Gyroscope tool JoyShockMapper comes to Linux, Valve adds 'Flick stick' to Steam Input

I'm using gyro and lightsensors on my Wiimote for years to play games on linux, I will not say you will become a pro player at any time, but for sure you can have fun as you were playing with a keyboard and mouse. Some people care a lot about being competitive, for me, games are all about having.

Also this should be covered at some point:

https://github.com/jgeumlek/MoltenGamepad

Nice one, I use gyro aim with my steam controller all the time. And yes it is pretty responsive and persice. Cant wait to see this running with my ds4

Might help these console amateurs to get a bit better :) Does not even come close to keyboard + mouse.

Might help these console amateurs to get a bit better :) Does not even come close to keyboard + mouse.

This seams to be up in the air still. I am not talking about experience, I want to learn this input method but have only spent 5 minutes, then thinking I need to find an easier game. (tried only in the middle of Doom Eternal on second highest difficulty)

What seams to be the reality:
Thumbstick < Trackpad < Gyro < Mouse

But the skill sealing is yet to be determined with gyro aiming. It has some theoretical advantages. which include: Instant turning (flick stick), and the possibility to use more muscles to get quicker aiming movement combined with maybe easier to do precision aiming.

Still yet to be determined. If anything it could take time for it to be vetted in a competition level, because the hypothetical improvement requires some training and is not as significant like starting to use WASD for movement.

Speaking of WASD, the thumb stick is indeed better than WASD for the same purpose, if the game supports simultaneous mouse and gamepad.

Might help these console amateurs to get a bit better :) Does not even come close to keyboard + mouse.

You are wrong. I played a lot of ranked games in Dota 2 before and a lot of other players recognized me as a good player.

I started playing CS with a Steam Controller more or less as a joke / fun project. As some of my friends are not good at the game, I figured, I could make a second account and play with controller only. After some practice, it's not bad. While, obviously, I perform a lot better with KB and mouse, I am able to play decently with the Steam Controller. Rank wise, my rank with KB and mouse is somewhere about AK2 / Double AK. With the SC my rank is about Gold 2/3.
So this is not only a gimmick that enables console players to get a bit better, but still get stomped by KB and mouse players. It enables console players to play at a similar level as PC players with enough practice!

Nice stuff, I've always liked the idea of doing the camera via the gyro but always got stuck because steam input's mapping was doing mouse like camera rather than thumstick/steering wheel like. This meant that any right turn turned your camera right which doesn't work when you've just turned left but need to return the controller to it's basic position cause that just turns you back to your old forward direction. The flick stick idea would fix this but a steering wheel mode would also be great.

Nice stuff, I've always liked the idea of doing the camera via the gyro but always got stuck because steam input's mapping was doing mouse like camera rather than thumstick/steering wheel like. This meant that any right turn turned your camera right which doesn't work when you've just turned left but need to return the controller to it's basic position cause that just turns you back to your old forward direction. The flick stick idea would fix this but a steering wheel mode would also be great.

My setting (it was someone else's I modified slightly) works as follows:
- The camera / raw direction is done with the track pad
- The fine aiming is done with gyro
- gyro only activates when the thumb is on the trackpad
So your problem with the turning back would not be a real problem because you look in the direction you want with the trackpad and not with the gyro. You need a rather high sensitivitiy / acceleration on the trackpad for that, though. If you need to center your gamepad, you just center it without touching the trackpad. It think that's not needed very often if I recall correctly.

Speaking of WASD, the thumb stick is indeed better than WASD for the same purpose, if the game supports simultaneous mouse and gamepad.

I find it incredible that we're still using digital controls for movement in the 21st Century, and that “gaming keyboards” are even a thing. Before the rise of the FPS, the keyboard was the last resort when your joystick broke.

And I'm not trying to claim any superiority here; when I say “we” I mean it. I'm as guilty as anyone*. I even bought a mechanical keyboard (I told myself it was for typing, but can't deny that gaming was in the back of my mind too). But surely someone can come up with an analogue movement control that's comfortable to use with a mouse?

*The Steam Controller's good, but it can be a pain to set up and “tune”, especially with the gyro.

I hope they will offer a new version of the Steam Controller some day. It is still my favorite controller to this day. I'm so used to it. Perfect for Hollow Knight.

CSGO I play with mouse and keyboard.

Nice stuff, I've always liked the idea of doing the camera via the gyro but always got stuck because steam input's mapping was doing mouse like camera rather than thumstick/steering wheel like. This meant that any right turn turned your camera right which doesn't work when you've just turned left but need to return the controller to it's basic position cause that just turns you back to your old forward direction. The flick stick idea would fix this but a steering wheel mode would also be great.

My setting (it was someone else's I modified slightly) works as follows:
- The camera / raw direction is done with the track pad
- The fine aiming is done with gyro
- gyro only activates when the thumb is on the trackpad
So your problem with the turning back would not be a real problem because you look in the direction you want with the trackpad and not with the gyro. You need a rather high sensitivitiy / acceleration on the trackpad for that, though ....

An excellent explanation! I wanted to add that the sensitivity for this setup that I read about, and have been using for years now, is to set the pad sensitivity so that swiping across the entire surface of the pad turns the camera 180 degrees. It's fast, but not outrageous. (The sensitivity of the gyro I set differently depending on the game.) :)

*The Steam Controller's good, but it can be a pain to set up and “tune”, especially with the gyro.

Indeed. Setting up my SC for every new game can be a drag when what I really want to do with a new game is just jump in and start playing it!

My partial solution has been to create a series of "templates" to use as a basis for setting up new profiles. For instance, since I almost always set up WASD on my left pad (all I have to do is touch the pad to change direction; joystick is a DPad for me), so I have a few templates already set up for that. These templates also have other common FPS/3PS settings already set up as I like them: left pad click = SHIFT to sprint, left guard/paddle = CTRL to crouch, right guard/paddle = SPACE to jump, etc.

So I have things like "Template-WASD-DP" (DP stands for "Dual Pad", explained above), "Template-WASD-JS" (JS = joystick), "Template-xbox-DP", "Template-xbox-JS", etc.

None of it eliminates futzing around with the SC before playing, but it makes it easier. Using Kozec's SC-Controller app makes it easier still because it can be set-up with a keyboard and mouse and being able to copy-paste settings from one profile to another. :)

Might help these console amateurs to get a bit better :) Does not even come close to keyboard + mouse.

You are wrong. I played a lot of ranked games in Dota 2 before and a lot of other players recognized me as a good player.

Well to be honest that only tells that you are good, not that this is actually better than keyboard+mouse. We could put sandals on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and he would still run rings around most football players.

I find it incredible that we're still using digital controls for movement in the 21st Century, and that “gaming keyboards” are even a thing. Before the rise of the FPS, the keyboard was the last resort when your joystick broke.

Never thought of this, but I cannot find the flaw. :) While a mouse is superior to probably any controller I've seen, the keyboard obviously isn't. You might need lots of keys on anything that should replace it, though.

I like gyro aiming very much. It takes a little getting used to, but becomes very natural soon enough.

As for WASD, it may only offer 8 directions, but it’s very quick, faster than moving a thumb stick, and that’s arguably more important than omnidirectional control.

Huh. That looks surprisingly good.