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[injurai]

Yo, Sega also did this first with Phantasy Star Universe, albeit hilariously awkwardly:

wtf is that shit... I don't even...

 

[Huevos de Oro]

Has anyone else noticed some performance issues when playing games launched through BPM?

I've only really noticed it so far with Saints Row 3, where it will do this fairly frequent "hitch." When launching it from the regular Steam interface, it'll play perfectly.

When I look at my resource monitor, it isn't being particularly taxed in terms of RAM, CPU, etc.

I noticed a significant performance dip in SR3 as well, but I initially chalked it up to my über low-low-end video card. I didn't play anything last night but I'll check it out again tonight for sure, with BPM both active and inactive.

 

[Symphonic]

They're going to add an option to sort by controller enabled/not controller enabled. They're working on tagging every game now with one or the other.

 

[mattp]

so does this only work with 360 pads or something? my usb controllers don't work in bpm

 

[Bulzeeb]

so does this only work with 360 pads or something? my usb controllers don't work in bpm

well I am just starting to read about this big picture mode and this really interest me, I'd also like to know if this mode allows you to play games with no build in gamepad support with any gamepad or if this is just a new interface for the store/community stuff

 

[xJavonta]

I thought RoadHazard already fixed that.

I saw that, but I was talking about a patch that users don't have to implement themselves.

They're adding volume options later, they said

Good to know, thanks!

so does this only work with 360 pads or something? my usb controllers don't work in bpm

Xinput only. So yes, 360 pads and pads with xinput.

 

[Haunted]

well I am just starting to read about this big picture mode and this really interest me, I'd also like to know if this mode allows you to play games with no build in gamepad support with any gamepad or if this is just a new interface for the store/community stuff

Just a new interface for the store, library and community.

You'll still need Joy2Key or Xpadder to play games without controller support with a controller.

 

[Blizzard]

I can actually chat while in-game now. It's great. Now just let me hit the Guide button in the controller and launch it from Small mode.

Do you mean you want to launch big picture mode from normal mode? I thought the Guide button already did that automatically.

Has anyone else noticed some performance issues when playing games launched through BPM?

I've only really noticed it so far with Saints Row 3, where it will do this fairly frequent "hitch." When launching it from the regular Steam interface, it'll play perfectly.

When I look at my resource monitor, it isn't being particularly taxed in terms of RAM, CPU, etc.

Check your GPU% usage and VRAM usage. That's where it probably hits the heaviest, since some people were reporting like 1-2GB of VRAM used by Steam alone.

 

[plc268]

Perhaps this has been mentioned, but there needs to be a way to exit from full screen flash in the browser with the controller.

 

[scitek]

Do you mean you want to launch big picture mode from normal mode? I thought the Guide button already did that automatically.

Go to View>Small mode. You can't launch BPM from it right now, and it's what I use 100% of the time when I'm not in BPM.

 

[jediyoshi]

Do you mean you want to launch big picture mode from normal mode? I thought the Guide button already did that automatically.

Small mode, the alternate view

 

[Blizzard]

Ah okay, I normally use the bigger mode but with small icons.

 

[dock]

So my USB snes controller doesn't work with Steam Big Picture at all.
Does it only support the 360 controller? (I have that too, and it works)

 

[Stallion Free]

Check your GPU% usage and VRAM usage. That's where it probably hits the heaviest, since some people were reporting like 1-2GB of VRAM used by Steam alone.

Steam was using the entirety of people's VRAM available? That sounds like a fucking catastrophe.

 

[Omikaru]

So my USB snes controller doesn't work with Steam Big Picture at all.
Does it only support the 360 controller? (I have that too, and it works)

Any controller that supports xinput, which includes the Xbox 360 controller and a few other modern ones. I'm sure there's a program that pretends non-xinput controllers are in fact xinput controllers, but I only know how to do it with the PS3 controller via MotionInJoy. Maybe someone else knows of a program that can do this for a broader range of pads?

 

[Blizzard]

Steam was using the entirety of people's VRAM available? That sounds like a fucking catastrophe.

All I know is that there were these two posts:

Holy crap, this thing loves VRAM, mine got up to 1600MB at one point.

This is slick, but does VRAM usage scale? I was watching a video from the store and saw I spiked to 1.49GB of VRAM usage. Is this just because I have 2GB? Surely they can't require that for everyone, or there's going to be a lot of people with lousy performance in the client.

For all I know it could have been fixed, or it could only be with certain drivers, or it could go away once you launch a game. But it did sound like it spiked for some users, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if it could cause some performance hit for games.

