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random shit I bought. (Read 30363 times)
Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #30 - 02/16/16 at 17:35:40
 
Bought a steam controller since it was on discount for people who bought X-Com 2. It's an odd one. Totally not a replacement for the Elite. But after spending a few days training my self to use it. I actually enjoy it. But it has very limited uses.

While the trackpads by themselves are okay for FPS games. When you use the trackpads in unison with the motion controls. It's way more accurate than twin sticks when it comes to shooters. The problem with that is, if you play any PC shooters without a KB/M you're at an automatic disadvantage. So I'd only ever use it for that if i feel like playing a single player FPS on my laptop. Which isn't very often.

Tried playing an RTS with it and that was a nightmare. It's nowhere near fast enough with the trackpad alone to play on a competitive level. Not even if I spent months training with it. You need a keyboard for macro's.

Played X-Com 2 with it because no other controllers work with it. Which is probably intentional so they could push these things. It actually does work really well with turn based games. However it's still not as fast as a mouse, and a regular controller would work just as fine. But i do enjoy the trackpads as far as comfort goes.

Played some Hearthstone with it. Actually works really fucking good for that game. So i'll give the controller some credit there. If you want to play Hearthstone on your couch and not on a mobile device. This controller works well for that.

Did some 6 degree of freedom shooters. Performed pretty well there. While i still prefer the elite. I do like that the rear paddles can be mapped as their own unique buttons. Also since those games tend to limit how fast you can look around. The ability to make a fast movement on the track pad and have it continually scroll is useful in some situations. If i trained my self with this controller enough it might be better than the Elite for this game genre.

Also for fun i used the trackpads on a few MAME roms for arcades that actually used trackballs for gameplay. Worked perfect for those. So if you feel like playing an old games that used those. This is probably the best controller for that outside of just buying a trackball mouse off ebay for $10. Was pretty fun playing Marble Madness with it.

It's not to shabby for navigating windows and the internet. Not a solid replacement for a mouse when doing stuff like video and audio editing. But for just browsing the web and moving around files it's surprisingly good.

Overall i couldn't recommend this thing unless you just want to experiment with a different type of controller. The trackpads are more accurate than analog sticks, though they take a lot getting used to. It feels like it'll last a long time. But we've been trained to use a mouse and dual analogs for so long. Most people aren't going to get much of an advantage from the trackpads.

The haptic feedback is interesting. No games i own really use it for anything.

The lack of a real D Pad is a disadvantage. The fact it doesn't have dual analog sticks again is a disadvantage. If it had both of those features, and they were organized properly on the controller. I'd probably like it more than the Elite.

I want this thing to be useful. But for as much as i like it. It's sort of a novelty. I'm not sure what Valve was thinking with this. They'll probably scrap it and either drop the concept entirely. Or make a version with dual analog.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #31 - 02/25/16 at 07:13:00
 
I thought about trying the Steam controller but I'm glad I held off since not many people seem hot on it. I'm sure you could figure out ways to customize the controller to really work well with certain genres or types of games, but at the end of the day I feel like why bother trying to learn yet another controller or input scheme at this point in our gaming lives when we have thousands of hours of experience with keyboards and mice and a variety of controllers that fill all other necessary gaming needs. I appreciate Valve trying something new but I see no reason to rewire your brain and tweak and reconfigure yet another input device to feel acceptable when it will most likely just feel forced and not really add anything overall to your gaming experience. Only way I'd buy a Steam controller is if I could get it super cheap and even then it would probably just be to satisfy the tech junkie inside me that likes fucking around with new devices and not because I'd actually use it.

Having said all that, I will however totally buy something stupid purely for vanity reasons. Case in point my recent purchase of the Corsair Gaming Strafe RGB Mechanical Keyboard. I've only ever used whatever shitty keyboards I could find lying around for my PCs so I was curious what a quality keyboard would feel like for gaming and everyday use compared to the packed in one I always get when I buy a new PC. To be perfectly honestly, from what I can tell at the end of the day a keyboard is a keyboard but I will say that this one feels like a proper serious user peripheral, even if overall its not that different from anything else. I do like the feel of the keys since they have a slight resistance to them making it so that you rarely push keys completely by accident and this particular model is a bit more silent than most high end mechanical gaming keyboards so while I still get that satisfying clicking sound it isn't so loud that its annoying. When playing games where you aren't necessarily hammering on keys like you are when typing it seems even less audible.

But let's be truthful here, when you add in all the fully customize-able RBG lights which can be programmed and tweaked to a stupid level of detail, then you've sold me on it. After all, I like feeling like I have a boss set up, and I take pride in how my setup looks overall as I slowly make it better piece by piece, so when I can customize and program complex color scheme profiles to fit my mood, match my desktop or set up, or just look fucking dope, then I'm willing to spend a bit more for cool peripherals like this.

