need any mode shifts. But that was still a couple of weeks or so, before the playtime requirement got implemented.

I've been wanting to pick up ROS, actually, and play back through the game since I pretty much stopped playing it shortly after initially finishing it back in 2012. I probably should at least get an hour or so in with the controller profile so I can get it up on the community again.

I try to find something that works for me, thanks anyways!

You really should get ROS, its like a new game and the patch and season (ladder) support is great!

 

[MutonCommander]

Hey guys, I finally got my Steam Controller and I'm experimenting with the settings. I feel though that the haptics are too weak even at the high setting. How are they supposed to feel? I can hear and lightly feel the clicks when the trackball moves but I don't know, I expected a more pronounced effect.

 

[Sorcerer]

Is that 50-70 hours with the controller though, and specifically with that particular profile? The message may not be worded too well, but it's saying "play the game with this controller profile for one hour" before it will save to the community.

Yeah, I only use a Steam Controller and test my configs thoroughly before posting them to the community.

I could have sworn things were much easier when this controller was first released.

Possibly some glitch on my end related to my machine. I will have to sort it out. Thanks!!!

I have also have a glitch where my controller will turn on my machine, but then the controller will shut down and I have to push the button again to turn it on. Minor but it shows anything is possible.

 

[Bentendo]

EDIT: Nevermind, I'm dumb. lol

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

I have a question about the "bindings" displayed in the OP. I've looked around online for more information and needed some clarification.

How "stupid simple" is this?

Here's where I'm coming from:

In a console or PC game, if I need to look up key bindings or adjust controls (like sensitivity), I go to the in-game menu and look it up. Then I can go back to the game, verify that it works, and keep playing.

On the occasions that I've used my PS3 controller on PC (to play Witcher 2, if you're curious) I always felt like I had to internally "get used to it". The on-screen would say "Press B" and I had to remember "Oh, they mean 'X' ". And when sensitivity felt off, sometimes it meant tweaking an in-game slider and sometimes it meant Alt-tab'ing out of the game and adjusting it in the driver settings. It just felt so crappy compared to how a controller works on a console. Yes, I'm aware 360 controllers and Logitec controllers on PC are a real thing...

In the OT, the screen bindings appear to offer a description for each game? If I go to the keybindings menu, is that what I'm going to see?

If I have to daisy chain this in my head ("okay, so the minimap toggle is mapped to 'M' according to the in-game configs, and on my Steam controller 'Shift + m' is mapped to Left Bumper + A, so in order to toggle I have to....") then I'm simply not interested. However, if it is as customizable and friendly as reviews and this thread lead me to believe, I may pick one up and give it a try.

Sorry for the long post. I'm certain somewhere buried in this thread is someone who asked a similar question, but I couldn't find anything.

 

[Unai]

I have a question about the "bindings" displayed in the OP. I've looked around online for more information and needed some clarification.

How "stupid simple" is this?

Here's where I'm coming from:

In a console or PC game, if I need to look up key bindings or adjust controls (like sensitivity), I go to the in-game menu and look it up. Then I can go back to the game, verify that it works, and keep playing.

On the occasions that I've used my PS3 controller on PC (to play Witcher 2, if you're curious) I always felt like I had to internally "get used to it". The on-screen would say "Press B" and I had to remember "Oh, they mean 'X' ". And when sensitivity felt off, sometimes it meant tweaking an in-game slider and sometimes it meant Alt-tab'ing out of the game and adjusting it in the driver settings. It just felt so crappy compared to how a controller works on a console. Yes, I'm aware 360 controllers and Logitec controllers on PC are a real thing...

In the OT, the screen bindings appear to offer a description for each game? If I go to the keybindings menu, is that what I'm going to see?

If I have to daisy chain this in my head ("okay, so the minimap toggle is mapped to 'M' according to the in-game configs, and on my Steam controller 'Shift + m' is mapped to Left Bumper + A, so in order to toggle I have to....") then I'm simply not interested. However, if it is as customizable and friendly as reviews and this thread lead me to believe, I may pick one up and give it a try.

Sorry for the long post. I'm certain somewhere buried in this thread is someone who asked a similar question, but I couldn't find anything.

Are you asking if they on screen prompts represent the real labels in the controller? If this is what you want to know, there are three possible cases:

1 - The controller is emulating a xbox 360 controller. In this case the A on screen represents the A on the controller by default. You could change that if you want but there isn't much of reason to do it;
2 - The controller is emulating a keyboard and mouse setup. In this case, no. The L on the screen might mean B or LB or whatever. To know for sure you have to press the "Valve Button" and see it on the settings of the controller.
3 - The game has native support for the controller. In this case the prompts on the screen are always 1:1 with the labels on the controller, but these games are very, very rare today.

Sometimes you can get a mix of 1 and 2, for instance if you want almost the whole controller to emulates the xbox 360 controller but want only the right trackpad to emulate a mouse.

