Hi Chris, .. after seeing your Video, .. I purchased a Steam Deck, .. only to find that it IS NOT compatible with Windows 7. I bought it from a local (South Africa) online retailer, and their marketing blurb is taken directly from Elgato, and nowhere, .. does it state that it is Windows 10 ONLY!! .. Ugh!! All I wanted was it's versatility as a Button Box. Alas, it's not to be. It might be worth mentioning somewhere .. that the Elgato is NOT compatible with Windows 7. Cheers .. Tom.
Hey Tom - that's really lame, sorry to hear that - pretty surprising too if I'm honest. I presume you've tried all of the compatibility mode stuff? Whatever the case, I'll pin your comment to warn other people. Thanks for letting the community know dude.
I heard at work that Windows 7 will be no longer updated end of 2019 ... I asked, cause we switched company wide to win 10 pro from 7 enterprise and also on my rig I upgraded last year from 8.1 to 10pro ... 12US$ or a multi language license key
Windows 7 is at the end of it's lifetime and is not even supported by Microsoft (2015 in general, 2016 for preinstalled laptops, 2020 for bought extended support). Why should third party companies support legacy software and hold all the rest of us back?
Three and half years later this video is still relevant and useful - I just got a stream deck XL for button box use and this has helped me a lot. Thanks.
The fact you’re so open with all your advice and tools you’re learning is fantastic! Probably not in the market for a Stream Deck right now but this video gets me thinking!
I just bought one and its a pretty awesome tool. One of my favorite and unexpected perks is the buttons can be turned into live gauges and displays. And outside of sim games I have a profile with just daily use stuff like apps, websites, etc. Makes access so much easier and faster. About the only negative is the price. I think if they were sub 100 bucks they would be a must buy for anyone who uses a PC.
I really like the Stream Deck, but if you are creative it is actually more affordable to build a button box. I have a 10 button box with a back light ignition button. It cost me about $35usd to make, and 2 hours of my time. It is less buttons, and it is not as easy to change stickers out, as it is to just build a new profile with the Stream Deck. Even with those downsides, it can be worth looking in to if you enjoy making things. My next box i have planned will cost me about $200, but it will be about 20 buttons with a keyed ignition, and feature half of a dash from an old BMW that was scrapped.
Chris MY GUY! you saved me so much time with these pre-made icons! not to mention looks better then i could have done. Thanks for the solid work you do for the community
Was looking at button boxes and then spotted this video, after watching it I immediately ordered one. Happy to see that it works on both Mac and Windows and as a bonus it can even control my Hue lights. Happy Days. Looking forward to not mashing buttons on my keyboard looking for the right hotkey anymore.
I personally think the different folders and icons that you can make really sell it, both in form and function. My buddy has been trying to get me to pick one of these up for streaming, but now I'm interested. Great video as always, Chris!
Was just about to pull the trigger one one anyway, but your button box use case pushed me over the edge! It arrives today and I can't wait to use if for all of our races and videos!! Thanks!
Thank you Chris!!!!!!!!! Dude I know that was quite a bit of work putting together all the icons, really appreciate the work and your willingness to share them with the community!
It's probably one of the most useful pieces of tech that I've used over the last couple of years. If you use the same PC for sim racing and other tasks it becomes even more powerful.
Hell yeah. I was looking into getting one for streaming art videos and having general productivity short cuts and this gives me even more of a reason! Been looking at typical sim racing boxes for a while and never really wanted to get one because overall I don't sim that often. Definitely gonna use my Stream Deck for AC when I get it.
I ended up getting a cheapo USB numpad like you suggested with backlit keys. After you scratch off the numbers and pop your own stickers on them it actually looks half decent.
Thanks so much for the video and the icon files! I'm picking up my XL sized box later today and really excited to start playing with it. That's a lot of AI time you just saved me!
Good video Dude! Looks like the ideal option to be combined as part of a larger set of racing controls. Whereas 10 years ago, you'd pay $200-$300 for a panel of 15 buttons with a USB compatible connection to a PC, now it's $200 for those same buttons but with LCD screens behind each. It's amazing where innovation is taking us. I imagine that some clever company can take old leftover LCD screens from phones and tablets and turn them into dedicated speedo/taco displays. Or maybe as rear vision mirrors? Who knows, right?
