They worked great for 4x games and even slower paced real time strategy games or grand strategies. And they are an excellent shim for more action oriented games that are built around M+KB and don’t support a gamepad.
The problem is that this came out at the time when EVERY PC game was rapidly getting gamepad support. And with very few exceptions (Terraria and Stardew come to mind), it was a worse experience to set up your own mess rather than just use the bindings that let you play civ on an xbox controller anyway.
But yeah. If we can get both this time? That would be perfect AND encourage people to really dig deep on their setups for steam deck games. I know I would use the trackpads and even back buttons more if it wasn’t learning a completely different scheme for a game I also want to play at my desk or in front of my TV.
That said, I am also very wary of fitting all those controls on a single controller. Most of the mock-ups people make have HORRIBLE ergonomics. But… Valve knocked the Steam Deck out of the park so day one.
I broke my shoulder and couldn’t do shit for about 4 weeks. I spent that entire time playing Civ 6, freshly released at the time, with the steam controller. It was the best thing in the world for civ. I played that game with one hand 90% of the time since my shoulder would fight me after 5 minutes with 2 hands. And the steam controller made it possible in a way my Xbox controller never has and never will.
I lost it in my move 2 years ago and hope I find it again some day because I still run into games about once a month where I think this needs a steam controller. Like playing point and click adventures on the TV with my partner.
I doubt they’ll come as hall effect sticks, but hopefully they’ll have the same drop in design that the steam deck does, for easy replacement and upgrades.
Yes that’s exactly what I’m hoping for too. After using it I don’t want to use anything else. It’s not a huge deal for every game but it’s an absolute must have for some.
Not just games. Using desktop mode in steamos is so seamless and polished, that I wouldn’t be surprised if some people picked one up for Home media controller over some wireless keyboards
I really hope the controller will be just a steam deck without the screen. Dual trackpads and 4 grip buttons is the best controller layout I’ve used
I thought the Steam Deck was essentially the Steam Controller 2, or at least the result of the R&D put into a new Steam Controller.
Dual trackpads but still dual joystick and a real D-pad.
I really tried to like my steam controller but the trackpads as the main control surface didn’t work that well.
I use dual touchpads for games like Doom Eternal, Left 4 Dead 2, Spin Rhythm XD, The Finals, etc.
They worked great for 4x games and even slower paced real time strategy games or grand strategies. And they are an excellent shim for more action oriented games that are built around M+KB and don’t support a gamepad.
The problem is that this came out at the time when EVERY PC game was rapidly getting gamepad support. And with very few exceptions (Terraria and Stardew come to mind), it was a worse experience to set up your own mess rather than just use the bindings that let you play civ on an xbox controller anyway.
But yeah. If we can get both this time? That would be perfect AND encourage people to really dig deep on their setups for steam deck games. I know I would use the trackpads and even back buttons more if it wasn’t learning a completely different scheme for a game I also want to play at my desk or in front of my TV.
That said, I am also very wary of fitting all those controls on a single controller. Most of the mock-ups people make have HORRIBLE ergonomics. But… Valve knocked the Steam Deck out of the park so day one.
I broke my shoulder and couldn’t do shit for about 4 weeks. I spent that entire time playing Civ 6, freshly released at the time, with the steam controller. It was the best thing in the world for civ. I played that game with one hand 90% of the time since my shoulder would fight me after 5 minutes with 2 hands. And the steam controller made it possible in a way my Xbox controller never has and never will.
I lost it in my move 2 years ago and hope I find it again some day because I still run into games about once a month where I think this needs a steam controller. Like playing point and click adventures on the TV with my partner.
It would also be cool if the sticks were hall effect or upgradeable to hall effect.
I doubt they’ll come as hall effect sticks, but hopefully they’ll have the same drop in design that the steam deck does, for easy replacement and upgrades.
Yes that’s exactly what I’m hoping for too. After using it I don’t want to use anything else. It’s not a huge deal for every game but it’s an absolute must have for some.
Not just games. Using desktop mode in steamos is so seamless and polished, that I wouldn’t be surprised if some people picked one up for Home media controller over some wireless keyboards