How would you improve the Steam Controller?

What would you do to improve upon Valve's attempt at couch gaming?

I bought one. I enjoy it for games in my collection like Soul Reavers and LoK Defiance that had no controller support and the KB controls sucked tortoise smegma. But for games that have controller support the right track pad while I am sure I could get used to it with time, just has little reason for its existence. I like trying new things and am glad I bought one. I was playing MGR a weekend or two back with it and it made the game pretty challenging that's for sure. FPS games are definitely off the table with it though.

not used it but just from looking at it id say the x y a b buttons are too close together and small.

@thehig1: that's because they are really threre for secondary things. the controller is designed so that you should never need to remove your thumb from the trackpad. when im creating configurations i only use those buttons to bring up the inventory or something like that. things like reloading are for the paddle butttons at the bottom of the controller.

things i would improve.

i could make the handle bulges a but less of a bulge. the general idea makes sense but just a but smaller for comfort. i find that i am using rhe motion controls for a racing game and i have my thumb off the trackpad then the controller tends to slip a bit.

i would make the left trackpad smaller and move the stick up a bit. its too big to use as a D-PAD and for the types of things i use it for a smaller size would be just fine. at the moment this is a poor controller for beat em ups (pretty much the only type of game where i find it wanting. well that and 2D platformers. anything that needs a d-pad really).

the L1 and R1 bumper buttons could also be better. their position just isnt quite right due to the bulge grip. its not horrible but it could be better.

i would like to see more travel in the triggers. they are great for FPSs but just a bit more travel would be nice for racing games.

the biggest issue though is on the software side (though valve are making things better. its come a long way since launch indeed). i would like to be able to configure the controller without using BPM....it would be much nicer to be able to do it on the desktop (that is a WIP thankfully).

It would also be great to be able to see what the current button mapping is for a game so i can just map it to the controller as i see fit. that would be hard to do currently as games manage that in a million different ways. but if valve and developers could agree on a standard going forward (like put your control mappings in a file called X and we will bring that up when the user is configuring the controller) it would be great.

@osan0: I guess so, I'm looking at it comparing it to a console controller.

the steam controller isn't that, it's something different.

will buy it soon

@thehig1: yeah thats the mistake a lot of people make.

it may kinda look like a wierd mutant 360 controller...but its not. take everything you know or expect from a traditional controller and park it. the steam controller should be used in a very different way.

Horrible controller for games would rather use a 360 or ds4 controller on my pc.

When it's cold in the house though it's a decent controller for internet browsing when you want to stay warm.

Only had it for a while now and it definitely takes getting used to from console controllers, tho it does fit my hand better than ps4 one. I've been playing xcom2 with it and it's surprisingly good(xcom2 has native steam controller support), but it's still not mouse replacement in terms of speed and accuracy by any means.

Throw it in trash can and use 360 controller.

By burying it in my back yard.

It's a gamepad that can actually play FPS with a decent degree of accuracy and responsiveness, which is a goddamn miracle. Keyboard and mouse is still better, but it's a pretty massive step up from analogue sticks.

I've pretty much started playing all of my games with it, with the exception of something really technical like ARMA where all of the keys are used for something. I'll keep my keyboard on my lap in case I need to type into team chat or something, but of course most games these days use voice chat.

Honestly, it's better than a traditional gamepad but not quite as perfect as a keyboard and mouse.

Sony and Microsoft should take a hint and at least change their right sticks to trackpads so that console FPS can actually be competitive.

A lot would need to change for me to want to use it regularly. I can't get past the touchpads most of all - the one genre I thought they'd be better at is twin-stick arcade games, but even those I prefer on traditional gamepads. The joystick is okay, but certainly appears like as a compromise on the original design. The handle-triggers okay as well, though you have to train your brain to use them effectively. Triggers/bumpers are both good but could be better.

Ergonomics is entirely subjective. Personally I'm not bothered by how the controller is held and find it comfortable for many gametypes but I would much rather use a traditional gamepad for longer gaming sessions.

The most glaring and obvious issue is the face buttons. They are too small and inadequately spaced and need a complete revision.

another improvement i just thought of. the last time i tried (and maybe its more of a per game thing than a weakness with the controller software.) i couldnt have the stick behave like an anologue stick and the touchpad behave like a mouse. if i tried then the game wouldnt detect all the controls. I think it has something to do with using different drivers depending on whether its a KB+M or a controller.

it would be nice if it was possible to map some controls to behave like a controller and others to behave like a KB+M. in specifically thinking of GTA5 where it would be nice to have the accuracy of the trackpad for aiming while still having analogue controls for the driving.

I think offering a white version would be an improvement. I know majority dont like white Controllers, but i still do. White version and allowing me to change the colors of the pads, buttons, and thumbsticks would be sweet also.

Im tempted to try it, and I know the track pad will be a pain to get used to.

Make it available in more stores

The left pad seems pointless. I'd move the analog to that location for starters.

I've had my steam controller for about a month, it took a while to get use to using it, but I can perform pretty well with it in most of my games. I love the accuracy I aim better with it than I do a normal controller with aim assist. In fact if I use aim assist it makes my aim worst.

I agree they should also have them come in different themes. A portal one with one touch pad being blue and the other orange, have the home button be the aperture science logo, a companion cube design on the back with the triggers gray, and the rest of the controller white/different shade of gray.

A TF2 one with the D touch pad resembling the TF2 logo, the joystick having a checkered rim resembling a mini sentry, the home button could be the RED/BLU Team logo or the TF2 logo, the right touch pad can be red or blue. They can just put other different TF2 designs on the rest of the controller and have it come in two options RED and BLU Team versions which are the overall color.

A Half Life one with the logo as the home button, Gordon's armor as the color pallete for the rest of the controller, they can put gravity gun designs all over it, right touch pad can look like Black Mesa Logo and the left one with the Combine logo.

A Left 4 Dead one, not really sure what designs they can do other than just placing some L4D art on it.

A Counter Strike one, the silhouette of the counter terrorist in logo on the home button. This controller can come in different themes, for example take the skins from CSGO and put them on the controllers like asiimov, hyperbeast, and other popular skins. You can also have controllers themed after Terrorist and Counter terrorist color palettes.

A DOTA 2 one with the logo on the home button, covered in DOTA 2 artwork and some themed after characters.

They could partner with other devs releasing big/popular games on PC to create their own theme Steam controller like a Serious Sam, Total War, XCOM, Unreal Tournament, and Star Citizen.

I think it needs a trackball in there. That would be pretty good.