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As long as I need a mouse and keyboard to install updates or to install/start my games from GOG, it's still going to be decidedly unfun, but hopefully Windows'
by Uvix 1y ago
As long as I need a mouse and keyboard to install updates or to install/start my games from GOG, it's still going to be decidedly unfun, but hopefully Windows' upcoming built-in controller support will make it less unfun.
- PaulHoule 1y agoToday you can just buy an Xbox controller and pair it with your Windows computer and it just works and it’s the same same with the Mac. You don’t have to install any drivers or anything and with the big screen mode in Steam it’s a lean back experience where you can pick out your games and start one up without using anything other than the controller.
- withinboredom 1y agoIf you have steam, ps4/ps5 controllers also work fine.
- PaulHoule 1y agoThey do but they cost a lot more.
- withinboredom 1y agoMy ps5 came with one for “free”
- musicale 1y agoThey do not work fine in every game. That is why I think you need a Steam controller as well.
- jamesnorden 1y agoPlus add your GOG games as non-Steam games to Steam and launch them from big screen mode as well.
- Uvix 1y agoBut when I have to install drivers, or install a non-Steam game, I can't do that with the controller yet. That's what I need for PC gaming to work in my living room.
- Rohansi 1y agoOr you just need a Steam controller. They're discontinued now but work well as a mouse+keyboard for desktop usage. It got squished into the Steam Deck so hopefully there's a new version in the future.
- musicale 1y agoI like big picture mode in Steam, but.... controller support is spotty across Steam games, and personally I think you need both a Steam controller and a DualSense or Xbox controller. Steam also updates itself by default every time you launch, and you have to deal with Windows updates and other irritations. Oh, here's another update for .net, wonderful. And a useless new AI agent. SteamOS and Linux/Proton may be better in some ways, but there are still compatibility and configuration headaches. And half my Steam library doesn't even work on macOS, even games that used to work (not to mention the issues with intel vs. Apple Silicon, etc.) The "it just works" factor and not having to mess with drivers is a huge advantage of consoles. Apple TV could almost be a decent game system if Apple ever decided to ship a controller in the box and stopped breaking App Store games every year (though live service games rot on the shelf anyway.)
- overfeed 1y ago> [...]controller support is spotty[...] DualSense 4 and 5 support under Linux is rock-solid, wired or wireless. That's to be expected since the drivers are maintained by Sony[1]. I have no idea about the XBox controller, but I know DS works perfectly with Steam/Proton out of the box, with the vanilla Linux kernel. 1. https://www.phoronix.com/news/Sony-HID-PlayStation-PS5 https://www.phoronix.com/news/Sony-HID-PlayStation-PS5
- musicale 1y agoI have clarified that I meant controller support in the Steam games themselves. Some of them work well, some of them not so well. Others need to be configured. Others only work with a Steam controller. I wish everything worked well with DualSense, especially since I really like its haptics, but it's basically on the many (many) game developers to provide the same kind of controller support that is standard on consoles.
- overfeed 1y agoThanks for the clarification. I've into that a couple of times - Steam's button remapping helps sometimes, but you'd have to remember which controller button the on-screen symbol maps to.
- samtheprogram 1y agoLaunch Steam in big screen mode. Done.
- Uvix 1y agoI'm aware of Big Picture Mode, and it doesn't address either of the scenarios I cited specifically because they can't be done from Big Picture Mode.