Looking to get a controller to play Racing games and Fighters. How well does it perform?

[☃ Frosty ☃]

Old xbox 360 controller died and I've been eyeing this bad boy. I mainly play platformers, Fighters and Racing games with a controller so it would need to handle those as well as an xbox controller

[GuRu Asaki]

The STEAM Controller works very well, it can play almost anything...

I would suggest, since your new to the Controller...

FPS Games & Point & Click Games are better with 360 Controller & Keyboard & Mouse,

however they are doable with the STEAM Controller... But the Controller feels weird at first...

So I wouldn't recomend it...

However all Other Games play really well with the STEAM Controller...

Especially if your into Casual Games...



You asked about Racing & Fighting Games...

You can set up the Controller to play Driving Games all different ways...

From using just the Gyro for steering, to a Thumb Stick for steering, to a

Touch Pad for Steering... However you see fit...

I'm not sure how well it does with the Gyro on Racing...

But Controller should be just fine...

Fighting Games...

The Left Touch Pad is not only Touch Pad, but it's also a Touch Slider...

As well as a D-Pad, so you have many Options there as well...

The Fact it works as a D-Pad, you should be ok for Fighting Games...


But if your old school, you might want to have a Fight Stick for Fighting Games...


The Controller is Keyboard & Mouse, Controller, & Controller / Mouse... All built into 1 Device...

So for some Games it might feel like you have a mouse in one hand & a Controller in the other...


But with Built in Mouse, it really seems like a cool idea...



You said your 360 Controller died?

You really should not rely on just the STEAM controller alone, though...

It does not work outside of STEAM... So if you want support outside of STEAM,

you might want another X-Box Controller...

[Cerebrum123]

For most stuff the Steam Controller is great. You might have some issues learning to use it though, because it is considerably different from an Xinput controller. Out of the two genres you listed, the fighting games will probably give you the most trouble. Racing games work great with the SC, and with the right configuration, you can set up the gyroscope to get your SC to work like a steering wheel. Most non-steam games can simply be added to the Steam library, and then launched from there.

[GuRu Asaki]

Why would Fighting Games give you trouble?

You just need to know how to properly hold the Controller,

& then Fighting Games seems to work well....

So why do you say they would give you trouble?

[☃ Frosty ☃]

I can imagine Xenoverse 2 would be simple to play on it as it's primarily a button masher, but it's the more technical games like Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite/3, Mortal Kombat X and Rivals of Aether I will be playing. From the looks of it, it shouldn't be much of a transition from an xbox controller if I just use the joy stick and buttons at the bottom (which I usually would).

A new question I have is about emulators. I like playing old N64 games and Wiiu titles over Cemu and Dolphin, These games include Mario Kart, Super smash and Zelda Breath of the Wild. Would I have to remap the controls as keyboard keys or does it assume it is a gamepad?

[cammelspit]

On a personal level, I highly recommend never using a pad style controller for fighters, ever. They just aren't very well optimized for that kind of game seeing as that whole genre was explicitly designed around an arcade joystick. If you don't have one, can build one or want to build/buy an arcade panel for your fighters then you kind of have no good options that are being sold today. The SC works about as good as you would expect in regards to analog stick usage but the pad usage is really tricky to get the hang of. Mainly because you don't actually want to use any force to press the pad, you want to use it with pad click off so you can smoothly and easily slide your thumb in the quarter and half circles. It's at least a hundred thousand times better than an XBOX 360 controller in that regards but pretty much anything, even a banana, is better at fighters than a 360 controller. :D

My personal recommendation if you need to use a pad is a Sega Saturn Model 2 Rev3 controller with an appropriate USB adapter to let you use it on the PC. This is, objectively and without hesitation, the single best controller you can ever possibly use for a technical fighter like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. This is exactly what I use when I don't want to break out the arcade panel for a more casual fighter experience. In fact, I like it so much I actually have a few dozen of those controller brand new in a crate just in case I break one I am THAT serious about that specific controller.

