It’s not the clearest photo, but it clearly has both 2 thumb sticks and 2 track pads.
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 use the Steam Controller for games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, Spin Rhythm XD, The Finals, etc.
Using steam input is a requirement to get the most out of it.
This is my basic approach for most games.
- Mapping mouse to touchpad and adjusting sensitivity to 180
- Mapping mouse (beta) to gyro and adjusting sensitivity until 90 degree turn of the controller turns in game camera 675 degrees for first person/450 for third person
- Setting up a dpad modeshift on right touchpad click and inverting outer ring so I can set the touchoutput 5 different actions depending on if I click up, down, left, right, center as opposed to only a solitary single click action. If I need more I set up a chord so holding left grip shifts the same actions into another set of 5 inputs. I got for Dead Zone: 181919 and Outer Ring Binding Radius: 16750 when it comes to values in the new Steam Input.
- Setting movement to left pad and and setting an outer ring sprint bind on it and mapping crouch/slide/dash actions on click
I saved the template for gamepad bindings for games that support mixed input and full mouse and keyboard for ones I don’t. So I don’t have to go through the whole thing all the time. I just apply my template and then just switch the bindings around and adjust the sensitivity.
If you want to try out a config I have one uploaded for the Finals called “dualpad with gyro update…” Some changes you’ll want to make to the settings is Mouse sensitivity to 20, mouse focal length sensitivity 106, swap ping and emote in game, change sprint and crouch to hold, and obviously turn off aim assist. Holding the right start buttons switches into an action set I use when playing light where left grip is crouch as opposed to a chord modifier like in the default and left pad click is for dashing and grappling. Default action set clicking the left pad is crouch/slide and left grip changing the right pad clicks to gadget switching.
Wow, this is great! Thanks! I’m actually excited to pair it up with my Steam Deck for the first time.
Checking the configs I have uploaded and another game I have is Spin Rhythm XD if you have it. It’s named “Pad and Gyro for Steam Controller” in the community config. The gyro is set to activate on right pad touch, but I recommend switching it to always on.
I might go and upload my left 4 dead 2 config too when I have time since that’s a game lot of people have. You may need to lower the gyro sensitivity if you aren’t used to using it.
The configs people come up with can be really unique from user to user which is why the ones who came to like the Steam Controller have a really hard time finding a controller that matches the functionality they become used to. Since the usual default console controller experience doesn’t do it for them anymore.
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
I love it. Absolutely buying one.
WOOOOOOOO
Down voted for the Twitter sauce. We can do better, people.
Agreed. I can’t access Twitter because its blocked (through some plugins). I think sotwe can display posts without using Twitter directly (not sure if this is a good site, literally just found it): https://www.sotwe.com/SadlyItsBradley
He’s a well known steam data miner, it’s not just a random Twitter user claiming to have a leak.
Screenshot it and link to twitter in the post body, so no one has to visit the cancer-site.
Makes sense that it would match the inputs on the Steam Deck.
This seems like a prototype that they can make using the parts from the current deck.
I’m not sure the two square pads make sense on an actual controller, and I feel like those thumbsticks would be just out of comfortable reach.
I’m a big Steam Controller trackpad user, and I already nearly never use my Deck trackpads because they’re too low down. This new one just looks like a normal controller with extra bulk, and nonsense in the area no controller except the N64 used because it’s not where most people grow fingers. I guess it’ll at least have paddles, but they’re hardly a unique feature these days. I really just wanted the existing one again, but with more paddles, an option for an integrated battery, USB-C instead of micro B, and an official supply of replacement thumbsticks instead of having to bodge in 8bitdo ones that aren’t quite the same shape.
I can understand where you’re coming from, but this is realistically a better option for Valve and most consumers right now.
When Valve made the original Steam Controller they were trying to kickstart the Steam Box, which at the time played PC games that were not optimized for controller input on a TV. They needed to have a very outside the box contoller to accomplish this, and so they gave the Steam Controller a try. The touchpad inputs with enough custom mapping really were revolutionary, but only for a small crowd that wanted to play Sim City on their TV.