So far the software is pretty easy to use but it is a bit overwhelming trying to program and create your own personal keyboard light shows. Thankfully, like anything else in life, there are other people out there putting in the hard work and so you can download other people's profiles and import them into your keyboard. I haven't gotten too deep into this yet as right off the bat I found a Star Wars one that is pretty rad. Here is what it looks like as an example of what is possible with this device:



Honestly between the 150 I spent on the Xbox Elite and about the same for the Corsair keyboard I feel like I'll get more enjoyment and use out of the keyboard. If you go for some less extravagant lighting effects while playing games its honestly not as distracting as I thought it would be and can actually help you spot those random keys that you need to hit sometimes since all the keys are backlit. 

Next up will be a vanity gaming mouse because why not. I'm curious to see what a mouse designed for gaming could feel like...as long as there are shiny flashing lights to go along with the other flashing lights I own.
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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #32 - 02/25/16 at 14:26:01
 
Yeah I would pass on the steam controller. I'm glad I have it. It'll be an interesting little piece of gaming history when they inevitably stop producing them. I still use it once in awhile. Sometimes just to browse the internet without hunching over a desk or using a wireless mouse on my tittys. But outside of X-Com 2 which supports no other controllers for some stupid reason, and Hearthstone which it works very well in. There aren't many other games I boot up and think "Oh damn better get the Steam controller out!".

It's stuck in a weird place between Dual Analog and KB/M. It's not as good as either of those designs. But there are a couple of rare exceptions where it's just a little bit better.

I'm really interested in that Corsair keyboard you've bought. I've been looking at the K70 RGB model and it's competitors for awhile now. Been spooked by complaints of faulty LED's. Though I know how that kind of thing goes, every piece of electronics has some kind of failure rate. I imagine the chances of getting a shit one are 1 in 99. The people who bitch are the most vocal.

One of the features I really like about it is that it has full KB Rollover. So if I'm playing RTS and using the Keyboard to move the camera, and assign a hotkey, while doing a quick action. I don't end up having one of those actions dropped due to the keyboard only reading so many keys simultaneously. Not a common problem but sometimes I forget I have that limitation on the cheapo wireless Logitech that I've been using for a decade now. For a $10 keyboard it's been a fucking champion though.

The other thing that piques my interest about that Corsair is that you can rebind any of the keys. So for example say you never use F1, F2, F3, F4, ect.. You can rebind them as a Macro. So I can make "F1" translate to "CTRL + 1". Which means if I want to make an auto assign key for units or buildings in an RTS game. I just gotta punch F1, which is conveniently placed above the 1 key. That sounds like it would actually make a difference in game. Since in RTS being fast is like 50% of the game.

I think the Cherry switches are a bit overhyped. But I've used them before and they do feel better. Though I don't think it's going to be like Sanwa Arcade Stick parts where it can make a difference for those freaks who can react to 1ms of frame data. You buy Corsair and Elite stuff for luxury not to make you better at anything.

Though I do think the functions on that Corsair probably come the closest out of any of the luxury gaming products to providing a tangible advantage. The RGB lighting and other features could be useful too. I'd use the RGB simply to help remember keyboard configurations on games I don't play all the time. Green for Grenade, Red for Reload, Cyan for Climb, Indigo for inventory. That'd be useful. Since I wouldn't be reading the keyboard anymore, just using color logic to separate the keys in my mind.

I wager it'd be like the difference between a Traffic Light that uses RGY, or a traffic light that just says STOP, GO, SLOW in white text.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #33 - 02/25/16 at 15:31:47
 
I was looking at the K70 as well since it is the top Corsair keyboard of this type but decided to go with the Strafe purely because of the quieter keys and because the white underlay behind the keys I think actually accentuates the RBG lighting and makes it look a little brighter than on the K70, and I'm all about dat keyboard bling. There is the K95 as well but the only difference there is all the extra G-keys for macro stuff which I don't really need. I haven't really gotten into building any macros for this one yet but I rarely need too much of that kind of stuff.


"I think the Cherry switches are a bit overhyped. But I've used them before and they do feel better."

Granted I haven't tested all these blue, red, brown switches myself, but yeah, I can't imagine all these things make that much of a difference but again I do like the way these keys feel versus my old shitty keyboard. As I said you are less likely to push the wrong keys, especially when typing, since they have a bit more resistance. I've noticed that I seem to make far less mistakes when typing stuff like this reply than I normally would on a keyboard that is more sensitive. Purely a vanity plus, but god damn I love any kind of ripple lighting effect when I'm typing as well.


"I'd use the RGB simply to help remember keyboard configurations on games I don't play all the time. Green for Grenade, Red for Reload, Cyan for Climb, Indigo for inventory."

