The Steam Controller - Valve's answer to the Xbox controller on PC

This is a preview of stusser’s future in the Stadia thread.

I’m not sure what need Stadia addresses, other than the need to not pay for console hardware. Or maybe the need to play videogames in hotels.

Well that was quick. I got mine in the mail today.

Mine also arrived today. Looking forward to messing around with it when I get home from work tonight.

Don’t have mine yet, but it was only after I bought one that I realized this will be the first wireless controller I have in the house… which means I can actually make use of Moonlight/Parsec/Steam Streaming to play things upstairs on a laptop or whatever should I so choose. I’m very much an oldschool sit-at-the-desktop player, so this would be a whole new world for me.

My advice to all new SC owners is: don’t be afraid to experiment. You can change controls on the fly with the steam overlay, so don’t be afraid to do so and try out ideas. Unfortunately the quality of ready-made configurations isn’t consistent. This thing is awesome though, so give it a chance.

Agreed, and remember what settings work well for certain types of games. You can save your own templates to be tweaked depending on the genre.

So, if your idea of playing Skyrim is to mod things until it breaks, then the Steam Controller is the hardware equivalent. I was VERY much uninformed about just how much this thing could do (I bought it because cheap, not because I had a plan for it). I may never actually play a game again!

This was probably mentioned upthread, but for other people that haven’t explored the amazing device you just bought (the whole channel is an amazing resource):

That’s a perfect parallel. After spending some serious time with it I have come to the conclusion that I hate the steam controller, but love steam input. My major issue is the button xyab button placement, it’s just terrible for my hands. I can’t get comfortable with it.

Since steam input works with a wide variety of controllers like xbone and ps4, the loss of the steam controller isn’t that big a deal, especially with the touchpad and gyro on the PS4 controller. Still, it did have some interesting designs and features that I wouldn’t mind seeing stolen by the big boys.

@BloodyBattleBrain asked in the Elden Ring topic about my Steam Controller setup for Dark Souls. Rather than get that topic further off track, I figured I’d talk about it here, since it kind of demonstrates the tinker-friendly nature that I like about the Steam Controller so much.

Here’s the basic controller setup:

The Steam Controller allows for mapping of basically any function or button press to any of its buttons. It also has two grips on the back. You could leave the default configuration as-is and be fine. But, in Dark Souls, the placement of your hands on the controller (unless you’re doing the wonky claw grip) makes it impossible to do two things. One, you can’t sprint and move the camera (since your right thumb is used for both the B button and the right stick). And two, you can’t move and cycle through your equipment (since your left thumb is used for both the D-pad and the left stick).

The first scenario is really easy. I bound the B button to the left grip. Now with my left hand, I can move and sprint, leaving my right thumb free to move the camera. Easy peasy.

The second is a little more difficult and takes some tinkering. Here’s a screenshot (taken with my phone because the overlay doesn’t appear when you take a screenshot with Steam):

The right-side trackpad will do different things based on where I press it. If it press it in the center, it locks on, just like pressing in the stick. But if I press it in the four cardinal directions, it has the function of the D-pad. With those functions bound to the pad, I can be moving with my left thumb on the left stick and use my right thumb on the trackpad to cycle through my equipment – useful for how often I need to run away or reposition while trying to find the right equipped item. I could even sprint or dodge in the middle of all of it, since dodge is bound to the left grip as well.

(There are a couple of additional functions on the bottom-left and bottom-right – dual-wield and interact – but those aren’t really all that important to have bound to the pad.)

Here’s how to configure that right-pad menu. First you set a mode shift for the pad that changes what the pad does if you press on it:

And in that menu, you define the particulars (the remaining bindings are under Additional Settings):

As an aside, this is one of the reasons my hackles raise anytime someone points to the Steam Controller as abandonware. Yes, they stopped making the things. But the depth you can go to inside of Steam Input for that piece of hardware is insane and continues to be maintained.

So good to see someone digging into all this stuff. It’s a really impressive controller if you can get past the fiddling. As good as the trackpads are, I hope if Valve revise the hardware they bring it inline with the Deck and have dual thumbsticks as well as the dual trackpads. I’m hoping to pick up Elden Ring so this inspires me to give the SC a go with it.

The Steam Deck does have dual thumbsticks, in addition to the two trackpads. The left trackpad does effectively replace the standard D-pad though.

One of the things I’m super excited about with the Deck is that Steam Input should be maintained for it. Having a stick (which is just absolutely necessary in some games), four buttons, and a trackpad on both sides should allow for some insane tinkering potential.

Yeah that was my point: bring the SC inline with the Deck’s dual trackpads and sticks.

Ahh, gotcha. Well maybe if the Steam Deck takes off people will ask for that and they’ll make it.

Yeah for sure. It looks a really neat bit of kit and I’m so glad to see the tweaks they’ve made to all the inputs (like the better shoulder buttons and triggers for example). Seems like it pulls together all the things they’ve learnt from their other ventures (all their hardware, SteamOS, Link, the controller and config utility, Big Picture mode etc.)

Indeed, Valve has been trying to make a game console running Windows games for a very long time now. Maybe this one will catch on, it’s certainly captured peoples’ imaginations and generated tons of enthusiasm.

People like you and posts like this are what make this forum great.

The least I can do now is set the damned thing up, and die in DS :).

Seems a good place to post this:

Inventor Unveils a Replacement for the Gaming Keyboard - ExtremeTech

That’s a very strange device, mostly because it’s using a bunch of analogue sticks on your fingers (and a wheel around one) for mostly binary actions like use, crouch, jump etc. (although I suppose jump could be analogue). That said, I appreciate how many inputs you can put on each stick compared to a simple key press. I can’t help but feel like it’s overkill for a WASD replacement and probably too fiddly and unintuitive for keyboard hotkeys (like in a strategy game). It’s another device to put next to your keyboard too! :)