• Steam Controller Demo
    93 replies, posted
[QUOTE=The_Marine;42492821]Okay, it's a circular laptop trackpad.[/QUOTE] It's haptics. It is much more accurate, will have much better feel, and can possibly provide feedback to your thumbs in the form of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrovibration]Electrovibrations[/url]. It's pretty recent tech since nobody has actually found a use for it until now.
laptop trackpads are crap with actually tracking, it seemed pretty responsive without him having to dig into it with the pad of his thumb. I'm going to wager it's pretty sensitive also I wish they showed the proper controller style angle/velocity style control with it, though keyboard/mouse native mode was pretty slick. I bet it'd work by using the point you drop your thumb as the joystick zero point, so there isn't some weird floating going on if you drop your thumb slightly off center
[QUOTE=The_Marine;42492821]Okay, it's a circular laptop trackpad.[/QUOTE] Can you be anymore dense, the video is a clear indication that this isn't just a normal Laptop Trackpad Can people stop with this laptop trackpad stuff, stop assuming.
I would only get this for trying to see if it works with halo Custom Edition, Just because i love the game more than most modern games.
they should've played cs:go online and not in the training course
What would make this even better is if you could change the mode on the fly. Take GTAV for example: It's on 1:1 mode when running around. Then when you get into a vehicle, the mode changes to make better use of it.
[QUOTE=vexx21322;42494899]What would make this even better is if you could change the mode on the fly. Take GTAV for example: It's on 1:1 mode when running around. Then when you get into a vehicle, the mode changes to make better use of it.[/QUOTE] That seems like something the game would have to be programed to take advantage of, unless they include the ability to bind "toggle bindings" to one of the buttons for convenience. What's great about this controller is not only does it seem to be able to provide an ample experience for a lot of PC titles that weren't created with controllers in mind, but in combination with the SDK it could really go the extra mile and improve living room input beyond what has been a relatively stale area beyond niche inputs such as the Wiimote and the Kinect. [editline]12th October 2013[/editline] (I know that the Wii, with all of it's sales is far from "niche", but you get the idea)
or, you know, you could just have one of the control buttons (maybe on the touchscreen) to swap between profiles on the fly
[QUOTE=Em See;42497308]or, you know, you could just have one of the control buttons (maybe on the touchscreen) to swap between profiles on the fly[/QUOTE] I'm going to presume this is the idea. For games that can build in mode swaps situationally that's great, but this would be cool for non-native stuff. You can already do something similar with logitech's gaming mice and keyboards, where you make a bunch of macros or assign keys to the function buttons, then you can use one of the keys to cycle between multiple modes (seen here, the color circle represents 3 custom setups which are all contained within the custom setup related to the game) [t]http://i.imgur.com/anvXpR8.png[/t]
I want to try this thing so bad. I think I'll buy one whenever it comes out.
Valve did a great job.
It was really cool seeing it have mouse-accuracy in Portal 2. They could have gotten rid of the screen and I would have thought they were playing on kb + m. Also, I think the point of the CS:GO demo was to show accuracy rather than speed. It's possible that it can go much faster, though the real question is whether accuracy is retained.
After rewatching this, and thinking about the difference in control between Civ 5 and Papers, Please, it made me think about what many rightly pointed out: Moving the mouse pointer over large distances with 1:1 can be fatiguing and slow. But consider this: What if they (in Civ 5) instead mapped the left trackpad's up/down/left/right press sensitive areas to moving the camera? That leaves the movement sensitive part of the left trackpad open for use together with the right, as shown in the Papers Please demostration. Depending on how good that actually feels, it could be a standard for games like that. Making sure the mouse pointer does not move when you only press the trackpad could be a challenge though, but not impossible to fix with the tech in those things.
[QUOTE=UnMute;42498368]After rewatching this, and thinking about the difference in control between Civ 5 and Papers, Please, it made me think about what many rightly pointed out: Moving the mouse pointer over large distances with 1:1 can be fatiguing and slow. But consider this: What if they (in Civ 5) instead mapped the left trackpad's up/down/left/right press sensitive areas to moving the camera? That leaves the movement sensitive part of the left trackpad open for use together with the right, as shown in the Papers Please demostration. Depending on how good that actually feels, it could be a standard for games like that. Making sure the mouse pointer does not move when you only press the trackpad could be a challenge though, but not impossible to fix with the tech in those things.[/QUOTE] For DOTA 2 I use WASD keys for camera movement and my mouse for clicking. By controlling the camera without the mouse, you actually free up a ton of ability with your mouse by not having to nudge the edge of the screen frequently. That way you're also not using your mouse or moving across the entire screen when your sole task is panning rather than precision pointing (i.e. I need to look at the other side of the map).