Nowadays, every game has standard controller input. Trying to get people who are used to the joysticks to switch to virtual trackpads is a non starter, even if it could be technically superior in some circumstances. The compromise is what we have now, a full controller layout with touchpads as extras, to maintain that backward compatibility with old PC games. I think it’s the right decision, and this is personally the controller I’ve been waiting for.
I’d love to see Steam re-make the old Steam Controller to give old fans a replacement, and I hope they do someday, but they have to pick their battles as they certainly wouldn’t sell in any volume. In a previous quest for a perfect controller I came across an open source 3D printed one called the Alpakka. Maybe DIY or a startup indie company will pick up the torch where Valve left off to give a true replacement? I hope so because the right controller for the right job is a wonderful thing.
That’s reasonable, but the market’s already flooded with generic controllers at various price points and degrees of quality. If the idea’s to make money, the new design won’t do brilliantly as things like the awkwardly-placed trackpads will increase manufacturing costs without being a killer feature that makes most people prefer to spend more on this particular controller. If the idea’s to make something viable that hadn’t been before (which is what Valve normally seem to go for), then this isn’t serving the discontinued Steam Controller’s niche as effectively as the original did, and isn’t serving any new niche, either.
By the way, the thing they were trying at the same time as the original Steam Controller was the Steam Machine, not the Steam Box. It also kind of did work, as the couch PC gaming part mostly happened, but it took a decade of improvements to Proton and abandoning third-party hardware manufacturers before Linux-based console-like PCs became viable in the form of the Steam Deck. Ten years ago, nearly no games ran under Linux, and all the Steam Machine manufacturers were just changing the logo on one of their existing prebuilts and charging an extra $100 not to install Windows on it, so you were better off with any other desktop.
You’re right, it was called the Steam Machine, my mistake. I honestly don’t think it was very influential in pushing Linux gaming forward, it was a first attempt that was ahead of it’s time and Valve kept after it.
The market is flooded with various controllers, but they’re all basically the same. I think what Valve is going for here is not really a new controller to take the world by storm, but a companion controller to help sell the Steam Deck. In order for it to be a true companion it must match all the inputs the SD had so people don’t have to change their bindings. I play the SD docked and I have to say switching between an Xbox and SC depending on the game and adapting my bindings is annoying when it all just works on the native controls.
When Valve made the SC they were starting from scratch and went with an ambitious design, and let’s be frank, no one but a small niche of people liked it because they had grown up with thumbsticks and were unwilling to relearn. With the SD they compromised with both input schemes, which I have to say we need to be grateful for. Look at all the SD competitors and they all ditched trackpads to appeal to the general market. Valve could have done this too.
So largely I agree with you, it would be nice to have a SC 2.0, but I honestly don’t think this new leaked one will sell all that well. It’s just a companion to sell Decks and I’m grateful they are willing to try that.
Oddly, I almost exclusively use the trackpads on my deck. I tend to play mainly mouse-driven games.
It seems to me like the thumbsticks are in the same ergonomic location as on a Playstation controller, and the trackpads are just in the empty space that would otherwise be there. I’m fully into it even if this is what it looks like when complete
To me it looks like they’ve shoved the joysticks up where the trackpad is on playstation controllers. If they haven’t, that’s even worse.
There’s nothing below the joysticks on the playstation controller, because that area isn’t within comfortable reach for your thumbs.
Sure you can put stuff there, but bending your fingers there isn’t fun. That’s already true for some users when using the trackpads on the deck.
Looks about the same layout as the steam deck, and it’s great on there. Dunno about the pads not being squared up, though. Dunno that I would like that, even if it would make the pads easier to reach, I still might rather have them squared up.
Or since they are right next to each other, it could be just one big touch surface.
The deck isn’t great, it works for some people, and is still really good for the rest, but the touch pads are pretty awkward for a lot of us. If the new valve controllers ergonomics are equivalent to the deck, it won’t be worth ditching the DS5 for me.
