A very special livestream tonight, keyboard and mouse vs Steam Controller

I love the MX performance mouse, I had one at home, and then bought another one for work (used the first one so much that the mouse button stopped working, so I popped it open and replaced it with some switches I ordered from China!) I eventually bought the Roccat Tyon because it has a ton of buttons and it matches my Roccat Ryos MK Pro very nicely. So the second MX went to a guy that I work with because I couldn't handle listening to his crappy mouse wheel scrolling through tons of code making that grinding noise.

For those who haven't used the MX Performance mouse, there is a button for quick scrolling that makes it silent :D

Quoting: slaapliedjeSo the second MX went to a guy that I work with because I couldn't handle listening to his crappy mouse wheel scrolling through tons of code making that grinding noise.

For those who haven't used the MX Performance mouse, there is a button for quick scrolling that makes it silent :D

I know what you mean. A friend of mine have a wireless Logitech mouse/keyboard combo and OMG, that is a loud scroll-wheel!!! I hate it, and aways make me nervous when I go to his house and have to hear that thing make noise.

Ha! I could hear his two cubicles away. Was driving me nuts. But then again, there is another guy around the same area (fortunately he works from home a lot) that insists on using a Model M keyboard... I was nicer to my co-workers and bought a Matias Quiet Pro for there.

Quoting: GuestI only caught a small part of the livestream, but I was very curious about seeing the steam controller in action. Have to admit, looked to handle better than I would have thought.
I remember being quite proficient back in the day with Golden Eye, but I'm no good with fps shooters & gamepads these days.

GoldenEye, still one of my favorite FPS game of all times. The game that defined what a FPS game should be, launched in a console and made Valve postpone (I think) Half Life for a year for improvements.

Some FPS games are made for gamepads, so you can really sense that when you play then with a mouse/keyboard. For example, Borderlands or Metro games plays really nice on a gamepad, but Valve games like Counter Strike and Left 4 Dead make you really suffer to choose a gamepad over a M/K combo.

You can aways sense that a FPS game was made for gamepads when they aways try to place the opponents in front of you, to avoid much lateral movements and facilitate aim. Valve games have the enemies coming from everywhere, making you do large lateral movements that are difficult to do precisely with a gamepad.


Last edited by M@GOid on 30 November 2015 at 4:20 pm UTC

Quoting: slaapliedjeHa! I could hear his two cubicles away. Was driving me nuts. But then again, there is another guy around the same area (fortunately he works from home a lot) that insists on using a Model M keyboard... I was nicer to my co-workers and bought a Matias Quiet Pro for there.

Model Ms are really good for typing, but only make happiness to his owner, because everybody else only get the sounds. Is like hearing others doing sex in other apartment. They got all the fun and you all the noise...

Can you imagine what it was to work in a office full of IBM PCs in the 1980's?


Last edited by M@GOid on 30 November 2015 at 4:12 pm UTC

Quoting: MGOid

Quoting: GuestI only caught a small part of the livestream, but I was very curious about seeing the steam controller in action. Have to admit, looked to handle better than I would have thought.
I remember being quite proficient back in the day with Golden Eye, but I'm no good with fps shooters & gamepads these days.

Some FPS games are made for gamepads, so you can really sense that when you play then with a mouse/keyboard. For example, Borderlands or Metro games plays really nice on a gamepad, butt Valve games like Counter Strike and Left 4 Dead make you really suffer to choose a gamepad over a M/K combo.

You can aways sense that a FPS game was made for gamepads when they aways try to place the opponents in front of you, to avoid much lateral movements and facilitate aim. Valve games have the enemies coming from everywhere, making you do large lateral movements that are difficult to do precisely with a gamepad.

Which is why Valve innovated with the Steam Controller, and now gives you WAY better control than any other gamepad. You obviously need to tweak the settings to your liking and practice, since it's different than a mouse or analog stick. Too many people think the Steam Controller is pick up and play right now, and it's not. Because it's not something you've been picking up and playing with for years or decades.