Your icons got me over the line! Just picked one up today in store. Thanks so much mate, you're a gem in the sim racing community, your icons look fantastic. The versatility and compact size of this device makes it worth the money. This will also be useful on my music and video computer as well, going to use a smart phone magnetic back-plate to hang it off the cockpit.
This is a great idea! I do not do a lot of sim racing, but I do play a lot of other simulators (DCS, P3D, XP11, ETS2, ATS, etc) and this are perfect for them. I think that with some adhesive tape these streamdecks can replace my ThrustMaster MFD consoles with are attachted to MonsterTech tablestands..
Sweet! Since I made the video this applet came out - www.racedepartment.com/downloads/simdeck.23296/ Adds a bit more functionality for the stream deck in sim racing. Definitely worth a look.
Thanks for this, was looking at one of these and wondering how it would play out for different cars and such. I like this idea Chris and I think you may have hit on something here. Thanks for the info.
Hey Jason, thanks. There's a lot you can do with these, particularly if you start using scripts to combine key presses - something I do a lot with my professional work. If you're considering it, AutoHotKey is worth a look.
Great video! Just got into sim racing and I just got a Stream Deck for another purpose, but I can use it for my sim rig! I know this is pretty old, but are the icons still available? Can't seem to find the link to download them. Dig your content, man!
Chris... i gotta disagree with you for the first time That thing as a button box looks so much better than the old school ones. Not gonna lie, they play their roll if people are all about that immersion, but the points about inutiveness and felxability shown in your video, makes me wanna get one now xD
Thanks Chris. I use VR and I'm not sure how well a button box will work for me. I'm going to purchase a cheap num pad and try it out and see if I can do thing by just feel for something other than the wheel since I would have to take my hands off. Then I might consider this since, as you said, the customization looks really good. BTW, I noticed that in many of your videos you have just one dislike. Did you make an enemy along the way that comes around and just gives you a dislike? ;)
Hey Truth Racer - yeah, honestly VR is a pain with most button boxes, but the Stream Deck isn't well suited to it. I bought an enclosure and some Arcade buttons to make a more VR friendly button box a little while ago, but haven't got around to making it yet. Not sure about the dislike thing - I try not to read too much into the numbers, lest I start getting cocky!
Hi Chris...I have been wanting to get a button box for my Sim Rig and after watching this video, I decided to wait till BF and picked p the ESD instead. I think this is more versatile than a button box and is much easier to configure. Thank you again for suggesting this to the Sim Community. Also do know of any video's/website that will help me in creating the background so I can add my own text into the background
Gday Chris. Thanks for the vid. I watched this video on release and had always been on my mind. I asked the Missus to gift me the XL version for a XMAS/50th (today) present from family. Got to admit @ $305AUD I felt a little guilty and wondering how this device could ever justify the cost on usage alone. But it is just so good for so many applications, not just car sim. I haven't got around to doing an AC profile for it, but have decked it out for Windows, Photoshop and web pages. Also a complete deck profile for the Mil Sim game SQUAD. Fantastic thoroughly recommend. Super useful and fun if you like using Photoshop to create custom icons.
I was disappointed hotkeys didn’t work with several flight sim apps and even if you run stream deck app as admin to work around keys not working then win 10 drag and drop functionality stops and the software will not load at startup as admin either. I contacted Elgato 10 days ago and no reply yet. Great bit of hardware and slick app, but doesn’t work on all apps and had no support since getting it out of the box :-(
Grate video, short and everything you need to know in a few minutes, thanks for it. Unfortunately i can't find the download link, isn't that available anymore?
Hi Chris, great video and convinced me to get a Stream Deck. Thanks so much for the button image files...it may be cheeky, but could you share the profiles file too? You have yours set up pretty much exactly as I need.
Hi Chris, thanks again for this video and the icons. Elgato really should give you some commission for this video as it's the only reason I bought one! I do have a simple question though, what font did you use for the icons?
Thank you for a great video, and for supplying the icon files Chris - May I ask what font you used for the icons? Just in case I decide to make some more to match?
subscribed!!!! great video. I've downloaded your icons (thank you) but, was wondering if you could share you elgato profile for sim racing. cant seem able to program chats and or joystick buttons. again thank you.
