Valve Introduces Steam Machine, Steam Frame, Steam Controller - Gabe Cube

[Hooked on phobics]

nWCdBxzy0DeOS42-.mp4

Haptics being used for chimes, or MIDI isn't new, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up play the Wilhelm scream.

And if they do throw the controllers against a wall, I hope it's recorded on video and uploaded to the internet.

Is this.... out of the box behavior??? Edit : jesus Christ it is , I thought it was homebrew shit

Ngl if someone hated the sc and gave it a 0 out of 10, i could see this bumping it up to a 3 if they throw it and it responds.

 

[asr]

I've had the steam controller for almost a week now and I have some thoughts on it and some small issues, but those are mainly all software related. To preface: I am a gorilla handed person and the xbox controller and ps5 controllers are small to me so i'm coming at it from that context. I also only play FPS games via mouse and keyboard, so the controller is only going to be talked about with non FPS titles. I've been autistically going over the controller and it's features when I get time but even then i'm no steam input pro so keep that in mind. Write up is spoilered for length and split up into sections. Those who do emulation of DS/3DS/Switch and those who pirate games might find this relevant to them.

---

Physical Aspects of the controller, TLDR, good but mild issues for those who get oily hands/don't like concave sticks and trackpads are worth the hype:

Spoiler

- Ergonomics: As mentioned prior i'm a guy with bigger hands. On that front I have no complaints, and if anything the controller is more comfy in the hand than the last recent controllers I've used. A small nitpick though is that I wish the sides of the controller were thicker so the palms have more surface area to rest on.

- Texture of plastic: I prefer the texture of the ps5 controllers with little mini symbols since it feels like it gives me more grip and while I strongly prefer the rubber of the Xbox I also hate it for long term usage since the rubber eventually turns disgusting. That said I don't feel like the texture is bad, it's not like smooth to the touch or anything but it does feel like high quality plastic.

- Back buttons: The back buttons don't feel like they're on a hair trigger and will press with the slightest hint of pressure I do however wish that they were larger in diameter. Pressing them feels fine too, travel doesn't seem too short or long, your opinions might vary.

- D pads: I'm not a fighting game enjoyer so D pads aren't the biggest deal in the world to me, that said their feeling is better than the PS5 controller, in the sense that the PS5 controller feels more "mushy" with presses, comparatively the steam controller is more like the xbox controller in that regard. Presses feel more "thonky". The plastic of the d pads is VERY smooth and will pick up oils from the fingers. that's my only complaint with them.

- Face buttons: Honestly I don't have much to say, they feel fine, they don't stand out or feel really that much different to me relative to the PS5 or x box controller, which imo is a good thing. The diameter of the face buttons is smaller though I think than the PS5 buttons if that matter to anyone and they're placed a little close. My thumb can press all 4 buttons at once, i'm used to longer travel distances so I prefer that but it's not a big deal imo but YMMV. Note that like the D pads, this will also pick up oils fast.

- Triggers : L1/R1 bumpers feel good, as in I can press them anywhere on their surface and they all feel the same. Only complaint is that like the D pads and face buttons, the plastic is VERY smooth and prone to picking up oils. I will say I did prefer the PS5 texture of triggers.

- Bumpers: Same as the triggers. Press it smooth and steam input reads full motion on them so in racing games for example you can feather with it as needed. I personally don't do racing games but it's important to my best friend so I gave it a go. Again only complaint is that the plastic is very smooth and is prone to picking up oils.

- start/select/ steam button/quick action buttons: These are all of a different texture than the face buttons, I prefer their texture, and I have no complaints. They do feel slightly mushier to press than the d pad or the face buttons but honestly I can't say I care.

- Thumb sticks: TMR sticks feel smooth, dead zone by default via steam input is 0, honestly they feel great in movement, I just wish they were slightly taller and I NOT a fan of the concave tops at all because I feel like the edges will pick up dead skin cells over time. L3/R3 also feels fine, it's not a deep of a press as the PS5 controllers but honestly I have no complaints on that front.

- Trackpads: This was the main thing that drew me to the controller. Texture of the plastic on them is the same as the body of the controller and it feels good and smooth when sliding thumbs across them. The haptics on them feel great too and can get too powerful even, thankfully steam input allows you to lower them or even turn them off if so desired. The only thing I can compare to them is the trackpads on macbooks, since those also use haptics. It feels almost like it's 70% of the way to there. if you've ever used those trackpads on macs. The haptics do make it kind of convincing that you're pressing on them or if you have radial menus for example set up, the haptics do allow you to differentiate the "buttons" on the radial menu. So things like radial menus/hot menus feel VERY intuitive in their usage and feedback. I am 100% sold on these and I don't think I'd want to go back to controllers without them since there's so much shit you can do with them. I'll give examples in another section.

