Topic: PC Gaming

There are cheaper controllers, too, especially if you don't mind wired ones.... I got a Prismatic Afterglow wired one, which was on an offer but is usually £23 here
While I use a mouse for some games, that's VNs or tactical ones, etc, I play most with the controller.

@Xyphon22 "Steam actually has native support for the DualShock 3, meaning you can simply plug the controller in and set it up through the Big Picture mode Controller settings menu. However, Steam does not support the DualShock 3's gyro controls or (more importantly!) its analog face buttons, which are what we're really after. Follow this guide to get the PS3 controller working on PC with those buttons working, too."

So if you ignore gyro you're fine

Well I tried and can't get it to work. I plugged it in and both the computer and Steam recognize it and say it's there, but nothing happens when I try to use it. The four red lights on top on just keep flashing the entire time it's plugged in like it is not connected, but the computer and Steam recognize it so I don't know. I'm sure there is something I'm doing wrong or simply not doing. Hopefully I can figure it out.

@Xyphon22 not sure but check on Steam at controllers menu and change to PlayStation if you have not done it yet.

So I just went on a Steam binge and blew nearly $700 on games (I had some extra cash from selling crypto laying around). I got a lot of games, too many to list. But I’ll give my thoughts on a few.

I grabbed Days Gone. I like it. Mouse gyro mapped perfectly. Plays well. Glad it came to Steam.

I also grabbed Mass Effect Legendary Ed. and I’m thrilled to report the mouse gyro maps perfect! Oh I’m so glad. I’m gonna dig into this for sure.

Also grabbed Monster Hunter Stories 2. Runs perfect at 4k 144 FPS. And even then I can barely hear my fans blowing. Started a new save and am now just as far as the Switch version, but I did it in way less time. 16 hrs in Switch version, but was caught up in like 8 hrs on Steam. I don’t have as many mats though cause I haven’t grinded as much.

And I grabbed Ys IX. Looks good, runs great. I’m happy.

Also grabbed Trails of Cold Steel IV. I’m playing III and IV on Switch but wanted to complete the collection on Steam for posterity.

Also grabbed Resident Evil Village. So far so good. I wasn’t able to get mouse gyro working when you’re moving, but I did get it to work when you’re standing still. Good enough given the style of gameplay.

Also grabbed Scarlet Nexus. It’s ok, from the bit I played. Also got Persona 5 Strikers, just for posterity. And Nier Replicant, though tbh I’m not sure I like it so far. Yakuza Like a Dragon, on the other hand, is much better than expected. Forza Horizon 4, since I don’t have an Xbox anymore. There were a few others (like Wasteland 3- not sure why I bought it except it was half off and had good reviews), but those are the main ones.

I’m really happy with Monster Hunter Stories 2, as Steam config was able to remove the dead zone. And Mass Effect, ahhh. Muah! I had all these on my wish list waiting to get them on sale but I manage to use IsThereAnyDeal and got practically everything for 20% off or more, some even 50% off.

Looks as though Valve's Steam Deck will make it to market before Alienware's UFO.

Now I know what I'll be using for games not available on Switch for the next few years.

@Magician I think the UFO was always meant to be a concept device anyway according to them

Scratch that, looks as though the requirements for placing a reservation for a Steam Deck are having an active Steam account for longer than 48 hours before reservations go live tomorrow and that you've made purchases with that account.

Bummer

Impressive to see a handheld running Fallen Order.

But my god, is that an ugly piece of hardware. Switch looks so much nicer.

@Dezzy IKR its look's so bad.

https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-hands-on-impressions-...

Now that's the first piece of hardware since the Switch was unveiled to actually catch my attention.
I'm not gonna jump in with and early adopt to wait for real world reviews/issues, but if it works as well as it looks it does, I'm getting one of those. Honestly, this thing will kill any interest I have in buying third party on Switch unless it's exclusive, since it would run them so much better, being able to just switch to my actual PC whenever for better big screen (and Steam sales, of course )
It looks like it's much more comfortable to hold than a Switch too, with the curved grips on it.

