Parsec Adds Vibration Support for Controllers
Parsec recently updated the core of their Streaming App with new features and fixes. The most notable addition is support for Controller Vibration while streaming. While this may seem like a little thing, try playing without it (you’ll notice). Continue reading to learn about their other fixes and enhancements.
Vibration
It’s easy to overlook the immersion that Controller Vibration brings to your gaming experience. At least until you try to play your games without it. Without Vibration you’ll miss out on the subtle rumble of your engine or the impact of your weapon in shooters.
Although Parsec is one of the more mature Streaming Apps in the industry, they’ve always lacked support for Controller Vibration. And that’s understandable to a degree. Vibration is yet another signal that needs to be passed along perfectly while you’re streaming. And it can’t be out of sync even a little bit.
The Vibration drought is over with Parsec’s latest update. It should kick in automatically when you’re playing a game that supports it.
Custom Hotkeys
Parsec’s next enhancement may not seem like a bit deal until you realize what you can do with it. When you stream through Parsec, several hotkeys are available that trigger actions in Parsec. For example, ALT+F4 ends your streaming session and CTRL+ALT+N allows you to remap your controller buttons. Now these hotkeys can be remapped to whatever you want!
This may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but it does open up some possibilities. Parsec’s original goal was to select default hotkeys that were unlikely to be used in games. Most of the time this is exactly the case, but sometimes the default key combinations can have undesired affects in games. This latest update allows Parsec’s key combos to be remapped when a conflict arises.
Parsec’s default keys can also be problematic in certain situations. If you’re trying to use a game launcher (like BigBox), you’ll need to map a key combination that ends the streaming session. Parsec’s default hotkeys frequently use modifiers like ALT and CRTL. These keys can create conflicts in programs like BigBox. The ability to remap hotkeys in Parsec allows you to work around this particular challenge. This use-case is definitely an unusual situation for Parsec. However if you are using something like a game launcher, it’s a welcome enhancement.
One point that’s worth noting is that Parsec still doesn’t let you map any of their hotkeys to buttons on a game controller. This can make things difficult if you’re trying to play with just a controller through a TV. Parsec is aware of this opportunity and is keeping it in mind for future updates.
Additional Updates
In addition to their prominent new features, Parsec also added a few additional enhancements:
Exclusive input mode added
- Only one connected client or the host can control the mouse/keyboard
- After a short period of inactivity, another client can “grab” control
- The host will always be able to grab control instantly from any connected client
- If connected as a client, the server owner will always be able to grab control from other clients
- This can be disabled in Settings for atypical keyboard setup
Bug Fixes
- Memory leak fixed when host is missing an audio device
- Chat messages once again appear in the host chat window when clients send messages in-stream
- Fixed a bug affecting certain Android phones that would cause an error on connection
- Better error messaging on the Raspberry Pi on authentication / 2FA errors
