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I would be very surprised if the Steam controller required Steam for anything but convenience, such as being a distribution platform for ready-made control schemes for various games.
I'm back! I spent most of yesterday evening playing games with it, trying various genres. Good news is that it works fine with GOG games, but I haven't figured out a way to customize the input when not playing through Steam. There may be a way and I just haven't found it, but if I don't run the game through Steam then it sticks to its default mouse/keyboard setup. Fortunately, adding games to Steam for play is trivial so it didn't stop me from customizing it, and oh my gosh is it customizable. EVERYTHING you could want to customize it for, it allows you to. The touchpads can emulate mice, keyboard, joystick, gamepad, whatever.

On the ergonomics side of things, it' s going to take getting used to. At the end of the night my thumbs were getting tired. It reminded of me when I started using a trackball at work, at first I couldn't do it all day but now that those muscles are worked out, I can go all day without stopping. The odd shape of the controller actually helps raise your thumbs above the touchpads so that you're making contact with them with the tips of your thumbs, not the flats, This ended up not being uncomfortable for me at all, other than the aforementioned getting tired.

Turns out the lower shoulder buttons are variable triggers that have a two-stage activation. You can pull the trigger almost all the way and it'll provide a little resistance at the end, and then pull it farther and it makes a light click. The idea is apparently for game with iron sights. Rather than hold another button to aim via iron sights, you partially pull the trigger to aim, and then pull it all the way to fire. This actually works pretty naturally, I'm surprised no one has tried it sooner. The two bottom buttons are wonderful and I hope they become standard on all controllers in the future, though I did have trouble with accidentally activating them when I had y hands with the controller in my lap. I'm sure that'll stop with time, but the benefits of those bottom buttons far outweighs getting used to them.

So, the real question: how does it perform in games? Depends on the game. First game I played with it was Sin Episode 1, which is an FPS based on the source engine. I used the default setup of emulating a trackball with the right touchpad, and WADS with the joystick. This particular experience went a little strangely, since the game is 100% designed for only mouse and keyboard. Aiming quickly is something that will take getting used to, it reminded me of when I first played an FPS using a regular controller, except that aiming precisely is already a TON more intuitive and easier to manage than I remember tiny joysticks being. While standing stationary, I had little trouble making headshots on moving enemies, most of my trouble came when I was moving. The movement speed in the game is very quick (like UT quick), and even the smallest nudging of the joystick would produce a full WADS keypress in the respective direction, This resulted in a lot of difficulty for me when trying to move and aim at the same time. So I switched to a game that supports joystick input for movement, Doom! I realize it''s not the best representation of aiming in an FPS, but it played great. I finished all of Episode 1 in one sitting with no deaths and had no difficulty aiming at enemies. I haven't sat down to play another true-3d fps, but I'm already convinced that with the right settings I could be just as effective as I am with a regular controller, if not moreso.

I spent most of the rest of the evening playing adventure games and Necrodancer. Obviously Necrodancer worked great, it just used the 4 ABXY buttons for everything, but adventure games were what I was really excited for. I LOVE adventure games, and the idea of being able to enjoy one from the comfort of my couch is VERY appealing to me. I've got a wireless keyboard/touchpad unit that I've used in the past to allow me to pursue this dream, but on the couch without a lapdesk it's cumbersome at best. This new controller completely removes my need for it, and I love it for it. Whether point-and-click like Sam & Max, or regular-controller-compatible like Dreamfall, I'm able to easily play to my heart's content without sacrificing any input fidelity. This is where I think the controller really shines, but that just betrays my priorities.

