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Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

joystiq.com

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Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#21

Post by gfodor »

baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

What exactly are you skeptical of? The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. This video shows a person playing PC games with the controller rapidly and with skill.

I still want to see a platformer and a fighting game since the best mapping is a little unclear. (Though these a) won't be showstoppers and b) are likely to be workable.) Humans are adaptable and if this controller is reasonably usable in all the main gaming genres then very quickly you'll see people get really, really good at using it.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#22

Post by ics »

brador wrote: post #13
baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

1. It's like having your mouse on a tiny mousemat. As someone who once had a tiny mousemat, it works great for turn based games but anything real time is no fun at all. You can simulate this feeling right now by using a round beermat. 2. Something as simple as putting one tiny raised dot at each of the 4 main positions would make a huge difference.

> 1

I couldn't watch the entire video because of my connection but note that he did say it was in "legacy" mode, i.e. the game has not been modified at all for the controller and the controller has likely not been changed from whatever it's default configuration is. If you use a mouse or trackpad on their default configuration things will generally be difficult if they're not what you're used to. I've gotten so accustomed to the acceleration on my trackpad that there are many things I can do on it without thinking that I would struggle with on my trackball or laser mouse. I agree that this particular set up as they've shown looks very awkward. What could make it great though– assuming no modification to the game– is to treat it like an inverted ThinkPad trackpoint. If it feels just right and the acceleration is either customizable or perfectly tuned, I think it could be a lot of fun and avoid the trackpad/mouspad-too-small issue.

> 2

I imagine this will come up during the beta and probably result in something close to what you suggest. Either a dot like on F/J keys or a small dimple.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#23

Post by TillE »

Inufu wrote: post #19
dial_up wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel it was a somewhat poor demonstration of the controller. Each demo was set up for a game without, or as if the game did not have, controller support. Games with controller support would make it feel more like a traditional console controller. No idea why did not show that aspect of it.

Probably because this controller is meant to allow you to play games with a controller that you traditionally couldn't.

I'm kinda baffled by all the people in these threads talking about platformers or fighting games. That's completely missing the point, which is very obviously not to replace traditional gamepads, but to complement them.

Even talking about competitive FPSes or DOTA sort of gets it wrong. Among the few games Valve prominently displayed in their announcement were Europa Universalis and Football Manager, turn-based mouse-driven games. That is where this controller should shine. It allows you to sit back and relax while playing thoughtful games that would be impossible with the typical gamepad.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#25

Post by modeless »

baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

I agree the Civ5 demo didn't look good, but did you watch all the way through to the Papers, Please demo? I think using both pads to control the mouse cursor could end up being really good. In fact, it could be even better than a real mouse in some ways, since you sometimes have to lift a real mouse but you shouldn't ever have to lift both thumbs at once.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#26

Post by baby »

gfodor wrote: post #21
baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

What exactly are you skeptical of? The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable. This video shows a person playing PC games with the controller rapidly and with skill. I still want to see a platformer and a fighting game since the best mapping is a little unclear. (Though these a) won't be showstoppers and b) are likely to be workable.) Humans are adaptable and if this controller is reasonably…

> The skepticism previously was that this controller would be unusable.

Who really thought Valve making a controller would make an unusable one? This was never a concern. The concern here is that it might work well with FPS, RTS etc... (or good enough)... but might not work as good as button based controllers for other genres.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#27

Post by baby »

modeless wrote: post #25
baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

I agree the Civ5 demo didn't look good, but did you watch all the way through to the Papers, Please demo? I think using both pads to control the mouse cursor could end up being really good. In fact, it could be even better than a real mouse in some ways, since you sometimes have to lift a real mouse but you shouldn't ever have to lift both thumbs at once.

> I think using both pads to control the mouse cursor could end up being really good.

I don't know. I've tried using two hands on a big trackpad once and it just gets confusing. Maybe with more practice but I felt like it was more a brain confused problem than a material one.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#28

Post by baby »

barbs wrote: post #14
baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

2. It looks like the pads are "pressable", so whilst they can react to touches, you can configure them to only react to presses. Not quite the same as buttons, but it might be good enough. You might be interested in looking at Tommy Refenes thoughts on his testing of the steam controller prototype. He discusses using it to play his difficult platformer Super Meat Boy: http://tommyrefenes.tumblr.com/post/62476523677/m…

and IIRC he says he will keep playing with an Xbox Controller eventually.

Re: Valve demonstrates Steam Controller [video]

#30

Post by Glyptodon »

baby wrote: post #5

I was really skeptical about this and I'm getting more and more skeptical. 1. See how he always lift his right hand thumb to reproduce the same movement, sometimes three times, just to go through the screen (in Civ5). 2. Also the fact that buttons get mapped like a "pie chart" on the trackpads could have been a good idea, but we need buttons. We forget the luxury of having buttons with all those new tactile screens b…

For #2 I think very shallow, subtle, radially extended, slight-but-noticeable curvature might be enough.
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