[QUOTE=nigerianprince;42500645]For DOTA 2 I use WASD keys for camera movement and my mouse for clicking. By controlling the camera without the mouse, you actually free up a ton of ability with your mouse by not having to nudge the edge of the screen frequently. That way you're also not using your mouse or moving across the entire screen when your sole task is panning rather than precision pointing (i.e. I need to look at the other side of the map).[/QUOTE] Dota 2 is really hotkey-heavy though, and many (myself included) find more value in having WASD as hotkeys in order to not move the left hand as much, than not having to edge-pan, which arguably is equivalent to WASD camera in effectiveness. We're all different though, and if you're comfortable with the controls, that's what matters. Which is what I love about the Steam controller, the customizability to the user's preferences. I do hope they show a smart way to control a "hotkey-heavy" game with it in the next video though, if possible.
They should show clips of it with a higher sensitivity.
I like how you can flick it like a trackball. With a mouse you can only have so much precision without sacrificing your ability to turn around. Like a trackball you can set the sensitivity really really low, and still be able to look around fast when you need to. I don't know if they still are but trackballs used to be pretty popular with pro FPS (CS, Quake, ect) players.
I wish they showed the CS:GO in comparison to Xbox 360 CS:GO gameplay. It would've been hilarious.
[QUOTE=UnMute;42500973]Dota 2 is really hotkey-heavy though, and many (myself included) find more value in having WASD as hotkeys in order to not move the left hand as much, than not having to edge-pan, which arguably is equivalent to WASD camera in effectiveness. We're all different though, and if you're comfortable with the controls, that's what matters. Which is what I love about the Steam controller, the customizability to the user's preferences. I do hope they show a smart way to control a "hotkey-heavy" game with it in the next video though, if possible.[/QUOTE] My setup would be more like a controller because my mouse is that stupid looking Logitech MMO one with 12 macro keys. WASD (my left hand) is what I use for abilities (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, R, T) So I imagine it is conceivable to keep access to hotkeys by seperating left/right hand. Also, edgepanning is nowhere near as efficient as WASD camera movement; it lets you continue clicking while camera panning independently. The same as in ARMA when you hold ALT to pan your camera around (people say that if you have TrackIR it is really amazing) But I honestly don't think a controller would ever provide the ninja reflexes needed in a lot of situations (i.e. needing to spam a spell directly behind where you're walking).
Look at how many times he lifts his thumb in the demo. It's like being bound to the worlds smallest mouse pad. More precision than analog but way less range than a mouse.
[QUOTE=No_Excuses;42502008]Look at how many times he lifts his thumb in the demo. It's like being bound to the worlds smallest mouse pad. More precision than analog but way less range than a mouse.[/QUOTE] If you like to play with a mouse you can always plug it in.
I'm really liking the looks of this. I might pick one up. One thing I'm a bit worried about is the little "relief"-circles on the actual trackpad. Like, the circle-shaped bumps. Might just be me but I feel like those will be annoying to brush your thumb over all the time.
If it's £60 or less I'll get one. [editline]13th October 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=No_Excuses;42502008]Look at how many times he lifts his thumb in the demo. It's like being bound to the worlds smallest mouse pad. More precision than analog but way less range than a mouse.[/QUOTE] Holy fuck you know what sensitivity means right?
[QUOTE=No_Excuses;42502008]Look at how many times he lifts his thumb in the demo. It's like being bound to the worlds smallest mouse pad. More precision than analog but way less range than a mouse.[/QUOTE] Watch the Portal 2 gameplay, he clearly shows how you can snap 180+ degrees in one swipe.
Now that I think about it it's just like how the Xperia Play gamepad worked. I owned that for a while so I can say with confidence this works well and is very accurate.
this look's great for 3rd party games like DMC:
at first i was expecting that if you hold your thumb on the outer edge than the camera would move in that direction, just like a joystick, but this kinda looks better for fps aiming, which is always shit on joysticks. I'm a little confused if that's an option or not, they didn't show that type of aiming in a fps.
[QUOTE=vagrant;42515638]at first i was expecting that if you hold your thumb on the outer edge than the camera would move in that direction, just like a joystick, but this kinda looks better for fps aiming, which is always shit on joysticks. I'm a little confused if that's an option or not, they didn't show that type of aiming in a fps.[/QUOTE] I'm fairly certain that that'll be available as a configuration option, and even if it's not, somebody will hack it to be one.
[QUOTE=UnMute;42500973]Dota 2 is really hotkey-heavy though, and many (myself included) find more value in having WASD as hotkeys in order to not move the left hand as much, than not having to edge-pan, which arguably is equivalent to WASD camera in effectiveness. We're all different though, and if you're comfortable with the controls, that's what matters. Which is what I love about the Steam controller, the customizability to the user's preferences. I do hope they show a smart way to control a "hotkey-heavy" game with it in the next video though, if possible.[/QUOTE] For games with a lot of hotkeys I occasionally switch to ESDF configurations instead of WASD. It can be slightly more convinient because you can more easily access more keys.
I'm only worried about the feel of it. Regular controllers have the whole "physical" thing to them on the analog sticks, I have no idea how this one would be.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.