 

[Nzyme32]

I have a question about the "bindings" displayed in the OP. I've looked around online for more information and needed some clarification.

How "stupid simple" is this?

Here's where I'm coming from:

In a console or PC game, if I need to look up key bindings or adjust controls (like sensitivity), I go to the in-game menu and look it up. Then I can go back to the game, verify that it works, and keep playing.

On the occasions that I've used my PS3 controller on PC (to play Witcher 2, if you're curious) I always felt like I had to internally "get used to it". The on-screen would say "Press B" and I had to remember "Oh, they mean 'X' ". And when sensitivity felt off, sometimes it meant tweaking an in-game slider and sometimes it meant Alt-tab'ing out of the game and adjusting it in the driver settings. It just felt so crappy compared to how a controller works on a console. Yes, I'm aware 360 controllers and Logitec controllers on PC are a real thing...

In the OT, the screen bindings appear to offer a description for each game? If I go to the keybindings menu, is that what I'm going to see?

If I have to daisy chain this in my head ("okay, so the minimap toggle is mapped to 'M' according to the in-game configs, and on my Steam controller 'Shift + m' is mapped to Left Bumper + A, so in order to toggle I have to....") then I'm simply not interested. However, if it is as customizable and friendly as reviews and this thread lead me to believe, I may pick one up and give it a try.

Sorry for the long post. I'm certain somewhere buried in this thread is someone who asked a similar question, but I couldn't find anything.

Are you asking if they on screen prompts represent the real labels in the controller? If this is what you want to know, there are three possible cases:

1 - The controller is emulating a xbox 360 controller. In this case the A on screen represents the A on the controller by default. You could change that if you want but there isn't much of reason to do it;
2 - The controller is emulating a keyboard and mouse setup. In this case, no. The L on the screen might mean B or LB or whatever. To know for sure you have to press the "Valve Button" and see it on the settings of the controller.
3 - The game has native support for the controller. In this case the prompts on the screen are always 1:1 with the labels on the controller, but these games are very, very rare today.

Sometimes you can get a mix of 1 and 2, for instance if you want almost the whole controller to emulates the xbox 360 controller but want only the right trackpad to emulate a mouse.

To add to the above, if the game is not native Steam Controller Support (ie when even the tool tips refer to the Steam Controller), you choose a binding set made by someone in the community / developer that can mix all sorts of input types. Assuming the binding set you choose is highly used (top of the list with the highest number), it is most likely going to be well labeled and setup ready to go. To look at the controls, you hit the guide button, then press configure controls. However, when you return to the game, the place you left the menu at is remembered, so if you need to do some tinkering or need to keep referencing controls, you just push the guide to see it, push the guide to go back.

Basically, always refer to the guide button to reference the controls the Steam Controller is using rather than the tool tips / when the tool tips pop up, so you can be sure.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

Are you asking if they on screen prompts represent the real labels in the controller? If this is what you want to know, there are three possible cases:

1 - The controller is emulating a xbox 360 controller. In this case the A on screen represents the A on the controller by default. You could change that if you want but there isn't much of reason to do it;
2 - The controller is emulating a keyboard and mouse setup. In this case, no. The L on the screen might mean B or LB or whatever. To know for sure you have to press the "Valve Button" and see it on the settings of the controller.
3 - The game has native support for the controller. In this case the prompts on the screen are always 1:1 with the labels on the controller, but these games are very, very rare today.

Sometimes you can get a mix of 1 and 2, for instance if you want almost the whole controller to emulates the xbox 360 controller but want only the right trackpad to emulate a mouse.

The possibility of #3 is why I asked. I do like the idea of holding a button to "shift" the assignment of another button. I also love the idea of mouse-like aiming while still preserving other gamepad functions.

The picture in the OT shows "Krejlooc's bindings" and "Portal 2 bindings". That's what I'm basing my question on.

If I can bring up the menu and it says "Left Trigger - aim" and "A button - sword slash" (or whatever) just like it does in the picture, that's what I'm looking for. Whether than means I'm using an "official button layout" or that I've downloaded a community button layout (seamless, right? This isn't a big hassle?) as long as I'm getting that result, I'm fine.

I understand that if a game is set to "Keyboard", I'm going to get an on-screen prompt to "Press 'g' on your keyboard to growl'. It's not going to say "Press the Right Trigger on your Steam Valve Controller (tm) in order to growl". Or if it's set to WASD controls, the game isn't going to say "use your Left haptic thumbpad to move around". Not a problem. I wouldn't expect it to do that.

I don't want to have to first bring up the Valve menu, then check my Valve button settings ("oh okay, A is mapped to 'a' on the keyboard") and then go back to the game, and then go into the in-game button config, and then say "where's the 'a' button? Oh, okay, that opens up my map", and then press the button to open up my map. I don't mind that this controller is flexible, but I don't want it to be a nightmare to configure and figure out. I want that menu to be a one-stop-shop reference to the game's controls.

