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I’m a big fan of gamepads, they enable me to kick back and relax while gaming. I decided to invest in one that is supposed to have good Linux support, so what did I find?
I was really tired of my old Xbox 360 wireless pad, when it was purchased for me years ago the battery it came with was half broken (it wouldn’t stay in without tacking it to the gamepad). Due to this it already started life with me annoyed with it, but it was a present, so I stuck with it. I recently decided to dump it for something better, because I can.
Enter the Logitech F310, isn’t it beautiful?
Configuration
Thanks to Steam it needed zero configuration, and worked beautifully out of the box. It even has a handy button directly in the middle which will bring up the Steam Overlay; something I wasn’t able to do on my old wireless 360 controller. Logitech do directly advertise Steam Big Picture on their official product page, so it sounds like it was designed with it in mind.
I’ve tested it outside Steam as well, and without configuring anything it seems to work just as well. I am very impressed with how easy it is to get going. That’s the most important thing after all—I want to game with it, not spend tons of time configuring it.
How does it feel?
Even with my smaller hands it still feels pretty comfortable, and fits snuggly into both hands together. I’ve used it for some pretty long sessions now, and my hands don’t end up aching like they do with my Dualshock 4. There’s practically no weight to it either, so that’s a major bonus.
The wire on it is pretty long too, to the point that I can nearly sit half a room away! I still need a slight extension to lazy with it in bed though, sadly. I shall one day be the king of PC gaming leisure, lazing it up in bed while I game.
The trigger buttons are the only parts that don’t feel quite right. I’m not sure if it’s due to being brand new or not, but the triggers feel really quite stiff. It’s not a big issue though, as they are still perfectly usable, but I do hope they become a little less stiff over time, with enough use they might, so I will just have to keep an eye on it.
The general build quality does seem great, and it feels quite strong. Feels like it might actually last quite some time even with me dropping it all over the place, and my son throwing it around. I really need to hide it away during the day!
Deadzone wise, there’s a real tiny amount of it on each stick, and I imagine that’s to stop accidental movements. You don’t want them to be overly sensitive and respond to the tiniest touch by accident, so I think the responsiveness is pretty good. It may not be the best for a fast paced shooter when you’re using something like a Sniper that needs pinpoint movement, but for everything else it should be a dream.
I’ve tested the gamepad in several games, and it performs really well in all of them. Some games like Half-Life 2 really were never designed for a gamepad, but it’s nice to have the option to use one. The original layout that Half-Life 2 gives you for this controller is a bit crap, so after some customization it’s all good, and I don’t think I had to use the keyboard since I customized it.
One thing I did find during my testing is the “mode” button seems to switch between using the D-pad and the left analog stick for movement. It confused me to no end until i realised I accidentally pressed it, which is quite easy to do. If that happens to you, that’s probably what you did.
Apart from BioShock’s setting having an inverted look up/down the wrong way around (off is inverted, on isn’t, lolwut?) the game seems to work pretty great with it. The Control layout is a bit crap, but bearable. Like with Half-Life 2, just customize as you like it.
The gamepad is just as responsive as it is in Half-Life 2, and that’s great. It has enabled me to enjoy the game some more as I sit back and watch the story unfold.
Finally, I tested it extensively in Victor Vran, and i just never wanted to put it down, but more on that in another article to come soon.
Final Verdict: If you’re looking for a well built gamepad that has a good shape, and good support in games, then go for it. For the price I think it’s fantastic, and you can find them dirt cheap on eBay.
You can find the official F310 page on Logitechs website.
Ps. What gamepad have you fallen in love with? Or are you too "pc master race" to go near one? Let me know! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I was really tired of my old Xbox 360 wireless pad, when it was purchased for me years ago the battery it came with was half broken (it wouldn’t stay in without tacking it to the gamepad). Due to this it already started life with me annoyed with it, but it was a present, so I stuck with it. I recently decided to dump it for something better, because I can.
Enter the Logitech F310, isn’t it beautiful?
Configuration
Thanks to Steam it needed zero configuration, and worked beautifully out of the box. It even has a handy button directly in the middle which will bring up the Steam Overlay; something I wasn’t able to do on my old wireless 360 controller. Logitech do directly advertise Steam Big Picture on their official product page, so it sounds like it was designed with it in mind.
I’ve tested it outside Steam as well, and without configuring anything it seems to work just as well. I am very impressed with how easy it is to get going. That’s the most important thing after all—I want to game with it, not spend tons of time configuring it.
How does it feel?
Even with my smaller hands it still feels pretty comfortable, and fits snuggly into both hands together. I’ve used it for some pretty long sessions now, and my hands don’t end up aching like they do with my Dualshock 4. There’s practically no weight to it either, so that’s a major bonus.
The wire on it is pretty long too, to the point that I can nearly sit half a room away! I still need a slight extension to lazy with it in bed though, sadly. I shall one day be the king of PC gaming leisure, lazing it up in bed while I game.
The trigger buttons are the only parts that don’t feel quite right. I’m not sure if it’s due to being brand new or not, but the triggers feel really quite stiff. It’s not a big issue though, as they are still perfectly usable, but I do hope they become a little less stiff over time, with enough use they might, so I will just have to keep an eye on it.
The general build quality does seem great, and it feels quite strong. Feels like it might actually last quite some time even with me dropping it all over the place, and my son throwing it around. I really need to hide it away during the day!
Deadzone wise, there’s a real tiny amount of it on each stick, and I imagine that’s to stop accidental movements. You don’t want them to be overly sensitive and respond to the tiniest touch by accident, so I think the responsiveness is pretty good. It may not be the best for a fast paced shooter when you’re using something like a Sniper that needs pinpoint movement, but for everything else it should be a dream.
