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Steam's Big Picture Mode beta starts Monday Sep 10th [out now]

Blizzard said:
Have you tried it with a normal generic gamepad configuration, no special drivers? (assuming you have a Logitech or something)
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I'm actually using a 360 pad but with those XBCD drivers (for older game compatibility). Steam doesn't pick up the controller at all, no matter what I do. I wish there was some kind of configuration file or menu.
 
It's working! It's working!! So pretty~

H5kZT.jpg
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Holy shit, so good. Craps all over the 360 interface, and using the controller too! Makes me wish all games had controller support though, fiddling between mouse and keyboard isn't cool.
 
Too bad you still have to manually configure the games to enable gamepad. Honestly barely ever use my gamepad unless it's for stuff like rayman and stuff. At least Valve should enable something to recognize BPM in their games. Does TF2 even support a gamepad? That was the first game I popped on just to test it out but couldn't navigate the menu.
 
RoadHazard said:
This needs to get fixed, right now:



I can't see the categories above the edge of the screen, so I can't see what I'm selecting, which makes my entire category setup completely useless.

And not being able to use the D-pad to navigate sucks incredibly hard. That's an oversight I can't believe they've made, considering how awful it is to navigate an interface like this using an analog stick.



I got the update the moment I did opt in, so no, that's not it. Try opting out and then in again, perhaps?
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On your monitor or TV? If TV, do you have the resolution and zoom modes set correctly? Ideally BOM would have a calibration screen like console games, but it's possible your TV is adding overscan and cropping your image?
 
scitek said:
They're not magicians. And I don't know of the problem you're referring to since nearly every game these days is a console port with narrow FOVs and huge, overscan-safe HUDs.
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I see - then you must have not done a lot of PC gaming on a TV the last few years. I actually put a stool a few feet from the TV to play some PC games. I mean Windows can't even solve this issue because their large font view actually messes up some programs ( like WOW).
 
I like it.

Still has some obvious issues, but the foundations are there. It's a very slick interface.


Can't see myself using it in the current version because there's no way to run it in windowed mode (borderless fullscreen window on my second monitor is how Steam is mainly used now) and my custom Steam Grid view icons aren't getting recognised making 70% of my library show the generic placeholder, which is simply unacceptable for an OCD person like myself. :p I also didn't see the option to launch it right into big picture mode on PC startup.

Favourite little things they got right so far are the little startup intro, the home button being used to start BPM and the steam overlay when in-game, as well as a screenshot shortcut on the controller for every game.


Good start!
 
Still at work so I can't try it myself yet, but has anyone tried installing a game in big picture mode? I've been gaming on a PC from my couch for a while using xppadder and the only problem I've had is whenver steam would initiate a process that would trigger windows account control (like the directx install whenever you install a game) then xpadder would be unable to interact with the popup to confirm account elevation.
 
FSLink said:
Anybody know if there's a command line parameter that you can add to a Steam shortcut? Trying to make a Windows 8 tile that opens directly into BigPictureMode. :p
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Probably been said by now but:

"E:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -bigpicture

Enjoy :)
 
RoadHazard said:
When it comes to the buggy categories menu, sure. But when it comes to the omission of D-pad navigation? Having a really hard time believing that's a bug. A beta is supposed to be feature-complete, so it sure seems to me like they simply left that very important feature out.
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Ehhhh.. I'm more of the mindset that a beta is pretty open ended in what it can be. They've clearly specified they are taking suggestions whatnot in what will make BPM great. I see the potential, it's definitely awesome, but does need some work. I don't like how linear things are, scrolling through friends and games and whatnot can take ages.
 
So, big picture mode is amazing but unfortunately I already have several complaints.

