this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2024
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Linux Gaming
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As always, I’m not going to be able to play half my usual games without touchpads.
Analog sticks do not make a good mouse replacement.
That's why I loved the steam controllers...
I really love the deck's layout, the original steam controller only having one analogue stick killed it in my opinion. I could never get used to trackpads joystick emulation in games that were designed for an Xbox controller.
Valve leaked a Steam Controller 2 thumbnail in their SteamVR drivers recently:
I'm hype.
Like, you are the human embodiment of hype? Hype made manifest?
I have become hype, destroyer of expectations.
10/10 save
I already build a Bazzite PC. Just waiting on this to turn it into a proper Steam Deck on crack.
That looks soo uncomfortable to hold
I’m going to guess it’s scaled so it’s basically like holding the Deck today, minus the screen. It’s a render and possibly a render of an older prototype.
ok what would make sense
If ducks tied bananas to their feet.
Honestly I said the same about the Deck when I bought it... Fast forward 1 and half year later, my playtime is now 99% on the Deck 😅.
I haven't seen one of these in person. Is it roughly the size of a Sega Game gear?
The screen is roughly the size of a Game Gear. (Not my photo.)
This is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen
The internet is amazing sometimes.
I just wish more people knew how to use it. All I did was search DDG for Steam Deck Game Gear size comparison.
if there is anyone still alive to make the comparison for you they are probably too busy celebratinng their second grandchild
Those are fighting words, and also pretty inaccurate unless you're from Louisiana or something
haha. I am old enough that I could have had one if my family wasn't really bad with money. I just never knew anyone else that had it either
I had the same experience, by why is that??? On paper, it should have really felt the same.
Well, I don't know if it should've felt the same. The feedback you get from deflecting a stick is just personally preferable to the feedback of haptics and a touchpad for me.
Yeah, it probably comes down to resistance. When you start to move the stick from the center, you have to work against a tiny bit of resistance. With a touchpad, there is absolutely no resistance to let you know when you are not at the center. As you say, that little rumble you get is not equivalent at all. Possibly an even more important type of resistance is how a joystick basically has its own physical boundary to limit how far you can push the stick in any direction. You can flick the stick as hard/fast as you want, and it will always stop at a certain point. On a touchpad, you don't have that resistance, meaning you have to manually slow down and stop your finger as you reach the edge, or else it will just fly off the touchpad.
What are your top faves that you use the touchpads for? I usually only played verified have that use the joysticks.
In desktop mode I also find the touchpads a little difficult to use primarily because the lack of a physical wheel and left and right click.
Grim Dawn, Factorio, Project Zomboid, FTL, Rimworld, Crusader Kings, Papers Please, Red Alert, Stacklands… the list goes on.
The Steam Deck’s trackpads (and Steam Input in general) are the most underrated and game changing aspects of the Deck and the old Steam Controller.
Playing keyboard and mouse, or mouse only games is totally doable and a joy on the Deck.
I’ve actually chosen to change some games from using gamepad to Keyboard and Mouse since the Deck is so good (for instance Factorio does do gamepad but it’s much better to just use KB&M via Steam Input).
I’d argue Grim Dawn is better on the Deck as I’ve got so many fancy radial menus etc set up, it’s actually easier to play than pressing the number row etc. And with the touch screen, you can rapidly tap different enemies without needing to touch the “mouse”.
I'm pleasantly surprised with how well Grim Dawn and Rimworld play on the deck, tweaked both a bit for personal preferences but actually solid experience. I did cities skylines and ksp on the og steam controller, I can't get into trackpad as trackball though on the steamdeck for whatever reason, did that with the steam controller for warframe, was great to be able to turn quickly on a controller.
No trackpad really would be a non starter to me, just adds so much flexibility, and the haptics do totally work for me.
Desktop mode I find just fine, steam controller was how we operated a htpc for a few years. Gamepad control worked for kodi, but anything else I had to drop into desktop and mouse around with the touchpads and triggers. Little bit more finnicky with the deck because of the size of the pads though.
I’ve been in Grim Fandango and the Monkey Island (1-3 are my jam) lately. Technobabylon. I’ve been working my way through games I haven’t had time for because of work, like Gemini Rue, the Rusty Lake games. I never played Day of the Tentacle back in the day either so I’m keen for that one. Va-11 Hall-a.
I could not get handy with fps games on the deck at all. I really wanted to run Borderlands 1 again but I was just getting murdred trying to aim with gamepad controls. Touch on right pad activating gyro set me on the right path, and that technique translates to my steam controller when I dock too. It feels more natural to be able to flick around like with a mouse as week. I briefly had a ps3 in 2010. I could not play fps well with a pad. I went from Sega to Dos, to Win 95/98, back to Sega. So I never played around with thumb joysticks. They were never part of my life until I bought a ps3 and just fumbled around with it.
Also Blood. I’m through the first two episodes but put it away for a while.
Been on a Kknd kick in the last few months. But it’s worked so well I’ll move into some other favourites when I’m done - Dark Reign, Total Annihilation, Blood and Magic.
Last year I did my 3000th Fallout 2 run on my desktop pc, but now I’ve got a deck I’m planning to do my first ever fallout 1 play.
In Torchlight 2 (this has been my deck go-to for hack and slash), I play using both pads to move mouse. Getting into the rhythm of it, I easily cover the entire screen by flicking over one pad and setting off in the other. It’s a technique I started using on steam controller some years ago.
I haven’t played Grim Dawn on deck yet, but I understand people are playing it with native gamepad control, I’ll see how that goes.
I play a lot of point and click games (just replayed Grim Fandango), and text entry is way better with touchpads than joysticks. I've also played a couple city builders, and I prefer touchpads for that
That said, I prefer joysticks most of the time, especially for games with a lot of action like Metroidvanias and whatnot with a lot of fighting.
Upvoting for Manny Calevera