 

[Basch]

I will consider buying a couple PC games if I can get into the beta (The Witcher, and a couple other RPGs), but I don't see the pic under my account name. I don't think Valve wants me to be a beta tester. I've been holding out on PC Gaming mainly for this reason.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I will consider buying a couple PC games if I can get into the beta (The Witcher, and a couple other RPGs), but I don't see the pic under my account name. I don't think Valve wants me to be a beta tester. I've been holding out on PC Gaming mainly for this reason.

I believe it's an open beta. You just have to opt in under Steam->Settings->Beta Participation

 

[Yeef]

Got a weird, but avant garde amusing bug after exiting big picture mode:

 

[Basch]

I believe it's an open beta. You just have to opt in under Steam->Settings->Beta Participation

oooh, thanks a bunch!

I'm going to finally give The Witcher I try this weekend. Especially since I have the Witcher 2 for the 360 just sitting on my shelf waiting to be played collecting dust.

 

[ThaiGrocer]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

Big Picture Beta Update
SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2012 - JMCCASKEY
It's that time of day again and we have another beta update for everyone today.

Here are the changes in tonight's update:

Added improved dialog telling Vista SP1 users they need to install SP2 and the Vista Platform Update to get DirectWrite in order to run Big Picture
Added a dialog telling Windows 8 AMD GPU users who are running a broken driver version that Big Picture won’t work for them
Improved the display settings dialog to communicate what really happens with resolution settings in Big Picture
Fixed the library all games view filter dropdown to layout/scroll correctly for users with many categories created
Fixed common crash on exit closing the Big Picture window
Fixed multiplayer game auth for some older Source mods
Added button to close new for you section with mouse
Added additional error messages to checkout process
In new releases section in the store, moved DLC to a new DLC tab (DLC no longer included in View All tab).
Added initial localization for Big Picture
Games managed by the new content system can select alternate installation locations other than the Steam folder (Windows)


Now that many of the most common crashes and compatibility issues are getting fixed you should expect to see us tackle more of the feature requests and experience bugs.

Please keep the feedback coming!

 

[EternalGamer]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

Added initial localization for Big Picture
Games managed by the new content system can select alternate installation locations other than the Steam folder (Windows)

This is really awesome. They are on the ball in addressing issues. I've gotten like 3 updates already.

It took MS and Sony fucking months to implement any improvements in their OS.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

I just checked and its there

 

[ShaneB]

Got a weird, but avant garde amusing bug after exiting big picture mode:

Same thing happened to me earlier. Very strange.

 

[Jzero]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

Finafuckenlly.

 

[HadesGigas]

Now whenever I try to choose "activate a product on Steam", Steam instantly closes.

 

[Brad Grenz]

I still don't know how to load into BPM upon startup...

You can launch big picture mode at any time from the desktop by pressing the guide button on your 360 controller as long as Steam is running in your system tray.

 

[Exuro]

You can launch big picture mode at any time from the desktop by pressing the guide button on your 360 controller as long as Steam is running in your system tray.

Haven't got this to work. Only opens BPM if I have the steam window selected.

 

[Cannon Goose]

Now whenever I try to choose "activate a product on Steam", Steam instantly closes.

Oh wow, it does for me too. That's pretty shitty!

 

[dock]

Xinput controllers only? That's shitty

 

[Durante]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

Oh wow, it took less than a decade!

 

[SOLDIER]

Is there no way to keep Steam from constantly deleting the d-pad fix and custom non-Steam shortcuts/icons every time it updates?

 

[Enco]

Oh wow, it took less than a decade!

Valve time baby.

Maybe we will get uncompressed screenshots before 2020.

 

[lexi]

Is there no way to keep Steam from constantly deleting the d-pad fix and custom non-Steam shortcuts/icons every time it updates?

If you find out, let me know. I'm tired of updating config files every update.

 

[Sarcasm]

This has messed up my xbox controller. Now instead of it connecting at one slot it connects at 2. Any game that uses gfwl means i cannot navigate it with controller. I tried opting out but it is stuck like this.

But i still love bpm even the typing method is ingenius.

 

[Orgun]

Good bye SteamTool, you served me well.

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

New update! They exposed the custom install location feature.

Awesome! just what the doctor ordered before the holiday season !

 

[jediyoshi]

edit: snip, wrong thread

 

[Xanathus]

If I already have games that I've symlinked to another location, how do I move them to a new custom library folder that I've created? I've tried placing them in the newly created SteamApps folder, and also I've tried creating a Common folder inside that folder and placing them there but they're still not being recognized as installed.