Think about any other leap and innovation in input, and how awkward they were at first. I can recall needing time to adjust from the NES and TG-16 d-pad w/ two face buttons, to the SNES with twice as many buttons and the insanity that was shoulder buttons... Then analog sticks. Then dual analog sticks... Everything needed some adjustment time. Going from the big trackball of the ICON computers, to a PC with a mouse was a big leap. When I switched to a Logitech TrackMan thumb trackball in 2003, that was a bit change too and I wasn't that good with it for a while, but now that's all I use. Point is, though the adjustment periods varied, none of those things were pick-up-and-play from day one. The more radical the departure from the standard, the more time it will take to adjust to it.

I feel it's still far too early to fairly compare Steam Controllers to virtually any familiar input device. Even though my experience has been extremely positive and I'm quite used to it now after a month and a half, I still see myself improving daily. But maybe that's just me.

Quoting: adolson

Quoting: edoI saw a guy being the best in a csgo match with the sc, so I don't expect anything less from you lol.

He's had a lot more practice with it, and he spent a lot of time configuring the settings to how he liked and had a decent config for himself. A lot of the part of the stream I saw was spent configuring and tweaking the controller settings, so it's definitely not even remotely to a fair comparison - between Liam and the CSGO dude, or between the Steam Controller and KBM.

Can confirm, I've changed how I have my Steam Controller and it's pretty good but even still it's hard needs a lot of practise with the right thumb.

Quoting: MGOidGoldenEye, still one of my favorite FPS game of all times

Speaking of Golden Eye, I thought Golden Eye Source SDK 2013 and Linux would be out by now, does anyone know the status of GE:S Linux? Maybe someone should give them a poke.

Quoting: adolsonWhich is why Valve innovated with the Steam Controller, and now gives you WAY better control than any other gamepad. You obviously need to tweak the settings to your liking and practice, since it's different than a mouse or analog stick. Too many people think the Steam Controller is pick up and play right now, and it's not. Because it's not something you've been picking up and playing with for years or decades.

Think about any other leap and innovation in input, and how awkward they were at first. I can recall needing time to adjust from the NES and TG-16 d-pad w/ two face buttons, to the SNES with twice as many buttons and the insanity that was shoulder buttons... Then analog sticks. Then dual analog sticks... Everything needed some adjustment time. Going from the big trackball of the ICON computers, to a PC with a mouse was a big leap. When I switched to a Logitech TrackMan thumb trackball in 2003, that was a bit change too and I wasn't that good with it for a while, but now that's all I use. Point is, though the adjustment periods varied, none of those things were pick-up-and-play from day one. The more radical the departure from the standard, the more time it will take to adjust to it.

I feel it's still far too early to fairly compare Steam Controllers to virtually any familiar input device. Even though my experience has been extremely positive and I'm quite used to it now after a month and a half, I still see myself improving daily. But maybe that's just me.

Yes. People play in the Playstation with dual sticks for almost 20 years. I remember back then, when the N64 came out, the analog stick was not love in first sight. Mario 64 made us get used to the new way of control.

So yeah, Valve new gamepad will take a while to overcome that muscle memory. I remember to leave the consoles after the end of life of the N64 and come to the PC with its mouse and keyboard. Basically to play flight simulators.

When I bought Batman: Arkham Asylum and fell in love with, it became clear that a gamepad (a XB360 controller) was a necessity. Then I tried to play some FPS games like Crysis and OMG, what the hell was that. I played hundreds of hours of GoldenEye and the control scheme I prefer was the analog stick to aim and the C buttons to move. ALL other FPS games in the Playstation and Xbox uses the opposite, IE, the left move and the right aim. Man... that was a pain in the ass to overcome, but I did it, and eventually finished Crysis 1 in the Delta difficulty using a gamepad.

Since then I play some FPS games in the joypad just for the challenge (L4D2 became too easy after 1000 hrs, even on Expert...). BUT, even after more than 15 years after I unpluged my N64 from the TV, I can still put the N64 controller in a USB adapter, fire a emulator and play GoldenEye using the analog stick, with my LEFT thumb, to aim and do some nice headshots.

I suppose I could watch it for a bit!