|OT| Valve's Steam Deck - OLED refresh shipping to folks

Mivey

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Please do if you can, I'd really like to help this guy. Also if you do and it runs, take a note of the Proton, firmware and OS version you are running.
Looking at ProtonDB, https://www.protondb.com/app/108710, the game seems to have general issues on Deck. So unless this was fixed since last month (time of the last report), it shouldn't have gotten a Verified status to begin with.

While I'm generally impressed with Proton overall, I do think Valve's Verified program right now is pretty garbage. It detects games as unverified that run flawlessly, and reports things as verified that clearly has issues. Valve needs a slower process with a greater focus on reproducibility.
 
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Durante

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As I posted before the Deck release, I believe that the verified program, as people imagine it (a rock solid 100% guarantee, with a decent throughput of games), is not really possible. It would require 100%ing every verified game, which could take 100+ hours per game. Even if Valve hired 100 people to do nothing but play games on the Steam Deck every day, they couldn't get a decent portion of the library verified in a year.

I'm not defending the state of it by the way -- it's a really bad look if a verified game doesn't work, and I believe if they do such a program, then it should be extremely defensive in its ratings. Maybe even only show a fully verified state with developer buy-in (i.e. developers agree to offer support in case of issues), but that would obviously cause an outrage against Valve in some developer and gaming press circles.
 
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prudis

prudis

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also doesnt help that some of the existing native linux ports are really bad

Please do if you can, I'd really like to help this guy. Also if you do and it runs, take a note of the Proton, firmware and OS version you are running.
seems to start without issues and rans 60fps .... although on current proton experimental it has occasional grey graphical glitch upon RMB aiming (havent tried other proton versions to check - will do after work)

so if it doesnt even start for the guy thats super suspiciou .... my guess is not enough free space
 
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Alexandros

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also doesnt help that some of the existing native linux ports are really bad


seems to start without issues and rans 60fps .... although on current proton experimental it has occasional grey graphical glitch upon RMB aiming (havent tried other proton versions to check - will do after work)

so if it doesnt even start for the guy thats super suspiciou .... my guess is not enough free space
Another user also reported that Alan Wake doesn't start. I will ask about available free space.
 

Mivey

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I'm going to guess that this is wildly known by the people who care, but for people who play Atelier games on PC and found that the performance was really bad on the Steam Deck (and Linux on general): dotsujin (the person who does DXVK) made this d3d11.dll that fixes some of the performance issues:


With Atelier Sophie 2, I had drastic increase of framerate performance on my PC @ 4K and from being completely unplayable to about hitting 60fps in the commercial district on my Steam Deck @ 1024x576 @ medium settings.
Tested this for Rorona on the Deck. Wasn't interested in the performance improvements, but I thought it might help with the lag when you open menus or interact with stuff, and nope, still there. I guess there's no fixing these forced CPU-GPU syncs.
 

derFeef

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Having lots of freezes and and weird behaviour lately.
Like, right now I am having the shut-down icon animation stuck mid-frame and it's kinda overlaying the whole UI, lol.
The thing is also pretty unresponsive as a whole. I know I have a lot of games installed on internal and SD but it's not full to the max.
 

Knurek

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Tested this for Rorona on the Deck. Wasn't interested in the performance improvements, but I thought it might help with the lag when you open menus or interact with stuff, and nope, still there. I guess there's no fixing these forced CPU-GPU syncs.
Isn't Rorona DX9? The tool states it works for DX11 titles only.
 

Alexandros

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As I posted before the Deck release, I believe that the verified program, as people imagine it (a rock solid 100% guarantee, with a decent throughput of games), is not really possible. It would require 100%ing every verified game, which could take 100+ hours per game. Even if Valve hired 100 people to do nothing but play games on the Steam Deck every day, they couldn't get a decent portion of the library verified in a year.
That is all very reasonable which makes Valve's very bullish claims about the Verified program pretty strange. They set the expectation that the standards for verification would be very high:


"Our existing standards for titles to get a Verified or a Playable rating are very high. If a game shows controller glyphs 99 per cent of the time but tells you to 'press F' sometimes during gameplay, that's Playable, not Verified. If 99 per cent of a game's functionality is accessible, but accessing one optional in-game minigame crashes, or one tutorial video doesn't render, that's Unsupported.
So I find it quite bizarre that the stated standards are so high yet you have Verified games with serious issues or unplayable. There has to be something wrong either with the testing process or with the way Steam Deck's software updates work.

I'm not defending the state of it by the way -- it's a really bad look if a verified game doesn't work, and I believe if they do such a program, then it should be extremely defensive in its ratings.
100% agreed. A user buying a verified game and finding out that it has issues or straight up doesn't launch is a very bad user experience.
 

Arulan

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I wonder if some kind of automated regression testing could help with that. Though the vast scale and time required are likely issues, and I'm not sure how thorough you can be without internal tools (provided by the developers or engine specific). I'm not really familiar with automation in game development though.
 

