Steam Deck First-Person Shooter Controls IN-DEPTH Guide: Make It Feel Like Mouse & Keyboard!

Summary

This video script offers detailed tips on optimizing control settings for first and third-person shooters on the Steam Deck. It covers system-wide adjustments, trackpad and joystick customization, gyro settings, and button bindings, aiming to enhance gaming experience with ergonomic and intuitive controls.

Takeaways

• 🎮 The default control settings on the Steam Deck may not be optimal for first-person and third-person shooters.
• 🕹️ Adjusting the joystick dead zones in the Steam systemwide settings can help with gameplay, especially if experiencing drift.
• 🔧 Customizing dead zones and recalibrating gyro drift per game can improve control precision.
• 🖱️ In controller settings, the left trackpad acts as a circular scroll wheel by default, which can be customized for desktop mode.
• 🏹 For games like Proteus, setting the trackpad as a mouse and adjusting sensitivity can allow for fast and accurate turns.
• 🎢 Lowering the vertical scale to 40% can provide a balance between horizontal and vertical movement control.
• 🔄 Finding personal rotation values and smoothing settings can enhance the gameplay experience, with a recommendation to start from a 360° per swipe sensitivity.
• 🌐 Gyro to mouse option provides better precision than the old as mouse mode, and dots per 360 value can be approximated by multiplying trackpad sensitivity by six.
• 🔄 For joysticks, using joystick and mouse mode instead of regular joystick mode can send mouse movement to the game, allowing for finer control.
• 🔧 Customizing the triggers and buttons, such as swapping left and right trigger functions, can reduce thumb strain and improve control.
• 🎉 The process of setting up custom controls might be time-consuming initially, but once done, it can greatly enhance the gaming experience on the Steam Deck.

Q & A

What is the default joystick dead zone setting on the Steam Deck and why is it problematic for playing first-person shooters?

The default joystick dead zone setting on the Steam Deck is set very high at 8,000. This can be problematic for playing first-person shooters because it may result in less precise control, making it harder to aim accurately.

How can you adjust the joystick dead zones in the Steam Deck's system-wide settings?

You can adjust the joystick dead zones by going to the controller settings in Steam, then selecting calibration, and finally advanced settings. From there, you can lower the default joystick dead zones.

What is the purpose of recalibrating the gyro drift for the Steam Deck or a connected controller?

Recalibrating the gyro drift ensures that the motion controls are accurate and responsive. This is important for maintaining precise control in games, especially when using gyroscopic controls for aiming.

What is the recommended trackpad sensitivity setting for a shooter game like Proteus on the Steam Deck?

The recommended trackpad sensitivity setting for a shooter game like Proteus is to adjust it so that a full swipe results in a 360° turn in-game, with the vertical scale lowered to 40%. This allows for fast yet accurate horizontal turns while maintaining control for vertical movements.

How can you customize the trackpad settings per game on the Steam Deck?

You can customize the trackpad settings per game by accessing the controller settings for that specific game. This allows you to adjust the sensitivity, rotation, and other parameters tailored to the gameplay mechanics of each individual game.

What is the recommended rotation value for all shooters in the video?

The ideal rotation value for all shooters, as mentioned in the video, is around 20. This value can be adjusted based on personal preference to ensure smooth and accurate aiming.

How can you find your personal rotation value for the trackpad in shooter games?

To find your personal rotation value, you can open Chrome and go to cy.com. Adjust the sensitivity so a full swipe stays within the screen, then swipe back and forth with your eyes closed in a relaxed fashion. Focus on the ends of the swipe and adjust the rotation value to ensure the cursor ends up at the same height on average.

What is the recommended method for using the trackpad in shooter games on the Steam Deck?

The recommended method is to set the trackpad as a mouse and adjust the sensitivity and rotation values as described. Additionally, increasing or maxing out the smoothing effect can help reduce choppiness without adding noticeable latency.

