Steam Controller Re:view

When the steam controller first came out, Most of the reviews where from the pc crowd. I don't recall hearing the opinion from a console person's perspective. Perhaps would make an interesting review video for level1techs?

That was the intended customer, with the steamboxes and all. It was a oneway bridge.

I for one think the concept is neat, and with some getting use to would be a better experience relaxing on the couch instead.

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I agree, I love the steam controller, I think it would be great for L1T to do a review and talk about getting it to work on Linux (as right now you need to do some things to make it work) and a quick down and dirty on how to customize it to be less terrible for a pc gamer/how it can be used in lieu of a keyboard and mouse (one of its biggest draw I think) for a living room media pc. Maybe @wendell, @ryan or @kreestuh will one day, would love a revisit of SteamOS too

well, dont think the team has one of those tbh, would have to kidnap...errr find one


For anyone and maybe as a source to get information for a review

If interested on how to make the best out of your steam controller, this guy is the best so far I have found.

Here is a playlist of his videos just on the steam controller

Steam Controller Guides

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I have a steam controller. They are hands down the best thing to happen to controllers since they were invented. I don't have any in depth knowledge if the customising though, inky basic. The level of button customisability is insane, like I actually cannot fathom his some of the combinations come about.

It is the PC of controllers. Customisable in every aspect to you own tastes. Makes regular controllers look febel and weak in comparison. Though now the Steam Controller API includes xInput and ps3/4 controller with the same customisability as long as you are using steam.

Now that other controllers are included in the SCAPI I no longer am so harsh on everyone needing a steam controller, as you can get the custom remapping with nearly all of them now, but it is still a cut above with those touch pads and all round feel and usage.

It is not without shortcomings though. Build quality is fine but not stellar, a long shot from the ps4 controller about the same as an original 360. It should have rechargeable batteries in it, or a charging circuit so enerloops and such can be recharged in the controller and not disrupt use. There are a few others but largely now it is one revision from being the ultimate controller. It is all ready top of the list for me but the revision would put it so far ahead of the others it would simply not be an option when considering a new controller to get anything else.

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Really? I'll need to double check because it's been working fine for me.

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ya mine didnt work and I found this, have yet to try however

and

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Also if anyone is looking for configs and crazy I depth options run downs, check out /r/steamcontroller they have all the good stuff and many fun things out side of strict controller stuff. Like singing steam controllers, imagine the floppy drive music but with steam controllers.

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I love that the boot up and power down can be customized out of the box, did that day one lol

and ppl are lazy, got to add them links

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Got Victory and The Mann as on and off.

I wish you could add your own ones by replacing files or such, maybe someone clever has found out how.

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Oh if your having issues it might be because your in the wrong group. It's an easy fix I had added it to the wiki a while back when I was having some permissions issues.

https://tekwiki.beylix.co.uk/index.php/Fedora_Tips

(See second solution)

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the two links I posted had you change the udev, seemed to have fixed it after that. Just haven't done it yet as A) no idea what they are talking about and B)Tried it and was lost at how to make it work lol

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They're trying to make you change the rules that are applied to the device when it connects to either 1. open up the permissions or 2. change the group/owner to you specifically or 3. both.

My solution is to just add the input group to your user. That should be enough as Ubuntu should user the same defautl udev rules.

You basically want to try the second solution in the wiki:

You can see the group attached to uinput by runing

getfacl /dev/uinput

Add your user to the "input" group which is attached to /dev/uinput

sudo gpasswd -a [username] input
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The steam controller is almost flawless for games it was designed for. Even games it wasnt designed for you can get decent configs from the community without having to leave steam when in Big Picture mode.

It's the steam link that needs some work IMO. Specifically on games that have a launch window before launching the game. So many times I've had to get up from the couch to move the launcher into the foreground to do anything. To make matters worse, after using the mouse on the computer to move the launching process forward, I can't use the controller to click anything on screen. The cursor moves with the touch pads but clicking does not work.

tl:dr the controller becomes unresponsive with steam link from time to time with games that have a launcher window.

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Gamestop has it for $34.99 new, right now.

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So you're saying you have to do something to get it working?

I mean that's what the guy said.

Unrelated to that, I own two Steam Controllers. I very much love them for playing console specific games on PC. i.e. direct ports and such. It's pretty great.

The customization makes the above use case fantastic.

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Another guy, that isnt that bad, is SuperDQP (playlist of his steam controller vids)

He is not as active as Egg but I like them

his newest one is on RetroArch, most of it is on setup of the emulation. But his main idea is to use old games for familiarization of the steam controller.

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I've got two of them, and I love them. The original plan was to have something to play co-op games on the tv, with my kids. I was never a great m/kb gamer, so the transition has been smooth.

I used Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen to really learn it. I'm now playing Battleborn with it.

I usually use mouse-like joystick for the right pad and gryo (activated on right pad touch) to handle most games with controller support, as the mouse input on right pad will confuse the game into swapping between control sets. The gyro sensitivity can be adjusted, so you're free to crank up sensitivity in-game, and roll off the sensitivity of the gryo, in relation to the right pad, to allow for better aiming.

EDIT: I should probably be doing it the other way around, and just mapping mouse and keyboard controls to the SC.

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I did originally, but i don't think i did recently. In either case, the "solutions" are wrong. and adding yourself to the right group is all that may be needed, if it doesnt work first time.

I made this a while ago.

I'd have to check out the Steam controller some time then. It's never really appealed to me since I have other controllers that suit me fine; it's my"if it ain't broke don't fix it" mindset. I still stick w/ my PS3 dual shock controller (by way of Mayflash adapter) when I game on PC... I've also grown a liking to the XB1 controller as well.

I have one and it sucks. The touch pads are not sensitive enough for little movements and upping the sensitivity kill's range of movement with out lifting you're finger. the D pad is crap for platformers and the thumb stick emulation is just odd.