I’ve tested the gamepad in several games, and it performs really well in all of them. Some games like Half-Life 2 really were never designed for a gamepad, but it’s nice to have the option to use one. The original layout that Half-Life 2 gives you for this controller is a bit crap, so after some customization it’s all good, and I don’t think I had to use the keyboard since I customized it.
One thing I did find during my testing is the “mode” button seems to switch between using the D-pad and the left analog stick for movement. It confused me to no end until i realised I accidentally pressed it, which is quite easy to do. If that happens to you, that’s probably what you did.
Apart from BioShock’s setting having an inverted look up/down the wrong way around (off is inverted, on isn’t, lolwut?) the game seems to work pretty great with it. The Control layout is a bit crap, but bearable. Like with Half-Life 2, just customize as you like it.
The gamepad is just as responsive as it is in Half-Life 2, and that’s great. It has enabled me to enjoy the game some more as I sit back and watch the story unfold.
Finally, I tested it extensively in Victor Vran, and i just never wanted to put it down, but more on that in another article to come soon.
Final Verdict: If you’re looking for a well built gamepad that has a good shape, and good support in games, then go for it. For the price I think it’s fantastic, and you can find them dirt cheap on eBay.
You can find the official F310 page on Logitechs website.
Ps. What gamepad have you fallen in love with? Or are you too "pc master race" to go near one? Let me know! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
I think this would be a interesting unique question for the monthly survey; do you use a gamepad & what model?
Or was it already?
Or was it already?
1 Likes, Who?
oldrocker99 May 19, 2015
I have tried using a gamepad, and, having never played any game on a console, ever, I didn't much like it 
.
In other words, you can have my keyboard and mouse
when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers. :P
Not that I couldn't learn, but, still, I am not in love with the concept of using a controller. Your mileage, of course, may vary :) .
. In other words, you can have my keyboard and mouse
when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers. :P Not that I couldn't learn, but, still, I am not in love with the concept of using a controller. Your mileage, of course, may vary :) .
1 Likes, Who?
Need more ABC/XYZ gamepads…
0 Likes
ProfessorKaos64 May 19, 2015
> It even has a handy button directly in the middle which will bring up the Steam Overlay; something I wasn’t able to do on my old wireless 360 controller.
I use wired/wireless official Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers. Never had this issue.
Nice review though, I can't wait to try out my PS4 controller soon on my birthday.
I use wired/wireless official Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers. Never had this issue.
Nice review though, I can't wait to try out my PS4 controller soon on my birthday.
0 Likes
Quoting: jsa1983I have the F510 and it is very confy, indeed.I grabbed one of these back when I heard they were being discontinued. I find these Logitech game pads rather unconformable for prolonged usage. The area below the shoulder buttons is slightly too small for the knuckle of my ring fingers (friends have had the same issue).
Quoting: coesetaI am using a Wii U pro controller, best gamepad I have usedView video on youtube.com
Looks pretty good. If the Steam Controller doesn't live up expectations, I'll be giving it a try.
0 Likes
jedidiah_lnx May 19, 2015
Quoting: bisbyxI have 2 of these (you can get them dirt cheap!).
I was having kernel freezes playing Shadow Warrior. Someone pointed out that there was an xinput issue with an unofficial patch that fixed it (as the person was having the same issue in Borderlands the Pre-Sequel).
He pointed me to https://steamcommunity.com/app/233130/discussions/0/611702631210587760/ which pointed me to http://www.spinics.net/lists/linux-input/msg31446.html "it's a kernel-patch for xpad that is supposed to fix crash that come from too much rumbling-requests." This is from may2014 and was still an issue as of last month, so I can only presume it hasnt been merged anywhere yet. My solution was to unplug my controllers anytime I play a game that doesnt explicitly require them (and as such, I've become less likely to play games that need a controller, because Im lazy).
Great controllers, but be aware that certain games in linux don't mix well with controllers.
Never mind game pads. I use a joystick. It's a cheap thing drop shipped from China with a gazillion buttons but it does the whole "casual" gaming thing very well.
0 Likes
Quoting: jedidiahlnxNever mind game pads. I use a joystick. It's a cheap thing drop shipped from China with a gazillion buttons but it does the whole "casual" gaming thing very well.
In the early nineties I finished Battletoads in a NES clone with a Joystick (but the directional was digital, like the Atary 2600). Good times :-)
0 Likes
A friend of mine have the Logitech F710. He bought it because it appeared in the launch of Steam Big Picture. It was kind of the official Steam joypad at the time. We didn't like it because the distance between the analog sticks and the triggers was bigger than the PS3 and 360 joypads. You have to really open your thumbs and indicators to reach the triggers. It become really tiresome aft a wile. You have to have really big hands to use it comfortably. Keep in mind he is a big fan of the Playstation joypads, but profoundly regretted the purchase.
I have both the 360 and One joypads. The 360 one is the de facto joypad of the Steam games, always recognized and it is his buttons that you see inside the games. The One joypad rumble started working with the 4.1 Linux kernel. In the 4.1RC4 is working fine.
To me, the Xbox One joypad is the best purchase right now, the best ergonomics by far. But is wired. If you didn't live without a wireless joypad, I can't recommend the purchase. The promised wireless receiver wasn't launched yet, and the Steam Controller will be out when Microsoft finally launch it.
I have both the 360 and One joypads. The 360 one is the de facto joypad of the Steam games, always recognized and it is his buttons that you see inside the games. The One joypad rumble started working with the 4.1 Linux kernel. In the 4.1RC4 is working fine.
To me, the Xbox One joypad is the best purchase right now, the best ergonomics by far. But is wired. If you didn't live without a wireless joypad, I can't recommend the purchase. The promised wireless receiver wasn't launched yet, and the Steam Controller will be out when Microsoft finally launch it.
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