this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2024
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So I switch between playing games from my desk and my couch. I have a long HDMI cable that runs from my desktop to my tv. before I would use a bluetooth keyboard and a bluetooth mouse when playing from the couch with a little table or with a xbox 360 controller.

recently we had a baby and she sleeps a bit less now but still for a few hours at a time during the day. now I feed her and she will fall asleep on me so sometimes I dont really want to move much after she falls asleep but I got pretty into farthest frontier which needs a keyboard and mouse to play. but with baby on my chest I cant really use the desk and a keyboard and mouse is kind of tough to use, the mouse likes to slide around which scrolls the view

I started looking up solutions and ended up finding the elecom relacon trackball mouse
Elecom Relacon

I just got it today and was playing a bit of elder scrolls oblivion with it and it works pretty well

on my left hand I am using my quefrency split keyboard half
keebio quefrency

which isnt bad but then I found the Azeron cyborg after going down a rabbit hole on gaming keypads like the razer tartarus and logitech g13. I watched a few youtube videos and the idea of the thumb stick sounded very good for movement so I was sold on the azeron. Im excited to try it and believe that is the best to use for my left hand.
azeron cyborg compact

I found a promising looking gyro mouse from some guys but there hasnt been any updates on the project
Imgur

I would like somthing like a joycon mixed with a steam touch controller but i cant find anything. is anyone using any strange gaming methods like this? that has found something that works well

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[–] TexMexBazooka@lemm.ee 20 points 7 months ago

Yo I don’t have much to add yet but this post is fucking interesting so I will be checking back

[–] ma11en@lemmy.world 11 points 7 months ago

To address this differently, you're making a rod for your own back by not putting the baby down once she's asleep.

When my son was a baby I used to get home from work feed him and do the same as you but then it was a nightmare when I wanted to put him to bed, starfish arms and legs and hours of crying!

We did things differently with my daughter and never had this problem.

Good luck!

[–] all-knight-party@kbin.run 9 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Difficult for me to recommend since they're discontinued and likely pricey, but I still use a Steam Controller daily and find that with thorough bindings it can handle a surprising amount of PC only games, so I'd personally recommend that if it can be had at a fair price.

[–] Zerthax@reddthat.com 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Steam controller is fantastic, and unfortunately there's really nothing else like it. I normally use a Logitech trackball, so the ability to use a touchpad like a trackball works well for me. I can't think of any other controllers that use this instead of analog sticks.

I've actually stockpiled a few spares because I'm not sure what I would use as a replacement.

[–] all-knight-party@kbin.run 2 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Same, I used one forever, wore the joystick down to the hard plastic underneath and it eventually ceased to turn on, I ended up incredibly lucky, some random redditor said he bought one that he never used and actually sent it to me free of charge and I still randomly go on steam and just thank the guy for letting me continue to use this controller.

I really hope they eventually release another or something

[–] variants@possumpat.io 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Do they make like TouchPad protectors that you can swap out?

[–] all-knight-party@kbin.run 2 points 7 months ago

I do believe there are touch pad covers you can get, for me though the joystick is what wore down, so I have an extra rubber cap over the top now

[–] brian@programming.dev 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Mine has just started to have problems with the steam button and the right stick not registering presses. There really aren't alternatives and I'm devastated. Probably going to have to buy used ones off ebay if I can't fix it.

[–] all-knight-party@kbin.run 1 points 7 months ago

I'm hoping it's something like opening it up and cleaning it out, I'm wishing you luck on that one, if mine died it'd be like an end of an era

[–] luciole@beehaw.org 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Non traditional input devices are fascinating, so thanks for posting your research. In your precise situation though, my advice would be to put down the baby.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 3 points 7 months ago

haha yeah that probably is the best advice but shes so comfy just sleeping there

[–] mySFWaccount@lemmy.ca 7 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I use this Corsair lapboard on the couch. Much less exotic 😂 Unfortunately, it still requires two hands.

[–] steal_your_face@lemmy.ml 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I need something like this. How do you like it?

[–] mySFWaccount@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I like it a lot. It's a nice sized keyboard, and the mouse surface is also more than big enough. I actually don't even take the keyboard out, and just use the entire thing everyday.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Where do you store it when it's not in use?

[–] mySFWaccount@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago

I just keep the entire thing on my desk, like I wouldn't normal keyboard.

[–] solarvector@lemmy.zip 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

For a long time I've thought we just need a left hand joystick to pair with mouse. Could still have a thumb hat too. It would probably break my brain trying to mix all the different muscle memory maps though.

[–] variants@possumpat.io 2 points 7 months ago

Yeah the thumb stick is what sold me on that azeron but now I'm wondering what my fingers are going to do if they aren't on w a s d at least for fsrthest frontier it's mostly wasd and mouse clicking so I guess I'll just now use all the shortcut keys instead of moving the mouse to the build buttons and all that all the time

[–] xia@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

What's this? The datahand has been reborn?!?

[–] variants@possumpat.io 1 points 7 months ago

Oh wow looks like it!

[–] toxicbubble@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

ive had success playing RTS games using an xbox controller mapped with joy2key (or steam input). you can also use a ps5 controller as a touchpad (ds4windows for mapping)