Playing ED via Steam in-home streaming....

[FoxTwo]

Hi all...

I don't know where to put this, so I guess this is as good a place as any.

Has anyone ever tried playing ED via Steam's In-Home streaming? Supposedly it's supposed to be the gaming PC that's "playing" it, but you're on a tablet/laptop/some-other-low-end-stuff but you are actually playing it, just not sitting in front of the gaming PC.

Why would people do this? Well... maybe the gaming PC is located in the bedroom, and I have a tiny shoebox PC at the living room connected to the TV... so maybe I just wanted to play ED at the living room using the 50 inch TV instead?

Anyway, has anyone ever tried it? Does it feel "laggy" to input responses? Will your HOTAS bindings get lost cuz you're actually playing from a couch in the livingroom with nothing much more than a gamepad?

 

[Deleted member 110222]

It does sound like you should make backup files of various controls.

 

[Obsidian Ant]

I have done this.

You will need to make a backup of your bindings, or you will lose them. I have a different bindings file for HOTAS and Controller, and just rename the one I am not using.

The in-home streaming works really well, and you don't really notice any latency.

 

[FoxTwo]

I have done this.

You will need to make a backup of your bindings, or you will lose them. I have a different bindings file for HOTAS and Controller, and just rename the one I am not using.

The in-home streaming works really well, and you don't really notice any latency.

Wow cool! Thanks for the answer!

I'm gonna really try to do this asap And yes I'll remember to backup my bindings to several different places too...

 

[Lordxenu]

Yup I use Steam link and steam controller to play a bit more chilled than VR. Great way to do exploration, engineers or anything that can feel a bit Grindy. Then when I find something interesting I switch to VR to investigate I find it a great way to help on the less intensive play styles.

 

[cptwhite]

You need an extremely stable wireless signal from Main PC > Router > Living room PC. A stable 50Mb/s, which is a big ask. Even then you will get occasional degradation in image quality as the speed will occasionally dip. The best solution is to use homeplug / wired connections instead of wireless, which should give you a more stable and reliable video feed.

It's essentially steaming a compressed video feed from your Main PC, and sending control information back to the main PC. The game is run from your main PC, so I expect controls should be as they are on the main PC. The main reason I think this is the Steam Link would be doing a similar thing, and you can't bring any config files over using that. Steam Link is a dedicated device for doing exactly what you're saying, but can only stream at FullHD 1080p @ 60fps for reference.

There is a little lag even with an ideal set-up, but it's acceptable. I cannot stress enough how much you need good quality wireless receivers and router for wireless though. AC rated with beam forming MiMo or wired solutions need only apply.

 

[ITZC0ATL]

I tried on a SteamLink once, quality was great but I couldn't get my HOTAS to work so I just gave up and went back upstairs to my PC

 

[FoxTwo]

It's essentially steaming a compressed video feed from your Main PC, and sending control information back to the main PC. The game is run from your main PC, so I expect controls should be as they are on the main PC. The main reason I think this is the Steam Link would be doing a similar thing, and you can't bring any config files over using that. Steam Link is a dedicated device for doing exactly what you're saying, but can only stream at FullHD 1080p @ 60fps for reference.

Oh yes I understand how it is SUPPOSED to work. I haven't actually done it yet, and I dare not try ED without knowing if it will screw up my bindings file.

There is a little lag even with an ideal set-up, but it's acceptable. I cannot stress enough how much you need good quality wireless receivers and router for wireless though. AC rated with beam forming MiMo or wired solutions need only apply.

Yup as a gamer, nothing in the house that needs quick responses are wireless. Everything's cabled except my phone and my Internet Radio (no ethernet port).

I tried on a SteamLink once, quality was great but I couldn't get my HOTAS to work so I just gave up and went back upstairs to my PC

LOL... that was the next thing I was thinking... should I lug my HOTAS to the living room, install the software there etc to play ED... but then I thought... since if I'm going to the bedroom to grab the HOTAS I may as well play ED there. My other thought was that I could relegate "driving games" to the old gaming PC (which still has enough horsepower to play them - i5-4690 GTX 770), and set up the driving wheel + pedals there... so I was trying to decide if I should stream from current PC, or to install the driving games there.

