Bjorn Posted January 16, 2014 I'm a bit disappointed in the loss of the touchscreen. I certainly felt like there were some interesting opportunities there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted January 16, 2014 I used to remap the standard WASD to ESDF, this way I had more keys within reach (also, it's the damn home position for typing). But I stopped doing that because of multi platform releases reduced the number of functions and sometimes didn't even have complete remapping abilities. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 16, 2014 Super disappointed they took away the touch screen. Was pretty excited about that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bjorn Posted January 16, 2014 In home streaming is in the wild with a limited number of beta participants. Yah! Hopefully this moves like previous Valve betas, and new invites will be sent on a regular basis. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JonCole Posted January 16, 2014 Random thought - I wonder if Steam OS/Linux will guarantee Microsoft's being really slow on introducing a DirectX standard that isn't easily backwards compatible with older OSes. Because if at some point, I needed to upgrade to upgrade to Windows 9 to play the top 10% of games (or AAA games), I imagine there might be a lot of resistance granted a totally free option running on OpenGL over there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted January 16, 2014 Super disappointed they took away the touch screen. Was pretty excited about that. The only thing that excited me about touchpads on game controllers was less agonising text input (i.e. move cursor with pad, hit button to enter letter). Which no one seems to have used them for. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sno Posted January 17, 2014 It's still a work in progress, right? It's been said that this still isn't the final version of the pad. I mean, there's certainly still room on that thing for a touch LCD.I'm optimistic to see them going in the direction of having proper face buttons/d-pads on it, it seems like a tacit acknowledgement that their haptic touch surfaces were not going to be able to provide the tactile responsiveness required for games built around firmly digital inputs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 17, 2014 It's still a work in progress, right? It's been said that this still isn't the final version of the pad. I mean, there's certainly still room on that thing for a touch LCD. There is, but they've said it wasn't used enough in playtesting, so they decided to remove it entirely. Reason I was excited about it: potential for user created controls. So I could theoretically put my own custom information and utility on there (screenshot button? music player? WHO KNOWS!). Or even just displaying pertinent information as I see fit. Assuming develpoers never used it, that alone would've been enough for me, personally. Alas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tegan Posted January 17, 2014 I feel like losing the touch pad in favour of having some familiar buttons was a wise choice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SiN Posted January 17, 2014 Yeah, losing the touchscreen in favour of more logically placed buttons is a wise choice. I'm not concerned about back-compat, but the old button placement was just plain awkward. Plus, it'll do wonders for battery life. I'd like the left set of buttons to be a proper d-pad, but honestly, I think this design is a blunt admission that developers haven't used the d-pad as a proper d-pad in years. And the added bonus of a symmetric/ambidextrous design is pretty neat. However, I hope they add a touchpad in the empty space. (As in, touch sensitive area, sans screen) Like Nachimir says, it'd be worth it for text input alone.* * Reasons I'd like to get my hands on a PS4 devkit: 1) write a sweet UI/menu system, replete with bouncy scrolling, intuitive gestures and painless text input. 2) oh, probably make a game or whatever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted January 17, 2014 I feel like losing the touch pad in favour of having some familiar buttons was a wise choice. Considering the whole idea of this thing is to get out of the local maxima of familiar buttons, I'm a bit disappointed. They look as awkwardly shoved on as the Gamecube's D-pad and C-stick. The only thing that excited me about touchpads on game controllers was less agonising text input (i.e. move cursor with pad, hit button to enter letter). Which no one seems to have used them for. Valve actually invented a text input method for game controllers that's a little like semaphore: a held joystick input and a button press gets you a letter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted January 17, 2014 I wonder what the actual reasoning is behind removing that screen. I thought it was a nifty idea too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nachimir Posted January 17, 2014 No one seems to have found and executed on a good use case for them yet. I suspect they're just a weird design fad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 17, 2014 Considering the whole idea of this thing is to get out of the local maxima of familiar buttons, I'm a bit disappointed. They look as awkwardly shoved on as the Gamecube's D-pad and C-stick. Right! If I want a normal controller, I'll use my 360 controller. Or, I dunno, does the Xbone work natively in Windows yet? Does it have a better d-pad? Maybe I'll even get a PS4 controller. That's USB now, right? Either way... Reasons I'm excited for/interested in Steam controller have nothing to do with wanting a new traditional controller. Not that I don't understand why. Just... meh. BOOOORING. