Topic: Valve's Steam Deck console Thread

Hi

Loving my Steam Deck both as a means to play some PC games I could never play since I don't own a capable PC and as an emulation machine.Truly, it's wild I can play MGS5, Rising, the entire Yakuza franchise on the go with the performance it offers, as well as basically my entire GC and PS2 collection

So, I tinkered with the Steam Deck and I got 2 microSD cards one I use for my SteamOS games that include Steam and GOG games

On the other card I installed Windows 10 and I use the dual boot feature of the Deck so by just changing the cards I can switch from SteamOS to Windows

It is awesome as I will use the Windows card to play games like StarCaft Offline or use the Map Editor of Heroes of Might and Magic V that is NOT working on SteamOS. I know that is really rare but I love it!

Both cards are 256GB and for now they are sufficient

Also, if anyone want to invest in tinkering with Windows on the Deck please look for the Handheld Companion app. It is the MAIN app for controls remapping Especially for games that are DOES NOT HAVE native controller support!!!

Valve really made a mug out of me. They kept saying a new Deck was years away so I bit the bullet about six months ago. Then out of nowhere this OLED model comes out, which is a clear improvement over the base model and not just a different screen like on the Switch OLED. They had to know this was coming so they just openly lied about this and I ended up making a worse purchase for it. I would have happily waited for the OLED. I mean I mainly use my Deck to play indies in bed, so I guess a lot of the improvements don't matter in the grand scheme of things to me personally. But it just feels bad I could have had an objectively superior version of the device for around the same money if I had waited, but I just had no reason to wait based on their comments.

I just got the Steam Deck OLED for Christmas

I've only just set it up but my gosh I am already obsessed with this. I very rarely played games on steam because I didn't like playing games at the same desk where I do work (idk it just feels weird). Now that I have this I can see myself playing steam games a lot more. I might finally grab the final fantasy VII remake

@Vortexeo lol Me too. This thing is incredible. Already installed a bunch of cool plugins (one integrates protondb support; another allows you to customize the sound effects and menu music; yet another gives you recommended settings for games; etc.). Resident Evil 2 looks AMAZING on this thing when optimized properly. And with proper gyro!

lol Switch is only for exclusives from now on.

And yes, please grab FFVII Remake. It's great.

@Ralizah I can't believe how versatile this system is! Like ofc I had an idea because of the research I did prior but actually experiencing it just excites me all over again 😂

And yup! No more waiting for switch ports!

I got Deck OLED and installed CryoUtilities, set VRAM to 4GB in BIOS, undervolted to -20, installed DeckyLoader with every good plug in, PrimeHack with HD texture mod and HD text and menus with dual analog gyro aiming. Got Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines working with unofficial patch and gyro aiming. 2tb ssd I put in, with a 1.5tb micro SD.

This thing is already my 2nd fave gaming device I've ever owned.

Can't say Switch is only for exclusives, as I do still prefer Switch OLED if the game is ported well (easy docking to tv, tabletop, removable controllers, smaller and lighter, etc). Stuff like Batman Arkham Asylum, Red Dead Redemption, Monster Hunter Rise, Divinity Original Sin 2, Persona 5 Royal, Rise of Rain 2, Octopath Traveler 2, Crisis Core FF7, etc. These types of games I still prefer on Switch OLED. But for games compromised on Switch or not on Switch? Oh heck yes. All that is Deck OLED. Stuff like Hogwarts Legacy, Ni No Kuni 2, Baldur's Gate 3, AEW Fight Forever, Wolfenstein 2, FFVII Remake, Mass Effect Legendary Ed, Rune Factory 5, RE4 Remake + 7 + Village, Ys IX, and so on. That's the stuff that shines on Deck and for the ones with Switch releases, is sooooo much more enjoyable thanks to not being overly compromised.

This system is just incredible. Especially once you Deck it out (pun intended) with Cryotools, undervolting, Decky Loader, Primehack, expand ssd to 2TB, expand micro SD to 1.5 TB, and get a fair number of games installed on it with settings dialed in.

Waited half my life for a PC handheld like this. Takes me back to my GPD Win days. Long have I chased this dream. But the Deck OLED finally fulfills it.

Anyone else explore remote play on Steamdeck?

Using my desktop with the right settings it's lag free. But the game I really wanted to use it for, Trials Rising, doesn't stream sound. Ugh.

Verified games work great and at 720p 60fps I can run in Ultra settings all day. Truth is they don't look much better than native Deck though.

Still nice to know about. Even if Trials Rising didn't pan out there are other games not compatible with Deck that can be played this way.

