I can't wait for it.
Oddly enough, it seems like valve used the earlier patent as flak.
I just hope the Linux drivers are open source, if they're not piggybacking off bluetooth or something.
Steam Controller
81–90 of 370 posts
Re: Steam Controller
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've had several ThinkPads, and I've always disabled the trackpad in the BIOS as soon as I got a new one - it's totally unnecessary when you have the TrackPoint. It's so much faster and more precise. Like amalcon said, I have no idea how anyone can use a trackpad. Whenever I watch a friend use one, or use one myself, it's like the mouse is moving in slow motion compared to me using the TrackPoint. It does take some p…
How do you scroll? Do use scroll bars?
On thinkpads you can press the middle mouse button (below the spacebar) then press the trackpoint up or down.
I have always usually done this, but also remapped the trackpad to be entirely a "scrollpad"
Re: Steam Controller
#83It seems like it would be hard to play fighting games where you have to hit combinations of buttons quickly.
Yep. Those kind of games were designed to map very closely to the physical nature of gamepads so they will be harder to use the further you diverge from a typical Playstation style controller.
Re: Steam Controller
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd have agreed with you once, but I broke the trackpad on a ThinkPad a couple of years ago and out of apathy i switched to the nipple mouse and I haven't looked back. It takes more practice but it has excellent precision and infinite movement. The trackpad remains broken and unplugged.
Use an Apple trackpad and you'll never want to use the ThinkPad/Lenovo eraser nubs ever again.
Not my experience at all. Apple trackpads tire my fingertips, they become sore after extended usage.
Re: Steam Controller
#85Call me impressed. I never thought that the biggest innovator and risk taker in the console market would be valve. All the other manufacturers have basically made their platforms "safe" and they're pretty much like the last generation, but this is pretty ballsy from valve.
Speaking on innovation, the Xbox 360 came out with a brand new controller, but the Xbox One has practically the same controller? It's like they didn't take any time to re-evaluate the controller with the new console. For that matter, the PS4 controller is the same except with a small touchpad in the middle.
In their defense the 360's controller is considered an amazing controller already, so I understand them only making incremental improvements.
Re: Steam Controller
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Furthermore, it is a hell of a lot easier to play quake with a trackpoint than a trackpad.
I have to guess that these trackpads will act like joysticks for fpsen. Keep your finger on the left side to move left, etc. Maybe I'm wrong though.
If it were me doing it, I would use the trackpad and the trackpad buttons. (I'm not sure, but I believe each trackpad is "pressable" and has multiple buttons, replicating a d-pad)
I would tap and drag for little and precise movements, swipe for fast movements, and press the button for default movement. With some training, it can become pretty natural.
Re: Steam Controller
#87bravo.
Re: Steam Controller
#88The 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.
In their defense, while having 3 things to announce, they did "number" them "O", "[O ]" and "O+O", none of which look like a 3...
Nothing to defend; I think it's hilarious. Although I do think it would make sense to announce HL3 for the Steam Machine on launch day.
Re: Steam Controller
#89mouse > 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…
It sounds like that's basically what valve's going for here. It's a mouse for the couch, except that instead of a left-hand keyboard we've got a trackpad. That's ambitious in that they think a trackpad can be used in place of a joystick/WSAD, but Valve's bread-and-butter is FPS games so I don't think they'd go for that if they didn't think it'd work.
Re: Steam Controller
#90... HN ate my post, I think. I am super-excited for this. Finally a way to bring FPS (without aim-assist) and RTS games into the living room. I don't even care about the OS and the box itself, I crave this device. Even if it doesn't measure up to a mouse, it will still be a massive improvement over the traditional thumbstick for pointing-device-oriented games. My only disappointment is that I wish they'd added a scro…
They could make the trackpads modal (without changing the hw).
So you could hold down left bumper and track left to right (or up/down) to have fine grained control of zoom.
Only drawback of this is you couldn't control zoom and view at the same time (which I guess FPS pro's do, but mere mortals like me don't).