 

[mrklaw]

they need an official 'move existing games' option too.

 

[JustinBB7]

Audiosurf Update Released
Product Update - Valve
Audiosurf big picture update:
- Adds full gamepad support
- When using a gamepad, automatically launches to a fullscreen window
- The gamepad's right stick can be used to scroll menus
- Use either stick to control your ship. Use both sticks to get off the highway to an edge
- Use triggers or shoulder buttons for character abilities

First game to do this right? I don't use a controller but I think this is great for BPM/Steam.

 

[HadesGigas]

Had to opt out of the beta to be able to have steam not crash when i try to "activate product on steam." Hopefully that is fixed soon.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

...I'm still on Win XP....

 

[Glass Rebel]

Good bye SteamTool, you served me well.

I'd keep it until they update every game to the new content system. About a third of my installed games still use the old one.

 

[ThaiGrocer]

First game to do this right? I don't use a controller but I think this is great for BPM/Steam.

I think something amazing just happened there, but it's too early to be sure and to celebrate.

Had to opt out of the beta to be able to have steam not crash when i try to "activate product on steam." Hopefully that is fixed soon.

There's a good chance that you had to wait for a while for the prompt to show up proper. I had it hang for a long time before I was able to activate Quantum Conundrum.

edit: nevermind, it was hanging for a long time in the Sept. 11 update. The Sept. 12 update crashes the client outright.

edit2: will be fixed in next update. http://steamcommunity.com/groups/bigpicture/discussions/0/882960163773227008/

 

[Betta Lines]

Is there a way to have a PC startup Windows and go straight into BPM?

 

[D4Danger]

Is there a way to have a PC startup Windows and go straight into BPM?

go to -> %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

right-click, create a new shortcut, locate the Steam.exe and add the -bigpicture flag to the end

example -> C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe -bigpicture

it should now run steam in big picture mode when you login

 

[Betta Lines]

go to -> %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

right-click, create a new shortcut, locate the Steam.exe and add the -bigpicture flag to the end

example -> C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe -bigpicture

it should now run steam in big picture mode when you login

Aha! Thanks. One problem though... I'm testing it out on a Windows 8 preview build. I can hear BPM start up, but the Start screen seems to take priority and sits front of BPM, and will only show it if I click 'Desktop'. Is there a way around this? (making Windows 8 start in Desktop mode basically).

[edit] okay Google was my friend. Scheduled Tasks ftw!

 

[ThaiGrocer]

Another round of updates! Fixes here and there. Also, no more crash when activating a product.

Big Picture Beta Update
SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2012 - JMCCASKEY
Once again it's time for a new beta update!

Tonight's changes:

Fixed Big Picture in-game overlay flickering in some games (Audiosurf, Bejewed 3, many more)
Fixed the Big Picture in-game overlay clock to reliably update the time value
Decreased GPU memory and computation usage by Big Picture in the background when a game is running
Decreased general GPU memory usage by 15-20% when Big Picture is in the foreground
Decreased size on disk for ambient music in Big Picture (speeds up Steam update download/apply)
Fix ambient background music not reliably playing on initial startup
Added support for d-pad navigation in all places it is not otherwise overridden (text entry, browser)
Added additional error handling & reporting to Big Picture checkout
Added search in progress indicator & error messaging to Big Picture store search dialog
Fixed Big Picture search dialog being displayed while screensaver mode is active
Fixed issue causing Big Picture checkout to rarely display a failure when the checkout actually succeeded
Added support for using the X button on the gamepad to exit fullscreen mode when using Flash in the Browser
Fixed not being able to delete the top level web favorite with the mouse
Fixed mouse scroll wheel not working if the cursor goes invisible and you don't then move the mouse
Changed mouse panning mode in the Browser to dismiss if you click and hold to pan, as well as the existing behavior
Fixed trying to activate a product in the desktop client crashing
Fixed display of chat status elements in Big Picture


Thanks again to everyone who is helping test. We still have lots of bug fixes and improvements in the pipeline.

 

[morningbus]

Another round of updates! Fixes here and there. Also, no more crash when activating a product.

Awesome. I love how quick they've been with these updates.

I ran some tests earlier to see how Saints Row 3 and Big Picture Mode played together (short version: Saints Row 3 is a VRAM hog, eating up almost all available memory, and big picture mode takes up roughly 200mb by itself).

I can't wait to give the latest update a shot a little later tonight.