So, overall I like it a lot. The customizability allows me to play pretty much anything I want with it, the ergonomics are great (for my big man hands anyway), and I have had exactly ZERO wireless connectivity issues (screw you logitech controller). It'll take time before I know for sure that FPS gaming is viable with it, but since that makes up just a small portion of my gaming diet it won't really bother me if it doesn't, I don't think it'll even be as effective as true mouse/keyboard, but I think it has a fair chance of being better than a regular gamepad. I'm looking forward to playing some space sims with it, but with those I'm probably still better off playing with a real HOTAS. The current (apparent) requirement of the Steam client will be of-putting to some, but since the Steam client lets you add non-Steam games easily you can still make use of it without having to invest in DRM-laden games, though I sincerely hope that they add the ability to customize its behavior outside of Steam so that I can use it with GOG Galaxy once more games get achievement support.
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Rixasha: I would be very surprised if the Steam controller required Steam for anything but convenience, such as being a distribution platform for ready-made control schemes for various games.
Yes and no - the steam controller get's recognized as a keyboard+mouse instead of a controller. That is why it "works" with almost everything. It has a xbox pad compatibility mode but I only got it to work while using a steam game. And even under steam the controller is only configurable for each game while in big picture mode (that crappy console-like interface that nobody asked for). There are no external tools (aka outside steam) to configure anything and I don't think Valve is going to provide any (I would be happy at this point if valve would make it at least configurable via the normal shift-tab menu in steam - that is the kinda sad state that this thing is in ATM) - but I could see some hackers programming a nice tool.
So no it's not just "convinience" but basic functionality. BUT once somebody does make a configuration tool for the controller (since it is recognized as keyboard+mouse) it should work with most if not all old games (that is IF though)
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GoGoOtaku: So no it's not just "convinience" but basic functionality. BUT once somebody does make a configuration tool for the controller ... it should work with most if not all old games
I see. Hopefully that is just the case for the present time, with it being really new. I do use Steam at times, but I'm not going to spend money on a device that I can only properly use with it running.
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sanmadjack: I haven't figured out a way to customize the input when not playing through Steam. There may be a way and I just haven't found it, but if I don't run the game through Steam then it sticks to its default mouse/keyboard setup.
Why am I not surprised? This is how I feared it to be: outside of Steam you'll only get some kind of basic functionality for the controller, but to really use it effectively, you'll have to use it on Steam. Basically a ploy to attach PC gamers even more firmly to the Steam service.

Unless Valve surprises me and comes with an official configuration manager that is not bound to Steam in any way. PC devices, including controllers, graphics cards etc. should be service/store agnostic.

Oh well, out of my controller wishlist for now...
Post edited October 17, 2015 by timppu
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GoGoOtaku: It has a xbox pad compatibility mode but I only got it to work while using a steam game.
Have you tried adding a non-Steam game to the library? I haven't tried that in a while but I can imagine that it could help.
Post edited October 17, 2015 by F4LL0UT
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sanmadjack: Turns out the lower shoulder buttons are variable triggers that have a two-stage activation. You can pull the trigger almost all the way and it'll provide a little resistance at the end, and then pull it farther and it makes a light click. The idea is apparently for game with iron sights. Rather than hold another button to aim via iron sights, you partially pull the trigger to aim, and then pull it all the way to fire. This actually works pretty naturally, I'm surprised no one has tried it sooner.
The GameCube controller did that too. Always liked that feature.
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sanmadjack: I haven't figured out a way to customize the input when not playing through Steam. There may be a way and I just haven't found it, but if I don't run the game through Steam then it sticks to its default mouse/keyboard setup.
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timppu: Why am I not surprised? This is how I feared it to be: outside of Steam you'll only get some kind of basic functionality for the controller, but to really use it effectively, you'll have to use it on Steam. Basically a ploy to attach PC gamers even more firmly to the Steam service.

Unless Valve surprises me and comes with an official configuration manager that is not bound to Steam in any way. PC devices, including controllers, graphics cards etc. should be service/store agnostic.

Oh well, out of my controller wishlist for now...
Oh please! You wouldn't touch it because it has "Steam" in the name. Just admit it. :P

Also why is it a surprise that they're atleast focusing on their product first and foremost. If you're not using Steam then you should be waiting in line. Would be a silly if they focused on non Steam games first.
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Jagger2k7: The GameCube controller did that too. Always liked that feature.
Best controller I've ever used. I had a USB adaptor to use it on the PC, but unfortunately the drivers were a bit crappy.
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darthspudius: Also why is it a surprise that they're atleast focusing on their product first and foremost. If you're not using Steam then you should be waiting in line. Would be a silly if they focused on non Steam games first.
You make it sound like it's mutually exclusive. It's not making it work with non-Steam games vs making it work with Steam games, it's just making it work with games in general vs making it work with Steam games. A standalone configuration program would work with Steam games fine.
As it is, they've deliberately chosen to make it work in a way that doesn't support non-Steam games properly.
Post edited October 17, 2015 by SirPrimalform
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GoGoOtaku: It has a xbox pad compatibility mode but I only got it to work while using a steam game.
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F4LL0UT: Have you tried adding a non-Steam game to the library? I haven't tried that in a while but I can imagine that it could help.
Well I kinda meant "while I'm playing games through steam" you can not just use but also configure the controller if you add it as non-steam game. Sorry about that.
That said - I don't like to add games through steam since the "add non-steam game" dialog is horrible. I am not just using my PC for gaming and therefore I have lot's of executables on my PC and steam searches through my entire PC to get every single one of them - just opening that dialog brings steam to almost a halt which is not a problem with my PC but just how "not well done" this dialog is. Most of the time I search manually for the executable anyway (that is so much quicker if you know where the exe is) also: Steam used to forget all non-steam games if you didn't shut it down properly.
Not to mention that having to do this just to use a piece of hardware that quite frankly should be usable without steam is kinda dump :/

