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Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

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Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#471
post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could say the same thing about AT&T, Bell Labs, etc. There’s a lot of precedent here, but most saliently, how you become a monopoly is not really relevant. They absolutely are one. But I’m being already aggressively downvoted with no counter arguments so the Gaben fanboys are here. (Defending a deca-billionaire is hard work, after all.)

> Could say the same thing about AT&T, Bell Labs, etc. No, you cannot. AT&T/Bell Labs was a monopoly - they physically controlled distribution networks that made it so you had to use them. Valve does not . There is nothing that prevents you from simply selling your game without Steam . And even if there wasn't , claims that Valve is a monopoly are factually false - there are many other storefronts that exist, and man…

> Valve does not.

Except they do. They control the Steam distribution network. It may not be physical but you still have to use it to reach a large portion of PC Gamers due to network effects and no one wanting to run multiple clients.

Currently you have to also make use of their other services like the Store, and pay for them with a large sales cut, in order to use the distribution network, no matter if you want those services or not.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#472
post #4

I love the readme on the gitlab page [1]. It feels so.. friendly :) > This repository contains CAD files for the external shell (surface topology) of Steam Controller and the Steam Controller Puck, under a Creative Commons license. This includes an STP model of each, an STL model of each, and an engineering drawing with critical features/keep outs for each. Feel free to use these to make your own Puck holders, Contro…

Sometimes I wonder what we did to deserve Valve and how long it can possibly last.

Except for their strong arm tactics forcing software companies to not be able to sell their games cheaper on other platforms:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2g1md0l23o

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They tried this many years ago with the original steam machines, it went horribly. Also, you can install SteamOS or Bazite on most machines. Not sure what the issue is here.

SteamOS does not currently really work on modern desktops/laptops. You can force it but it’s really not made for it. They’re pretty clear about that, I think they even pulled down the OS download page from their site and now clearly mark it as for restoring old machines. Likely to change soon though with the steam machine release

Bazzite is great, though. And doesn't lock you in to Steam or DRM if you don't use them.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#474
post #459
post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I forgot to mention in-game currency. I didn't say Valve is perfect. But they're definitely worth the money I spend there. Great service, proper support, regional pricing, and the list goes on. Everything works today. The work they've put on Proton/Linux gaming easily wins my support. Did they screw up sometimes? Sure. And I'm from the days when Steam didn't exist. I remember the NoSTEAM game versions in shady si…

> The work they've put on Proton/Linux gaming easily wins my support. Lets not be naive here, this is the money they are saving in Windows licenses for the Steam Deck, and having their own store instead of Windows Store/XBox PC App. Yet they are doing zero to foster native Linux games.

There isn't much they can do to foster native Linux support beyond trying to increase the number of people gaming on Linux. It's a chicken-and-egg problem, and you need to make the platform desirable to developers before they will start developing for it.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#475
post #358
post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's harder to say that when they invented loot crates. Sure everyone's doing it now, and someone else would've done it eventually, but Valve pioneered it. I suppose, yeah, some things would be a lot worse without Steam, so there's that.

That is not true. Gachapon mechanics existed long before, valve only took it to western market, not knowing the consequences. Remember this is way before gambling sites. It was a way to earn a cool random hat on TF2.

> not knowing the consequences

Yeah right, they just accidentally massively profit from it. Come on dude, Valve has behavioral psychologists on staff. They don't just accidentally abuse players.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course 30% seems reasonble to you, you're not the creator of the games. It's quite confusing to me that you're endorsing the side that has an insane ROI instead of the side that is sufferring greatly to make ends meet.

A 70% take would have blown the minds of developers pre-Steam. Retailers took 40% and were ruthless about shelf space and inventory. Distributors took 20%. Plus you had to actually make a box/CD/etc. They were lucky to keep 30% not pay it. This doesn't mean Valve is perfect but if a developer is "suffering" because of a 30% cut they probably need to improve their pricing/game/community/etc.

Retailers and distributors had actual costs they needed to cover for the services they provided. Steam largely does not seeing how profitable they are.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#477

Compare it to Sony who still put potentiometers in their controllers. Good luck desoldering and replacing that once analogs inevitably start to drift. It's super easy to damage something else in the process as I learned.

Plenty of people indeed do have good "luck" and repair these, apparently even putting in better parts.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>taxes, payments The market rate for this is low single digit percents. >update distributions Bandwidth is not worth a percentage of game revenue. If it were it would be >DRM Steam's DRM is terrible. >anti-cheat Also terrible. >user management... This is not worth a percentage of revenue. All of these together is not worth 30%. The only thing worth 30% is the ability for the Stram store to put your game in front of a…

> The market rate for this is low single digit percents. We're talking about virtually every country on Earth. Good luck trying to replicate that, the taxes/legal entity part alone will cost you an arm and a leg in setup time, not to mention ongoing costs in accounting, filing reports and dealing with other bureaucracy BS. > Bandwidth is not worth a percentage of game revenue. I'm not talking about bandwidth or a CDN…

> Is it? Sure, for some AAA titles you'll see Denuvo slopped on top, but for the wide masses, Steam's DRM is more than enough.

Because for the wide masses you don't actually need any DRM, which is about what Steam provides: nothing.

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#479
post #301

Even if Valve and Steam is great and overall a blessing for the PC space, I don't like the direction they take with this controller. It only works with Steam, it can't work on a desktop OS without it, despite standard layout. It is a subtle move towards a walled garden.

How custom is it? I assume(hope?) it is usb device class HID(or whatever the equivalent is for blootooth devices), this is well understood and there will be SDL/independent drivers for it in a day. On the one hand Microsoft's Xinput is sort of nice for standard interoperability. On the other it is sort of a crippled specification, woefully inadequate for anything other than a xbox controller, their earlier direct inp…

SDL, who's main developer has been at Valve for years, already has added support for it back in November: https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/blob/main/src/joystick/hid...

Re: Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license

#480

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have hundreds of games You do not have hundreds of games. You have a non-transferable license to play those games while they are made available by Valve and while your account is not banned.

Aren't steam account suspensions pretty much limited to criminal activity? Any other kind of restriction doesn't prevent you from playing the games you have licenses for.

For the most part, yes. There have been rare instances of Games being removed from Steam though (not just the store) and more common cases of games being significantly altered compared to the version you paid for (e.g. removed soundtracks due to licensing disputes).
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