24 ms·
Valve releases Steam Controller CAD files under Creative Commons license
- matheusmoreira 6mo agoAmazing. This is gonna be useful for my handheld project.
- KumaBear 6mo agoIf only scalpers didn’t scoop up every unit
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoI really wonder how many scalpers there were. I got one. I am not a scalper. Maybe it was just high demand for limited stock.
- wldcordeiro 6mo agoThese days it's hard to tell and there's always a mix of both with any high demand items so it makes the stock limits even more pronounced. With how Valve has done hardware releases lately though I imagine it's more a stock limitation.
- embedding-shape 6mo ago> These days it's hard to tell Is it really? I go to my "local" second-hand marketplace and I see countless of listings for the new Valve Controller. I think it's fair to say most of those aren't "Ops, I made a purchase and I can't return it" but most likely being scalpers. No doubt, some of them are fake as well, but regardless, tends to be fairly easy to see when things are being scalped or if it's actually just high demand, if it's the latter, you don't see tons of second-hand listings the day after it opened.
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoI understand but you don't know how many people got one to keep it compared to how many just resell it.
- embedding-shape 6mo ago> but you don't know how many people got one to keep it compared to how many just resell it But you do? If someone puts it up on second-hand markets, they're not intending to keep it, they're intending to resell it, why put it up otherwise?
- bluetidepro 6mo agoRight, they're saying you only see the side of the resellers, you have no idea the number of people who purchased it to keep it (like many of us in the thread). So in reality you may be only seeing less than 1% of stock for resell and not the 99% that are just buying it to keep it like normal. It's just confirmation bias that you assume everyone is buying to resell it cause that's all you're able to see.
- opan 6mo agoI also got one and didn't think scalpers were the problem at the time. I have since seen eBay listings of people trying to sell the controllers (that they don't even have yet) for 3x the price, though, so they maybe did play a role. There was a limit of 2 controllers per Steam account and they sold out within 30 minutes, so not sure if bots were used or what. There wasn't a lot of time to mess around. I've seen a lot of people who wanted one couldn't get one. Personally I added it to my cart about 2 minutes before the official start time and then it took 12 minutes or so of retrying to actually check out.
- ai_ 6mo agoI added it to my cart 2 minutes before and spent 3 hours trying before realizing that just because it's in your cart doesn't mean it exists since it was actually out of stock.
- bluetidepro 6mo agoI don't fully understand this narrative that is going around about scalpers and the controller. So many people online are claiming it was only scalpers who were able to purchase one. I am also not a scalper (as someone else said), and was able to purchase one. We don't know how many they actually had in stock in total but let's say it's around 30K, from what I have searched on eBay and other reselling sites it would only seem like less than 1% of the stock is being sold by resellers/scalpers. I think it was just a high demand product. I know scalpers are a problem in much of the entertainment industry right now, but it's also becoming a scape goat for anything you just weren't able to buy yourself. It's quite annoying and getting old fast.
- iknowstuff 6mo agoIt’s hard to participate in any gaming communities because you quickly realize they’re all kids who have no idea about markets but they all talk like foremost experts on every subject
- tyg13 6mo agoI don't think you can really escape this anywhere online. Hacker News has the same problem, really.
- cortesoft 6mo agoThis is not just gaming communities and it is not just kids. The number of adults who don't understand basic supply and demand is astonishing. Every discussion about Ticketmaster and/or scalpers is full of people who think if it wasn't for scalpers and ticketmaster, we could all go to every concert we want to for a reasonable price. It is the same thing with the tech community and the price of hard drives, RAM, and GPUs right now. I have seen so many comments by people saying they "aren't going to support the price gouging" and seem to think manufacturers are just taking advantage of the hype to increase their prices.
- goolz 6mo agoDoes Ticketmaster not amplify prices and use perceived scarcity to drive up prices? They can due that because Live Nation is a monopoly in all but name.
- Computer0 6mo agoI think valve typically has pretty good scalper protection. Was that not the case this time?
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoI think nobody but valve knows and they are not telling us. We don't know how many units were sold and how the protections were (at least I didn't see anything). Some people seem to assume that scalpers are to blame when a product is sold out really fast (which is understandable when looking at past hardware releases). Me, I don't think so. I just think people really wanted to get one.
- mitkebes 6mo agoI know the steam deck had good scalper limitations. You had to have a steam account in good standing (no vac bans) that had a game purchase from before the deck was available for purchase, as well as a limit of how many one account could purchase. There was a limit of 2 steam controllers for this sale, but it sounds like that limit was only per transaction, and didn't prevent an account from placing multiple transactions (if the store would load for long enough to allow it). I don't think any of the other limitations were in place.