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted January 17, 2014 What? It's a touchscreen. It's not revolutionary.. or interesting. Maybe someone could've put four buttons on it, big deal. Those four buttons are now on the Big Owl Eyes (the actual interesting, new part of the controller) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 17, 2014 Doesn't have to be revolutionary to be interesting! Which it is/was. Also what the buttons aren't on the touch pads. What are you talking about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmuerte Posted January 17, 2014 Random thought - I wonder if Steam OS/Linux will guarantee Microsoft's being really slow on introducing a DirectX standard that isn't easily backwards compatible with older OSes. Because if at some point, I needed to upgrade to upgrade to Windows 9 to play the top 10% of games (or AAA games), I imagine there might be a lot of resistance granted a totally free option running on OpenGL over there. DirectX is already dieing. MS wants developers on the XBox, not on the PC. Development of DirectX has neem griding to a halt since Vista was introduced. In fact, it appears that the OpenGL standard is even catching up Direct3D. (That's the standard OpenGL, so without vendor extensions which are not part of the spec.) Game developers aren't going to risk losing market just to support a minor new feature in an OS version exclusive DirectX. If MS is going to continue to tighten its grip on DirectX then devs will probably move to SDL, OpenGL and OpenCL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted January 17, 2014 Doesn't have to be revolutionary to be interesting! Which it is/was. Also what the buttons aren't on the touch pads. What are you talking about. The touch pads are clickable in four quadrants each. And one article mentioned Valve talking about somehow displaying their changing specific function on the touch pads themselves.. Don't know how. Their function is then shown on screen instead. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frenetic Pony Posted January 17, 2014 What? It's a touchscreen. It's not revolutionary.. or interesting. Maybe someone could've put four buttons on it, big deal. Those four buttons are now on the Big Owl Eyes (the actual interesting, new part of the controller) Agreed, two screens is dumb, it was dumb on the DS and it's still dumb today. I can not move my eyes independently of each other to look in two different directions at once. Even if I could it would probably be unpleasant. Now, if there was a center touchpad with programmable buttons, that raised those buttons up via inflating a plastic substrate, that would be cool. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 17, 2014 Except for the part where the DS is great, you're exactly right! Protip: don't try to move your eyes independently of each other. Move both at the same time. It makes it easier to look at the second screen. The touch pads are clickable in four quadrants each. And one article mentioned Valve talking about somehow displaying their changing specific function on the touch pads themselves.. Don't know how. Their function is then shown on screen instead. Oh. That's not even remotely the same thing as having a dedicated space for a separate set of functionality. Any "button" the touch pads incorporate will be intrinsically linked to the touch pads themselves. Either as emulating more buttons, or as mouse clicks, or whatever. I'm not sure why you're comparing them to the touch screen, which was always a separate thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted January 17, 2014 I'm comparing them to the touch screen because Valve themselves do, as they say the fours quadrants of the touch pads are replacing the functionality of the touch screen.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Merus Posted January 17, 2014 I feel like if they're going to take ideas from the Gamecube controller they should be getting on those sweet, sweet kidney buttons. Those four identically-shaped buttons at the bottom of the controller are going to be a pain to hit if you ever have to swap between them and the circle pad. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JonCole Posted January 17, 2014 The DS is great, but I feel like that's barely a function of the second screen. I can practically count on my hand the number of games that wouldn't have been possible without the second screen and were actually good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted January 17, 2014 Etrian Odyssey is the best DS franchise and without the second screen it would not be the best DS franchise. I'm comparing them to the touch screen because Valve themselves do, as they say the fours quadrants of the touch pads are replacing the functionality of the touch screen.. Well Valve is wrong to do so! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