I also want to disclaim that I am using steam to play most of my games (just not the old ones).
I'm not negative about this because I am against steam but because it is just not that great (especially the big picture thing).
Post edited October 17, 2015 by GoGoOtaku
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Jagger2k7: The GameCube controller did that too. Always liked that feature.
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SirPrimalform: Best controller I've ever used. I had a USB adaptor to use it on the PC, but unfortunately the drivers were a bit crappy.
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darthspudius: Also why is it a surprise that they're atleast focusing on their product first and foremost. If you're not using Steam then you should be waiting in line. Would be a silly if they focused on non Steam games first.
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SirPrimalform: You make it sound like it's mutually exclusive. It's not making it work with non-Steam games vs making it work with Steam games, it's just making it work with games in general vs making it work with Steam games. A standalone configuration program would work with Steam games fine.
As it is, they've deliberately chosen to make it work in a way that doesn't support non-Steam games properly.
Hmm i'm pretty sure that's because it's a Steam product. Hmmm... *rubs chin*
I really don't get the right hmm "touchpad", but otherwise it looks cool.
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darthspudius: Oh please! You wouldn't touch it because it has "Steam" in the name. Just admit it. :P
As always, you are wrong of course. See what I said already in 2013:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/steam_controller_video/post11
http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/steam_controller_video/post13

and the other messages I wrote in that thread. EDIT: And of course my earlier messages in this very thread e.g.:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/steam_controller/post74

But I know you will love and push it just because it has "Steam" in the name and is made by Valve, nothing else matters to you amirite? ;P

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darthspudius: Also why is it a surprise that they're atleast focusing on their product first and foremost. If you're not using Steam then you should be waiting in line. Would be a silly if they focused on non Steam games first.
It is silly to suggest that having both at the same time is somehow not achievable. You know you can use e.g. a XBox360 gamepad on Steam with Steam games (as well as outside it), without having to configure it on Steam? Why do you think the same wouldn't work for the Steam controller?

What next, graphics cards which give an extra boost only on EA Origin games, or can be configured only through the EA Origin client? I am sure you'd love that too.
Post edited October 17, 2015 by timppu
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darthspudius: Oh please! You wouldn't touch it because it has "Steam" in the name. Just admit it. :P
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timppu: As always, you are wrong of course. See what I said already in 2013:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/steam_controller_video/post11
http://www.gog.com/forum/general_archive/steam_controller_video/post13

and the other messages I wrote in that thread. EDIT: And of course my earlier messages in this very thread e.g.:

http://www.gog.com/forum/general/steam_controller/post74

But I know you will love and push it just because it has "Steam" in the name and is made by Valve, nothing else matters to you amirite? ;P

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darthspudius: Also why is it a surprise that they're atleast focusing on their product first and foremost. If you're not using Steam then you should be waiting in line. Would be a silly if they focused on non Steam games first.
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timppu: It is silly to suggest that having both at the same time is somehow not achievable. You know you can use e.g. a XBox360 gamepad on Steam with Steam games (as well as outside it), without having to configure it on Steam? Why do you think the same wouldn't work for the Steam controller?

What next, graphics cards which give an extra boost only on EA Origin games, or can be configured only through the EA Origin client? I am sure you'd love that too.
I was wrong about what? I was joking laddy. Urgh.
Damn, man, this controller thing's ugly somethin' mighty! It reminds me of GabeN's sex toy (annual bat-plag or something)...

Typos are intended to be spelled incorrectly, so i won't have censorship or warnings again!
Post edited October 17, 2015 by KiNgBrAdLeY7