  1. No d-pad support. Unforgivable for someone like me who navitages menus exclusively with the gamepad
  2. You can push up to cancel an item, which is pretty annoying when you've just made a selection from your 150+ game catalog and one accidental push upward means going all the way back to choose it again. It's not more convenient than just pushing B, they should remove that feature entirely
  3. The Steam Community button is the same as the GFWL one. Pushing once brings up both. Pushing again only removes the Steam overlay. Pushing a third time removes the GFWL overlay but brings up the Steam one again. Pushing a fourth time finally removes all.
  4. Friends list: why u no grid??
  5. Web browser is too sensitive. My 360 controller apparently can slightly veer to the left since the browser moves very slowly toward the left when I'm not doing anything with the joystiq. They really need to up the deadzone on the browser just a little bit
  6. I definitely like the "keyboard", but sometimes I'm down at the bottom right and I want to search for the letter "i" and I have to take a second to see which group "i" belongs to. A thin, light colored circle to differentiate the groups of four letters would be nice so you can tell them apart at a glance instead of having to pause for a sec.
 
Haunted said:
They don't work at all for me.
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Working for me. Persona 4's is here.
Along with all of my other custom Icons

Edit: Screenshot taking feels good. I like the use of the guide button. Now we need a Valve controller.

Also, the keyboard feels good. Could take a little getting used to but I'm already typing faster on it than the Xbox 360 keyboard
 
Very slick. Better then I'd thought it would be. Now off to bed.
 
mrklaw said:
You mean if you're doing something else with steam minimised,you can just pick up your wireless controller, hit the guide button and BPM will launch? That's perfect
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Provided it doesn't do that when you're using it in some other app/game, at least.
 
mrklaw said:
You mean if you're doing something else with steam minimised,you can just pick up your wireless controller, hit the guide button and BPM will launch? That's perfect
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No, Steam has to be in focus for it to work, hopefully that can be changed though.
 
I absolutely love the interface. It's easy, it's logical, I can open it with my 360 controller, and it's all 100% free. I honestly think I prefer this to the regular Steam layout, M&K or not.

Thank you Based Steam.
 
Corran Horn said:
So cool that the xbox middle button opens up Big picture mode when your in regular steam.
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Wow, hadn't noticed that. That is super awesome! I just wish there was also a quick way to get out of BPM, but as far as I can tell the only way to do it is to navigate all the way to the top of the menu system and select the exit option there.
 
The best thing it brings overall is the fast interface to everything internal, like the store, community, ect. Normal Steam is so embarrassingly slow in that regard.
 
A little buggy and I got a few hangups here and there, but it's great. I really like how I'm able to use the Home button on my 360 pad to bring up the overlay.

Not too sure about the screenshots since the R button still ends up doing something, though. Holding the Home button for a second would work for me.
 
Seems that the 360 pad is now the preferred pad for Steam...
 
Anyway to get games like Assassin's Creed 2 to launch straight away instead of having to press play in uPlay? For games that launch easily Big Picture Mode is perfect
 
Fuck, this doesn't even detect which monitor I want to use and defaults to primary. Which I'd imagine is the opposite of what most people a TV as a 2nd monitor would want.

There are some games that can be full screened on either monitor easy just by ALT+Entering while it's window is on the monitor you want it in, other games have an option to choose which monitor to use. Why would Greenlight not have something like this?

Hell I was hoping it would force all the majority of games that go to primary with no way to change it to go to the monitor BPM was on...


Also, most of my custom grid view images don't show up in BPM for whatever reason. They still work in regular Steam.

And no D-pad support... c'mon...
 
Ugh, one gripe. Screenshot manager is the same old m/kb screenshot manager. Not controller compatible. I'm not too surprised though, it's still a beta
 
HadesGigas said:
Fuck, this doesn't even detect which monitor I want to use and defaults to primary. Which I'd imagine is the opposite of what most people a TV as a 2nd monitor would want.

There are some games that can be full screened on either monitor easy just by ALT+Entering while it's window is on the monitor you want it in, other games have an option to choose which monitor to use. Why would Greenlight not have something like this?

Hell I was hoping it would force all the majority of games that go to primary with no way to change it to go to the monitor BPM was on...


Also, most of my custom grid view images don't show up in BPM for whatever reason. They still work in regular Steam.

And no D-pad support... c'mon...
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My custom grids aren't showing up either....
 
They need to let you change the button that brings up the interface while playing GFWL games.

Edit: Yeah, had to disable it already for playing Dark Souls :(
 
Don't forget that they have a community group for Big Picture. Any feedback typed up on here should be copied & pasted on to the suggestion discussion in the group.
 
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