Steam Hardware
Posted: June 27th, 2016, 0:51
Here's a place to post your experiences, tip and tricks, etc for the new Steam hardware options, such as the Steam Link and the Steam Controller
Steam Link
The Steam Link is designed to allow you play games streamed from your main gaming PC on a TV.
Pros:
Allows you to play games from your PC in another room in front of a big TV with your friends
Supports the (official) XBox360 wireless adapter for split-screen play on games that support it like Rocket League
Perhaps unexpectedly breathes new life into games you wouldn't otherwise play much
The ideal foil for your showoff console mates - although maybe don't mention how much your PC cost
Can actually do a lot more than just Steam games
Your mum
Cons:
Games need some level of support for controller play
Using a mouse and keyboard is possible, but may be clumsy, also you sometimes need a keyboard if a game crashes or doesn't let you exit
Is limited by the power of your host PC, your networking, your TV or your lack of friends
Doesn't support ultra-high resolutions or refresh rates
Is kinda still in progress - not everything works, such as voice chat, but is being worked on
Your mum
How does it work?
It does two things, and the first you can try without even owning one - it puts Steam into Big Picture mode. This is a full-screen version of the Steam client optimised for distance-viewing and controller-navigation. The other thing it does is broadcast your screen onto your TV and uses the controller connected to the Steam Link to control the PC.
It has an HDMI socket to connect to your TV, a wired network socket (kinda recommended although it does have internal wifi) and three USB sockets.
What controllers work?
A wired Xbox360 controller (actual wired, not charge & play) can be used to operate it, or an official Xbox360 wireless adapter will work out of the box and can be paired (press button on adapter and controller) with up to four wireless Xbox360 controllers. Other options include the Steam Controller or a USB mouse and keyboard, but I don't know of any other controllers, XBOne included, that guaranteed work out of the box. Simple wireless mouse/keyboards which come with their own USB wireless receiver dongles may well work, or you may need to plug them into the host PC at least once to let their drivers get installed.
What games work?
Maybe we can compile a compatibility list through experiementation, but generally if a game has controller support then you can open and play it with a controller through the Steam Link. If you intend to play with a keyboard and mouse then there should be no issue. Even if you don't, it is worth having some sort of keyboard and mouse available as some games don't let you map every action to the controller, have a loading screen you have to click through, or just plain go wrong.
Recent games like Batman, Watch Dogs and Fallout which have equivalent console versions work just fine as they are designed to work with controllers. Equally, a lot of retro stuff like the Final Fantasy games which were originally console games will work fine with a controller once they have been set up to do so. Older PCs games, particularly those dependent on a lot of clicking like Diablo are going to need a mouse and keyboard to play.
So it just works with Steam games?
Actually, no. It works with anything you create a shortcut to in Steam - the shortcut runs the program and streams the resulting display to the Steam Link. If you want to run a copy of Notepad, you can. I have shortcuts in Steam to Origin games, GOG games, Blizzard games, and standalone games and they all function. An Origin game or similar will automatically start up the Origin client before running the game, so there may be some delay or screens to click through - or you could create a Steam shortcut to run Origin itself in advance. "Closing" the "game" Origin from the Steam Link's context doesn't actually stop it running, just removes the focus of what it is streaming to the TV and returns to Big Picture.
What? You've seriously, actually played Dragon Age through Origin and The Witcher through GOG using your Steam LInk?
Yes.
So what else can it run?
Anything you want. I have links to start the various clients such as Origin and Battle.net, run Skyrim with the SKSE, launch a command prompt called "your mum" and even have a link to change my desktop resolution. If you use any tools like SweetFX to alter the graphics and make stuff look more pretty or have better definition, then that works on the TV, too.
What was that about resolution?
Ah, yes. My PC's main* monitor is a 16:10 1680x1050 jobber. My TV is a 16:9 1920x1080 wanger. That doesn't match so bad things happen with black bars if left uncorrected. Most games let you change to whatever you want, unless higher than your screen can cope with - while my nVidia card can do oversampling up to 4k it only does so in 16:10 ratios - so my best option for 16:9 is 1600x900. For games that don't let you change, or are otherwise arsey, changing the desktop resolution beforehand using a Steam shortcut to a program called SetRes does the trick. It only becomes an issue if you jump between playing a particular game on the computer and the TV.
If you have a 16:9 monitor, it probably won't affect you at all. You can sometimes also get around issues by using Windowed mode.
(*primary, you can choose which)
What about other peripherals or non-standard controllers?
Typically if you can get them working on the host PC, by plugging them in and installing the drivers, then you stand a chance of them working on the Steam link. That's how it worked for me for an unofficial XBox360 wireless adapter.
If it doesn't then the Steam Link has built-in support for VirtualHere which makes the peripheral appear as if it's connected to the PC even though it's connected to the Steam Link. It requires installation on the PC (and needs Bonjour - boo!) and the free version linked above only supports a single USB device. The paid version is available in the Steam store: virtual here (paid)
What about controller remapping?
Well, they kind of want you to buy the Steam controller, which has this functionailty built in through its profiles, but other tools are available:
Pinnacle Game Profiler: http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/ lets you map pretty much anything to your controller and includes a lot of pre-made setups for a lot of games. It needs to be running on the host PC and needs VirtualHere running as well so that it can see the XBox360 controller attached to the Steam Link. Even then you'll find most downloaded setups aren't quite what you would have used for mappings so will end up trying to make your own custom ones, which can be a bit of work.
Controller Companion may be of interest, but isn't something I've used: http://store.steampowered.com/app/367670/
And voice chat?
