Linux + Valve has got to be gaming history’s peak team-up.
Considering that they hired Wine devs and basically said “keep doing what you’re already doing” to build Proton… yes.
Also just nice to see a company that understands that a healthy community helps them business wise. So refreshing in an age of enshittification.
Big tbh. The SDL guy even works for Valve and puts this in.
I was expecting steamless functionality to come up in one or more forms but this is far sooner than I was expecting
Honestly, it’s before the vast majority of us even have one.
The small amount of experience I have with playing around with raw hardware inputs on Linux makes me kinda surprised it took this long and guess that it was to polish this and that someone had a more or less functional version shortly after they decided to try.
I forget the name of the system, but they have a rules system that can be set up to do arbitrary actions based on arbitrary hardware messages, without even needing to do any kind of binary driver at all.
I used it to disable the volume commands from my soundbar while trying to get it to behave like it did with the optical input (where soundbar and PC each have their own independent volume settings), because when connected via USB, it would send the volume changes to the PC, so it looked like adjusting the volume changed it in both places. Turns out when in USB mode, it doesn’t use the soundbar volume for anything and the “double effect” was just an illusion caused by the PC steps being larger than the soundbar ones. It was nice having a system to actually check this.
Well that was fast. Going to be great to try it out when I get one
This is awesome
Hoping we get a reguler evdev driver like hid-steam did for the original one
Nice it’s not doa.
Nice it’s not doa.
Yes, selling out in 20 minutes is definitely a sign of a doa product.
Happy to see. I tried playing the Linux version of PokeMMO and it sees “Steam Controller” and adds it in the game settings, but I cannot remap any of the controls. Even adding the game to Steam as a non-Steam game won’t work as Steam Input/Overlay can’t wrap around the process correctly(or at least I couldn’t find a way).
Ended up downloading the .exe version, added that to Steam, and then I could use Steam Input to play the game and setup controller layouts for it.
The controller by default only worked with Steam?? Disappointing
It reportedly worked outside of Steam, but only as a basic gaming controller and separate keyboard/mouse devices. This is unsurprising, since there isn’t really a standard interface for a device like the Steam Controller.
Exposing it as a coherent device via SDL makes sense.
As far as I understand the stream controller had functionality that was not supported by the normal input drivers.
Yeah, the controller boots into “lizard mode” by default, which is a mouse emulation mode (Same as what’s used when the steam deck runs in desktop mode). You need to tell the controller to switch into actual “controller” mode (Which Steam handles when it launches a game), and once it does it functions as you’d expect.
It’s a bit weird to get your fancy new controller, plug it in, and find nothing can see it though.
Just run things through Steam. It’s what I’ve been doing anyway. I’ve already got like 8 hrs in that Dusk - Twilight Princess decomp thing, using my Steam controller by opening the game through Steam.
I even bound fast forward to one of the back buttons
No, but it doesn’t work as a controller outside of steam, because it’s what makes sense. Every time someone complains about this I feel like they’re completely missing the point of the controller.
Does your BIOS know how to handle a controller? Most don’t, but can handle a mouse and some specific keys. How are you expected to change your BIOS settings with a controller unless it can act as a mouse+KB?. Or even without going into BIOS imagine something corrupts Steam and now you need to reinstall it, or do some other OS fixes, can you do that with a controller? Probably not. The steam controller allows you to plug your PC behind your TV and not having to get a KB+Mouse to use it in the vast majority of cases.
Those are just a few examples, but at the end of the day the difference is that most controllers are meant to be used to play controller games, the Steam Controller is meant to be used to control your PC a part of which is playing controller games, but also a lot of other things were never intended to be used with a controller. Therefore it needs to be able to emulate KB+Mouse by default because with a KB+Mouse you’re likely to be able to go from most states into having Steam to launch a game, whereas a controller is useless to navigate your OS or BIOS.
No, it doesn’t make sense. What makes sense is a standalone controller.
Oh and your BIOS example is not the analogy you think it is.
It’s not an analogy, it’s an actual use case for the controller. I don’t remember if it was LTT or GN that had to do some BIOS change when reviewing the controller and showed how it even works there. You might not care about it, but to me being able to select a grub entry with a controller means I never again need to struggle with my PC that’s behind the TV to plug a keyboard if something breaks.
Edit: Forgot to mention launchers and other similar stuff that expect mouses to interact.
Dude, you can’t seriously be simping for Valve so hard that writ entire paragraphs defending a hardware released without a standalone driver.
I mean, this is a thing that exists. It’s not like peopler are asking for something that can’t be done.
You’re right about the analogy part, I totally misread your previous comment xD. However, why on earth would you want to control bios settings with a controller? If you’re thinking of the Steam Machine, then valve could add “controller support” to the BIOS. It doesn’t make sense to do it the other way around and fuck over literally the vast majority of users that don’t have a steam machine.
Again, asking for a driver that doesn’t require you download a game client and create an account is perfectly reasonable. Why do I need to have Steam running in the background if I’m running an epic or gog game?
I have a desktop PC plugged into my TV, and have had for the past decade or so. The OG steam controller has saved me multiple times from having to reach behind to plug a keyboard and mouse. I understand you don’t care for this use case, but the appeal of this controller is in steam Input, if you plan on using it just like a regular controller then you’re better off buying an 8BitDo or similar for half the price.