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoI doubt that. Do you have any sources for that claim?
- DauntingPear7 6mo agoI got 2. 1 for me and 1 for my brother. I sat with the page loaded and waiting. It opened a few minutes early and I was able to still order a 2nd about 5 minutes into sale
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoI got one a day later.
- gs17 6mo agoI'm hoping that the controller sale was a test/recon run for preventing scalping for the Frame/Machine.
- system2 6mo agoI have one and didn't have any issues buying, nor heard anyone have any issues buying in the past... In fact, the Steam Controller was considered a flop.
- BadBadJellyBean 6mo agoWrong Steam Controller. Valve released a new one with the same name on the 4th of may. Stupid naming.
- Maxatar 6mo agoI don't really understand this argument. Is your position that if scalpers didn't exist you'd have a better chance of getting this product? Scalpers have no effect on the supply of a product, they only affect the demand of the product and specifically they reduce the demand for the product by increasing the price.
- roer 6mo agoI love the readme on the gitlab page [1]. It feels so.. friendly :) > This repository contains CAD files for the external shell (surface topology) of Steam Controller and the Steam Controller Puck, under a Creative Commons license. This includes an STP model of each, an STL model of each, and an engineering drawing with critical features/keep outs for each. Feel free to use these to make your own Puck holders, Controller sweaters, or whatever else you want to create! Your Steam Controller is yours, and you have the right to do with it what you want. That said, we highly recommend you leave it to professionals. Any damage you do will not be covered by your warranty – but more importantly, you might break your Steam Controller, or even get hurt! Be careful, and have fun. [1] https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamController https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamController
- jandrese 6mo agoImagine if everybody did this. You break some stupid plastic part on something? No need to throw it away, just print an exact replacement on the spot. Or maybe tweak it first so it's less flimsy then print the replacement.
- embedding-shape 6mo agoGoing a step further, imagine hardware manufacturers noticing specific defects, then publishing new updated CAD files for a part that lasts better than the last, for customers who already have 3D printers to print their own upgrades/"patches".
- bluGill 6mo agoThat can work, but 3d printing doesn't in general make for strong parts (layers). Most of the time you want some form of molding or CNC subtractive machining (either plastic of metal) - while some hobbyists have this, 3d printing is far more common. (and often easier)
- snovv_crash 6mo ago
- haunter 6mo agoFiles are here: https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamController https://gitlab.steamos.cloud/SteamHardware/SteamController
- vablings 6mo ago"FILE_DESCRIPTION((''),'2;1'); FILE_NAME('IBEX_SOLID','2025-11-20T09:57:55',('stevec'),(''), 'CREO PARAMETRIC BY PTC INC, 2020454','CREO PARAMETRIC BY PTC INC, 2020454','');" Glad to see that valve is using the best CAD software :)
- malfist 6mo ago>2020454 And the latest!
- rjsw 6mo agoUsing a data schema standard that was withdrawn in 2005.
- vablings 6mo agoNothing wrong with AP203, it has the most support in other software's. Obviously AP214 would be nice for colors but the model is probably shrink-wrapped (AP242 is not needed, nobody needs PMI) Just because it was withdrawn in 2005 does not exclude its wide use in industry
- rjsw 6mo agoThey are not even using the newest version of AP203. #93459=APPLICATION_PROTOCOL_DEFINITION('international standard', 'config_control_design',1994,#93458); I will feel free to ignore comments on AP242 from PTC if they can't be bothered to use it.
- auxiliarymoose 6mo agoCreo (and Onshape) both support STEP AP242 export, but customers may choose to export to an older version for better compatibility with third-party systems that have not implemented recent standards. Generally, at export time, choosing the oldest format version which still has all of the features you need will make it most likely others will be able to open the data.
- arian_ 6mo agoMore companies should do this when they discontinue hardware. The community will keep it alive longer than you ever would, and it costs you nothing.
- cubefox 6mo agoThis is the brand new Steam Controller though, not the old, discontinued one.
- poisonborz 6mo agoEven if Valve and Steam is great and overall a blessing for the PC space, I don't like the direction they take with this controller. It only works with Steam, it can't work on a desktop OS without it, despite standard layout. It is a subtle move towards a walled garden.
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 6mo agoKinda. SteamOS is open source, so it's not really walled. It's possible they deferred making generic drivers to release faster and those will come out later,kinda like steamOS windows drivers came out later
- tapoxi 6mo agoThe driver exists in the proprietary Steam client, not in SteamOS itself.