The main issue I have with a Steam handheld is that it would have to sell huge numbers before any developers really starting targeting games for it.

Unlike with Nintendo, where you pretty much know ahead of time there will be about 7 years of first party games being made for this bit of hardware. With something like Steam it's quite different. You don't know ahead of time what you'll be getting in the future. It's more of a "you'll be able to play whatever games happen to vaguely run on these specs", rather than the Nintendo version which is more like "you'll be able to play the games made by this developer, who you already know and love".

It makes it a lot harder to evaluate in terms of its actual value, in my opinion.

Yeah, I reckon that it'll run maybe one in five of the games in my Steam library without some serious modding, hacking or re-mapping of controls, because that's all that'll run on Linux with full controller support.

Hopefully they'll put a little icon in the store next to all the games that are going to work with it, otherwise they're going to be handing out a lot of refunds.

Ya but pretty much any game will run on these specs. At 720p 30fps low settings? This thing will run basically every game that releases for the next 5 years, maybe even 10. And even if a few extremely demanding games release that can’t, the overwhelming majority will. I pan through my Steam library and half of my games can run on my Win 2, even to this day.

PC isn’t as drastic as some believe with games not being able to run. You can almost always run them (unless you have absolutely ancient hardware), it’s just a matter of settings, resolution and framerate. Most games running today push 4k and raytracing- that’s where all the power is being funneled. As long as you’ve got raytracing turned off and resolution set to 720p, this thing is gonna last a very, very long time.

I do wonder though if it has tensor cores to support DLSS? edit: Nevermind, they’re using an AMD chip. AMD has its own version of DLSS coming. But still. That sucks.

@Matt_Barber
All games work!

They modified the Steam OS so that ALL Steam games work natively!

@Magician
They’re only starting reservations tomorrow. Get an account now and you can make a reservation 48 hours after they begin taking them tomorrow.

It’s a queue system so, you’ll still be among the first to reserve within the first couple days. They said there’s no promises but they’re going to try to ensure everyone who reserves will be able to order come December. When they have them in stock they send you an email and you have the right to purchase the one you reserved. $5 down, and it goes toward the purchase.

So ya. Anyone who wants this, get your Steam account set up and you can reserve as of this Sunday. If you already have an account and made a purchase prior to June, you can reserve tomorrow.

No, they're not running natively; that would require SteamOS to incorporate a lot of Windows subsystems. Rather, they're running via Proton, which is a development of the earlier Wine, and works by trapping Windows system calls and translating them into Linux ones.

That's been available for a while and is pretty good in terms of the number of games that will start up, but it certainly won't run everything. You're typically taking a performance hit in the best case and various degrees of broken in the worst. Relatively few games have gone through the professional QA process but there's a community grading system that should give you a rough idea with a lot of others.

It's also had historical issues with anti-cheating mechanisms, but things appear to be improving on that front as their developers have been brought on board with the concept.

It's great for that one game that you really want to run on your Linux PC but only has a Windows version, especially if you're prepared to do a bit of manual troubleshooting. However, I wouldn't relish the idea of using it with a library of thousands.

@Matt_Barber
Ok, terminology technicalities. It’s not being emulated, let’s just say that.

Obviously there are exceptions. Anti-cheat being a good example. I imagine they’re doing everything they can to get as many games running as possible though.

But fair enough. The DRM anti cheat is something to keep in mind. At least Capcom removes it from their games after they’ve got the bulk of sales after launch (MH World, for example).

If Steam Deck does well enough, we could start seeing custom settings profiles specifically for the device. Not that it’s needed- customizing settings isn’t that hard. Choose medium, see how you do, notch it down to Low if necessary. But still, it would be great to see.

@Matt_Barber
Per the FAQ

My game uses anti-cheat, which currently doesn’t work with Proton - how do I get around this for Steam Deck?

We’re working with BattlEye and EAC to get support for Proton ahead of launch.

Sounds promising

@JaxonH Good news!

I just think it's best to go into it with the knowledge that Proton isn't a universal fix. That way you can be pleasantly surprised at how many games work with it rather than be disappointed with the ones that don't.