D Bo Chops
Member
Looks like an upside down Xbox360 controller. Would be interested in holding one for myself to see how ergonomic it really is.
The button placements don't bother me. It's like the Wii U Pro Controller, which I love.
Ah, interesting. Thanks! On phone, cant't update OP now.
I think I may have mentioned before, I used the style of control they are talking about with DMC.
I had the four attack buttons on the shoulders, the dodge on the left stick click and I can't remember the rest of the configuration, it worked fantastically well. I had just came from playing Dark Souls and had just been testing out using that controle method so I could keep camera movement on constent access.
Not sure if anyone has posted PCWorlds opinions on the controller and Link. They actually got some intereting info from a Valve employee on the controller
- Takes about 2 hours to get used to it
- The best controller configurations were found to be the ones where you don't take your thumbs away from the trackpads - implying abxy mapped to the pads as well as the analogue stick on the other pad
- Suggestion that the button diamond and analogue stick are just to help you transition over to the pads - which was also the suggestion when the analogue stick was first spotted by SteamDB and someone asked Valve
Not sure if anyone has posted PCWorlds opinions on the controller and Link. They actually got some intereting info from a Valve employee on the controller
- Takes about 2 hours to get used to it
- The best controller configurations were found to be the ones where you don't take your thumbs away from the trackpads - implying abxy mapped to the pads as well as the analogue stick on the other pad
- Suggestion that the button diamond and analogue stick are just to help you transition over to the pads - which was also the suggestion when the analogue stick was first spotted by SteamDB and someone asked Valve
The analog stick and the ABXY buttons are like training wheels. At one point during my demo of Unreal Tournament I complained how hard it was to get my thumb over to the ABXY buttons and then back on the right haptic pad. Valve flat-out told me, Weve found that the best control schemes dont ever force you to take your hands off the pads. Those buttons are an extraneous compromise to people like me (and maybe you) who are so entrenched in an ABXY culture that we dont feel comfortable giving it up, even though the Steam Controllers touchpads click in and thus somewhat emulate the ABXY buttons on their own.
Valves goal seems to be to trick you into taking advantage of the Steam Controller. By adding an analog stick and the ABXY buttons theyve made it more palatable so youll check it out. And then once youve checked it out, youll (theyll hope) realize the old control schemes are way less efficient.
If it passes the UT test I will buy it. And by pass I mean being able to compete with mouse and keyboard players. Well at least better than a normal controller. Intrigued about configurations for games with no controller support like cRPGs
"these triggers are beautiful!"
>>calls the shitty gamecube controller brilliant
LOL
I think this is one of those things where no matter how well somebody describes it, you need to try yourself to form an opinion.
I think I may have mentioned before, I used the style of control they are talking about with DMC.
I had the four attack face buttons on the shoulders, the dodge on the left stick click and I can't remember the rest of the configuration, it worked fantastically well. I had just came from playing Dark Souls and had just been testing out using that controle method so I could keep camera movement on constent access.
Quoted for truth.Not sold on the convex thumstick.
The only problem is that the relation of the stick to the buttons is changed; X and A are closest to the stick, so they have to be considered the primary buttons (not Y and B, as on Xbox).
It's so much better now. The final Steam Controller kept the weird touchpads (which let it emulate a surprisingly precise mouse), but also added a proper joystick, traditional face buttons and a lot of refinement. The "learning curve" I used as an excuse for the original prototype's awkwardness is severely diminished. Within mere minutes of using it, I was deftly using its touchpads to guide The Talos Principle's robotic protagonist through corridors. I dodged flak cannons in Unreal Tournament. I was comfortably performing precise motions I just couldn't get right on the earlier prototypes. It's quieter, too. I can still hear the engine humming which drives the Steam Controller's haptic feedback (a light ticking sensation that follows your thumbs across the touchpad), but it's no longer so loud that it's distracting.
There is still a learning curve, of course—the touchpads are uniquely alien compared to other game controllers—but they're no longer daunting or insurmountable. It reminds me of the first time I tried using a mouse to control a first-person shooter on the PC: it's more sensitive than I expected and I'm worried I'll lose control. I didn't back then. I don't think I will when the Steam Controller comes out, either.
The analog stick and the ABXY buttons are like training wheels. At one point during my demo of Unreal Tournament I complained how hard it was to get my thumb over to the ABXY buttons and then back on the right haptic pad. Valve flat-out told me, Weve found that the best control schemes dont ever force you to take your hands off the pads. Those buttons are an extraneous compromise to people like me (and maybe you) who are so entrenched in an ABXY culture that we dont feel comfortable giving it up, even though the Steam Controllers touchpads click in and thus somewhat emulate the ABXY buttons on their own.
Valves goal seems to be to trick you into taking advantage of the Steam Controller. By adding an analog stick and the ABXY buttons theyve made it more palatable so youll check it out. And then once youve checked it out, youll (theyll hope) realize the old control schemes are way less efficient.