That having been said, if you want just a simple casual fighting experience, the SC is just fine and CAN fit the bill depending on your personal preference and ability to get past how intensely different it is over other pads when used this way. I do use the left pad for platformers and such so it is absolutely capable to replacing a traditional Dpad but a lot of people don't care for the feel when used that way so until you have one, it'll be hard to say for sure. Again, if you use the analog stick, it's easily the same as any other controller. In fact, the SC has the same analog assembly in hardware that the DS4 uses so the analog stick quality is at least very good as compared to the 360 controller that uses a very VERY bad analog assembly.

Sorry, didn't mean to ramble but the real answer to your question is a tad more nuanced than a simple yes or no answer would allow for.

[cammelspit]

Oh, and for emulators, it's freaking AWESOME! I use it for Dolphin games and such all day long. Tough pads with CEMU is also super slick.

[☃ Frosty ☃]

Originally posted by cammelspit:

Oh, and for emulators, it's freaking AWESOME! I use it for Dolphin games and such all day long. Tough pads with CEMU is also super slick.

A high contributor and 13 years. If there is anybody to listen to. it's you. I'll pick one up next time it's on sale. Thanks for letting me know about the SEGA controllers (Rev3 would be the 80116 right?)

[Cerebrum123]

Originally posted by GuRu Asaki:

Why would Fighting Games give you trouble?

You just need to know how to properly hold the Controller,

& then Fighting Games seems to work well....

So why do you say they would give you trouble?

No true D-Pad on the SC. So for games that use a lot movements in their combos you could have some trouble, like Mortal Kombat for example. The way I understand it is joystick>d-pad>analog stick. If you are fine the the analog stick for fighting games, then no real issues, but if you want the more technical stuff it might be a bit difficult to learn to use the SC for that.

[GuRu Asaki]

I've never had trouble with D-Pad on Fighting Games...

@_@

I play Mk, Tekken, & Street Fighter, & have never had any issues with

D-Pad, ~_~

The D-Pad has been on the Controller since NES...

All I would do for STEAM Controller on Fighting Games,

is set it up for L1 R1, L2 R2 ABXY & then have D-Pad...

I dun see why Combos would be hard on a D-Pad, ~_~


Anyways, it doesn't matter... Fight Stick is the King Of Fighting Games, haha...

[cammelspit]

Originally posted by Frosty Avenger | Society.gg:

A high contributor and 13 years. If there is anybody to listen to. it's you. I'll pick one up next time it's on sale. Thanks for letting me know about the SEGA controllers (Rev3 would be the 80116 right?)

Sorry, I don't actually know what the serial numbers or model numbers would be. My memory is slightly hazy on that point. The issue here is the longevity of the model 2 rev1 controllers. We call them rev1 but without actually opening the controller it can be hard to tell because there is some overlap when it comes to the model number on the controllers themselves. As a rule, if you get a Mosel 2 controller you will be pretty likely to get the rev 2 or rev3 pad, both of which are perfectly fine IMO. I was lucky enough to get a whole crate of new old stock that was originally intended to go packed in with Saturn consoles but they were so late in the Saturn's life that instead of going into brand new consoles, they were simply mothballed. So I know without a doubt that they are all the last revision Sega made of that controller seeing as they literally stopped manufacturing consoles at that time, being the reason they had no home to begin with.

THe only reason to avoid the rev1 that I have experienced personally is the L and R buttons. They have a tendency to fail much quicker than the other two revs, the last being the most durable. The actual face buttons and the Dpad itself are essentially the same. Other than some electrical differences, which won't matter, they are very similar and very hard to tell, you would likely not be able to gauge the difference without already being versed in how they feel.

Maybe later ill look at my controllers and see what they say so I can help steer you in the right direction.

[cammelspit]

Originally posted by GuRu Asaki:

Anyways, it doesn't matter... Fight Stick is the King Of Fighting Games, haha...