Why is it suggested to turn off trackball mode completely for shooter games on the Steam Deck?

Turning off trackball mode completely for shooter games is suggested because it can interfere with the precision required for aiming. It's better to use the trackpad for smooth turning and looking, and the joystick for precise aiming.

How can you configure the trackpad press to fire a different action depending on which side of the trackpad you press?

To configure the trackpad press to fire a different action, you can select 'Create a mode shift' in the trackpad settings, choose 'Directional pad bind' for the mod shift behavior, and assign your desired actions to the directions. This allows for fast weapon selection without a menu.

What is the recommended setting for the joysticks in shooter games on the Steam Deck?

For the right joystick, it's recommended to use 'joystick and mouse' mode with a sensitivity of 200 and a vertical scale of 40%. For the left joystick, changing it to a d-pad with analog emulation or 8-way radio with overlap can be effective, depending on the game.

How can you swap the conventional bindings of the triggers on the Steam Deck?

You can swap the conventional bindings of the triggers by making the left trigger act as left click and the right trigger act as right click. This can help reduce thumb jitter and strain while firing.

What is the purpose of binding the back buttons to actions like jump and crouch in shooter games?

Binding the back buttons to actions like jump and crouch allows for more ergonomic and intuitive control. It enables players to keep their thumb on the trackpad for aiming while using other fingers to perform other actions.

Outlines

00:00

🎮 Optimizing Controls for FPS on Steam Deck

This paragraph discusses the challenges of playing first-person shooters (FPS) on the Steam Deck and offers solutions to improve the default control settings. The speaker suggests adjusting the joystick dead zones, recalibrating for gyro drift, and customizing the desktop mode layout. They also provide a detailed walkthrough for setting up the control layout for the game 'Proteus,' including trackpad sensitivity, vertical scale, and rotation adjustments. The goal is to achieve fast and accurate horizontal turns while maintaining control for vertical movements.

05:02

🛠️ Customizing Controls for Enhanced Gameplay

The speaker continues with a deeper dive into customizing controls for FPS games, focusing on the trackpad and gyro settings. They recommend using the new gyro to mouse option for better precision and suggest a method to approximate the dots per 360 value based on trackpad sensitivity. The paragraph also covers the configuration of the joysticks, emphasizing the use of joystick and mouse mode for a more precise control. Additionally, the speaker touches on the importance of managing mixed input in games and shares their personal preferences for button bindings, such as swapping trigger functions and using back buttons for weapon selection.

10:04

🔧 Fine-Tuning Controls for Maximum Comfort

In this paragraph, the speaker shares their personal control setup for playing FPS games on the Steam Deck, highlighting the benefits of using trackpad and gyro controls. They explain their preference for using the trackpad for turning and selecting weapons, and the right joystick for a D-pad with analog emulation. The speaker also discusses the configuration of triggers, D-pad, and buttons, emphasizing the ergonomic and intuitive nature of their setup. They conclude by encouraging viewers to experiment with their control settings, as these can significantly impact gameplay experience and muscle effort.

15:28

🎶 Music and Gameplay Demonstration

This paragraph is a placeholder for a music segment and a brief gameplay demonstration. The speaker likely uses this part of the video to showcase the effectiveness of the control settings discussed earlier, allowing viewers to see the setup in action.

20:57

🎉 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

The speaker wraps up the video with a summary of their key points and a final demonstration of the gameplay with the optimized control settings. They reiterate the importance of customizing controls for a more enjoyable and ergonomic gaming experience and encourage viewers to try out the suggested settings. The speaker also expresses their satisfaction with the Steam Deck as a gaming platform, highlighting its potential for FPS games when configured correctly.

Keywords

💡Steam Deck

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming console developed by Valve Corporation. It is the main device discussed in the video, where the user is providing tips on optimizing control settings for playing first-person and third-person shooters. The video emphasizes the need to adjust default settings to enhance gaming experience on this device.

