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Early when the Steam Deck was revealed they showed a promotional image with Factorio being played on it. It made me think that, yeah, the game does run great on

Early when the Steam Deck was revealed they showed a promotional image with Factorio being played on it. It made me think that, yeah, the game does run great on Linux and I'm sure the console can handle it, but would you really want to play with that kind of an input device? I wasn't thinking about it much and a few weeks later I was playing Factorio and noticed how atrocious doing half the things I was doing would be with a controller-like interface.

chucky_z 5y ago
Steam Deck has the little "pads" from the Steam Controller, those make playing games with mouse-based controls a joy with a handheld device (with some adjustment period). They show this in the video! I actually almost wish the initial Steam Controller had these flat pads instead of the concave circles, it looks like it's going to be a straight up improvement.
- colpabar 5y ago
  Have you used them though? I have two steam controllers and the "mouse circles" are pretty finicky. I'm sure the pads on the deck will be better, but I still doubt they will be precise enough for a game like factorio. I hope I'm wrong - I LOVE factorio and will definitely start a new save when the deck comes out. But even playing on my macbook touchpad, I wished I had a real mouse.
  - fartcannon 5y ago
    Steam Controllers are my primary controllers. Precision is adjustable. They're super effective, in my opinion. From the sounds of it, you just prefer mice. But there's nothing finicky about them.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    For all the problems the Steam controller had, trackpad precision was the one thing I never really heard people complain about. For this sort of game, I think it would be a very effective compromise to get it working on-the-go. Of course, it's still just a computer at the end of the day. If you want to pair a Bluetooth mouse and play that way, that's your prerogative; I imagine that most people would be contented to use the touchpads out of convenience though.
  - chucky_z 5y ago
    The 'finicky' is from the default settings meant to work in as many games as possible. (Almost) Every game I tried I found some community-maintained controller profile that had near-perfect settings. I really love Steam's community. :D
- willis936 5y ago
  There are many non-essential keyboard macros and a good few that are essential. A controller interface would have to break these macros up into layered directional menus. Nothing ground-breaking, but it is a different learning curve.
kroltan 5y ago
Well, people successfully play Factorio on trackpads, which the Deck has aplenty, as the two pads below the sticks, as well as having a touchscreen. So I suppose it's better than if you were playing it on Xbox or something like that.
nisegami 5y ago
What makes the Steam Deck so much more versatile IMO are the touch pads. I use the touchpads on my Steam Controller to play a few games that are 95% mouse-driven (simulators for a trading card game) and they're a joy.

chucky_z 5y ago

Steam Deck has the little "pads" from the Steam Controller, those make playing games with mouse-based controls a joy with a handheld device (with some adjustment period). They show this in the video! I actually almost wish the initial Steam Controller had these flat pads instead of the concave circles, it looks like it's going to be a straight up improvement.

colpabar 5y ago
Have you used them though? I have two steam controllers and the "mouse circles" are pretty finicky. I'm sure the pads on the deck will be better, but I still doubt they will be precise enough for a game like factorio. I hope I'm wrong - I LOVE factorio and will definitely start a new save when the deck comes out. But even playing on my macbook touchpad, I wished I had a real mouse.
- fartcannon 5y ago
  Steam Controllers are my primary controllers. Precision is adjustable. They're super effective, in my opinion. From the sounds of it, you just prefer mice. But there's nothing finicky about them.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  For all the problems the Steam controller had, trackpad precision was the one thing I never really heard people complain about. For this sort of game, I think it would be a very effective compromise to get it working on-the-go. Of course, it's still just a computer at the end of the day. If you want to pair a Bluetooth mouse and play that way, that's your prerogative; I imagine that most people would be contented to use the touchpads out of convenience though.
- chucky_z 5y ago
  The 'finicky' is from the default settings meant to work in as many games as possible. (Almost) Every game I tried I found some community-maintained controller profile that had near-perfect settings. I really love Steam's community. :D
willis936 5y ago
There are many non-essential keyboard macros and a good few that are essential. A controller interface would have to break these macros up into layered directional menus. Nothing ground-breaking, but it is a different learning curve.

kroltan 5y ago

Well, people successfully play Factorio on trackpads, which the Deck has aplenty, as the two pads below the sticks, as well as having a touchscreen. So I suppose it's better than if you were playing it on Xbox or something like that.

nisegami 5y ago

What makes the Steam Deck so much more versatile IMO are the touch pads. I use the touchpads on my Steam Controller to play a few games that are 95% mouse-driven (simulators for a trading card game) and they're a joy.