Anyways, started Dragon Age Origins (natively, not streaming) and made THE best controller config ever. Game is KB/M only but I made a config where left analog moves you around, click L3 to toggle run, and Right Analog moves camera (an ingenious programming to ensure Right Mouse Click activates when you touch the Right analog, thus using the analog results in holding Right Click and moving the mouse which is mapped to the joystick. Plays like a console port would.

Furthermore, Left track pad has 1-9 on virtual menu for convos and combat abilities in hotbar, while holding R5 grip mode shifts basically everything. Hold R5 and Right analog only moves mouse, and virtual menu from Left Pad becomes a new virtual menu with all the shortcuts (quick save, load, inventory, map, journal, etc). Face buttons are to switch characters while Mode Shift makes them tactics commands. L/R is mouse scroll to zoom in and out. Holding L5 highlights objects you can interact with.

It's the best controller config for this game, bar none. Turns out I shared it a long time ago and it's now the 3rd highest up voted config in the community tab. But I tinkered with it some more tonight to get the right analog to move camera among several other tweaks.

You guys really should try it with my config. My RevB is 3rd in list but my new RevC is at the bottom. Use that one. This config makes the game super fun on Deck. Without it, it's too much of a hassle to play, for real.

Bet it's a perfect fit for Dragon Age 2 as well

This ain't bad.

Out of 441 games I own on Steam, 96% of them have a Platinum, Gold or Silver rating from ProtonDB. 85% of them have a Platinum or Gold raging.

Obviously once Deck released I adjusted my purchases to focus on games that are compatible, but still. And there are at least some games labeled Unknown I got working. Just bought Fractured Souls, a DS game I used to play on 3DS where you shift dimensions between the two screens (or split screen on Steam version). Not a single report. It crashed on me so I forced 720p and Windowed Mode, and it worked like a charm. Submitted a ProtonDB report so ppl can follow what I did.

Controller Companion App is one of my borked games. And it's not a game.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare remake, Vanguard and Cold War are borked.

Trials Rising is borked.

Wonderful 101 After School Hero is unrated by ProtonDB but it worked for me. And Steam verified it.

Fractured Soul is unrated by ProtonDB and unrated by Steam. But it worked for me forcing 720p in Windowed Mode.

And... that's it. Darksiders and Sniper Elite v2 are Bronze. Rest are Platinum, Gold and Silver.

That's pretty impressive.

Only 142 of my 441 games are officially "Deck Verified" but as we all know Valve is very conservative and slow to add to the list. ProtonDB reports come from the tens of millions of user reports, so naturally far more games get a ProtonDB ranking. They seem to be in a beta using a new Tier system, ranking from Tier 1 (flawless) to Tier 5 (borked). Essentially same thing as Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, Borked, but using numbers 1-5 instead. Shrugs.

Bought Elden Ring for my Steam Deck. Was a bit skeptical on the game since Souls games never appealed to me. But i’m hooked on this game.

Really hope it ends up on Switch 2 at some point.

@ZeldaFan83 It runs pretty great right?

I had to adjust my settings slightly for Erdtree, which is slightly more demanding technically, but managed to tweak things so I get a pretty steady 30fps (barely any stutters at all) and decent enough visuals.

ER is a real showcase piece for the deck, incredible it runs so well

Seeing SMT V hit 90fps most of the time on Deck at 800p when the same game consistently struggled to hit 540p30 on Switch has been pretty eye-opening.

@CJD87 Yes it does. That and 2077 really show off the Deck’s capabilities. I primarily use it for old games but ER is the only modern game I play.

Before ER, it was New Vegas and Arkham Asylum that i played daily. Now, ER takes all my game time.

@ZeldaFan83 Have you got the Erdtree expansion yet? Really great, albeit pretty difficult!

If you're looking for another modern game after ER, I highly recommend 'Lies of P' - a fantastic Soulslike from a first-time dev.... plays like a love-letter to all of FromSoftware's portfolio. Lies of P can get 60fps pretty well on deck, with amazing graphical fidelity. The game is awesome, and another miracle port for the deck... enjoy

I had one of these at one point in time. Sold it since I didn't really use it often, and the SteamDeck kinda almost burned my hands due to getting extremely hot towards the vent.

I own an OLED model, so I don't know if the cooling system is different, but yeah, mine never really gets all that hot.

I have a steam deck that I use as a desktop computer. It works really well, and only gets hot when running halo: master cheif collection. I actually really like it. Really hope Nintendo has trackpads or something like this for switch 2.

@RygelXVIII Agreed.

Nah, not yet. I only buy games when they are on a sale since digital purchases are just rentals at this point.

ER is a game i have to take breaks from. It does get frustrating. But that sense of accomplishment is awesome.