I fear that, just like the Steam Deck's controller, it won't be usable without Steam running. IMO by default and without any special "driver" running in the background, the sticks and buttons should just behave like a Xbox controller.
Steam Deck
A place to discuss and support all things Steam Deck.
Replacement for r/steamdeck_linux.
As Lemmy doesn't have flairs yet, you can use these prefixes to indicate what type of post you have made, eg:
[Flair] My post title
The following is a list of suggested flairs:
[Discussion] - General discussion.
[Help] - A request for help or support.
[News] - News about the deck.
[PSA] - Sharing important information.
[Game] - News / info about a game on the deck.
[Update] - An update to a previous post.
[Meta] - Discussion about this community.
Some more Steam Deck specific flairs:
[Boot Screen] - Custom boot screens/videos.
[Selling] - If you are selling your deck.
These are not enforced, but they are encouraged.
Rules:
- Follow the rules of Sopuli
- Posts must be related to the Steam Deck in an obvious way.
- No piracy, there are other communities for that.
- Discussion of emulators are allowed, but no discussion on how to illegally acquire ROMs.
- This is a place of civil discussion, no trolling.
- Have fun.
The Steam Deck's controller is usable without Steam running, except for that long, looong pause when Steam has taken over the controller but isn't doing anything about it yet.
I wish that Steam would not put the mouse buttons on the triggers, just leave them on the trackpad-click. And put "high res trackpad scrolling" on the left pad. But you can't have everything.
As you wrote yourself, the controller acts as a mouse, not as a regular Xbox controller.
@Fubarberry Sadly caving to the need to have so many different inputs much like the Steam Deck, it looks much less elegant and striking than the original Steam Controller. Like it's trying to be several different things in one package instead of the bold new single direction of the original SC.
Yeah, I find the controller disappointing as a Steam Controller user because I want a new touchpad centric controller for updated gyro with the old one not feeling smooth for high refresh rate displays.
The approach they went with is one that satisfies joystick users who aren't really lacking for options when it comes to joystick controllers, but disappointing for the few half dozen users who main the touchpads and have only the option of the discontinued Steam Controller. The Deck pads were a let down for me with the ergonomics, placement, size, and shape so they didn't end up being a good touchpad successor for my use case opting for the joysticks when I use the Deck.
I'm not surprised with the more mainstream direction they went. Just disappointed but I expected to be disappointed.
I'm pretty surprised nobody seems to like the Deck's touchpads. Yes they're a bit of a compromise, but I have been playing hundreds of hours using the right trackpad for camera control on my Deck and they're pretty great. Maybe my hands are weird.
On the Steam Controller I use the touchpads for
With all the swiping and clicking I do in combination with the back button usage the touchpad placement led to putting strain on my hands. I don't feel that discomfort with the joysticks, which feel comfortable in its placement and reachability of all the inputs around it.
And the 180 consistency I have hard time replicating with my natural swipe pattern despite adjusting the rotation in Steam Input, so I have to do corner to corner swipes due to Valve going with a square over a circle. The layout is one where I'm having to force my hand out of what would naturally feel comfortable.
For me, the Deck's trackpads are half way between my thumb knuckles with my hands in a comfortable position, so they're not nice to reach for, whereas everything's a comfortable distance away on the original Steam controller. I have big hands, so maybe you've got small hands?
WOOOOOOOO
Non concave? Square trackpads? Clear preference to analog sticks? This seems like a worse Xbox controller on the surface. Unless the ergonomics are somehow amazing I would be hesitant to buy it (and I own an original steam controller).
I have the original Steam controller still in a box. I didn’t like it at the time, but others seem to love it. I’m wondering if I should dig it out and give it another try, or did another iteration come out that improved on it?
They're apparently worth a fair bit now if you're looking to just get rid of it
I approve.
what 650g shape are you holding for an hour that doesn't cause wrist pain?
Looks like I'll be spending $200 for 4 controllers
^Original ^SC ^price: ^$50
SadleyItsBradley is the bane of every developer trying to keep a secret.
I hope not. To get to the sticks you'd need giant hands.
God dammit, why will nobody bring back 6 button pads? I'm so sick and tired of having to buy a separate controller just for fighting games. This controller would be absolutely perfect if it just had two more buttons...
Not the same thing, but the steam input allows you to make virtual buttons and assign them to the area of a touchpad.
Well that's better than nothing so I'll take it.
I'm just glad that Valve is bringing back the Steam controller. So sick and tired of boring, uninnovative Xbox and Playstation controllers. I like the idea of toggle switches under the controller that aren't just remaps of existing buttons, and actually usable touchpads. I hope the left stick and D-pad are hot-swappable in the final version, but beggars can't be choosers.
Doesn't everybody play fighting games on "a piece of plywood with a bunch of arcade buttons jammed into it"?
Oh, and the backside buttons on the deck are pretty convenient. You might end up liking them more than having "more face buttons than your thumb can reach".