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Steam Controller

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Re: Steam Controller

#131

Post by dragonwriter »

Miyamoto wrote: post #53
wnevets wrote: post #30

mouse > track pad > analog stick

I want someone to design a mouse for the couch. Mouse provides superior aiming for any shooter games. Mouse isn't critical for movement however, I can move just fine with an analog stick. I'm not sure a trackpad would make movement any easier. First problem: wires. Solution: wireless. Easy. Second and largest problem: you need a surface. If you're on the couch you don't have a mouse surface. You could use your pants…

> I want someone to design a mouse for the couch.

Already exists: Bluetooth mouse + lapdesk.

> Third problem: non-mouse hand. It needs a controller for movement. It can't be a keyboard, nobody is going to want a keyboard on their couch.

I use a lapdesk + laptop + mouse on my couch all the time (yeah, I could ditch the lapdesk and mouse, but a mouse is so much better than a trackpad, etc., that its worth it), so I don't see the problem with a small (e.g., netbook sized) keyboard + mouse as a couch controller combo, with a lapdesk -- for a dedicated gaming controller, design the a dedicated surface with the bluetooth connection and directly attach the mini keyboard and mouse to it and you're done.

Re: Steam Controller

#132

Post by avn2109 »

eterm wrote: post #6
breckinloggins wrote: post #4

I'm skeptical that the trackpads will provide the same precision feel that a good analog stick can do, even with the haptics. But I'm not going to count it out. I'll reserve all judgement until I get to try it. And that's the only real sticking point for me on this announcement; everything else about this controller I love.

Laptops all moved from nipples to trackpads a long time ago, surely if analog sticks could provide higher resolution then that wouldn't have happened, or there would have been a move back?

Obligatory XKCD: http://xkcd.com/243/

Re: Steam Controller

#133

Post by Danieru »

ivarious wrote: post #29
chasing wrote: post #21

Interesting. Game controllers are a fascinating user experience design challenge. While Playstation and Xbox controllers are fairly well-polished functional workhorses, I appreciate companies (like Nintendo and, now, Valve) pushing the envelope. More than even the games (which, I suspect, will also mostly be available on other consoles or PCs), this intrigues me enough to want to get a Steam Machine. (Still, though -…

Just call it a "Machine".

Lets call it "The One", just to spite MS's marketers.

Re: Steam Controller

#134

Post by tuacker »

redthrowaway wrote: post #13

The bigger story for me is that Valve has managed to once again troll its fans with a "3" announcement. This is starting to have flavours of Stockholm Syndrome.

At this rate HL3 will be a fan made game. Valve is just going to buy the guys and girls who made it and slap their name on the box.

Re: Steam Controller

#135

Post by Dylan16807 »

Pxtl wrote: post #63
stirbot wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's some right-handed elitism right there.

... touchee. I hadn't thought of that at all. Including two scrollwheels would be doubly expensive and thus kinda wasteful, and including only one means giving a south-pawed middle finger to the sinister folk.

I'm not convinced of that. You can argue that letting the dominant hand focus on things other than scrolling would be a better scheme. It probably doesn't significantly matter, and I think it's silly that people insist on mirroring things that don't need to be mirrored, like mouse buttons.

Re: Steam Controller

#136

Post by narwally »

NoodleIncident wrote: post #74
Osiris wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate touchpads. I use an external mouse with my Macbook. I have a Dell D830 with the nub pointer and it was so much easier to use, especially considering that you don't have to remove your hands from the keyboard and your finger doesn't need to cross 3 inches of space to move across the screen.

I've always been confused by this argument. I can reach my trackpad with my right thumb without moving any of my other fingers off of the home row. Is this an unusual amount of flexibility?

But if you're using two finger scrolling this doesn't work so well. Also, while I can use my thumbs they aren't long enough for me to easily be able to access all corners of the trackpad with one thumb.

Re: Steam Controller

#137

Post by cheald »

Pxtl wrote: post #36
breckinloggins wrote: post #4

I'm skeptical that the trackpads will provide the same precision feel that a good analog stick can do, even with the haptics. But I'm not going to count it out. I'll reserve all judgement until I get to try it. And that's the only real sticking point for me on this announcement; everything else about this controller I love.

I think the challenge is Valve is trying to create one-size-fits-all inputs with those trackpads. They have to work as joysticks and pointing devices, since Valve sells both console games and PC games on their platform. As a PC gamer, I'm super-excited for this gamepad because it will beat the ever-loving-crap out of a joystick for games that depend on a pointing-device (strategy, RTS, no-aim-assist-FPS games). It mi…

The nice thing is that a high-DPI trackpad can act as both a relative-input joystick (movement based on how far from center you are) and an absolute-input pointing device (movement based on absolute position in the device's input field).

Joysticks can do this, too, but their DPI is frequently nowhere even close to acceptable for this kind of work - they tend to be somewhere in the 200-400 DPI range, when your average mouse tends to be capable of input at several thousand DPI; if the touchpad resolution is good enough, then I think they're going to have a winner on their hands.

Re: Steam Controller

#138

Post by djcary »

flanbiscuit wrote: post #94
cheald wrote: post #14

I'm actually pretty optimistic about this. It's a big divergence from current couch input schemes, and the open nature of it might mean that it'll be improved for ergonomics and whatnot. It's got some interesting promise. Best of all, worst case, I can fall back to my trusty 360 controllers and use those without a hitch, so even if this is a disaster, it doesn't sink the platform (as can be the case with other platfo…

I'm trying to be optimistic about it. I like that they are going somewhere new with controllers. Already I can imagine those Y and B buttons not being easy/natural to get to. and of course not having at least one actual joystick is going to throw me off. (I game a lot with my Macbook Pro and I've gotten very very good with the mac trackpad, but I still like my WASD keys for the left hand). But again, all of these are…

I was a bit disappointed until I read the bit about hardware hack-ability. Accessibility in games is an oft ignored topic. The open nature of these controllers will hopefully lead to more games being playable by disabled gamers as people extend the hardware. Of course, the flip side of that coin is people modifying the controller to gain an unfair advantage.

Re: Steam Controller

#139

Post by BigChiefSmokem »

gfodor wrote: post #24

Jesus. So I might finally end up playing the ridiculously huge Steam library I've accumulated over the years. Rad.

^ this was my first thought when I saw the controller.

I'll probably build my own Steam box but I'll definitely be buying the Steam Controller. I think this is what they wanted us, the hardcore PC "gaming master race" to do, while at the same time offering it up to OEMs for consumption by the console folk.

<3 Gaben!

Re: Steam Controller

#140

Post by cheald »

Arelius wrote: post #111
breckinloggins wrote: post #4

I'm skeptical that the trackpads will provide the same precision feel that a good analog stick can do, even with the haptics. But I'm not going to count it out. I'll reserve all judgement until I get to try it. And that's the only real sticking point for me on this announcement; everything else about this controller I love.

The goal is to provide the some precision that a mouse can, not replicate sticks... If that were the case, they would have just put sticks on the thing.

You can trivially replicate joystick behavior with a touchpad - note how the controller has a raise "home" circle in the middle. This is almost certainly so that it can be used as a joystick, where the input is based on how far from center the thumb is, rather than the thumb's absolute position on the touchpad.
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