The way Valve’s Steam controller will work has been thoroughly explained in a new video out of PAX Prime.

YouTuber OMGchad interviewed Valve programmer and designer Robin Walker about the controller, who explained how Valve tackled the problem of making a controller for games that would otherwise require a mouse.

According to Walker, the Steam Controller’s trackpads can be virtualised into a joystick, mouse, trackball, or “any number of things”. He also said that the controller’s button assignments were all completely flexible for assignment both in-game and for applications like TeamSpeak, and that profiles for specific games or setups could be saved and shared with other Steam users.

Valve will also create its own templates for some games to sit alongside those recommended by the community, and other game developers can do the same.

Haptic feedback can be modified so the trackpads feel like joysticks, or so it feels like a trackpad ball is rolling under your fingers, for example.

The video shows settings for things like haptics intensity, edge spin speed, trackball friction, sensitivity, and more.

The controller also sports grips on the back that can be assigned to any in-game action. The example given is in first-person shooters you can assign reload to one of the grips, so you don’t have to take you finger off the right stick to reload.

Another addition: dual stage triggers, which allow one action to be performed for the first part of the trigger squeeze, and another to be performed for the latter. This allows players to map iron sights aim to the first stage and fire to the second, for example.

“It feels really natural to squeeze the trigger and then rapidly click fire to pull off a few shots,” said Walker.