No, not yet. It's been "coming soon" since Christmas. It does detect my Jawbone headset as a sound device though.
Steam Link
The Steam Link is designed to allow you play games streamed from your main gaming PC on a TV.
Pros:
Allows you to play games from your PC in another room in front of a big TV with your friends
Supports the (official) XBox360 wireless adapter for split-screen play on games that support it like Rocket League
Perhaps unexpectedly breathes new life into games you wouldn't otherwise play much
The ideal foil for your showoff console mates - although maybe don't mention how much your PC cost
Can actually do a lot more than just Steam games
Your mum
Cons:
Games need some level of support for controller play
Using a mouse and keyboard is possible, but may be clumsy, also you sometimes need a keyboard if a game crashes or doesn't let you exit
Is limited by the power of your host PC, your networking, your TV or your lack of friends
Doesn't support ultra-high resolutions or refresh rates
Is kinda still in progress - not everything works, such as voice chat, but is being worked on
Your mum
How does it work?
It does two things, and the first you can try without even owning one - it puts Steam into Big Picture mode. This is a full-screen version of the Steam client optimised for distance-viewing and controller-navigation. The other thing it does is broadcast your screen onto your TV and uses the controller connected to the Steam Link to control the PC.
It has an HDMI socket to connect to your TV, a wired network socket (kinda recommended although it does have internal wifi) and three USB sockets.
What controllers work?
A wired Xbox360 controller (actual wired, not charge & play) can be used to operate it, or an official Xbox360 wireless adapter will work out of the box and can be paired (press button on adapter and controller) with up to four wireless Xbox360 controllers. Other options include the Steam Controller or a USB mouse and keyboard, but I don't know of any other controllers, XBOne included, that guaranteed work out of the box. Simple wireless mouse/keyboards which come with their own USB wireless receiver dongles may well work, or you may need to plug them into the host PC at least once to let their drivers get installed.
What games work?
Maybe we can compile a compatibility list through experiementation, but generally if a game has controller support then you can open and play it with a controller through the Steam Link. If you intend to play with a keyboard and mouse then there should be no issue. Even if you don't, it is worth having some sort of keyboard and mouse available as some games don't let you map every action to the controller, have a loading screen you have to click through, or just plain go wrong.
Recent games like Batman, Watch Dogs and Fallout which have equivalent console versions work just fine as they are designed to work with controllers. Equally, a lot of retro stuff like the Final Fantasy games which were originally console games will work fine with a controller once they have been set up to do so. Older PCs games, particularly those dependent on a lot of clicking like Diablo are going to need a mouse and keyboard to play.
So it just works with Steam games?
Actually, no. It works with anything you create a shortcut to in Steam - the shortcut runs the program and streams the resulting display to the Steam Link. If you want to run a copy of Notepad, you can. I have shortcuts in Steam to Origin games, GOG games, Blizzard games, and standalone games and they all function. An Origin game or similar will automatically start up the Origin client before running the game, so there may be some delay or screens to click through - or you could create a Steam shortcut to run Origin itself in advance. "Closing" the "game" Origin from the Steam Link's context doesn't actually stop it running, just removes the focus of what it is streaming to the TV and returns to Big Picture.
What? You've seriously, actually played Dragon Age through Origin and The Witcher through GOG using your Steam LInk?
Yes.
So what else can it run?
Anything you want. I have links to start the various clients such as Origin and Battle.net, run Skyrim with the SKSE, launch a command prompt called "your mum" and even have a link to change my desktop resolution. If you use any tools like SweetFX to alter the graphics and make stuff look more pretty or have better definition, then that works on the TV, too.
What was that about resolution?
Ah, yes. My PC's main* monitor is a 16:10 1680x1050 jobber. My TV is a 16:9 1920x1080 wanger. That doesn't match so bad things happen with black bars if left uncorrected. Most games let you change to whatever you want, unless higher than your screen can cope with - while my nVidia card can do oversampling up to 4k it only does so in 16:10 ratios - so my best option for 16:9 is 1600x900. For games that don't let you change, or are otherwise arsey, changing the desktop resolution beforehand using a Steam shortcut to a program called SetRes does the trick. It only becomes an issue if you jump between playing a particular game on the computer and the TV.
If you have a 16:9 monitor, it probably won't affect you at all. You can sometimes also get around issues by using Windowed mode.
(*primary, you can choose which)
What about other peripherals or non-standard controllers?
Typically if you can get them working on the host PC, by plugging them in and installing the drivers, then you stand a chance of them working on the Steam link. That's how it worked for me for an unofficial XBox360 wireless adapter.
If it doesn't then the Steam Link has built-in support for VirtualHere which makes the peripheral appear as if it's connected to the PC even though it's connected to the Steam Link. It requires installation on the PC (and needs Bonjour - boo!) and the free version linked above only supports a single USB device. The paid version is available in the Steam store: virtual here (paid)
What about controller remapping?
Well, they kind of want you to buy the Steam controller, which has this functionailty built in through its profiles, but other tools are available:
Pinnacle Game Profiler: http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/ lets you map pretty much anything to your controller and includes a lot of pre-made setups for a lot of games. It needs to be running on the host PC and needs VirtualHere running as well so that it can see the XBox360 controller attached to the Steam Link. Even then you'll find most downloaded setups aren't quite what you would have used for mappings so will end up trying to make your own custom ones, which can be a bit of work.
Controller Companion may be of interest, but isn't something I've used: http://store.steampowered.com/app/367670/
And voice chat?
No, not yet. It's been "coming soon" since Christmas. It does detect my Jawbone headset as a sound device though.