Hm. How do the trackpads replace ABXY though? Like, clicking in a corner of them would map to a button or something? That could interfere with their normal click function though, I can't imagine how that would work well, or am I thinking along the wrong lines?
I may have missed this info, but does the controller have rumble motors?, i know the trackpads have that haptic feedback - but do they also have regular rumble motors on the main body like the 360/one/PS3/PS4 pads?.
The force feedback witnessed in console controllers is also enhanced - there are numerous possibilities, such as directional feedback on the left pad that corresponds with where you're taking damage from in a first person shooter, or the persistent chug of a machine gun being sent through your right thumb when you're pulling down on the trigger. Combined, they're the kind of forward-thinking innovations that were perhaps absent when Sony and Microsoft rolled out their own new generation of controllers to accompany their new hardware.
Also, do we know if the configuration/rebinding/sensitifit stuff requires Steam or will it be using standalone software?.
first time seeing the dongle
http://gizmodo.com/steam-machines-are-back-1689701265
aaaand I think that's it for the press. The controller's at PAX now.
Really curious to know if the wireless range on this is better than Microsoft's 360 wireless dongle.
Excellent. Although I'm wondering what happened to the idea of ghost mode and mode switching, and why the grips are not mentioned. I have a funny feeling Valve simply didn't bother giving the option / games for it since it may have lead to more confused journalists perhaps.
It seems like Valve is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. They want to bring the keyboard experience to a living room, seemingly unaware that people don't want to emulate a keyboard in the living room and if they needed one the software is going down the wrong track. It buys you nothing, the games for Steam Machines will need to be updated anyway and so just let the devs make a controller scheme. In fact, for any non-legacy game it probably already has one.
It seems like Valve is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. They want to bring the keyboard experience to a living room, seemingly unaware that people don't want to emulate a keyboard in the living room and if they needed one the software is going down the wrong track. It buys you nothing, the games for Steam Machines will need to be updated anyway and so just let the devs make a controller scheme. In fact, for any non-legacy game it probably already has one.
Unless I'm missing something, I think you've got that the wrong way round. on 360 and Xbone AX are directly above the stick.
Except the problem does exist. I want a controller that will reliably let me play PC-centric genres that isn't crippled by being forced into dual analog sticks. I want a comfortable way to play Civ or Crusader Kings 2 from my couch. You think an Xbox controller will provide that?
This notion that all progress should be dictated by whatever console controllers are available at the time is complete garbage. Especially when useful functionality of console controllers is dropped or adopted on a whim from generation to generation (see: "rumble is a last-gen feature" when PS3 was revealed, the abandonment of the fantastic dual-stage Gamecube triggers, the crapshoot of console d-pad quality from one generation to the next).
An open platform like PC especially should have had options like this for a while now.
I was talking about it in terms of Nintendo's orientation. Y and B are in the same spots as X and A on the Xbox controllers... It's confusing.
Resident Evil 6 uses A to run and X to collect items. On Xbox, these buttons are right near the stick and can be accessed fastest. On Wii U Pro, you would have to change these actions to Y and B to keep them in the same position on the diamond.
But Wii U's Y and B are farthest the stick, so this would make them the slowest buttons to access. So, it works out best to reverse the placement of each action on the diamond and use X and A as the main buttons, even though the feel of the controls is fundamentally changed by making the diamond backwards like this this.
Steam's controller will map buttons just like Xbox by default, which means running in RE6 would still be on A, the button farthest from the trackpad. X-Y and A-B would have to be reversed to prevent all the extra reaching that would result from that, just as they are on the U Pro.
It's not a major problem but it's something worth noting, as I have had to adjust control schemes to compensate for the U Pro's reversed stick position. Steam will allow this to be done easily but I'm concerned about whether on screen prompts will be harder to follow if all the buttons are reverse mapped.
It seems like Valve is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. They want to bring the keyboard experience to a living room, seemingly unaware that people don't want to emulate a keyboard in the living room and if they needed one the software is going down the wrong track. It buys you nothing, the games for Steam Machines will need to be updated anyway and so just let the devs make a controller scheme. In fact, for any non-legacy game it probably already has one.
You could get rid of the buttons on the right and just use the touchpad for them. Like the haptic feedback buttons here:
Though I have no idea how that would hold up after so many presses.
Had some hands on with the controller at PAX East (Thanks Alienware) and I'm not impressed as much as I thought I would have been. The feel of the controller is old, most due to the trackpad placement, more so the analog placement. I wish there were better games to showcase the controller however.
It seems like Valve is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. They want to bring the keyboard experience to a living room, seemingly unaware that people don't want to emulate a keyboard in the living room and if they needed one the software is going down the wrong track. It buys you nothing, the games for Steam Machines will need to be updated anyway and so just let the devs make a controller scheme. In fact, for any non-legacy game it probably already has one.
"these triggers are beautiful!"
>>calls the shitty gamecube controller brilliant
LOL
I would love to see a video of UT4 using this, pref. a Valve staffer who has had time to get used to it.
I think this is one of those things where no matter how well somebody describes it, you need to try yourself to form an opinion.