 

[masCh]

Oh yes I understand how it is SUPPOSED to work. I haven't actually done it yet, and I dare not try ED without knowing if it will screw up my bindings file.



Yup as a gamer, nothing in the house that needs quick responses are wireless. Everything's cabled except my phone and my Internet Radio (no ethernet port).



LOL... that was the next thing I was thinking... should I lug my HOTAS to the living room, install the software there etc to play ED... but then I thought... since if I'm going to the bedroom to grab the HOTAS I may as well play ED there. My other thought was that I could relegate "driving games" to the old gaming PC (which still has enough horsepower to play them - i5-4690 GTX 770), and set up the driving wheel + pedals there... so I was trying to decide if I should stream from current PC, or to install the driving games there.

Interesting how your setup us. I would leave the driving wheel & pedals in the living room.

Fly your ship in the bedroom, then when you switch to SRV.. physically "walk over" to the SRV in your living room.

 

[Sickb0y77]

I tried on a SteamLink once, quality was great but I couldn't get my HOTAS to work so I just gave up and went back upstairs to my PC

I've done it over powerline network and it was flawless. I used Virtual Here (its a small program on Steam, it does cost a bit of money.) to emulate my PC's USB port and plugged the HOTAS in. It was surprisingly painless and easy!

 

[ITZC0ATL]

I've done it over powerline network and it was flawless. I used Virtual Here (its a small program on Steam, it does cost a bit of money.) to emulate my PC's USB port and plugged the HOTAS in. It was surprisingly painless and easy!

Well now that sounds great, +1 for suggestion!

 

[Jack Dalton]

So for the people who have tried, do you plug your HOTAS to the SteamLink thingamajig? I have an Nvidia Shield and have streamed various games to my TV, and it works pretty great, but never tried games such as Elite as I figured there was no way to make the HOTAS work.

As for the quality and reasoning for trying this, I can say that sometimes for some games, I feel more like chilling out on my sofa and not sitting in front of a computer, also, usually our TVs are much bigger than our monitors, which provides some interesting perspectives. In terms of quality, I must say that latency does exist, albeit not really noticeable for the most part, it is a thing to consider on other games that require precise, time-sensitive inputs. As an example, I found it a tad more challenging playing Steep through my Nvidia Shield than I did directly on my PC.

 

[drenfree]

Does Virtual Here mind you moving your joystick from one PC to the other?

 

[RexKraemer]

I have done this.

You will need to make a backup of your bindings, or you will lose them. I have a different bindings file for HOTAS and Controller, and just rename the one I am not using.

The in-home streaming works really well, and you don't really notice any latency.

I have used SteamLink with Steam Controller for this, worked well and I never lost my bindings. Actually I have never lost my bindings in any case like others reported so maybe I just have immortal bindings.

I have tried this because my gaming PC is in my cellar room which I use for Home Office, but I wanted to show my kids the game and the galaxy especially the Sol system. It was fully successful.

 

[LordFerret]

I fail to see the desire to add one more hop in the comms... just so you can sit on the couch? Move the game pc.

 

[jnTracks]

I've not done this with elite but I have tried it with other games. Years ago I did some light Fallout 4 on my mac laptop via streaming from my gaming computer. As I recall it's not that bad at all. Computer was wired laptop was wireless. I could see some video compression artifacts, and obviously there is some slight lag so it would have a disadvantage in fast paced game. Controls might be a slight mess so you'd probably want to store a second binding for a gamepad or something. I suppose I might be able to connect my HOTAS and maybe get it to publish all the same buttons to the software? Not sure. Gamepad is likely the safe bet.

I think it's kind of for when you want to be in a different room or something. Probably not for real ED playing, but if you needed to log into to do something simple without needing to go to the gaming computer.