So you can't *launch* programs using this? That would be ideal surely! Then the button opens into the submenu of controls for that game. I've had to get very technical with batch files in Windows 10 to switch monitors, sound outputs etc... to launch a game with a single click. More of a complaint about Win10 tbh :) Thanks for the video Chris.
Hey aeiouxs - yeah, you can launch programs. Something I use regularly for my real work! If you're the sort of person that likes automating things, may I suggest you take a look at Auto Hot Key - I use it to automate almost everything I can!
I'm convinced after watching your video, so plan on grabbing a Stream Deck for my rig. I don't see a link for the images you created any longer and checked your website as well. Do you still have them available?
the streamdeck is configured with ACC instead of a ButtonBox? If yes, how do you do it? from the simracing settings ACC the streamdeck does not recognize it to me 😥
Curious if you could program with a PC/Mac and then use on an Xbox/PS5 - You can use keyboard shortcuts on ACC Xbox if you plug a keyboard in. Wondering if I bound controls to an Elgato and then took it to my Xbox if it would work like a standard keyboard does.
Certainly not a buttonbox for VR, which is the reason why i never bought one still. Being actually blind means, every button must feel unique and driving with gloves doesn't make thinks more easy. I rather can feel some buttons on my mechanical keyboard and hit them instead. I had the idea to attach one of my rather obsolete XBox-controllers to the rig and use it as a buttonbox instead. Certainly easy to feel it blindly and hit the right button. The reason why i still just think about it is my Ascher Racing plate with 24 buttons plus shifters plus "clutch" paddles. There is not much left to map anyway. The button-box-makers maybe should think a bit outside the box to design a VR-button-device.
Use mine as a button box in VR for both streaming and game controls, although very few game controls as most I need are on the wheel, it's definitely possible to use it the more muscle memory kicks in and you just know where the buttons are.
@@gvnthomas I know that this is possible, but i don't spent money for this. Just fixed my XBox-controller with some velcro tape to the rig and good button-box... www.dropbox.com/s/qmrpz3e59yxf5xh/Xbox-buttonbox.jpg?dl=0
@@Leynad778 Oh yeah I wouldn't recommend people buy one if they race in VR as there are better options but if you already got one there's no harm in getting more use out of it like this. I love that Xbox controller idea, if I ever need more buttons I'll be stealing that idea from you.
Also, is it possible for the Stream Deck to send button input signals (as a game device?)....as I cannot get AC or ACC to accept keyboard inputs for functions.
Hey Benjamin, if you're stuggling with getting key commands to work, you should try out SimDeck - It converts the button presses to joystick button commands. Super helpful! www.racedepartment.com/downloads/simdeck.23296/
sort comments by date and you'll see several GGL drive links else there's always my more expansive set available on RaceDepartment, inspired by Chris' set
How to configure it to turn the light on / off and adjust turbo pressure etc in the assetto corsa? Or is it only possible to use the features that have a windows hotkey?
Hey chris. So I got me a Stream Deck, works like a charm in ACC, but in AC I can not use the stream deck for ABS, TRC etc.. because the wheel is selected as my main controller... any clues?
Or any phone or tablet that is Android and pay $13 for sim dashboard which is a button box app or can make dashboards. Pre made ones and customize how you want to
I debating on whether I should bite the bullet and get this. I use the Sim Dashboard app for your phone or tablet but I dont like the fact that I cant tell which button Im pressing and the app keeps disconnecting. I dont race as much as I play games like Euro Truck Simulator Or American Truck but I see this being a lot better than using my phone and I cant see any other conventional button boxes that are decent and have support. Im just not too happy about the pricing and If it works with any game and how long the length of the wire is?
Hello, your video is very good & useful~but i have a problem, When i finish my Elgato Stream Deck setting, I cannot use for the ACC, I cannot find the problem on it, but this setting can work for the iracing & raceroom , just ACC cannot.
Hey curious if you have made any improvements for using this with iRacing? Can I switch scenes on the fly?...for example..have a scene for Tires ect...and then a scene for volumes, and i could use a button with arrow and switch back and forth? I wanted to order one today but thought i would ask first - Thanks for the help