💡Controller Settings

Controller settings refer to the configuration of input devices used for gaming, such as joysticks, trackpads, and buttons. In the video, the user discusses how to adjust these settings on the Steam Deck to improve gameplay, particularly for shooter games, by customizing dead zones, sensitivity, and other parameters.

💡Dead Zones

Dead zones are areas on a controller's input axis where movement does not register with the game. The video script mentions lowering the default joystick dead zones to improve control precision in games, and also adjusting them per game to counteract drift issues.

💡Gyro Drift

Gyro drift refers to the unintentional movement detected by a device's gyroscope, which can affect gameplay. The video suggests recalibrating the gyroscope for the Steam Deck or connected controllers to address this issue, ensuring more accurate control inputs.

💡Trackpad as Mouse

In the context of the video, 'trackpad as mouse' refers to using the Steam Deck's trackpad to emulate a mouse for in-game camera control. The user explains how to adjust the sensitivity and scale to achieve a balance between fast and precise movements.

💡Rotation Sensitivity

Rotation sensitivity is the rate at which the in-game camera rotates in response to controller input. The video provides a method to find a personal rotation value for a more comfortable gaming experience, highlighting the importance of this setting in shooter games.

💡Smoothing

Smoothing in the video refers to a feature that reduces the abruptness of camera movements in games. The user prefers to increase or max out smoothing to help with fluidity in gameplay, although it might slightly reduce fine control precision.

💡Trackball Emulation

Trackball emulation is a feature that allows the trackpad to function like a trackball for desktop navigation. The video mentions turning off this mode for shooter games to avoid unintended control issues, emphasizing the need for precision in these types of games.

💡Joystick

Joysticks are control sticks used in gaming controllers to navigate or aim in games. The video discusses configuring the right joystick for weapon selection and the left joystick for movement, highlighting the importance of customizing these settings for different game types.

💡Gyro to Mouse

Gyro to Mouse is a feature that uses the device's gyroscope to control the in-game camera. The video suggests using this feature for better precision and provides a method to calculate the 'dots per 360' value for optimal sensitivity.

💡Trigger Threshold

Trigger threshold is the amount of pressure needed on a controller's trigger to register an input. The video explains how to adjust this setting to prevent accidental firing while still allowing for precise control, which is crucial in shooter games.

Highlights

Adjusting default joystick dead zones in Steam systemwide settings can improve control for first and third person shooters.

Customizing dead zones per game and recalibrating gyro drift for better control.

Changing the default trackpad behavior in controller settings for desktop mode.

Setting trackpad as mouse and adjusting sensitivity for fast yet accurate in-game turns in shooter games.

Finding personal rotation value for smooth in-game cursor movement.

Increasing or maxing out smoothing for a subtle reduction in choppiness during gameplay.

Using gyro to mouse option for better precision in shooter games.

Configuring the trackpad press to fire different actions based on the side pressed.

Creating a mode shift at the trackpad for fast weapon selection without a menu.

Adjusting vertical friction scale and turning off trackball mode for better control in shooters.

Using the new gyro to mouse option for better precision than the old as mouse mode.

Configuring joysticks for mixed input in games that don't handle simultaneous gamepad and mouse commands well.

Setting the right joystick to joystick and mouse mode for sending mouse movement to the game.

Using custom dead zones and outer ring command radius for sprinting and other actions.

Swapping conventional bindings to move primary fire off of the same hand as the aiming thumb.

Adding satisfying haptics on the trigger by using a dummy command cleared from parent.

Binding back buttons for weapon or item selection and using turbo for special abilities.

Customizing the d-pad for menu navigation and other actions in shooter games.

Finding that trackpad and gyro requires less overall muscle effort than keyboard and mouse or stick based gamepad schemes.

