Touch screen support for Steam?

[Catachrism]

Hello everyone I would like to start a topic, if it has not been done already. I would like to request touch screen support for steam. I recently purchased a surface pro and have found it excellent for playing non graphically intensive games, which steam has many. I prefer it over tablets ios and android because with steam I am getting the PC version, full quality, no corners cut for weaker processors etc...Game like Limbo, Sonic, Clash of Heroes, FF7, etc are all excellent on the surface as I imagine they would be on any touch screen PC. With the increasing emergence of touch screen cabaple PC's getting larger and larger I think it would be smart to add this functionality.

So my request would be to allow the steam interface/browser we all know and love, to be touch freindly.

If this has been covered please let me know, the only posts I found when searching were for touch screen friendly games not the actual UI.

[Midnex]

How does touch screens on windows 8 tablets not pc gaming, I have a surface pro 2 and it is more than capable of running a lot of hardcore pc games. Maybe not as max everything but it plays them at a fairly nice resolution, and a good amount of detail. For example skyrim can be played max settings in 720p. Looks amazing on a smaller screen still.

Too many people are hung up on that touch = mobile social games. And all valve has to do to support touch is add a category, with tags its already half way done.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Messaggio originale di Midnex:

How does touch screens on windows 8 tablets not pc gaming, I have a surface pro 2 and it is more than capable of running a lot of hardcore pc games. Maybe not as max everything but it plays them at a fairly nice resolution, and a good amount of detail. For example skyrim can be played max settings in 720p. Looks amazing on a smaller screen still.

Moot point seeing how you're not actually playing skyrim using touch.

[Marble]

Messaggio originale di Τhe Rolling Egg:

Moot point seeing how you're not actually playing skyrim using touch.

This.

Not only do 99.9% of games not support touch, 99.9% of users do not use touch. People saying that "it's not a big ask", well it sort of is when there are so few users who would actually make use of it.

You could also ask why there is no Steam HUD on Logitech GamePanel keyboard displays.

[KRAKED]

Good idea

[Catachrism]

Messaggio originale di Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel:

Messaggio originale di Midnex:

How does touch screens on windows 8 tablets not pc gaming, I have a surface pro 2 and it is more than capable of running a lot of hardcore pc games. Maybe not as max everything but it plays them at a fairly nice resolution, and a good amount of detail. For example skyrim can be played max settings in 720p. Looks amazing on a smaller screen still.

Moot point seeing how you're not actually playing skyrim using touch.

Gesture works gameplay software allows you to play skyrim with touch and many many other PC GAMES meaning you can use it for PC gaming which is what Steam is designed for. So moot point in saying moot point and just being very unhelpful in general, meh the internet and it's trolls.

The issue is to be able to control the Steam interface with touch clicking and scrolling, it would be nice and a step forward for future devices. We know how it would feel because you can control the webpage version of steam that way, and it's slick. Unfortunately it doesn't have all of the functianlity that you get from the desktop app. So I see no harm in asking for something that will hoenestly be very practical in the near future.

[CvP]

The best way to do this would be a simple metro app for Steam by Valve. But you guys seem to forget that valve thinks the new windows is a catastrophic failure. so yeah, don't hold your breath.

On the other hand, there are some 3rd party steam apps available in store that allows you to browse, manage and start your games. Use one of those for now.

For example: http://apps.microsoft.com/webpdp/app/f17f134c-c72d-470b-9d97-9c9d6d4aae85

[Marble]

There's an app I have on the tile interface called Pin Steam. It basically creates tiles for your games, it should be fine for what you need.

[BinaryJay]

Messaggio originale di L-r | Canti:

There's an app I have on the tile interface called Pin Steam. It basically creates tiles for your games, it should be fine for what you need.

You don't need that you can pin whatever shortcuts you like to start, and steam can already create shortcuts to games. But this only works if you only have a few games, don't regularly want to install/uninstall or otherwise manage steam.

For surface pro you can get around steam just fine using the wacom stylus but it's not ideal.

To answer other complaints that "you don't play skyrim with touch so it doesn't matter", there are lots of PC games on steam that you CAN play fine with touch. Not every game is Skyrim. It certainly would not hurt Valve to get with the times and realize that many PCs these days come with touch screens - they don't have to be tablets. They can leave the desktop client as it is if they like, with it's tiny tiny interface at high dpi - but they really ought to at the very least add gesture support to big picture.