I remember seeing the Steam Deck and thinking “the button placement is really weird, none of this looks comfortable”. Then when I took it in my hands for the first time, everything made sense.
It mostly does.
As someone with big hands, I can’t use the touchpads comfortably without scooting my grip downwards in a way that makes it precarious and less than comfortable.
I have a similar problem with the Index controllers. My thumb is too long to comfortably rest on any of the controls if I grip the grip where you’re supposed to to be able to strap your hand in.
Good economics is supposed to work for everyone, and I’ve yet to try a valve hardware product that fully pulls it off. Maybe the first controller did, but I haven’t tried that one.
Anyone got a non-xitter copy of this news?
There will probably be gamingonlinux/steamdeckhq articles in the morning, but for now this is the only source.
Can someone put some blush marks and eye dots on it?
from xitter:
I shouldn’t quit my day job
Thank you kind person.
Looks like they want to bring back the DukeI miss the duke
You’re in luck. The Steam Duke is coming our way!
I still use the Duke. There’s USB adapters for it and I connect them to the docking station.
Hopefully they don’t fuck up the angle of the sides because the Steam Deck isn’t ergonomic at all
Vs
Don’t know how they could fuck this up so much when controllers haven’t had straight sides in decades.
The steam deck is much wider than a normal controller, so much less of an angle is needed for a comfortable grip. There’s a reason that most handhelds (Switch, Rog Ally, Lenovo Go, Wii U gamepad, etc) don’t have angled grips.
I find the regular steam deck to be very comfortable for it’s size and weight.
I get cramps after 20 minutes and it’s not as if I had particularly wide shoulders. I wouldn’t consider the Switch to be ergonomic either.
The Ally has more angle
And the Legion Go has detachable controllers and is wider.
And I’m far from alone that’s complaining about it
https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vznfjw/handwrist_pain/
https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/10r2a37/is_anyone_finding_increased_pain_in_wrists_and/
https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/18e7o9x/question_for_oled_users_do_you_get_hand_cramps/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1675200/discussions/0/3370405530907921797/
The Deck is very ergonomic.
I don’t know how well flat sides would work for a normal controller, though, as your hands/arms are much closer together.
The flat sides don’t work for me with the Deck which is much wider.
And it’s not as if I was alone either
https://old.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/vznfjw/handwrist_pain/
Well yeah, even if you designed the most ergonomic thing that’s ever been created, there will always be some it doesn’t work for, because everybody is different.
And when you go onto a popular forum and look for people who feel the same, you will find some, even if the vast majority find it comfortable.
Reviews pretty much all said the deck is very ergonomic.
the steam deck is heavier than the xbone controller.
So? The problem I have is issue points because the angle is wrong, no matter the weight it would be an issue after a while.
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”.
Looks good. I just hope they bring back two-stage triggers, as those are missing from the Steam Deck.
I got an 8bitdo controller (ultimate 2C or whatever), and it feels really nice. Except the triggers are not two-stage. And it’s smaller.
What’s a two-stage trigger? Analogue until it’s all the way down, then a click (like the GameCube)?
This is correct, linear trigger with a click at the end very useful in desktop mode to have it slow the mouse movement with a trigger pull and then the trigger click for the mouse click.
The Deck triggers don’t have a physical switch at the end, but Steam Input does have soft pull and full pull mappings as well as settings to change when and how they activate.
Not quite the same as you have no tactile feed back on when you are about to enter the full pull part.
Oh that’s cool, I’d not even considered using it to control a mouse
You haven’t just been using the TouchPads in desktop mode?
This thing looks almost as big as The Duke.
I’ve pretty much been asking for a steam deck without a screen, so if this leak is accurate than I for one am fucking STOKED
The thumb sticks seem high. Not sure it’d be fun to use
They look like they’re in about the same position or lower than the sticks in the steam deck.
I’m guessing it’s a little lower since there’s no screen in the middle so your hands are angled together a little more.
Idk, it just looks weird, maybe since its a render, but unless this controller is very small it does not look comfy. The steamdeck controls seems fine, due to how you’re forced to grip it, although I’ve never tried it.