This was my thought process as well. I started building a typical FPS profile but then I realized that would be a bit too general since, while I do use the same basic configuration for most games, that isn't always the case so about halfway through making a standard profile I stopped. I think I might make some profiles purely for certain games at some point though using colors to correlate to actions or just highlight all the individual keys that I'd use for that type of game so I don't have to pause the game and go into the settings to try and remember what is what.

So I've only had this thing a few days but so far I'm pretty happy with it but its hard to really recommend a high end keyboard like this unless you are super serious about gaming with your keyboard, you have disposable income to throw around on luxury items, or you are really stupid like me and just want to buy into the RGB craze and want your setup to and desktop color scheme to match and look fancy with all the lighting effects. I can't say for sure but I don't think this thing is going to give a person any sort of edge in gaming but who knows. The only other positive for spending the money on a quality keyboard I can see is that a good keyboard could last you forever versus a controller that will eventually wear out over time and the only time I stop using a keyboard is if I just feel like its a bit old and dirty (though if you keep it clean that isn't really a problem) and I just feel like I want something new. The only thing you'd really have to worry about going out are the RBG lights, but other than that I don't see myself buying or using another keyboard for many years.
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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #34 - 02/25/16 at 18:17:25
 
I might go for the Strafe then. I don't see the point of the extra Macro keys on the K90 when you can just reprogram the Function keys. I rarely use those for anything. The one I use most is F9 because that is my default button to enable recording, and I chose that because it's out of the way and it's unlikely for me to accidently press it. Which wouldn't be an issue with cherry keys like you said.

For example who the hell uses F2 for help? Like not just in video games but in editing and art software? If you really need help. Chances are you're bogged down to the point that a hotkey for help is not going to speed things up.

At most i'll use F6 to quicksave. But even then if I'm playing a game that requires a lot of quicksaving. I'll just rebind that to the Z key where I can instinctively tap it without letting go of WASD.

The extra Macro might be useful for hardcore MMO people who could use a complex function macro in order to help them organize a raid. For example cycling through multiple chat lines. Or repeating spell or ability loops. But if you aren't setting up a huge MMO raid it's kind of pointless, and I don't play those anymore they take up too much time.

I suppose I could set the unique macro keys up as alternate hotkeys for the hotkeys I use the most while drawing pixel art and doing video/audio editing. But it's not like I'm in such a hurry to hit "b" for brush that I need instant access to that hotkey. That just seems excessive.

There are plenty of keys to work with that aren't getting used. The real pain is like you mentioned. Setting up all of those different profiles. Cause it's not as easy as just setting up what you think will work good. You have to get used to it. Which means you'll end up changing shit. Which means if you don't use that configuration religiously you'll forget how you reconfigured it.

It'd be good for RTS though. Like I said I never use F1 for anything. So swapping those functions out for "CTRL + 1" for quick binding would save me about 1 second. Which adds up since I have to do that over 60 times a game. A whole minute could actually make a difference in winning or losing.
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Thrillho
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #35 - 03/11/16 at 17:58:04
 
The Steam Controller is actually really good for ARPG's like Grim Dawn, Titan Quest, and Diablo. Being able to swap between standard gamepad controls and mouse controls via the touchpad helps a whole lot when it comes to looting and menu navigation. The extra paddles also help in that it actually gives you enough buttons to work with a full range of spells and skills.

The Elite could technically do that. But because the rear paddles are designated as ABXY, and analog sticks are shit for mouse controls. Unless a game has very good dual analog support. Then it's inferior to the steam controller for games that require more unique inputs. Rather than just more pressable inputs.

Also the latest update gives you way more customization in terms of sensitivity and function. Even better people can save and upload their configurations to steam. So for a lot of games I don't even have to create an optimal setup. I just select the one that was voted the highest.

If you want the right touch pad to be a simple D Pad. Easily done. Pretty much every input can be swapped out and altered.

If you want the right pad to work like a scroll wheel and scroll in a clockwise motion. Totally possible. If you prefer vertical, no problem. Horizontal, easily done.

The haptics even work on the analog stick. So you can get the controller to jolt slightly every time an input goes out. Which means if you use the analog as a dpad. You get actual feedback for diagonal and direct presses. Tried it out on a few fighting games and it actually works really well.

Starting to really like this controller.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #36 - 03/13/16 at 23:17:09
 
Bought a new 3DS for the hell of it, A N64 and Dreamcast.
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #37 - 06/19/16 at 13:15:00
 
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #38 - 12/15/16 at 11:07:49
 
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TimMiles752
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Re: random shit I bought.
Reply #39 - 06/09/17 at 12:44:40
 
Well, I have decided to buy one more video game console. This time it was Xbox One 500 GB. (I am a lifetime PlayStation player)
So far everything is OK, but sometimes it is very laggy and super slow to download games for whatever reason.
I am still trying to work around it and get to know it. Know the little new features that is. It's kind of like a 360, but with more.
In general, I'm good with it.
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