[Marble]

Messaggio originale di Binary Jay:

You don't need that you can pin whatever shortcuts you like to start, and steam can already create shortcuts to games. But this only works if you only have a few games, don't regularly want to install/uninstall or otherwise manage steam.

Don't normal Windows 8 shortcuts just use the desktop icon in an empty tile?

Pin Steam lets you create full tiles based on the same icons Big Picture Mode uses which makes it look a lot nicer.

Maybe this has changed since 8.1? I don't use the tile interface so I don't know whether it lets you create nice tiles now.

[BinaryJay]

Messaggio originale di L-r | Canti:

Messaggio originale di Binary Jay:

You don't need that you can pin whatever shortcuts you like to start, and steam can already create shortcuts to games. But this only works if you only have a few games, don't regularly want to install/uninstall or otherwise manage steam.

Don't normal Windows 8 shortcuts just use the desktop icon in an empty tile?

Pin Steam lets you create full tiles based on the same icons Big Picture Mode uses which makes it look a lot nicer.

Maybe this has changed since 8.1? I don't use the tile interface so I don't know whether it lets you create nice tiles now.

If you want big custom tiles, of course, just pinning a shortcut will not do the same thing. That being said, neither methods are that great when you have 400 games in your library to shuffle through.

[WholesomeGMNG]

I like where this is going.

[Marble]

And you can really fit 400 games onto a tablet?

[CvP]

Messaggio originale di L-r | Canti:

And you can really fit 400 games onto a tablet?

Considering surface (2) pro is a full x86 machine, it can hook up to network drives and yes, can have more than that if needed.

Just use the app I posted earlier. Valve doesn't care about Windows 8. They think that ever shrinking Linux market share on steam is their future ( http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey ).

[Midnex]

I can fit a lot of games on my tablet, I have 140 installed on my surface pro 2. I installed a mSD card and just set my default directy for steam to my c drive, all other games that are not multiplayer and depend on load times are moved to the mSD.

As for Skyrim, I used it as a point so say just cause its a tablet with touch does not mean you can't play hardcore gamer games. And yes there is tons of games that already support touch. Adding a new category that allows people to use touch isn't that hard.

Touch is already supported on many Linux, Windows, and OS X versions. So saying just cause Valve dislikes Microsoft for their new aproach means nothing. The fact is every operating system, mobile or not is trying to have their own store to buy games. Eventually slowing down Steams growth. Right now Microsoft has the ability to support it. But with Valve and other companies huge slander over how terrible windows 8 is, many gamers don't want to try it.

I play on two machines, my desktop, and my surface pro 2. Which i take everywhere and play most of my games, provided their not fps, as its worse than playing with a controller in my book. Having an app give me additional touch screen controls is very easy to do. I have another thread on steam and reddit with a huge list of games I have bought and others have that support touch perfectly, and few that need a stylus to play for easier right click functions.

Honestly 400 games on a tablet would be a bit much, my own game library isn't even at 200 yet, but getting their soon. I couldn't imagine why you would need all 400 games on a tablet ready to go. Steam is simple to open up and select your game.

[Xirii]

I've got a library of 339 most of which are installed on my laptop or are streamed through off my main pc. Theres no argument or rather there shouldn't be over how many games you have installed or whether you should or not. Doesn't apply.

The format of either Tablet, Laptop or Desktop with a touchscreen doesn't apply.

Nobody is asking all the games to support touch.

We are simply asking for an interface to support Windows 8 Gestures. Just because Valve believes Windows 8 is a disaster, (which I've no idea why. It's worked for me perfectly and I have no complaints with it at all) shouldnt affect the fact that this is something that is here now, and touchscreens etc. aren't going to go away any time soon.

With broad OS support, not just with Windows 8 (because lets face it touchscreens on PCs have been around forever, they just werent popular) and improved ways of interacting with UI using them, touchscreens are here to stay, and Valve should at least be thinking of something...

Bad example, but If Office 2013 was released without touch support and with a UI that behaved just like Steam's you would never hear the end of it. I'm surprised theres so much negativity to a useful feature of gestures for touchscreens. If you don't have a touchscreen why do you care so much.