It seems to me that there are a ton of community controller layouts, which is cool. As long as I can avoid the above scenario without too much hassle, that's what I'm interested in learning.

To add to the above, if the game is not native Steam Controller Support (ie when even the tool tips refer to the Steam Controller), you choose a binding set made by someone in the community / developer that can mix all sorts of input types. Assuming the binding set you choose is highly used (top of the list with the highest number), it is most likely going to be well labeled and setup ready to go. To look at the controls, you hit the guide button, then press configure controls. However, when you return to the game, the place you left the menu at is remembered, so if you need to do some tinkering or need to keep referencing controls, you just push the guide to see it, push the guide to go back.

Basically, always refer to the guide button to reference the controls the Steam Controller is using rather than the tool tips / when the tool tips pop up, so you can be sure.

This is helpful to know, and I definitely appreciate that the Valve button "remembers" where I was last at in the menu.

 

[Unai]

The possibility of #3 is why I asked. I do like the idea of holding a button to "shift" the assignment of another button. I also love the idea of mouse-like aiming while still preserving other gamepad functions.

The picture in the OT shows "Krejlooc's bindings" and "Portal 2 bindings". That's what I'm basing my question on.

If I can bring up the menu and it says "Left Trigger - aim" and "A button - sword slash" (or whatever) just like it does in the picture, that's what I'm looking for. Whether than means I'm using an "official button layout" or that I've downloaded a community button layout (seamless, right? This isn't a big hassle?) as long as I'm getting that result, I'm fine.

I understand that if a game is set to "Keyboard", I'm going to get an on-screen prompt to "Press 'g' on your keyboard to growl'. It's not going to say "Press the Right Trigger on your Steam Valve Controller (tm) in order to growl". Or if it's set to WASD controls, the game isn't going to say "use your Left haptic thumbpad to move around". Not a problem. I wouldn't expect it to do that.

I don't want to have to first bring up the Valve menu, then check my Valve button settings ("oh okay, A is mapped to 'a' on the keyboard") and then go back to the game, and then go into the in-game button config, and then say "where's the 'a' button? Oh, okay, that opens up my map", and then press the button to open up my map. I don't mind that this controller is flexible, but I don't want it to be a nightmare to configure and figure out. I want that menu to be a one-stop-shop reference to the game's controls.

It seems to me that there are a ton of community controller layouts, which is cool. As long as I can avoid the above scenario without too much hassle, that's what I'm interested in learning.


This is helpful to know, and I definitely appreciate that the Valve button "remembers" where I was last at in the menu.

Yes, you can do that with the click of a button.

 

[HungOverOnATues]

...
If I can bring up the menu and it says "Left Trigger - aim" and "A button - sword slash" (or whatever) just like it does in the picture, that's what I'm looking for. Whether than means I'm using an "official button layout" or that I've downloaded a community button layout (seamless, right? This isn't a big hassle?) as long as I'm getting that result, I'm fine.
...
I don't want to have to first bring up the Valve menu, then check my Valve button settings ("oh okay, A is mapped to 'a' on the keyboard") and then go back to the game, and then go into the in-game button config, and then say "where's the 'a' button? Oh, okay, that opens up my map", and then press the button to open up my map. I don't mind that this controller is flexible, but I don't want it to be a nightmare to configure and figure out. I want that menu to be a one-stop-shop reference to the game's controls.

In my experience there are quite a few community configurations that have exactly this problem and it's really irritating. Ideally this will be less of an issue once better rating tools are available and the configurations which people put the time in to label and write helpful descriptions for will rise to the top. As it stands, they're currently ranked by the number of users which are using the config, regardless of how they like it, or whether or not they've even continued using the controller with the game after trying it, which leads to a snowball effect.

Given the unreliability of the quality of the top ranked config and the highly personal nature of how people tend to prefer to control certain games (sensitivity, acceleration, gyro, click vs touch dpad, etc,) you'd likely want to just use one of these configs as a baseline and tweak it to your liking, including adding your own labels if need be.

 

[Eusis]

This thing is a dollar coaster of jumping on/off betas, isn't it? Now the non-beta reads as a DirectInput controller or whatever and I need to go to Beta for it to work as Xinput.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

In my experience there are quite a few community configurations that have exactly this problem and it's really irritating. Ideally this will be less of an issue once better rating tools are available and the configurations which people put the time in to label and write helpful descriptions for will rise to the top. As it stands, they're currently ranked by the number of users which are using the config, regardless of how they like it, or whether or not they've even continued using the controller with the game after trying it, which leads to a snowball effect.

Given the unreliability of the quality of the top ranked config and the highly personal nature of how people tend to prefer to control certain games (sensitivity, acceleration, gyro, click vs touch dpad, etc,) you'd likely want to just use one of these configs as a baseline and tweak it to your liking, including adding your own labels if need be.

Hmmm. Interesting. Well, that's not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate the heads up.

I guess I'll have to gauge whether it's worth it to spend that time tweaking the controller to get the optimal setting.