Transcripts

are you struggling with playing

firstperson Shooters on the steam deck

it's not your fault the default control

settings are not optimal here's how I

Chang them for first person and third

person shooters first in the steam

systemwide settings go to controller

then calibration and advanced settings

lower the default joystick dead zones

from the very high default of

8,000 If You observe drift in a game

raise it back up bit by bit until it

goes away you can also customize dead

zones per game as I'll show later also

if you experience gyro drift whether

with the deck or with a connected

controller recalibrate it for that

device here quick aside in the

controller settings you can also

customize the desktop mode layout note

that by default the left trackpad acts

as a circular score wheel so you swipe

clockwise and counterclockwise not up

and down now I'll walk through my layout

for the shooter

Proteus first I set trackpad as Mouse

and adjust the sensitivity so that a

full swipe starting before the left edge

of the trackpad and ending after the

right Edge does a 360° turn ingame I

also lower the vertical scale to

40% this combination makes it easy to do

fast yet accurate horizontal turns while

still keeping ample range to look up and

down vertically now most people will

probably want a lower sensitivity than

what I use and a common recommendation

is to set it so a full swipe does a 180

instead if you want something in between

you can first find the 360 per swipe

sensitivity but multiply it by your

desired Factor such as 7 or8 to get your

ideal

sensitivity in fact after setting my

desired rotation and smoothing which

I'll talk about next I find I have to

slightly cut my sensitivity to about 0.9

of the default 360 per swipe value

that's a 10% reduction I still like to

find the default 360 per swipe

sensitivity because I use this value as

the basis for my joystick flick stick

and Gyro sensitivities you'll see how in

a bit my ideal rotation for all Shooters

is around 20 here's one way to find your

personal rotation value open Chrome and

go to cy.com adjust the sensitivity so a

full swipe stays within the screen then

swipe back and forth with your eyes

closed in a relaxed fashion focus on the

ends if the cursor tends to be higher at

the Right End than the left increase

rotation to compensate if it ends up

lower decrease it once it teams level on

average try it in a game with your

desired sensitivity and vertical scale

settings and refine the rotation value

as necessary next smoothing personally I

like to increase or even max out

smoothing the effect is subtle but it

does seem to help reduce choppiness

without adding noticeable latiny to my

eyes higher smoothing does also slightly

reduce finer control but I use gyro to

aim which more than compensates for that

in fact I quite like the complimentary

combination of trackpad for smooth

turning and looking and driver for

precise aim next while I like track ball

emulation for desktop mode for Shooters

I turn off track ball mode completely if

you like track ball flicking but have

trouble controlling it you can keep it

on but try using High friction you can

also adjust the vertical friction scale

specifically warning though I've heard

there is a bug where this scale value

works the opposite of what the

description says so increasing the value

may actually reduce vertical friction

which you probably don't want for

Shooters now for an optional but very

useful technique making the trackpad

press fire a different action depending

on which side of the trackpad you press

to achieve this first in the trackpad

dropdown select create a mode shift at

the bottom this will add a second set of

trackpad options for the mod shift

Behavior choose directional pad bind

your desired actions to the directions I

like to use it for fast weapon selection

without a menu next go to the d-pad

settings for the mod shift button choose

right pad click for the layout choose

four-way no overlap uncheck requires

click because we already had to click to

get into this mode as we just configured

above now I like to raise the dead zone

to 29,000 so I have practically had to

press the edges of the trackpad and this

gives me more room for a sensor press

action to add this I first set the outer

ring command radius to match the dud

Zone then most importantly I invert the

outer ring command

this effectively turns it into an inner

circle command instead for Proteus I

made this reload for some other games I

bind it to melee now in this case there

is no actual command on trackpad click

and without a command the UI doesn't let

you adjust settings like press threshold

or haptic intensity to get around that I

bind click to cleared from parent which

basically means do nothing I use it as a

dummy command to enable The Click