- drakythe 6mo agoAs someone else said, the driver is in Steam, not SteamOS. Even on a Steam Deck you have to run Steam in desktop mode to have the buttons on the deck work.
- throwaway314155 6mo ago> Even on a Steam Deck you have to run Steam in desktop mode to have the buttons on the deck work. That's not true. You get a reduced functionality controller with trackpads that can still be used to start steam back up.
- drakythe 6mo agoIts been a minute since I've been on desktop mode, but aren't they just a trackpad at that point and none of the button/haptic functionality exists outside of moving the mouse and clicking?
- 6mo ago
- z_open 6mo agoHow does it work if this is under the creative commons license? Can 3rd parties sell this controller per the model? Other 3rd party vendors got around this by making a very minor change.
- throawayonthe 6mo agoThere exist multiple CC variations, this instance is Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Public License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 wouldn't let you sell it no
- wildzzz 6mo agoIt's just the external topology so it's really only going to be useful for making things that attach to the controller (skins, mounts, accessibility adapters, etc) or just toy models. Valve asks you to contact them if you want to sell an accessory using this model.
- cortesoft 6mo agoYou could use the shape of the controller, but I don't think that is really giving much of an advantage to third party manufacturers. Scanning the shape of the controller and creating a clone with that shape is the easiest part of creating a generic competitor.
- logicalappeals 6mo agoW valve - Good Guy Gabe does it again.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- pawelduda 6mo agoCompare it to Sony who still put potentiometers in their controllers. Good luck desoldering and replacing that once analogs inevitably start to drift. It's super easy to damage something else in the process as I learned.
- a96 6mo agoPlenty of people indeed do have good "luck" and repair these, apparently even putting in better parts.
- pawelduda 6mo agoyes, you can replace them with hall effect analogs, as they should be right out of the factory
- vortegne 6mo agoI'm no big Sony supporter or even a fan of the PS5 controllers, but changing the sticks is not that scary. I find reassembling the whole thing cleanly harder than swapping out a stick assembly.
- pawelduda 6mo agoThe pain point was desoldering the old analog, I found a lot of other people online struggle with this particular part. It's probably way easier if you have proper soldering setup at home, which won't be true for average person just expecting an easy fix. I understand how it can be quick and simple for someone with more experience
- vortegne 6mo agoI'm not really that good at soldering, maybe I just got lucky? I've only changed a stick twice on a PS5 controller, maybe on the third time I will mess it up horribly haha
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- ittiwdwysylm 6mo agoman i love valve
- Findecanor 6mo agoI sometimes watch "Ben Heck Hacks" live-streams rebuilding game controllers for people with disabilities [1]. People like him are what these files are for. 1: https://www.youtube.com/@BenHeckHacks/streams https://www.youtube.com/@BenHeckHacks/streams
- dwrodri 6mo agoI wish computer mice did this. I know multiple people whom are quite attached to 10+ year old mice that haven't been manufactured for quite some time, and would like to keep the familiar shape and design.
- iugtmkbdfil834 6mo agoJust in case anyone from valve is reading: Dont care about controller, memory card or deck charger or whatever other irrelevant addition to existing products you have. I just want an update on the Frame. And yesterday too. Thank you for very much for your time and attention. Until our eyes meet again.
- luqtas 6mo agowhat a bad boy we got over here
- iugtmkbdfil834 6mo agoApologies for not responding sooner. I did not want you to feel neglected. You know that Valve does not care much about what some rando online wrote in HN post right? Well, have you considered the possibility that they care even less about you defending it:D? Just a thought for these trying times.
- wafflemaker 6mo agoLooks like a super cool feature for disabled players. Regular controllers are good for people with the default number of arms, legs and fingers. But if you have some kind of disability, it's often pretty unique. Regular game/computer controllers for disabled folks were pretty pricey last time I've checked. AFAIK, 3d printing is not that expensive. Many places have hacker spaces or just people who print for almost free. So I guess it's a huge win for people who need accommodations. I'm very happy for that! I'm not disabled myself, it was just the first thought I had when I've read the news.
- cromka 6mo agoFor disabled players, this is also super promising: https://byowave.com/products/proteus-controller https://byowave.com/products/proteus-controller
- pezezin 6mo ago> Regular controllers are good for people with the default number of arms, legs and fingers. And then there was the N64 controller...
- protocolture 6mo agoThat third hand really gave you and advantage.
- Schlagbohrer 6mo agoDesigned by Aliens on Planet Earth. Manufactured in China.
