Steam Link and Steam Controller now available to Pre Order

omnomnom · 12 Nov 2015 at 21:57

100 mb connection, connected wired and fallout 4 looks and runs horribly across the link. Went to try resident evil revelations 2 for the first time to be told I need to install something... I can't click ok from the link.

Completely underwhelmed with this, I get that it's cheap but it just isn't doing what it should be.

kinger8938 · 12 Nov 2015 at 22:22

omnomnom said:
100 mb connection, connected wired and fallout 4 looks and runs horribly across the link. Went to try resident evil revelations 2 for the first time to be told I need to install something... I can't click ok from the link.

Completely underwhelmed with this, I get that it's cheap but it just isn't doing what it should be.

Thats a shame about fallout, was reading reports earlier of people having a bad experiance with that one on the link and its the main one i want to play when i get mine

pumaz · 12 Nov 2015 at 23:02

Jae-So said:
I still wonder whether 20m hdmi & USB cables are a better way to go. Anyone have experience with both?

I tried this a couple of years ago, bought a good quality 20m HDMI cable and it worked like a dream. Upgraded video card and had awful colour bleed, got another video card and even worse. I found it very hit and miss, I've since built myself a HTPC (i7, 280x) for the lounge, can't beat the real thing

omnomnom · 13 Nov 2015 at 06:17

kinger8938 said:
Thats a shame about fallout, was reading reports earlier of people having a bad experiance with that one on the link and its the main one i want to play when i get mine

It's one of the main reasons for getting mine. That and similar games to this. It just isn't suitable in my opinion for them.

Controls etc are absolutely fine with it, no issues there at all. It's just the laggy video that just makes playing it a chore.

kinger8938 · 13 Nov 2015 at 07:03

omnomnom said:
It's one of the main reasons for getting mine. That and similar games to this. It just isn't suitable in my opinion for them.

Controls etc are absolutely fine with it, no issues there at all. It's just the laggy video that just makes playing it a chore.

im not one for playing a game in that way, if its as bad as you say i would prefer to just sit at the pc fir that one. Wonder why though, do you think its game related or is it just too much for the link to stream?

omnomnom · 13 Nov 2015 at 07:08

It could be something at my end but like I say I have a 100mb connection and it's wired... There's not a lot else I can think of doing and to be honest... I shouldn't have to.

It's annoying having to go upstairs to click "play" everyone you launch the game aswell.

james.miller · 13 Nov 2015 at 07:20

does the link give you any indication as to why it's running poorly? I take it youve tried enabling the info display on the link? sorry i forget what it's called right now, but it's normally pretty good at telling you if its a slow network (shouldnt happen on wired but...) or slow encoding (lack of resources on the pc) etc.

CHokKA · 13 Nov 2015 at 08:15

omnomnom said:
100 mb connection, connected wired and fallout 4 looks and runs horribly across the link. Went to try resident evil revelations 2 for the first time to be told I need to install something... I can't click ok from the link.

Completely underwhelmed with this, I get that it's cheap but it just isn't doing what it should be.

Have you enabled host hardware encoding on the Link? It's under Advanced Host Options. Also, 100Mbit isn't great. Can you not put a gigabit switch in? They're about £15 max nowadays for a half-decent one.

james.miller · 13 Nov 2015 at 08:31

no point, doesnt have a gigabit port.

Must say mines fantastic when it works properly, but i have found support for games is sketchy. older games seem to use a less efficient encoding method and run poorer as a result. And i have some really odd sound issues which tbh make no sense at all. Also find it odd that it's bound to your default audio device, which means you get audio from your pc speakers unless you turn them off. I expected valve to come up with something better than that, like some sort of dummy steam-only sound driver. perhaps they still will. Its not a game breaker by any means but just annoying that i have to turn my amp under my desk off to play games on the link. Oh that's another thing. Start game on link = sound gets muted. so i have go back in to the dining room to turn the pc volume up to play a game. Again, just...annoying.

But at least it's not crashing my sound card drivers after every game now, lol.

uncle_rufus · 13 Nov 2015 at 09:00

Seanspeed said:
- Cant run GTA V because a pop up from Windows asks me if I will allow it to change crap. I *really* hate this pop-up and wish there was a way I could turn it off for certain applications. I could run upstairs and hit Yes and then continue, but that's too annoying to deal with on a regular basis.