There were open source alternatives for the OG controller, one that I used for a while is https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller and I’m sure similar ones will pop for the new one. Unlike most proprietary controllers each button and input sends a distinct input so a driver for it is trivial to write (most controllers with back paddles for example require some software to map them to other controller input and they send the same input from the button and the paddle making them impossible to work without the official software).
Could Valve have released an open source version of this? Yes, but they’re selling the controller in their platform to be used in their platform so it’s a weird ask, you already have to have a steam account to buy one, and SteamInput is a big part of why I use Steam even for non-steam games. And realistically without SteamInput this controller is not that appealing.
I have a desktop PC plugged into my TV, and have had for the past decade or so. The OG steam controller has saved me multiple times from having to reach behind to plug a keyboard and mouse.
Here’s a wild idea. Wireless. Keyboard. (And mouse, if you want it). Pretty much any decent keyboard you buy nowadays has wired/2.4/bt connectivity. So no, you wouldn’t even need to reach behind to plug anything in. Even if you did, I don’t think it would even qualify as a hassle.
I understand you don’t care for this use case
No, you don’t understand because I do have a Steam Deck and it’s connected to my TV most of the time but, unlike you, I have a wireless kb+m (it’s what I’m using to type this). Actually I first got annoyed by Steam Input being bundled into the client with my Steam Deck. I noticed that if steam isn’t open, the controls on the device don’t work in desktop mode. Steam is using 900MB of RAM whether you actually need to use steam or not. That sucks. I just want to use the controls on my device. Proper drivers can achieve that without all of the unnecessary Steam bloat.
the appeal of this controller is in steam Input
Steam input is a component of the Steam client and is only tied to it because Steam wants it to be. Not because it needs to be that way due to a sw limitation, for example. I don’t know why this is so hard to understand for you, or why you’re defending it. It’s not like this arbitrary limitation is benefiting anyone other than Steam. The appeal is the device’s capabilities, not its software limitations.
Could Valve have released an open source version of this? Yes, but they’re selling the controller in their platform to be used in their platform so it’s a weird ask
Of course it’d be a weird ask, but I have no idea where this is coming from. That’s not what I’m asking for.
SteamInput is a big part of why I use Steam even for non-steam games
Here my friend, is where you’re answering why Steam forces Steam Input to be a part of the client.
And realistically without SteamInput this controller is not that appealing.
Who is even asking for this??? xD I’m just saying that they don’t need to bundle it with the Steam client.
Wireless. Keyboard. (And mouse, if you want it).
But then I need to leave that keyboard and mouse somewhere and it won’t be as convenient as picking the controller that’s already there. Plus I need this so sporadically that when I do they will be out of battery and it will be much more of a hassle. Plus I already have the controller in my hand, so being able to just have a mouse to click on a launcher or arrow keys to select an entry in GRUB or something similar is just so convenient. For a long time I had a KB+mouse plugged to it, but since I got the OG steam controller I haven’t needed to.
you don’t understand because I do have a Steam Deck and it’s connected to my TV most of the time but, unlike you, I have a wireless kb+m (it’s what I’m using to type this).
Therefore you don’t care about that use case.
the controls on the device don’t work in desktop mode.
They do work, just not as a controller, but you can use the device to navigate KDE and do stuff even without steam opened. Which is precisely the point, if they worked as a controller they would be useless to control the desktop.
Steam is using 900MB of RAM whether you actually need to use steam or not. That sucks. I just want to use the controls on my device. Proper drivers can achieve that without all of the unnecessary Steam bloat.
You might be exaggerating on the memory usage there, but I do get your point. It is a valid point like I said, but no, proper drivers can’t achieve that because controllers have less buttons than the steam controller and you would lose on the ability to use it as KB+Mouse which you’re not understanding is a feature lots of us want.
Steam input is a component of the Steam client and is only tied to it because Steam wants it to be.
Yes, but why would steam decouple them? That only incentives people not to use Steam which is their source of money.
I don’t know why this is so hard to understand for you, or why you’re defending it.
I understand that, and I also understand that Valve is a for-profit corporation so they won’t do something that loses them money. You might as well ask why they don’t allow to use their cloud to store random files without having to buy the games from them.
It’s not like this arbitrary limitation is benefiting anyone other than Steam.
Yeah, I agree, but it’s Steam software, it’s meant to benefit Steam. What a weird argument to make, does GoG galaxy has features that benefits someone other than GoG?.
The appeal is the device’s capabilities, not its software limitations.
And with the way that Valve went the capabilities are still there without steam, if they had gone the route you wanted to it would be even more tied to Steam just like how other controllers require their own software to map extra buttons and such. The way they made it it’s trivial to write a driver that takes it behave like you want to, going the other way around is not. Maybe have a read on how drivers are written, it might give you a better idea on why this was done on this way.
Of course it’d be a weird ask, but I have no idea where this is coming from. That’s not what I’m asking for.
The previous paragraph you’re literally complaining that SteamInput is bound to steam. What are you asking for if not for SteamInput to be released as a separate thing?
Here my friend, is where you’re answering why Steam forces Steam Input to be a part of the client.
Yes, precisely.
Who is even asking for this??? xD I’m just saying that they don’t need to bundle it with the Steam client.
I’m, and most people who bought the OG controller too. Let me ask you something, in your ideal version of the controller, when you plug it in without steam, what input should the trackpad give you? What about the back buttons? What about the grip and other touch sensors?
so did the 2015 steam controller so its not suprising