Lol, so true! Just try playing soul caliber, any version, with a well-made arcade panel that has some real arcade buttons and a good stick, yeah... You won't be able to go back. :D

[Cerebrum123]

Originally posted by GuRu Asaki:

I've never had trouble with D-Pad on Fighting Games...

@_@

I play Mk, Tekken, & Street Fighter, & have never had any issues with

D-Pad, ~_~

The D-Pad has been on the Controller since NES...

All I would do for STEAM Controller on Fighting Games,

is set it up for L1 R1, L2 R2 ABXY & then have D-Pad...

I dun see why Combos would be hard on a D-Pad, ~_~


Anyways, it doesn't matter... Fight Stick is the King Of Fighting Games, haha...

I'm saying the lack of a D-Pad can be an issue, not that using a D-Pad is an issue. Using the touchpad as a D-Pad is hard to get used to. I called it a "joystick", but I was saying that a "fight stick" is considered the best option.

[cammelspit]

Mr. EOS How can you straight up lie about this? You should know that you can press more than one button at a time with the pad or diagonals would be impossible. Next time you should try being in the ballpark of accurate before you make a fool out of yourself. The only thing you can't do is press left and right at the same time, which you can't do with a DPAD either.

[Boreout [Aut]]

Originally posted by cammelspit:

Mr. EOS How can you straight up lie about this? You should know that you can press more than one button at a time with the pad or diagonals would be impossible. Next time you should try being in the ballpark of accurate before you make a fool out of yourself. The only thing you can't do is press left and right at the same time, which you can't do with a DPAD either.

Do they need to overlap to create those diagonals (XA, AB, YB, XY)?
Or does the RPAD see them as both buttons pressed / touched at the same time if your thumb slightly touches both virtual buttons.

Might come in handy in some games if it works.

The more interesting question is would AY and XB also work if you have the dexterity?^^
Those are not diagonals in a dpad way and would count as multitouch which i don't think the SC can pull off.

[cammelspit]

Ok, I don't really use the right pad to emulate ABXY buttons because frankly, it's just too big to be easily able to bounce back and forth between buttons. Not that I don't know plenty of people who do, I just don't prefer it especially considering the fact that the SC literally has those buttons already, I feel it is somewhat redundant. The thing with using a button pad for ABXY is the fact that it actually makes button-sized circles on the pad for the zones you press and I personally just don't care for it seeing as how far apart they are spaced. The few times I have done it this way I actually used a DPAD instead. I could eliminate pressing two buttons entirely by removing the overlap or leave it if I wanted to be able to make button combos like AB/XY that sort of thing. When set to this mode you can't do XB or AY combos, though so you kind of have to decide which one you want if that is how you want to roll. There are simply physical limitations to the human thumb and without using two hands, you would never be able to press XB or AY combos on the pad anyway.

The only way I will use a pad as buttons, not a DPAD, is when I just need more commands and the game doesn't use two sticks or mouse. Then again, if that is the reason you need buttons on the pad, there is a much better way that allows you to get many MANY buttons. Use a radial menu with the actual menu made invisible by reducing its opacity to nothing. That way you can have a LOT of commands placed on a pad. Realistically, it is better to keep it to something like 8 buttons instead because, with the menu itself disabled, it becomes hard to not press the wrong one by memory and feel alone.

This kind of thing really is a matter of picking the right control surface for the right job when making a config. There are uses for it being set up this way but they are few and far between IMHO. I did make a right pad button pad a turbo fire copy of ABXY for a game once and that worked well enough but in the end I just sort of went with a more traditional setup for my own ease of use and for my son to be able to jump right on without me having to teach him what command did what, which is a concern for those of us with kids.

I will be the first guy to make an incredibly silly complicated config for the sake of doing it. If it is a novel way to do it, I will do it that way but there does come a practicality limit too.

Bottom line, OP was originally asking about fighters and that is a very complex topic with regards to the SC and is one of the few instances I feel the SC simply is not ideal. Workable but not ideal, just like any other modern controller.