Me either. Technically I checked it out once to see what it looked like but that's about it. Maybe I'll try again when this is out pf beta.
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Steam big picture mode gets drastic redesign
- Thread starter Krejlooc
- Start date
Me either. Technically I checked it out once to see what it looked like but that's about it. Maybe I'll try again when this is out pf beta.
Boulevard Bob
Banned
Big improvement. Just in time for the Steam controllers next month!
Hopefully that team wheels over to Dota's client to help with this shitty new interface :/
Hopefully that team wheels over to Dota's client to help with this shitty new interface :/
The UI colour sceme is identical outside of the main menu's buttons. The notifications are only visible on the main menu's screen and not anywhere else. You can also turn off notifications for the store update news ("new for you") as you always could via the client settings - though there is yet to be a way to do the same thing via BPM itself.
I agree, the functionality of the updated design works but its still lacking from a visual standpoint.
I like Valve but they need some design pointers. I want a real UI (look and feel) that sets them apart from competition.
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Same. It just seems superfluous to me. It's easier and faster to just launch games out of the regular client.
I have a gaming HTPC (which I rarely use due to a huge 360/PS3 backlog) but haven't used big picture on it yet, but that will definitely change having seen this.
It makes such a refreshing change to have a home screen with actual useful tiles (love the "Don't forget about" prompt!) rather than a load of advertisements.
It makes such a refreshing change to have a home screen with actual useful tiles (love the "Don't forget about" prompt!) rather than a load of advertisements.
I definitely need to look into getting something like this. For the past few years I've just used the mouse and clicked on the on-screen keyboard... painful to say the leastbut with logitech k400 I just run everything from desktop client anyway
Yeah. This is me as well, kind of.
Most of my games are desktop shortcuts, and since I almost never use Steam in-game overlay, BPM seems rather pointless to me as it is.
That about sums it up. Everything works beautifully when games transition to fullscreen without any intermediary steps, but like you said, some games launch into a window before going fullscreen. Splash screens tend to be a problem for me as well. Again, in my experience, anything that doesn't immediately start in fullscreen mode can be a problem.
I should appreciate Big Picture Mode, given that I use my PC exclusively on my TV. But I think I'm too used to navigating through windows and looking at tiny text. I've been trying to force myself to get used to it but I think I may prefer the clunky UI of traditional steam.
What is the problem? A brief glimpse of the start bar or a window for 2 or 3 seconds before it becomes fullscreen? The game still works perfectly fine, as if it was a console.
You can set up bpm to boot from xbmc. I'm not at home now to tell you exactly what needs to be done, but it's fairly simple.
The only issue i had was that I had to change my sound drivers from xbmcbuntu defaults to give steam the ability to produce sound, but that was more of a linux specific issue.
if you already own the game, click on it's icon, then scroll down to "reviews" and community reviews will appear smoothly integrated into BPM.
If you are looking for a game in the BPM store, click on a game then scroll to the community tab, then select "view community discussions." This brings up a webbrowser with a link to "reviews." Going forward, this will likely get it's own integrated BPM page rather than throwing you to a webbrowser.
Backlogger
Member
Does In Home Streaming still require both clients be in the same mode? Meaning if my streaming box is in BPM and my desktop isn't will it force my desktop into BPM when I begin streaming a game?
yes, steam streaming is a BPM function. If your host PC isn't in BPM and the client requests a stream, it'll put the host into BPM. When you exit the game, the host will return to desktop view.
When you do streaming, the output of the host is mirrored to both devices. So what you see on the host is what you see on the client, at the same time.
Sorry if this insults your intelligence, but tried rebooting?
Has anyone else encountered this problem:
Went into library, installed started scrolling down immediately. First was online, Steam was downloading some games, so I figured maybe that slows it down, restarted in offline mode, got the second picture. In both cases some tiles load properly, but some are just missing and don't load even after some waiting. I don't think it's the same tiles each time.
Went into library, installed started scrolling down immediately. First was online, Steam was downloading some games, so I figured maybe that slows it down, restarted in offline mode, got the second picture. In both cases some tiles load properly, but some are just missing and don't load even after some waiting. I don't think it's the same tiles each time.
yes, this has been a weird quirk for over a year now. In offline mode, many of the tile in BPM don't load. I think it's a cache issue.
I like it, except for the icons indicating if a game supports controllers and if the game is installed or not. I hope they move those so they're not overlaying the grid artwork. I kind of miss the game title text under the selected game too.
The clean grid images in the old version look really nice:
The clean grid images in the old version look really nice:
Compared to the new layout (Krejlooc's pic):
And those icons always show installed and keyboard required for non-Steam shortcuts, so they're not even useful information there.
DarkChronic
Member
Huh. Is anyone not getting the update?
My big picture mode still looks like the same old version. I tried checking for updates and it said my Steam client is up to date.
Any ideas?
My big picture mode still looks like the same old version. I tried checking for updates and it said my Steam client is up to date.
Any ideas?
Nabs
Member
You need to opt into the beta. Steam > Settings > Account: Beta Participation.
DarkChronic
Member
ashecitism
Member
update
brotkasten
Member
I got to try it yesterday and after updating the Steam Launcher script for Kodi, it worked much better.
The only issue I had was that the taskbar stayed in the foreground. I have to look into that.
But damn, I really need a new HTPC. Streaming works, pretty well even, but the BPM UI still lags a little (C2D E4300 @ 2.7 GHz, 2GB RAM, Radeon HD5450).
The only issue I had was that the taskbar stayed in the foreground. I have to look into that.
But damn, I really need a new HTPC. Streaming works, pretty well even, but the BPM UI still lags a little (C2D E4300 @ 2.7 GHz, 2GB RAM, Radeon HD5450).
I don't know man, is the answer. My PC is brand new and on windows 10. Also the guys who built it knew I was gonna play on my TV so I don't know if they changed anything?
This is why I personally haven't bothered with BPM.
JailDesigner
Member
Be careful because joining and leaving the beta channel I lost all my personal tags (folders) and it spammed around all my computers with steam. Hopefully I had a laptop which I didn't connected to internet and I was able to restore my folders.
Just be cautious.
Just be cautious.
Why is every gaming PC related thing so ugly.
From ugly alienware machines to those faux lambo laptops or whatever it is to razr mice to steam's UI. Everything is this michael bay transformers look. Everything is dark colours. It's like what I would look at if I was listening to Crawling by Linken Park.
Why can't they look to Apple and Sony for design ideas.
From ugly alienware machines to those faux lambo laptops or whatever it is to razr mice to steam's UI. Everything is this michael bay transformers look. Everything is dark colours. It's like what I would look at if I was listening to Crawling by Linken Park.
Why can't they look to Apple and Sony for design ideas.
brotkasten
Member
While I agree with your sentiment about PC design and how companies still try to cater to the hardcore basement dwellers, I don't see how Apple and Sony are the bastions of light, when it comes to software design.
Much like the XMB, the PS4 OS is functional at best and Apples take on flat UI could be described as "interesting" or "different" (those gradients and the Vista-like transparency, man), if you try to be nice about it. On phones, Sony's even about to ditch their UI to go almost completely stock Android.
Hardware is an entirely different matter, of course. Definitely a point where both of these companies are great in. I love my white PS4.
ashecitism
Member
Looking good doesn't necessarily mean it also functions well though. People also said the new Dota UI looked better, but when it came out they found it a worse experience. Valve has been always been notoriously bad with UI/UX, haha.
I personally think the current one works very well and i'm at the point where i prefer it to be more aesthetically pleasing rather than sacrificing the look to make it more functional.
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