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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

#581

Post by wtetzner »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #137
vablings wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I highly doubt it for a number of factors. - Most of his dives look to be rec depth - He isn't running any crazy gear like a CCR - He has instant access to a chamber, so any DCS worries are virtually zero - There is no go-itis for him. If weather is bad, he just packs up and sails to somewhere nicer Out of all the rich people hobbies, scuba is about the safest

Scuba diving is a pretty risky activity on the scale of things that rich people do in their everyday life. Golf and cycling are a lot safer. Scuba fatalities fall into a few buckets, the big two are inexperience/bad decision making, and older folks with health issues (underwater heart attacks/respiratory distress, basically). As a former dive pro, an overweight 63 year old is someone that I would keep a very close ey…

I'm pretty sure just riding in a car is more dangerous.

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

#582

Post by cheeze »

wafflemaker wrote: post #177

Looks like a super cool feature for disabled players. Regular controllers are good for people with the default number of arms, legs and fingers. But if you have some kind of disability, it's often pretty unique. Regular game/computer controllers for disabled folks were pretty pricey last time I've checked. AFAIK, 3d printing is not that expensive. Many places have hacker spaces or just people who print for almost fre…

I know that msft gets a lot of (rightful) hate, but mad props for the accessibility controller.

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

#583

Post by wtetzner »

embedding-shape wrote: post #580
wtetzner wrote: post #573

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I check out on Steam it displays this text to me: > A purchase of a digital product grants a license for the product on Steam.

This is what I see on the checkout page: https://i.imgur.com/diOkyCM.png There is a product in the cart, which is a game, and the button says "Purchase", no where does it say anywhere that it's a license (although that's obvious), nor that I don't actually "own" this game after I "purchase" it. Sure, minor detail perhaps, but I'd still argue that something Steam could do better, and since the industry is lacking self…

It's on the cart page, before you check out. And I do agree that it should be much more front-and-center, rather than the sort of fine-print thing they have now.

https://imgur.com/a/D1LKUUi

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

#584

Post by wtetzner »

pjmlp wrote: post #503
wtetzner wrote: post #474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

They can do an Apple/Sony/Google/Nintendo/Xbox move, "Want your game on Steam Deck? Support Linux". They certainly have a better card deck than Loki Entertainment used to have.

This is the chicken-and-egg problem though. If you don't get the Linux/Steam Deck audience large enough first, then that tradeoff won't be worth it to developers.

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

#585

Post by wtetzner »

ga_to wrote: post #447
golph wrote: post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve is "messing up" all launches in my opinion if I go by your definition. They always are out of stock pretty fast. Look at the Steam Deck. To this day you have to check every day (at least in Germany) if there is any stock now. For the scalpers part; I know a lot of people who would pull out a stack of money for anything Valve/Steam branded. I personally needed a new controller and when I saw the release date I s…

In my (german) memory, I could buy my steam deck quite problem free. The supply issues only really started end of last year/start of this year, due to the global RAM shortages. Before that, I can't recall there being availability issues. (at least in germany)

Yeah, even in the US they were even on sale on multiple occasions.

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

#586

Post by wtetzner »

pezezin wrote: post #330
wafflemaker wrote: post #177

Looks like a super cool feature for disabled players. Regular controllers are good for people with the default number of arms, legs and fingers. But if you have some kind of disability, it's often pretty unique. Regular game/computer controllers for disabled folks were pretty pricey last time I've checked. AFAIK, 3d printing is not that expensive. Many places have hacker spaces or just people who print for almost fre…

> Regular controllers are good for people with the default number of arms, legs and fingers. And then there was the N64 controller...

I don't know why people find it so confusing. I don't remember any kids I knew at the time being confused by it.

It just provides you with two different ways to hold it: one where you're using the D-Pad, and one where you're using the analog stick.

I'm not claiming it was the pinnacle of controller design or anything, but it was fine.

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

#587

Post by testdelacc1 »

throw10920 wrote: post #552
testdelacc1 wrote: post #432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re confusing 1. Being a monopoly 2. Abusing monopoly status. Steam does control the vast share of desktop gaming. But has no influence on console (Xbox, playstation, switch) or mobile (android, ios). They are a monopoly. But they don’t abuse their monopoly so they haven’t broken any laws.

Your partitioning between those two things is good, but I still don't think that either label applies to them: > Steam does control the vast share of desktop gaming. Between the Epic Games Store, GOG, Humble Bundle, Xbox, Origin, Itch, and a few others, I don't believe their control is anywhere close to the fraction needed for Steam to be a "monopoly", either legally or in casual speak. > Steam does control ...and, w…

I’m using the correct terminology.

Google controls 90% of the search market and the browser market. There is nothing preventing anyone from searching on Bing. Yet, the correct terminology is control of the market.

Google has a monopoly on search. Have they abused that monopoly? That’s a legal question that’s currently in court.

Steams share is somewhere in the 70s and it is far stickier than Google. A gamer can’t abandon their steam library easily. Have they abused this monopoly position? IMO no, but my knowledge is limited.

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

#588

Post by proteal »

tapoxi wrote: post #48
freehorse wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most other companies would still nickel and dime the adults, though.

They still do that, Valve popularized the concepts of battle passes (with Dota 2) and loot boxes (with Team Fortress 2). They also took a paid game with TF2 and added all that monetization after the fact. Counter-Strike especially has a pretty nasty gambling scene that Valve refuses to control, even though its only possible because of their marketplace and APIs.

I’d like to point out that TF2 was part of the Orange Box bundle that included Half Life, Portal, and TF2. Those single player games were never given away for free, so as a purchaser of the bundle, I wasn’t miffed TF2 went free to play. In fact, quite the opposite. Because TF2 is free, there are like 50k people to play with me everyday. I think $0 is the right price for TF2.

I agree CS is icky re: skins and gambling. But to say “refuses to control” is disingenuous. They’ve done many things to curtail gambling, like preventing tourneys from displaying gambling sponsors and adding trade restrictions that hampered bot activity. Valve is between a rock and a hard place here- they recognize gambling is a net negative on the value of their game (hence the curtailing and remonetization efforts). Remember, valve didn’t create skin trading with the expectation of third party gambling, so this is something unprecedented they’ve had to figure out as they go. Despite its drawbacks, the gambling market has some positives that valve can’t ignore. It creates liquidity and demand for the skins. People who pay hundreds of dollars for skins hate to see their value plummet. So if valve nuked gambling today, it would upset a lot of folks. I think valve has done a phenomenal job balancing their business needs with the social obligations with the players.

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

#589

Post by Rohansi »

a96 wrote: post #461
Rohansi wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> imo Valve is no better than the iOS app store You can't buy the top search result position on Steam. That alone sets them far apart for me.

Steam is also cross-platform. But sadly still essentially all-DRM.

Steam as DRM is basically the best case scenario. It is opt-in for developers, meaning there is no DRM at all for some games on Steam. You can download it, back it up, run it without Steam. The games that do use Steam's DRM are trivial to "crack" by replacing a DLL in game folder with a stub (you can find open source ones on GitHub). If Steam had no DRM I think publishers would lean more on other options which are worse for customers.

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

#590

Post by Rohansi »

Pay08 wrote: post #403
Rohansi wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> imo Valve is no better than the iOS app store You can't buy the top search result position on Steam. That alone sets them far apart for me.

You can buy the rotating banner at the top.

You can't. Check the very bottom of this page: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/visibility
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