Steam Controller

Shred

I've wired Gb throughout the house and I did a bit of playing around with it yesterday evening and was pleasantly surprised, I wasn't expecting it to work as well this early. Initially I loaded up Half Life 2 and there was a lot of stutter for the first 5-10 seconds but it then settled down and ran pretty smoothly; I wasn't measuring FPS at this point. I had two issues with Deus Ex: HR whereby Steam completely crashed on my PC and gave a GPU driver error; I had just previously set home streaming to 'beautiful' so it could either have been that or an actual GPU driver issue, I'll look into it later on. I did however measure FPS for Deus Ex and it fluctuated between 45 and 59ps @ 1748 x 1080, it was a little better for Hitman Absolution and Dying Light, although the latter was a little choppy at times. According to the stats, latency was at less than half of one percent continually, I didn't notice any input delays.
Another reason I wanted the link was for the ability to mirror my desktop PC to my TV easily and this worked really well except for one issue - the display was presented with a 2-3 inch border around it despite being set to 1080, so I need to figure out what's going on there. Another one is the apparent lack of 5.1 support.
To the controller, again it was a lot less cumbersome than I expected it to be and it worked pretty well overall. It's certainly going to take time to tweak it to my liking and improve shooting accuracy and the like but I did expect that.

Damo 2k9

Just picked my controller up today, was able to walk into gamestop and get one which was handy.

A lot lighter then expected as its already been pointed out, can you have different presets for different games does anyone know? Would like to have different ones for fallout, racing games etc.

Going to try pick up the link tomorrow too.

SlinkyDog

From what I've been reading you can pick preconfigured button layouts for each game uploaded from players and
devs as well (I think), you can create your own or tweak existing profile to suit yourself. picking mine up today so will know more then 

Shred

Shred wrote: »

I've wired Gb throughout the house and I did a bit of playing around with it yesterday evening and was pleasantly surprised, I wasn't expecting it to work as well this early. Initially I loaded up Half Life 2 and there was a lot of stutter for the first 5-10 seconds but it then settled down and ran pretty smoothly; I wasn't measuring FPS at this point. I had two issues with Deus Ex: HR whereby Steam completely crashed on my PC and gave a GPU driver error; I had just previously set home streaming to 'beautiful' so it could either have been that or an actual GPU driver issue, I'll look into it later on. I did however measure FPS for Deus Ex and it fluctuated between 45 and 59ps @ 1748 x 1080, it was a little better for Hitman Absolution and Dying Light, although the latter was a little choppy at times. According to the stats, latency was at less than half of one percent continually, I didn't notice any input delays.
Another reason I wanted the link was for the ability to mirror my desktop PC to my TV easily and this worked really well except for one issue - the display was presented with a 2-3 inch border around it despite being set to 1080, so I need to figure out what's going on there. Another one is the apparent lack of 5.1 support.
To the controller, again it was a lot less cumbersome than I expected it to be and it worked pretty well overall. It's certainly going to take time to tweak it to my liking and improve shooting accuracy and the like but I did expect that.

So the steam link can mirror the desktop? Effectively using your entire pc remotely? I thought it was just gaming through steam alone. Is it only the steam controller which can control the desktop?

I already have a PowerLine tp link setup so I was considering get the steam link but had no interest in the controller up till now.

Tar.Aldarion

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Just picked my controller up today, was able to walk into gamestop and get one which was handy.

A lot lighter then expected as its already been pointed out, can you have different presets for different games does anyone know? Would like to have different ones for fallout, racing games etc.

Going to try pick up the link tomorrow too.

Yes every game can be unique, as more people play more config s are made and you can see the most popular ones and choose them. In that way they will become more refined over time.

Shred

Deleted User wrote: »

So the steam link can mirror the desktop? Effectively using your entire pc remotely? I thought it was just gaming through steam alone. Is it only the steam controller which can control the desktop?

I already have a PowerLine tp link setup so I was considering get the steam link but had no interest in the controller up till now.

Yeah that's right, there's a 'return to desktop' option available from the settings menu which exits 'big picture mode'. You can also suspend, re-boot and shut down your desktop from the same menu in addition to being able to send a wake on LAN request if required. I've only tried controlling the desktop with the controller so far but I don't see why a keyboard couldn't be used.

Shred

Shred wrote: »

Yeah that's right, there's a 'return to desktop' option available from the settings menu which exits 'big picture mode'. You can also suspend, re-boot and shut down your desktop from the same menu in addition to being able to send a wake on LAN request if required. I've only tried controlling the desktop with the controller so far but I don't see why a keyboard couldn't be used.

