Steam Deck and Linux Gaming

Give us real SteamOS builds already, Valve!

I would give that HOLOISO a try, but it requires an AMD GPU, so no go on any of my desktops.

*Legion* wrote:

Give us real SteamOS builds already, Valve!

I would give that HOLOISO a try, but it requires an AMD GPU, so no go on any of my desktops. :(

Yeah I have the same problem

The new Deck update adds per-game performance profiles. Which seemed inevitable, but is a fantastic addition. Now in the Performance area, you get a little toggle to enable a Per-Game profile for the current running game.

Especially with the additions made to the Performance area recently with fine-grained framerate and display refresh rate control, this was definitely necessary. As usual, the impressive part is how quickly things went from "oh, we really need this now" to "oh, it's here".

They've also added some UI scaling in docked mode, though they say this is just a first pass at it and that more development to this is coming.

So in addition to Boxtron, I've now gotten Roberta, the tool for using the Linux native build of ScummVM on supported point-and-click adventure games, working on the Deck, using basically the same steps as my Boxtron instructions, but replace DOSBox with the ScummVM flatpak, and edit "roberta.conf" to add:

cmd = /usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=scummvm_wrapper org.scummvm.ScummVM

Oddly, it didn't work the first time I tried it, and then I came back to try it today and all my previous setup started working, so maybe there's a device restart in there that needs to happen. Going to try it from a fresh build on my new Deck and record the steps, and maybe then make that video I was threatening to do.

*Legion* wrote:

The new Deck update adds per-game performance profiles. Which seemed inevitable, but is a fantastic addition. Now in the Performance area, you get a little toggle to enable a Per-Game profile for the current running game.

Especially with the additions made to the Performance area recently with fine-grained framerate and display refresh rate control, this was definitely necessary. As usual, the impressive part is how quickly things went from "oh, we really need this now" to "oh, it's here".

They've also added some UI scaling in docked mode, though they say this is just a first pass at it and that more development to this is coming.

I think the next logical step is to have a pool of user-created community Per-Game profiles, in much the same way as they handle Control/Steam Input configurations. One huge benefit of the device being 'console like' known, identical hardware (storage aside) is that a 'great battery life' Per-game profile will likely perform the same across all users.

This gem is going to be polished as a mofo by the time I get to buy one.
Thanks for all the updates!

*Legion* wrote:

Going to try it from a fresh build on my new Deck...

IMAGE(https://i.imgflip.com/6fvfzk.jpg)

omni wrote:

I think the next logical step is to have a pool of user-created community Per-Game profiles, in much the same way as they handle Control/Steam Input configurations. One huge benefit of the device being 'console like' known, identical hardware (storage aside) is that a 'great battery life' Per-game profile will likely perform the same across all users.

That would be interesting, although whether any given profile is the "right" one to use is going to depend on what your in-game settings are, ie. if you've turned settings down to maintain a higher framerate vs. kept quality settings up and accepted a lower one.

Granted, just like how using off-the-shelf input configs depend on you not having changed all the in-game keybindings, shared profiles that are catered towards the default out-of-the-box quality settings would make sense.

I'm still waiting for games to start including "Steam Deck" quality presets. Maybe with a Steam API hook that detects the game is running on Deck and automatically switches the game to that preset.

I just went on a short trip and took both my Switch and my Steam Deck. The Deck definitely a bit less portable than the Switch but it's still fine to carry in a medium size or large backpack. I found it a big puzzling that the case has this hollow chunk in the back and no room for the charger... it feels like that's where it should go. I definitely struggled a bit with battery life, especially compared to my Switch, but I can live with it.

The performance, screen and sound are fantastic. The menus and UI are super intuitive. The buttons and inputs are great for the most part, except for two things: I struggle to press the R1/L1 without feeling like I'm going to drop the device or having to change my grip, and the R4/R5/L4/L5 back paddles are way to stiff to be used comfortably. I do see why people complain about fan noise but as someone who plays almost all the time with headphones, I don't care too much about it. And the device feels super sturdy and high quality.

A very silly issue I had was that a game I played for a couple of hours said I had played it for 9.9 hours. I figured maybe it counted time I let the Deck on sleep. By the next day, my time recorded was down to 2.7 hours, which sounds accurate to me.

Another strange issue is that when I got back home and opened Steam on my PC, the desktop client said two games I had played on the Deck were out of sync. I had to manually click the sync button on the desktop client for each game to fix it.

Overall, very happy with the device so far.

Pink Stripes wrote:

Another strange issue is that when I got back home and opened Steam on my PC, the desktop client said two games I had played on the Deck were out of sync. I had to manually click the sync button on the desktop client for each game to fix it.

I don’t have a Deck yet (sad me) but I see this error far more frequently now between PCs than I used to. I’m guessing they changed something in the actual sync service on the server side that is struggling more than it used to.