Is this the "Your computer appears to be running slowly" (but it isn't)... "switch color-scheme to windows basic?" "and/or don't ask me again" (but it will ask you again every goddamn time)...

I thought the solution to this was to find the game executable, open its properties then find + disable a few things (desktop composition is one) and possibly there's an aero related one. The effect of this is that the PC automatically switches to the basic color-theme whenever that executable is running, and so Windows doesn't need to popup that annoying message!

omnomnom · 13 Nov 2015 at 09:33

CHokKA said:
Have you enabled host hardware encoding on the Link? It's under Advanced Host Options. Also, 100Mbit isn't great. Can you not put a gigabit switch in? They're about £15 max nowadays for a half-decent one.

I haven't, I'll take a look later. 100mb should be more then enough really.

Rezident · 13 Nov 2015 at 09:55

How is the Steam Link working with Homeplugs?

Steam Link sounds absolutely amazing if it works ok.

Seanspeed · 13 Nov 2015 at 10:04

uncle_rufus said:
Is this the "Your computer appears to be running slowly" (but it isn't)... "switch color-scheme to windows basic?" "and/or don't ask me again" (but it will ask you again every goddamn time)...

No, it's the 'Will you allow <app name> to make changes to your computer?' pop-up. It's a security notification that seems to think every god damn piece of software on my PC is questionable.

Rezident said:
How is the Steam Link working with Homeplugs?

Steam Link sounds absolutely amazing if it works ok.

Works fine with them.

Just realize it's never a 100% guarantee sort of thing.

kinger8938 · 13 Nov 2015 at 10:21

omnomnom said:
I haven't, I'll take a look later. 100mb should be more then enough really.

This fills me with hope as i think enabling that makes a big difference!

Went to collect mine from the post office collection at 7.30 on way to work to then be told it has to be picked up at the actual main post office for some reason lol

Hopefully get there on way home!

Firejack · 13 Nov 2015 at 10:49

omnomnom said:
It's one of the main reasons for getting mine. That and similar games to this. It just isn't suitable in my opinion for them.

Controls etc are absolutely fine with it, no issues there at all. It's just the laggy video that just makes playing it a chore.

Unfortunately just before launch, the November 5th Steam Client update broke Streaming for a lot of people. Including screen flickering using the AMD Hardware Encoder, bandwidth capped to 30Mbps when using any (NVIDIA, Intel, AMD) Hardware encoding on the host and frame loss for some Intel/AMD setups.

If you have a powerful CPU it might be worth turning off Hardware encoding on the host until a fix is patched in.

"henryg" from Valve is aware of the issue. Worth keeping an eye on his post history for any progress: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198043057916/posthistory/?p=1

Rezident · 13 Nov 2015 at 10:53

Seanspeed said:
Works fine with them.

Just realize it's never a 100% guarantee sort of thing.

Yeah no I know it won't be 100% but as long as it's 'good enough' I'll give it a go. Cheers.

MaDMaX** · 13 Nov 2015 at 11:33

Worthy said:
So go into the menu, hit controls (it's the huge picture of a keyboard!), and go to the "Gamepad" tab:

Under "Split screen" there'll be an entry in there for the xinput (control pad) for player two. Disable it and you'll be good.

You sir are an absolute gent thank you

EddScott · 13 Nov 2015 at 12:35

So the Steam link arrived today. But I have no controller.

If I go buy a 360 controller, how do I get it working with the link? Do I get it working on my PC first? I've never used a controller before on PC so no idea how to do it.

Vonhelmet · 13 Nov 2015 at 13:08

EddScott said:
So the Steam link arrived today. But I have no controller.

If I go buy a 360 controller, how do I get it working with the link? Do I get it working on my PC first? I've never used a controller before on PC so no idea how to do it.

If you buy a wired 360 controller you can just plug it in to the Link. If you buy a wireless one you'll need a play and charge kit to turn it into a wired one or you'll need a wireless receiver. You can buy an official one for £15 or a Chinese rip off for a fiver on ebay.

coutinho · 13 Nov 2015 at 14:28

I got one of those cheap Chinese ones and its a piece of junk, never again.