And I was trying to save money at the moment...

Any idea where the cheapest place to pick them up is?

imitation

Got my controller last night, I have a hp g1 I use for streaming steam so I moved to that after some initial playing about.

First game I tried was carmageddon, to be honest for 1 stick games like a racer its much like an xbox controller its grand.

Then i tried borderlands, to be honest i immediately liked it more than an xbox controller, its a lot easier to fine tune your aim. Its still no mouse though.

I tried metro last light and fall out nv, the default control was not great at all those, far too insensitive. Also had a strange problem drifting forward in metro. Didnt try any mouse games, might try civ5 this weekend.

Had some trouble with in home streaming flickering like crazy, had to turn off hardware decoding as its a known issue with AMD cards. I do wish valve could take some of the rough edges off there software sometimes, there always seem to be minor annoyances..

Shred

Deleted User wrote: »

And I was trying to save money at the moment...

Any idea where the cheapest place to pick them up is?

As I mentioned earlier, I bought mine from Steam directly for €54.99 as I had credit, they charge €13 delivery though! Gamestop have them at the same price as Steam, I don't know if they can be gotten any cheaper online tbh.

brevity

Had a 40€ voucher for GameStop so bit the bullet and ordered one. Free delivery via On Post.

Damo 2k9

So just been using this for the last 2 hours playing fallout, couple of things to note.

Im used to a xbox 360/PS4 controller, so having the buttons below the right analogue/trackpad instead of above them (if that makes sense?) is hard to get used to, but i kind of like it. The trackpad on the right is used as the mouse on the config im using for Fallout, good idea but it takes a couple of swipes to get a good rotation so may up the sensitivity, because im getting slaughtered if theres enemys behind me aswell as in front of me.

I really like the way Steam has went about the configuration in Big Picture mode, easy to follow and, well, thats it :P When I bought this before work yesterday, I was showing it to a few of the lads and their all PS4 gamers, and even those mentioned on how comfy it is, and how light it was too!

Now, to decide if I want the link :P

Damo 2k9

Took the plunge today and got the link, will install it tomorrow and see what its like.

Glebee

Anybosy know if you can hook 2nr wired Xbox controller up to the link or doe it need to be a wireless setup?

Shred

Glebee wrote: »

Anybosy know if you can hook 2nr wired Xbox controller up to the link or doe it need to be a wireless setup?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/

◾Supports Steam Controller (sold separately,) Xbox One or 360 Wired Controller, Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710, or keyboard and mouse

Shred

I got another couple of hours to mess around this afternoon and I'm loving both the controller and link; being able to disappear up to the bedroom and leaving the rest of the family to it in the sitting room while I gamed nice and comfy on the bed was brilliant. I installed the Steam Beta Client earlier and had a few crashes so I reverted back to the regular client and have had no issues since. I played some Deus Ex again and this time it ran pretty flawlessly. I played some more Half Life 2 too and I'm already starting to find better shooting accuracy, it will still take time. Being able to easily customise the controls is superb.
I even managed to play the Xbox One via the link (via Xbox to PC streaming!); it was a little choppy but still fairly playable. It was still great being able to do it without having to shift the console upstairs!

Turtwig

If you can stream Xbox One games via the link, does that mean you can also do it for Origin games?

Shred

Unless EA block it I don't see why not, you should be able to crack open the origin app when in desktop mode and fire up a game.

Turtwig

Sweet!

Shred

I just played some Rocket League with the wife using a hardwired Xbox One controller for player two, it's great craic!

Damo 2k9

Was the Rocket League codes just for pre orders, or in store purchases too?

Shred

Just for pre-orders, both online and B&M purchases.

SlinkyDog

Bought it Friday mostly played f4 with the controller over the steam link not to many issues I like how much customisation you have over the controller, if you the type of person that wants it to work flawlessly out of the box with no tweaking I'd advise staying away 

Damo 2k9

Woah. Link was working fine the other day, sit down to play some Fallout 4 today and turn it on to be greeted with nothing but a buzzing sound and picture. Tried switching hdmi ports, switching hdmi around, restarting both the link and my computer, and nothing is working. Has anyone had this yet ?

EDIT: Turns out its nothing to do with the steam link, something called a Ground Loop happened, changed plugs on my extension lead and fixed it.