- wtetzner 6mo agoI don't know why people find it so confusing. I don't remember any kids I knew at the time being confused by it. It just provides you with two different ways to hold it: one where you're using the D-Pad, and one where you're using the analog stick. I'm not claiming it was the pinnacle of controller design or anything, but it was fine.
- cheeze 6mo ago
- montecarl 6mo agoThey also did this for the original steam controller, which I used a lot. When the back panel broke (its a trigger and battery cover) I was able to 3d print a replacement that has held up great. https://steamcommunity.com/games/353370/announcements/detail/901091250587575759 https://steamcommunity.com/games/353370/announcements/detail...
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- LoganDark 6mo agoThe joysticks in the STP file don't seem to properly import into Plasticity; the STL files don't have this problem. Though I appreciate that there is even STP at all!
- scotty79 6mo agoThis should be mandatory for any company that wants to be allowed to sell their products in the market. It's information age. Information about publicly offered stuff should be public. Unfortunately we rely on voluntary heartwarming gestures like this one and reverse engineering attempts by hobbyists.
- nish__ 6mo agoValve is an exemplary company.
- wurtapp 6mo agoPretty cool
- AbraKdabra 6mo agoWhen I have my own house I will put the biggest picture of Gaben possible in my office.
- nkallen 6mo agoHere is the model viewable in a web browser, for anyone interested https://share.plasticity.xyz/r/BDt8nFGQYVsdhi-v5SHSOn6jtBQUVYmGBZGhq56kk10 https://share.plasticity.xyz/r/BDt8nFGQYVsdhi-v5SHSOn6jtBQUV...
- tylervigen 6mo agoCan anyone share their experience enjoying the two pads they put on their controllers? I have a Steam Deck and love it, but the only experience I have with those pads is “dammit I accidentally touched the pad again.” If I want a mouse, I just connect a Bluetooth mouse. I thought for sure everyone knew it was a flop and we’d never see it again, but obviously that’s not right since they are back. What am I missing?
- LukaD 6mo agoThe touch pads work great for emulating a mouse in certain games. I've played many hours of Civ V and VI on the deck thanks to the touch pads. You can even configure them to act as a radial menu or touch menu where different areas of the touch pad emulate different keys.
- tylervigen 6mo agoThanks. Is it not annoying to play Civ with a touchpad vs a mouse? Or is this just a convenience for situations where you can’t use a mouse?
- radlad 6mo agoCan't wait to use it as a mouse for my Windows-based couch gaming PC.
- opan 6mo agoBesides being a mouse, you can map it to a virtual menu with as many shortcuts as you want, the shortcuts being key presses/combos, allowing you to bind way more things than would otherwise fit on a controller. You can also set up mouse regions so that the trackpad only maps to a part of the screen and will instantly jump there, like for moving around an inventory window or minimap. For games without controller support or where KB+M has an advantage, the trackpads are a game changer. Imagine a hotbar like in Minecraft or Terraria, but instead of having to go left or right one at a time with your bumpers, you could spawn a radial menu with the touchpad and instantly flick to "8" or "5" or "1" to select those slots.
- alanbernstein 6mo ago
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- marvinified 6mo agoGreat news! Open-sourcing the CAD files under Creative Commons is a fantastic move by Valve. This will enable the community to create custom modifications and accessibility adaptations for the Steam Controller.
- marvinified 6mo ago[flagged]
- byhemechi 6mo agoWhat exactly motivates you to AI generate useless replies?
- hsuduebc2 6mo agoThe day Gaben would fade away will be very sad moment for gaming industry. Steam is rare incredible company.
- tape_measure 6mo agoCool! Other examples of this are Apple and Ford. https://developer.apple.com/accessories/Accessory-Design-Guidelines.pdf https://developer.apple.com/accessories/Accessory-Design-Gui... https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/owner-resources/vehicle-documents/how-do-i-use-3d-printing-to-customize-my-ford-maverick-pickup/ https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/owner-resources/vehicle...
- TH3F4llen1 6mo agoI can't believe that it sold out in 30 minutes!
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- aaron695 6mo ago[dead]
- numlock86 6mo agoIt sold out in less than an hour. Scalpers are at it again. Units are showing up for as much as $300 in resell-value already. What I don't get is why their shop page just gives me an "out of stock" panel, instead of the purchase button. Why won't they just let me buy and pay it, and have it ship whenever? Is having customers to regularly check for new stock (and potentially missing it) better than ... just having them buy it in advance like a pre-order? I really don't get it. Like wouldn't it even make for a better forecasting indicator when it comes to resupplying?
