Return of the Steam Box!

[Frenetic Pony]

He said that the Portal 2 thing was set up for 1:1 mouse look movement. I'm sure you could have it emulate thumbstick movement too if your pansy thumb gets tired? Rather impressive when you consider that this could work with any shooter without controller support.

 

1:1 mouse movement is a bit of a BS thing to say, as that would depend entirely on the DPS of the emulated mouse. Maybe it's the same sensing DPS of the pad? Either way you should be able to turn up the sensitivity to your liking.

 

But at least I'm totally convinced the FPS controls look better than a joystick. Maybe not a mouse, but you'd never be getting those headshots that fast in a PC game without console style "Aim assistance".

[Lu]

That's not how I took the 1 to 1 thing. Doesn't it describe the difference of linear movement (is that the right term?) vs. a thumbsticks relative movement? That's how I took it. I'm probably wrong!

[Thrik]

The rapid thumbing when aiming in Portal definitely looks weird, but it's worth bearing in mind that a lot of people use a mouse in the same way. Unlike a thumb stick which can turn indefinitely, there'll always be a limit with mice and track pads.

Fortunately, this is why sensitivity is generally configurable in PC games — people who want to be able to do a 360-degree turn in a tiny flick can do, both with mice and touchpads. This compromise is just part of having the accuracy of such devices.

[brkl]

I understood 1 to 1 meaning there was no acceleration.

[Twig]

I understood 1 to 1 meaning there was no acceleration.

Yeah, pretty sure that's what he meant. No BS at all.

[TheLastBaron]

I'll buy this when it is adopted by pro sc2 players.

[Frenetic Pony]

Yeah, pretty sure that's what he meant. No BS at all.

 

Ah, my mistake then, didn't really pay attention to what he was saying during the video. But yes it sounds a lot better than integrating over time, which is what you do with a stick.

[Thrik]

It's going to be an interesting test to see which handles FPS, RTS, and simulation games best: Valve's track pads or

built into the main pad. I can see both potentially working very well, although I imagine the fidelity of a thumb is always going to outmatch that of two wrists. Also the touch pads can truly simulate a mouse whereas the pointing would need to do the stick thing and start auto-moving when you aim too far in either direction (unless overall direction is handled using a stick still) — not a problem for top-down games, but not ideal for shooters.

[dartmonkey]

The more I see and hear about the next/current gen, the more I'm leaning towards a Steam box. Valve have taken the ballache out of PC gaming for me. If I plug in a 360 pad, cross-platform games behave exactly like on consoles but with PC benefits. The only thing missing is a comfy sofa seat. Pair it with a Wii U and I've got the generation 95% covered. It's all going to boil down to the pad. Does anyone know if the boxes use Steam controllers exclusively, or will I still be able to plug in a 360 pad?

[Justin Leego]

Based on the view that Valve are into incentives more than exclusives, you won't be restricted to using The Owl with a Steam Machine, but it'll have been designed to give a better all round experience than the alternatives.

[BigJKO]

The Owl?! 

[Thrik]

I've discovered during the past few days that unless I'm missing something, there's no satisfactorily lag-free way of streaming a game running on your PC in another room to the TV while also using living room-specific control peripherals regardless of what fancy dongles you buy (except perhaps NASA-grade ones for £10m). If Valve can crack that alone, they're on to a serious winner.

 

I'm currently building a powerhouse desktop for projects and gaming, and my dreams of being able to also use it to play sofa games were promptly shot down unless I literally wheel it into there. I guess that is one big reason for me to get the basic Steam Machine. I mean, if things like OnLive and Gaikai can get this shit working over kilometres you'd think it'd be relatively straightforward to get it working between a few rooms. I guess Valve is just the first company well and truly trying to make this happen.

[Justin Leego]

The Owl?! 

 

[ O+O ]

The Owl

 

Genuinely can't wait for all of The Owl's owl-themed skins and decals from unlicensed third-party accessory manufacturers!

 

also I hope they worked out a way for the magnet-o-speaker to make bird sounds

[BigJKO]

Oh. My. God.

 

I can't unsee it!

[CjEggett]

Definitely an owl.

 

Sadly this means while playing you're shoving your thumbs into an owl's eye sockets - as if it were your moral enemy in the Tarantino-kung-fu-throwback version of your life.

[Thrik]

Better that than Gabe's nipples.

[Twig]

Better that than Gabe's nipples.

Is it, though?

[Roderick]

[Erkki]

I've discovered during the past few days that unless I'm missing something, there's no satisfactorily lag-free way of streaming a game running on your PC in another room to the TV while also using living room-specific control peripherals regardless of what fancy dongles you buy (except perhaps NASA-grade ones for £10m). If Valve can crack that alone, they're on to a serious winner.

 

What did you try? Was input the only problem?

[Thrik]

Nothing, I can't even find anything to buy that'd allow me to do this without significant latency. Two main barriers are input (multiple doors and walls between sofa and main PC) and lag-free wireless HD output — every device I've seen just has too much latency for gaming, especially with something as accurate as a mouse or trackpad.

I'd be legitimately delighted to be made aware of a way to do this.

[Justin Leego]

Would you find it baffling and frustrating should someone suggest you try homeplugs?

(I realise it wouldn't work but feel like it has to be done)

[Erkki]

Nothing, I can't even find anything to buy that'd allow me to do this without significant latency. Two main barriers are input (multiple doors and walls between sofa and main PC) and lag-free wireless HD output — every device I've seen just has too much latency for gaming, especially with something as accurate as a mouse or trackpad.

I'd be legitimately delighted to be made aware of a way to do this.

Have you heard of HDBaseT -- sends several kinds of signals (including HDMI and Ethernet) over ethernet wires. I don't know how well it works, I just recently read about it. (of course, this is assuming you have ethernet wires in walls)

 

[edit] Also it sends control signals, which I wonder if can be somehow adapted for game controller signals.

[Erkki]

Apparently it also delivers USB 2.0? http://www.cepro.com/article/why_hdbaset_2.0_is_so_awesome_usb_and_multipoint_video_distribution/

 

What’s new? USB 2.0 support for one thing. Having an extender with integrated USB 2.0 support means that gamers can hook up their controllers in the TV room, while the console is tucked away in a rack on the other side of the home.

Although...

 

Keep in mind that it will be some time before we see the HDBaseT 2.0 products for sale, as the specification was just released. It is also unclear as to whether the HDBaseT 2.0 products are backwards compatible with the current 1.0 products on the market, but again, we are probably at least a year or two from seeing 2.0 gear hit the market. ...

(from August)

[Erkki]

Actually the more I think about HDBaseT, the more I think that maybe I don't want a Steam Box or living room streaming PC. If it could really deliver everything over a cat5, why not just hook up input devices to a HDBaseT device, and the other end similarly, to the powerful desktop computer.

[Thrik]

If wiring were possible I think it'd be just as easy to wrap up a bunch of extra-long HDMI and USB cables and do it that way, alas I rent and it's not an option — the layout of my apartment just doesn't accommodate it. That still looks like an interesting technology but sadly not suitable for me.

I'm really looking for a 'just works' solution that can not only receive a real-time HD picture, but also receive and then transmit wireless controller signals to/from my PC (most peripherals have very limited wireless range so going directly to the PC is problematic).

The closest I've seen is WHDI, which is basically a proper wireless HDMI specification (The future!). Unfortunately it's some time away from prime time, and existing devices are laggy and/or super-expensive. That still leaves the controllers, anyway.

I think this is a great gap for Valve to fill but I wish there were more easy options here.