SlinkyDog

Sounds like you need an electrician! :0

I'm having good time using the controller on turn based strategy's I'm scared to try it out with an rts

Glebee

Seems to be good feed back so far on link and controller. Oh well thats my Christmas present sorted for this year, I think ill hang on till then for it. Give me something to look forward too, ( im sad I know ). Young lad has asked Santa for Lego Dimensions so if he gets that we can take over all the TVs in the house for Christmas...:)

Dyr

Damo 2k9 wrote: »

Woah. Link was working fine the other day, sit down to play some Fallout 4 today and turn it on to be greeted with nothing but a buzzing sound and picture. Tried switching hdmi ports, switching hdmi around, restarting both the link and my computer, and nothing is working. Has anyone had this yet ?

EDIT: Turns out its nothing to do with the steam link, something called a Ground Loop happened, changed plugs on my extension lead and fixed it.

My experience of ground loop is its often a badly built device, just saying

Damo 2k9

Bambi wrote: »

My experience of ground loop is its often a badly built device, just saying

I can only assume that thats what it was, it sounded exactly like what I heard online

Just played around 4 hours with the link and controller, still find it a bit weird to play Fallout 4 with it, but I suppose I just have to keep tweaking the controls.

SlinkyDog

Have to say a couple of weeks on, my impressions of the controller have improved vastly playing turn based games is a joy (civ5,xcom,galciv & age of wonders 3). My expirience with fps wasent as straight forward for F4 for example I had to do a bit of tweaking to get it just right but since I've gotten used to this new input method and the fact that you can customise all buttons and sensitivity settings I actually prefer it to the standard thumb stick input.

Nice little surprise I only discovered recently when playing fpses is the GYRO settings, it's surprisingly acurate and can help you pull off those precision shots. I briefly tried RTS I found it to awkward but 10 minutes playing rome total war and company of heroes I sent enough to pass judgement especially when I didn't even customise any of the controls.

The steam link is good as well but I would recommend a wired link for it or a couple of powerline adapters missus was browsing FB when I was streaming and it wasent liking that over wifi. The video stream was starting to artifact and the audio was skipping you would nearly want to make sure that the link was the only thing using your home wifi network that's with network priority on! However it's worth noting I'm using a ****e huwai vodafone router and Isn't located in the best place so results vary depending on your network!

Turtwig

Yeah the link is a strange one. It's very very good but very unreliable wireless with my router. The utterly bizarre thing is that it works incredibly good with the local wireless tether of my galaxy S4. :eek:

chrislad

I got the Link the other day, but I've only played one game on it, briefly, and I can't say I was impressed. Picture wasn't great, and I got some jumpy lag. I probably need to configure it, and it was on a wired connection, though the PC it's streaming from is on wireless.

Links234

Woo hoo!

I'm getting a Steam controller for Christmas!

chrislad

chrislad wrote: »

I got the Link the other day, but I've only played one game on it, briefly, and I can't say I was impressed. Picture wasn't great, and I got some jumpy lag. I probably need to configure it, and it was on a wired connection, though the PC it's streaming from is on wireless.

Bit more testing. Tried Alien: Isolation, Lego LotR and Mega Man. All had lag. Tried disconnecting Sky box, and other wired devices. Lag was still there. I'm afraid it's going back to the shop.

brevity

chrislad wrote: »

Bit more testing. Tried Alien: Isolation, Lego LotR and Mega Man. All had lag. Tried disconnecting Sky box, and other wired devices. Lag was still there. I'm afraid it's going back to the shop.

I read there is some setting that helps with rendering graphics and or performance but i cannot remember where i read it.

Might be worth a Google.

Laviski

i have my steam controller and works an absolute charm.
worth the money.

btw it will never replace keyboard and mouse for FPS.
Long live PC master race.

Shred

chrislad wrote: »

Bit more testing. Tried Alien: Isolation, Lego LotR and Mega Man. All had lag. Tried disconnecting Sky box, and other wired devices. Lag was still there. I'm afraid it's going back to the shop.

You might have a dodgy device alright but have you tried all of the suggestions here?

chrislad

Shred wrote: »

You might have a dodgy device alright but have you tried all of the suggestions here?

I tried most of those, bar the hardware. I was on Balanced graphics initially, and it looked terrible, and I still got the lag. I swapped to Beautiful, and it looks much better, but the performance is the same. Small bit of lags, regularly, every 5-10 seconds. It's tiny, and would make no differences in a lot of games, but twitch games, like Rocket League, do suffer.

Shred

If by hardware you mean the encoding/decoding settings I've seen suggestions online to specifically adjust these if there's performance issues, so they're definitely worth a shot. Do your network stats look ok from the device; ping times, no significant latency etc?