options allowing me to change the affir

mention values now if you want to create

an even more customized menu on trap pad

click you can use an action layer and a

custom touch menu Gan JJ games and

nerdness already have great guides on

these Concepts so I'll just link those

in the description below for me a

modeshift d-pad based menu is usually

good enough now for the left pad I

honestly don't use it much but it can be

really handy for games that have a lot

of bindable actions like strategy games

or MMOs here I just changed it to a

swipe based d-pad with the a button on

click for menu navigation but it's yet

another way you can add many actions

onto a single pad so you could for

example have one action for each of the

four swipe directions then add a mode

shift or action layer as mentioned

earlier to activate a different action

depending where on the trackpad you

press if you do this though you may want

to decrease the swipe sensitivity so a

press isn't interpreted as a swipe you

can also adjust settings like rotation

and momentum similar to the trackpad as

Mouse mode let's move on to gyro I

suggest using the new gyro to Mouse

option near the bottom of the drop down

which allows better Precision than the

old as Mouse mode for the dots per 360

value if you don't care to use flick

stick a quick and dirty way to

approximate it is to take the trackpad

360 per swipe Sensitivity I mentioned

earlier and multiply it by six the magic

number is six so for Proteus the 360 per

swipe sensor ity is about

400% and 400 * 6 is

2400 this actually happens to be about

the exact dots for 360 value for this

game if you want to learn how I get the

exact value for flick stick subscribe to

my channel because that requires a whole

new video on on its own for the purpose

of configuring gyro here this should be

good enough then you can set your

desired multiplier but for me I usually

like the default

2.5x the only other setting I changed

for gyro to Mouse is to reduce the speed

Dead Zone and just rely on the precision

speed sighting alone but that's just

personal preference now for the

joysticks because I prefer to use the

trackpad to turn and select weapons I

actually don't need the right joystick

at all but I still configure it because

sometimes I just like to mix things up

and go back to SS for fun so here's

where I have to talk about mixed input

many games don't handle simultaneous

Gamepad and mouse commands gracefully

and in the case of Proteus it seems to

cause some random sudden changes in

sensitivity in cases like this you

should either use a layout with only

Gamepad commands or a layout with only

keyboard mouse commands and I always go

the keyboard mouse route so for the

right joystick I use joystick and mouse

instead of regular joystick mode this

mode controls like a normal joystick but

sends Mouse movement to the game to

configure Sensitivity I again take that

360 per swipe trackpad sensitivity value

I found earlier and divide it by two two

I can easily do that in my head and that

value usually feels good to me so 400 ID

2 is 200 and just like the trackpad I

cut the vertical scale to 40% I like an

extra wide response curve which makes it

easier to make fine adjustments with

slight nudges of the stick while still

allowing fast turns by fully deflecting

the stick finally I use a custom dead

zone of about 1,000 or lower for the

inner and set the outer to the end at

32,000 maximizing the analog range of

the joystick for the left joystick I

change it to a d-pad with the directions

bound to WD keys and the order in the UI

here is

wsad in the d-pad settings I always try

analog emulation first for most games it

doesn't work well but for some Shooters

like Proteus here it actually works

great but to get it to feel smoother I

had to decrease the analog emulation

active percent to one and increase the

analog analog emul tion pulse time to

100 for games where I can't get analog

emulation to work smoothly i instead use

8-way radio with overlap and set the

overlap region size to a symmetrical

8,000 it's not fully analog but most

Shooters are designed to be playable

with the keyboard where you don't have

analog movement anyway and you can turn

360° with your aim to compensate for

that finally I increased the outer ring

command radius to 29,000 and bind it to

shift so I automatically Sprint when I

full deflect the left joystick if the

game has a start stop sprinting system

like Borderlands I set this to Turbo if

the game has an auto run option turned

on I either turn it off or I invert the

outering command because usually with

auto run it turns shift into walk

instead of run let's talk about the

triggers now so I actually like to swap

the conventional bindings and make left

trigger left click and right trigger

right click and it's not for the reason

you might be thinking I do this to move