- danpalmer 6mo ago...in the US. Other countries have stock.
- numlock86 6mo agoAs a resident of Germany, I disagree.
- Melonai 6mo agoYeah I'm pretty sure there's no stock around in every single region, at least according to this: https://www.steamhardwarestock.com/history https://www.steamhardwarestock.com/history Note that they don't check every second so they might miss some smaller restocks (or really orders which got closed and resulted in a few more units being re-added, since the actual stock is fully gone). I've been trying really hard to get this new Steam Controller, I've been dreaming about playing grand strategies from my bed on the TV, but using a mouse in the bed is awful! This controller is essentially made for me. No luck so far at all the last few days, despite spending quite a few hours checking every few seconds! Region is also Germany. I've given up until the next restock Valve has announced will come "soon", but I'm guessing I'll miss it because there's too many bots aimed at their store page, not even sure why to be frank, are there really thousands of people willing to spend 3x for a singular controller, even if it's a nice one? The market seems to indicate that.
- danpalmer 6mo ago
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- nicman23 6mo agoGigaBASED, FOSS-pilled. Gaben protects
- arian_ 6mo agoValve will open-source the entire controller, the operating system, the hardware schematics, and the manufacturing process before they'll tell you what's happening with Half-Life 3.
- hacker_88 6mo agoKeychron did it a while ago
- account42 6mo agoI wish people would stop referring to "creative common licenses" as if they were even remotely comparable. The license in this case is CC BY-NC-SA which at least allows derivatives but really anything NC should not exist in CC even if its not as bad as the no-derivate jokes.
- 4chandaily 6mo agoCC = "Creative Commons" not "Covetous Corporations" If you're trying to make a profit, you can invest capital to do your own development or reach out to the source to arrange compensation. This astroturfing of open licenses as if they are solely for the exploitation of profit and not of the common good is a terrible trend. They engineered something and gave it away for free. It appears as if you are complaining that you can't use it to generate profit. This seems entitled to me, am I misunderstanding your position?
- cpt_sobel 6mo agoDoes the release of the controller mean that valve solved the issues with the supply chain of their announced products? I know that the main problem is the rising prices of memory chips, but I would hope this leads to an announcement about the Steam Machine and (I'm still hoping...) HLX/HL3
- emsign 6mo agoValve is an exception in a rotten business.
- rahadbhuiya 6mo ago[dead]
- subarctic 6mo agoAny word on when their new hardware will come out? It's been 6 months since the steam machine etc was announced and you still can't order one
- Bjartr 6mo agoIIRC it's been delayed due to the recent increase in RAM prices
- EvidenceRun 6mo ago[flagged]
- hydrogen7800 6mo agoI downloaded one of the models, but it is only the outer mold line, with no internal features. Not sure how useful this is to someone who needs to replace their shell, or modify it.
- meigwilym 6mo agoI believe it's for people who want to design enclosures, stands etc for their controllers
- jviotti 6mo agoThis sounds amazing. As somebody not very familiar with CAD/3D printing, etc how hard is it to produce it myself (couple units for personal use)? What would be the average cost? Did anybody do it?
- atrus 6mo agoIt's just the "outline" of the controller/puck, it doesn't include internal features for the internals. You won't be building your own controller off these files (without a lot of work). It's more helpful for making things that conform to the controller, like a holder or stand for your desk or carrying case.
- Schlagbohrer 6mo agoAs long as we are doing controller chat, I want to reminisce about the original Xbox Elite controller with replaceable batteries. Very expensive but the weight was nice, the replaceable buttons and joysticks were great, and the replaceable batteries meant that a rechargable battery wasn't going to degrade overtime and make it unusable. Unfortunately it had some real flaws. The back buttons weren't supported even on windows, I had to use 3rd party software like REWASD to map them to keyboard keys. And despite the high cost of the device, the rubber on it degraded and broke off pretty quickly. And the controller didn't have backlit buttons!
- danborn26 6mo agoOpen sourcing the CAD files is a huge win for repairability. I wish more hardware companies would adopt this approach for discontinued products.
- etskinner 6mo agoThey only open-sourced the external surface, not the internals, so it doesn't help repairability much
- NoMoreNicksLeft 6mo agoWhat, no gerbers?
- h4kunamata 6mo agoWithout reading the README, just by seeing the STP file I knew Valve wants the community to give its controller life.
- geronest 6mo agoSometimes I love Volvo... The interesting part is not the CAD files themselves, but the signal/no-cover engineering diagrams. That’s the kind of detail modders usually have to reverse engineer themselves.