SlinkyDog

chrislad wrote:

I tried most of those, bar the hardware. I was on Balanced graphics initially, and it looked terrible, and I still got the lag. I swapped to Beautiful, and it looks much better, but the performance is the same. Small bit of lags, regularly, every 5-10 seconds. It's tiny, and would make no differences in a lot of games, but twitch games, like Rocket League, do suffer.

My link wasent working great out of the box had to update firmware I'm sure you have tried that though.

chrislad

SlinkyDog wrote: »

My link wasent working great out of the box had to update firmware I'm sure you have tried that though.

Yup, the firmware updated as soon as I plugged it in.

I mean the hardware configuration setting. I'll give that a go tonight, and if that doesn't work, I'll just take it back. I've only had it a few days, so there won't be an issue.

Links234

Steam Controller has arrived!

I got to take a little look at it, but now it's gonna be wrapped up for Christmas

Rezident

Where are people buying these in Dublin? Gamestop always seems to be sold out. Steam's delivery prices are shocking!

Wossack

got mine (and a link) in dun laoghaire about a week ago - was the link that was harder to find at the time

/edit seems to be a bit of stock around the place at the moment (https://www.gamestop.ie/StoreLocator/Index?productId=53259)

Rezident

These have been constantly out of stock in every shop I’vetried and Steam’s delivery prices are shocking! What are they charging you for, posting it from the states!?

Does anyone know where you can actually buy any of these, out of stockeverywhere I’ve tried.

Shred

Did you check the last post above yours? From there it looks like there's currently stock in Santry, Tallaght, Liffey Valley, Dun Laoghaire in Dublin alone.

ionapaul

Have to say I'm loving the Link. Have only used it for a few games so far (Rocket League, Battleblock Theatre, Transistor, The Wolf Among Us) but now that I've set up a powerline wired connection with my PC upstairs, everything seems to be perfectly smooth. I'm guessing the games listed earlier aren't particularly taxing though, will be trying it out with the Witcher 3 in the near future hopefully.

Wossack

OSI wrote: »

Got one of these for my Birthday along with a Steam Link. I know I was critical of the controller earlier based purely on feedback from elsewhere, and I'm not overly complimentary of it after using it for a number of hours.

I actually think this could have been fantastic. The concept of a thumbstick and thumbpad works excellently for something like Fallout 4. But the whole thing feels like a €20 rip off version. The materials are so damn cheap, the left "d-pad" area requires far more precision than should be necessary, clicking left registers as down far too often unless you consciously place your thumb on the upper portion of the area. The haptic feedback is bloody awful, and was turned off after minutes. The triggers and bumpers feel mushy and lack any confidence and the face buttons are far too small.

It's a real shame. It'll get used, but there'll always be the thought in my head that it should have been so so much better.

Im not sure if it was the steam beta client (highly recommended), or the controller is calibrating itself the more I use it, but its considerably better now, then when I first got it.

Shred

It looks like the most recent steam beta client and controller updates have made a balls of the controller; I've had to revert back to the regular client to get the controller working again.

iggyigauna89

So quick question for the folks with the Steam Link, I see you can browse google chrome with it but is there any issues with using an Xbox 360 controller? Strongly thinking about picking one of these up and that functionality would be very handy for using youtube, netflix etc.

Shred

iggyigauna89 wrote: »

So quick question for the folks with the Steam Link, I see you can browse google chrome with it but is there any issues with using an Xbox 360 controller? Strongly thinking about picking one of these up and that functionality would be very handy for using youtube, netflix etc.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353380/

◾Supports Steam Controller (sold separately,) Xbox One or 360 Wired Controller, Xbox 360 Wireless Controller for Windows, Logitech Wireless Gamepad F710, or keyboard and mouse

Links234

So, today I recieved my Steam controller, my xmas gift from the other half. I am well happy.

I've only been playing around with it for a couple of hours now but it's doing pretty much exactly what I want, which is allowing me to play games I'd normally only be able to use a mouse and keyboard for, with a controller. I thought it would take a lot longer to get to grips with it, but it was very plug-and-play, tried out Darkest Dungeon, Invisible Inc, and FTL so far and it works really well indeed. It was insanely easy to browse different configs for games, I didn't like the first one I tried with FTL, and then found a really terrific one. Trackpads are taking a bit of getting used to alright, so I don't know if I'll be playing any first person shooters or the like, but for the turn-based point and click stuff I like to play, this is amazing.

I am grinning ear to ear I'm so happy with it!