Mivey

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I wonder if some kind of automated regression testing could help with that. Though the vast scale and time required are likely issues, and I'm not sure how thorough you can be without internal tools (provided by the developers or engine specific). I'm not really familiar with automation in game development though.
I kinda expect Valve to do this once it is at all technically feasible. Going for ambitious tech solutions is, for better or worse, totally their jam.
 

Li Kao

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On a related note I would really like for Valve to comment on why a game is incompatible, like they do with compatible but not verified. The black checkmark. If they have tested the game in one way or another and deemed it incompatible, then give me the reason.
 

MomoVideo

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Is there any way to force different resolution for non-steam games? I connected Deck to a TV and wanted to stream games from my PC in 1080p but moonlight is launching in 800p and my screen is squished. I tried adding -w 1920 to lunch options as well as some others but then moonlight doesn't even launch.

Edit. And the built in Steam Remote Play doesn't seem to support external gamepads. Even when the external controller is set to controller 1, it does not work :confounded-face:
 
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prudis

prudis

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seems to start without issues and rans 60fps .... although on current proton experimental it has occasional grey graphical glitch upon RMB aiming (havent tried other proton versions to check - will do after work)
seems like proton 6 works fine in Alan Wake .... so i guess some changes in Protin 70 brought back the "grey grafical glitch " when aiming in Alan Wake
 

derFeef

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On a related note I would really like for Valve to comment on why a game is incompatible, like they do with compatible but not verified. The black checkmark. If they have tested the game in one way or another and deemed it incompatible, then give me the reason.
Right?
I played a few incompatible games that ran perfectly. Yet Deathloop is still verified and runs like garbage.
 

LEANIJA

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I just tested Alan Wake (my Deck is set to Proton 7) and it ran just fine – its weird that others have these issues, cant really explain them...hm.
 
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sprinkles

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I have tested many Verified or Playable games and had no troubles launching any of them. But I pretty much ignore the rating system and take for granted that any game will launch somehow.
 

Alexandros

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I just tested Alan Wake (my Deck is set to Proton 7) and it ran just fine – its weird that others have these issues, cant really explain them...hm.
Yeah, it's super weird how the same hardware and software can behave differently.
 
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Derrick01

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Ok so I guess my deck battery is only weird when it's full. Last night I didn't use it in 13 hours and kept track of where it was and the battery had no change. I charged it overnight and unplugged it when I woke up and in 6 hours it was at 94% when I turned it on. No idea what's going on.
 
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Li Kao

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Installing the 80go FF14 on the SD. Fuck me I forgot to buy sausages to put on the deck. Two birds with one stone.
 
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Pommes

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Ok so I guess my deck battery is only weird when it's full. Last night I didn't use it in 13 hours and kept track of where it was and the battery had no change. I charged it overnight and unplugged it when I woke up and in 6 hours it was at 94% when I turned it on. No idea what's going on.
Isn't there a functionality which slowly discharges the battery when it reaches 100%?
 
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Durante

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hmm i do have it on btfrs formated SD card so could be that too thats causing the glitch on Proton
btrfs does not support case folding, so if Alan Wake had file casing issues then that might mean that it has trouble finding some files. But I feel like if that were the case that would probably manifest in a more obvious way.

Still, generally you should probably use ext4 with the SD (and Proton in general) to be on the safe side.
 
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ExistentialThought

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I have no clue but it would make me feel better at least lol
Yeah, the Steam Deck will quickly charge to 80% (in about an hour or so) and then slows down when charging from 80 to 100% (I think this can take two to three hours charge). Then if the device is fully charged and on the charger, the Steam Deck will automatically start to discharge some of the battery to preserve battery life.

Here was the quote floating around from Steam support:
"If your device has been left on the charger for long periods of time, it may report less than 100% when taking it off the charger. This is normal – we allow the battery to slowly discharge after long periods of time under charge to optimize long-term battery health."

Speculation time: Part of me wonders if somewhere in all of this mix, the % of battery is some how desyncing for some folks which is what is causing the % discrepancies. Granted, I know nothing when it comes to under the hood firmwares.
 

Amzin

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Finally got my email today as well! Also, I just earned 64 summer sale cards for it, which I guess is a consolation prize for having to wait so long but it feels a bit unfair actually
 

BernardoOne

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for people interested on a PC handheld but either are not in a country Valve is selling to, or not willing to wait the time for Valve to deliver the unit, the Aya Neo Air is looking mighty fine as a alternative . The existence of the Steam Deck has seemingly made other manufacturers to be a bit less crazy with the pricing!
 
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Mivey

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for people interested on a PC handheld but either are not in a country Valve is selling to, or not willing to wait the time for Valve to deliver the unit, the Aya Neo Air is looking mighty fine as a alternative . The existence of the Steam Deck has seemingly made other manufacturers to be a bit less crazy with the pricing!
As the thing is "even smaller than the switch", it really looks like an ergonomic nightmare. It's nice to see alternatives, but it would be nice if they cared a little about ergonomics.

