It'll be compatible with all games in the same way that a 360 pad is compatible with Quake Live.
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Updated Steam controller design leaked via Valvetime
- Thread starter Volotaire
- Start date
It'll be compatible with all games in the same way that a 360 pad is compatible with Quake Live.
Boombox On
Member
I was worried that they tried to hybridize the left trackpad and a d-pad; good to know they may have not.
What do you think the right trackpad is for?
What do you think the right trackpad is for?
It's more precise because it can be configured as a first order input method, i.e. sliding your thumb some units of distance turns your camera a proportional number of degrees. This is contrasted with an analog stick (second-order) where you can only control the speed at which your camera turns.
As far as needing multiple swipes, that's something that can be easily adjusted by changing the sensitivity. I believe you can also make it into a first order/second-order hybrid, where it's possible to hold your thumb at the edge or use a swiping gesture to pan the camera like a stick, while still being able to aim like a mouse using the center of the pad.
I'm sure sensitivity can be altered to your liking
PairOfFilthySocks
Member
Good to see. I'm personally thoroughly looking forward to putting the days of the wildly archaic and ineffective dual analogue controller being behind us.
You should never need to claw when you two remappable buttons on the back. It's effectively the same as a SCUF controller.
ashecitism
Member
Claw?
Future PhaZe
Member
Hitting face buttons with your index finger while keeping your thumb on the right stick. It's an ergonomic nightmare but some games still reward you for doing it.
Don't understand why people hate on the Trackpads.
We want the controller to be different, remember? We already have Xbox 360 and PS4 controllers to use - why do we want another controller just like them?
I will only be using the Steam controller for single-player RTS and turn-based games anyway. If you ever thought you would just pop this sucker in and start dominating the internet on CS:GO....you're doing it wrong.
But its certainly time for some [non-leaked] news from Valve. More demos of it in action, an updated target release date, etc.
We want the controller to be different, remember? We already have Xbox 360 and PS4 controllers to use - why do we want another controller just like them?
I will only be using the Steam controller for single-player RTS and turn-based games anyway. If you ever thought you would just pop this sucker in and start dominating the internet on CS:GO....you're doing it wrong.
But its certainly time for some [non-leaked] news from Valve. More demos of it in action, an updated target release date, etc.
So, how many buttons does this have in the front and under?
Someone needs to design a gamepad that allows easy use of all important buttons (typically more than just 4) without having to resort to clawing and/or removing a thumb from analog/touchpad/d-pad to press something.
2 triggers and two bumpers are not enough, IMO, and face buttons, regardless where they are (like in the concept or like they're in 360 controller), should not be, can't be fast use buttons really (eg jump in shooters).
EDIT
It has buttons in the bottom? IE 6 buttons total within easy reach?
Someone needs to design a gamepad that allows easy use of all important buttons (typically more than just 4) without having to resort to clawing and/or removing a thumb from analog/touchpad/d-pad to press something.
2 triggers and two bumpers are not enough, IMO, and face buttons, regardless where they are (like in the concept or like they're in 360 controller), should not be, can't be fast use buttons really (eg jump in shooters).
EDIT
It has buttons in the bottom? IE 6 buttons total within easy reach?
You have to perform multiple swipes to move with a mouse as well. It's true that a touchpad is most likely not going to perform as well as a mouse in those applications, but analog sticks are pure garbage at emulating mouselook so I don't see why you seem to treat that as some sort of golden standard.
That's why you have two trackpads..
Clawing should be even easier; you use your middle finger on the touchpad, and press with the thumb, bringing over the index if needed.
Unless Valve took them off at some point without us knowing, yes, it has one grip button on each side.
Also, each touchpad kinda-sorta has an extra button or macro, since you can assign a different function to the pad's outer radius, e.g. the left pad could work as WASD+Shift on the outer edge, WASD in the middle.
Do we know if the trackpads are pressable? Or else we are losing the L3/R3 in replacement of these two buttons.
But in the end, you probably don't want to assign a function to pressing the trackpad.
ashecitism
Member
A suggestion I saw multiple times on the steam forums was to split up the two grips into two, making it 4 buttons on the back. Don't know if Valve think it's good, what do you guys think? The grips have been the most praised features of the controller so far.
ashecitism
Member
Yes, both trackpads definitely click. We've known that from very early on.