- The puck connects just fine and the magnets aren't so strong that you can't push down with 1 finger when picking up the controller but are strong enough that when you set the controller down the puck immediately goes up and connects.

In games you bought via steam TLDR all the controller things but holy fuck trackpads can do macros but it feels great:

Spoiler

- works perfectly. I tested this with Sekiro and Elden ring mainly. The controls all work flawlessly and all the button remapping is great. The trackpads are where you can make this shit shine though. The trackpads can allow you to nested commands for example and it can allow you to basically do anything. Here's an example layout for the steam deck on SteaminputDB using the left trackpad has shortcuts for equipment and crafting. I used that and then used the right trackpad for things like summoning torrent/spirits, light, etc. I even messed around with gyro being mapped to a joystick to look around and honestly I was mixed on it, it seems cool but i'm so much more used to just using the stick but I see the appeal and usage of it opening up the actual right joystick to do other things. I'm just not willing to invest the time and muscle memory to do it all at this stage of my life.

In games you pirated/Emulators TLDR If steam input doesn't work even if added it as a non steam game move it to steam folder & emulation is kino:

Spoiler

- I had AC Odyssey pirated awhile back since I like greek stuff, even adding the game to steam as a non steam game wasn't enough to get the steam overlay and more importantly steam input up and running, so after googling around I found a simple solution that worked. Which was to move the game itself into my steam folder, as in: steamlibrary/steamapps/common/PIRATED GAME FOLDER. That got it up and running with no issues. An alternative would be to use SISR but I wanted to see what I could do without rushing to a 3rd party solution first. If you have similar issues with steam input not working even though it's in steam as a non steam game, try that. IF that doesn't work then use SISR, though it's still in beta mind you.

- Switch Emulation: I used Eden primarily and added it as a non steam game. I tested 3 games on it: A pokemon rom hack of brilliant diamond called luminescent platinum and it worked perfectly, again to shill the trackpads, I made a radial menu of things like F11,F5,F6, etc to full screen, pause, turn off emulation, etc. It really made the experience great. Side note, if you're a pokemon rom hack enjoyer and like Sinnoh, I heavily shill this rom hack.
-- Breath of the wild: Again, works great, one hick up, there is no motion control, while you can use gyro to aim for example by setting the gyro to joystick, for motion control things like certain shrine challenges there isn't a way to get that sorted out yet to my knowledge. If i'm wrong i'd love to know how to do it, but I haven't found a way yet.

- 3DS emulation: Same as switch, I used Azahar and did pokemon ORAS rom hacks. Having radial menu to speed up emulation was really nice to have.

- DS emulation: Same as Switch and 3DS, I used MelonDS for pokemon roms and rom hacks, it was perfectly running.


As an aside while it makes no difference to if it runs or not; just for aesthetic purposes I do like having steam art, icons, etc. For emulators and pirated games there is an answer. I used Steam art manager paired with steamgridDB

Steam input TLDR this shit has so many options it's unreal and I don't know even half of it:

Spoiler

- I don't really use gyro but you have ALOT of options on how to trigger it and there is grip sense for it which makes it feel much more intuitive admittedly but it's not my thing.

- speaking of grip sense it can be whatever else you want, for example you want a macro for some shit when you right and stops touching the controller? You can do it. Do you want the game to pause via whatever button does that when you let you of the controller all together? It can be done. Do you want to stop gyro to reset your controller position by slightly taking a hand off the controller? Done. I don't use grip sense at all tbh. But having the option is nice and maybe in some games I will use it for something i'd have to press often to see like a map or something

- Trackpads, the main reason I picked up the controller. So far I've been tepidly using it by mapping things like some Function buttons for emulators or using some steam deck configs for elden ring to swap things around on the move without actually opening the menus. I've also used it in witcher 3 as a hot menu split 4 ways to instantly access things like the inventory/map/crafting/bestiary. A lot more can be done with it though. you can have radial menus that in turn have their own nested commands, and to give an example of what that can translate to in games, go to SteaminputDB and check out some games you play and see what some people get up to with the trackpads.

Some issues I had with Steam input TLDR, some server side issues with applying/saving layouts:

Spoiler

- I've been having issues with my input profiles and edits I make per game not being saved and not being able to load up community layouts every so often, like there's a server issue or something. This doesn't occur 100% of the time but enough for me to be annoyed.

- Same issues with templates I make not being saved. Note that you can save layouts on a per game basis, so if I make a layout for elden ring for example when I go the steam input for witcher 3 it said layout wouldn't be there. Templates are across games and general.