primary fire off of the same hand as my

aiming thumb which eliminates thumb

Jitter and strain while firing and I

actually make this change everywhere not

just for Shooters so in desktop mode

with this scheme it feels so much more

controllable and satisfying to click

drag and throw icons and windows with my

thumb using track ball mode something to

remember though is that if you buying

anything directly to soft pull or full

pull on the triggers remember to go into

the settings and turn analog output on

off otherwise that action will still

fire as well which you probably don't

want also I like to zero out the trigger

threshold Point completely because the

Dex triggers already seem to have a

large built-in mechanical dead zone now

here's a cool trick to add satisfying

haptics on the trigger I add an extra

dummy command cleared from parent on L2

soft pool in the settings I set it to

Turbo use a faster repeat rate and set

haptics to high this not only feels good

but is actually useful if if you have

different commands on soft pool and full

pool that you need to distinguish for

example if you're new to gyro instead of

activating it on sticker pad touch you

might want to only activate it on

trigger soft pole instead then bind fire

to full pull this way you don't need a

dedicated button just for gyro

activation both the lower trigger

threshold point and added haptics make

it easier to feel and know when you've

activated Gyro in the soft pole range

while reducing the risk that you press

too far and Fire at full pole

unintentionally for the d-pad I just

left at default for menu navigation last

but not least the buttons so I love

being able to keep my thumb on the

trackpad and use my other fingers to

press the back buttons instead of using

the face buttons so now I only use abxy

for weapon or item

selection I'll usually bind the bumpers

to grenade throwing or other special AB

abilities that the game has but for

protus it's just bound to selecting Fist

and a redundant reload binding for when

I play with stick instead of pad now for

my favorite buttons the back buttons

first off if you think they're too hard

to press make sure you're pressing the

inner edges of them into the back of the

screen it should be much easier to do it

that way compared to pressing it at the

center into the grips if you still have

trouble you might want to look into

adhesive rubber grip pads you can buy

online now I usually buy L4 to jump and

L5 to crouch I don't think Proteus has

crouching though so I bounce L5 to use

instead but notice the extra long press

use it's a turbo use which is Nifty for

games where you're trying to find random

secret doors along walls like in Doom or

opening many loot boxes like in

Borderlands but for the regular press

use I go into the settings and uncheck

interruptable this makes it so I can

still press use normally because often I

don't want turbo so I can do a normal

short press to fire a single use action

or a long press and hold to fire turbo

use if the game has Dash I'll also

usually bind that to a back button in

Borderlands I'd actually bind ads to R4

which feels more comfortable than

holding the right trigger all the time

uh for protus here though I just bound

the extra buttons to even more weapon

selection so it really just depends on

the game and that's it so with all these

changes I not only find playing Shooters

on the deck tolerable it's actually my

favorite way to play them now believe it

or not no I know I won't be going pro in

Apex with this layout but you know for

fast-paced Boomer Shooters and PVE games

it feels very ergonomic and intuitive

going back and forth I found that

trackpad and Gyro actually requires less

overall muscle effort than keyboard and

mouse or any stick based Gamepad scheme

I love being able to quickly look all

around me with swift flicks of the thumb

then effortlessly reenter I also love

being able to make full use of both my

left and right fingers thumbs and arms

in Perfect Harmony now while this might

sound like a lot to set up the first

time is the most painful then you can

save and modify your own personalized

template across games but I actually

like to do it from scratch for each game

and it's almost second nature now now I

know a lot of you are already willing to

spend hours tweaking graphical settings

and FSR and TDP and all that jazz so if

you're willing to do that this really

doesn't take much time in comparison and

actually compared to graphical settings

I actually think your control settings

are far more reused ible across games so

try it out you have nothing to lose with

that I'll end this video on some more

trackpad and Gyro gameplay so you can

judge for yourself how well it works

thanks for watching and happy

gaming

me

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