Whether or not I'd assign something to the pad click really depends on the game and how much pressure is required to press them. I'd keep them as L3/R3 if I was using it in place of a controller, but I might leave them unbound when emulating M/KB.
Probably not a good idea; different hand size / style of holding the controller would make one pair of the grips hard to reach or, even worse, too easy to press.
Oh, double click is nice.
It's a viable option, but it would probably require the back buttons to be higher, smaller, and/or harder to press, some combination of those three. For simplicity's sake, I think it's best to keep them as single large buttons.
Bomber Bob
Banned
Rip valve
ashecitism
Member
This looks great! I'm super intrigued. I really like that they added a classic analog stick, just in case that left touchpad is too weird for moving in shooters, etc. I'm also wondering if it will have any sort of VR tracking to it?
It's been so long since chances were taken in controller design.
It's been so long since chances were taken in controller design.
old manatee
Banned
Where is the buttons that I remember using to make Crash Banditcoop move all those years ago?
Yeah, it's starting to heavily deviate from the original design.
You can see plenty of streams of countless people doing multiple "nudges" of the analogue stick when aiming, moving, driving etc. Whether people notice they do it or not, twitch makes it clear that plenty do.
Regardless, the touch pads function by velocity based movement unlike an analogue controller and more similar to a trackball or mouse. In fact, the apparent idea is to mimic a trackball. It means you can do 180 turns, very quickly and with reasonable accuracy. All movements of the thumb are 1:1 rather than relative like an analogue stick - although this is also emulatable. Similar to a trackball, there is momentum and weight, variable via software.
Ultimately swiping will be required, but the same is true with both trackball and mouse. A good example is a spiral staircase. With an analogue stick, it is one position held in place with the right stick with continual foward movement from the left. With a mouse, there is constant swiping, as there would also with the trackball and steam controller (less so if you consider using momentum of the "ball")
A half swipe from centre is enough to 180 - this is far preferable to an analogue stick for me
I'm dying. lol.
flaxknuckles
Member
Seriously, I'll be a paid beta tester I don't freaking care! Just gimme the damn thing!
TouchMyBox
Member
If I can't play Crash Bandicoot, I'm gonna flip some FUCKING TABLES.
Well, Valve kinda planned for that. They revealed it so early because they wanted to ship out test versions and get lots of feedback so they could improve the design. The changes have been a net improvement in many ways, even if they did make it a little more generic.
I like the prospect of having both types of control, sort of like the aiming with the Wii remote in some games. You'd have 1:1 mouse-like behavior in the center of the pad, but you could get constant-speed panning with the edge. There's also the possibility of stuff like the swipe in that video being implemented as gesture controls.
That would be a very sad thing indeed. But I think it's very far from being the case.
Many of the most played games on Steam (and in the world) are unplayable with a twin-analog gamepad.
Multiple swipes wouldn't necessarily make it less inaccurate. If you watch professional CS players (for example) the vast majority play on really low sensitivity and DPI and have to do multiple swipes (with the mouse) to do basic movements. They've found it to be more precise.
I don't see why it can't be similar for this.
Chezzymann
Member
Seems like its slowly going back to the Xbox 360 controller design with each iteration
Vinterbird
Member
I hope they launch it soon, I want to try using it more then when I tried the first public prototype. They are onto something, but it's hard to understand what until you actually get your hands on it.
Except the two owl like touchpads, which haven't changed at all since the beginning. Unless you are choosing to believe that that image is a very literal image of the controller rather than what is taken from the Steam UI
ashecitism
Member
People want to ignore the dual trackpads for some reason. Hilarious.
The face button diamond was a pretty reasonable change. There weren't a whole lot of benefits to the original layout of putting two on each side, especially if it was meant to have some level of familiarity as a controller and/or cross-comparability with controller-oriented games.
The analog stick came about as a result of testing, where people found that the left touch pad worked surprisingly well as a replacement for a d-pad, but could be awkward for movement controls since it's relatively large and doesn't have any sort of re-centering like a stick.
In the end it's a case of sensible improvements that happened to be 360-like, not an admission that their idea was bad and 360 was perfect all along.
M0nochromatic
Member
That portal gif is exactly how I imagined the camera control working. The pic of the controller setup module also looks very intricate. If they release it, I'd definitely want to toy around with it to see how it compares.
1.21Gigawatts
Banned
I think it'll eventually just end up as a standard controller.