Also, thanks for sharing your experience. I will have to keep living vicariously for another month or so.

Yeah, apparently people have been having trouble with sync issues on Steam today so it could have been that instead of a Deck-specific issue.

I've definitely encountered it in Steam when moving between my main gaming and my living room PCs.

I think the Deck has just put Steam's multi-PC behavior under more of a spotlight.

Fortunately, a quick click to force sync typically resolves the issue. On occasion, I've had to restart the Steam client on the affected machine before it would sync.

Pink Stripes wrote:

Yeah, apparently people have been having trouble with sync issues on Steam today so it could have been that instead of a Deck-specific issue.

I ran into that issue today on my PC. Clicking on the game to retry sync didn't work - then I discovered that my Steam client was showing as "Disconnected", and I couldn't get it to reconnect without relaunching the Steam app. And I haven't used Steam on another PC (or a Deck, sadly) any time in recent history, so the local copy of saves would all have been equal-or-greater than whatever was in the cloud.

*Legion* wrote:

I've definitely encountered it in Steam when moving between my main gaming and my living room PCs.

I think the Deck has just put Steam's multi-PC behavior under more of a spotlight.

Fortunately, a quick click to force sync typically resolves the issue. On occasion, I've had to restart the Steam client on the affected machine before it would sync.

Agreed, and yep, all it took to fix it was one click on the manual sync so doesn't seem like a huge deal.

Pink Stripes wrote:

I found it a big puzzling that the case has this hollow chunk in the back and no room for the charger... it feels like that's where it should go.

I put my charger there all the time. I do have to wrap the cord pretty tightly but it fits. I'd rather it was a zippered pocket but it hasn't fallen out yet.

You could always 3D print a power case:

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/meomj94qwkr81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=d905eec9daeafcb5969665d87c6e79c8481c6b37)

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/inbrpysqwkr81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ed11d5fbeee234a36143b12753cef7457138532b)

IMAGE(https://preview.redd.it/amu51dgrwkr81.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=ebff90903e523e0514c4cc4ee34b287d382a0bbc)

Reddit post

That's brilliant. I have a 3D printer that's still in a box, waiting for me to get my garage in order so I can set it up. Now I've got a little incentive to get it done.

Won't it work with any Power Delivery (PD) USB-C charger? I have a 65w one I travel with for Laptop, Tablet, Switch & Phone.

It will, yes. In fact, I believe the power cable that comes with it is hardwired into the plug. Will definitely be looking to get a 45+w USBC charger. If charging more than just the deck, 65w and up.

As for the 3D printer holder, I believe it works with the US and EU plugs, but not UK, given they are three-pinned and sturdy. One I finally get my deck, I will do some research for third party chargers that would fit in the little pocket area.

omni wrote:

It will, yes. In fact, I believe the power cable that comes with it is hardwired into the plug. Will definitely be looking to get a 45+w USBC charger. If charging more than just the deck, 65w and up.

OK, great!

I use this Ravpower one that is small and has an additional "A" charging port. Looks like you can snag it for $20 right now too. Not sure if they make a UK version or not.

https://www.ravpower.com/products/rp...

A bit more expensive than the Rav one but I have a couple of these Anker ones that I use. One is attached to the back of my night stand for charging my phone and Kindle (and sometimes controllers when I can't find the other cable) and I have a second one for travel use. Works with my Razer Blade Stealth, Switch, my wife's Macbook, and basically everything else I have connected it to so I bet it would work with the Steam Deck as well.

My friend got the email saying to pay for his Steam Deck and he has to pay by 5/22. Does this mean his is ready to ship and as soon as he pays, it will be on the way?

-BEP

Yep. And if he doesn't pay by 22nd, then the preorder is cancelled and it moves on to someone else

bepnewt wrote:

My friend got the email saying to pay for his Steam Deck and he has to pay by 5/22. Does this mean his is ready to ship and as soon as he pays, it will be on the way?

-BEP

If he pays, the order will move to "shipping soon" and will ship within a few days. If he doesn't it will be cancelled, but I've seen a bunch of people saying they emailed Steam support after the fact and were allowed to reopen the order without going to the back of the line.

I let him know, thanks.

-BEP

Took about a week to receive once I paid.

I paid on Monday. Got it Friday. I also paid within 10 minutes of getting the email.

Sweet Merciful Gaben: a redditor says he got his steam deck email 5 hours ago and he ordered at T+28:38 and I ordered T+28:45!! So maybe I'll have an email next week.

Has Valve said anything new about the docking station? I think I want one now.

Thought I saw claims that they had added more features to it. Looking.

Edit: some details here about changes to ports and so on https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2022/04/v...

AFAICT release date is still unknown. I still plan to use my Skull & Co dock to start with.