Also, the advertised colour temperature of 8500K on the screen sounds terrible. 6500 is generally "neutral" white, so that display will have a blue tint.
 
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Phoenix RISING

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Finally got my steam deck email

Just purchased, now it’s time to wait for Valve sends it.
Unexpected being thursday. ^^
Finally got my email today as well! Also, I just earned 64 summer sale cards for it, which I guess is a consolation prize for having to wait so long but it feels a bit unfair actually
Still waiting.

It's gotten to the point where the majority of this message board that wants one has one already so I stopped coming here to avoid being in a salty mood.
 

Mivey

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So does Deck, truth be told.
Sure, but the display on the Deck isn't exactly a selling point that Valve is talking about.
I do hope Valve eventually adds functionality to SteamOS to allow users to change this.
 
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ExistentialThought

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I am replaying through the first AI: Somnium Files (originally played on Switch) and it works with GE-Proton7-20. Technically, everything but flashback scenes seem to work under Experimental and I have not tried any other earlier versions than Experimental.

I purchased the second AI: Somnium Files and I cannot get the FMVs working correctly. Occasionally I can get the FMVs to display under Experimental or GE-Proton7-20, but it is glitchy looking. Though what is strange is some folks have apparently had no issues. I cleared my proton files between each attempt to launch the game, just in case it was an issue of leftover files, but it does not seem to work. Not sure if there is a weird setting and/or something others have incidentally fixed when fixing another title.

At any rate, it is mostly no harm no foul since both games are untested and I knew they would likely have some issues. It just highlights one of my only concerns about the Steam Deck is being able to jump into a game on day one and have it just work. Though to be fair, I have had zero issues with several other day one games like Grindstone, FF7R, and Capcom Collection.
 

Knurek

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ExistentialThought try clearing the Proton prefix once more, then switch to GE version, run the game once, then switch without doing anything to the experimental version. This seems to switch the Proton used while keeping the naughty codecs installed.
 
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C-Dub

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Speaking of Somnium Files, has anyone tried running the sequel on the Deck?
Yeah, it works fine for me. But some people have said FMVs don’t work, while others (me included) say they work fine. It’s very odd.
 

ZKenir

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yet you have Verified games with serious issues or unplayable.
I remember Apex being verified and then a subsequent patch broke the game on steam deck, then they fixed it again, so patches can break a verified game.
This is particularly interesting because a verified game launches with the version of proton that was verified with iirc, so I wonder if a subsequent update can break a game for older versions of proton and instead make it compatible with new ones only.
 
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ExistentialThought

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ExistentialThought try clearing the Proton prefix once more, then switch to GE version, run the game once, then switch without doing anything to the experimental version. This seems to switch the Proton used while keeping the naughty codecs installed.
Unfortunately it looks like it is still the test pattern FMVs through Experimental (and GE has the partially rendered FMVs that are glitchy). I am not sure what some folks are doing to get it to just work. Someone on the Steam forums apparently tried to even do a clean reset of their Steam Deck and it did not work for them, but others seem to have zero issues. Weird stuff.
 

Ascheroth

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Unfortunately it looks like it is still the test pattern FMVs through Experimental (and GE has the partially rendered FMVs that are glitchy). I am not sure what some folks are doing to get it to just work. Someone on the Steam forums apparently tried to even do a clean reset of their Steam Deck and it did not work for them, but others seem to have zero issues. Weird stuff.
Have you tried non-experimental?
I've played through the entirety of the Somnium Files on the Deck with 0 issues via default Proton. The only thing that needed special handling was changing graphics settings via the launcher, where you need to bind Alt+F4 to a button if you want to close (or fiddle directly with the ini file).
 
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ExistentialThought

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i suggest a hammer and unreasoning violence


Have you tried non-experimental?
I've played through the entirety of the Somnium Files on the Deck with 0 issues via default Proton. The only thing that needed special handling was changing graphics settings via the launcher, where you need to bind Alt+F4 to a button if you want to close (or fiddle directly with the ini file).
So far I have tried Proton7 GE 20, Experimental, 7.0-3, and 6.3-8. I think I tried another one, but it did not even run at that point. I am playing through the first Somnium and still had to use GE to get the FMVs to work for me. Are you in the Beta branches?

I just did a complete uninstall, deleted my proton prefix compat files, turned off cloud saves, and reinstalled. No dice. It is just weird as it is currently hovering at a Platinum level on ProtonDB, there is at least one other Steam Deck user there who has issues with no videos on Experimental while some have videos.

Fake Edit; I just got it to work! A user on proton DB said 7.1-GE-2 renders videos correctly, and it does seemingly work! I am still wanting to understand why it is working on some folks Deck and not others for seemingly no rhyme or reason. Also, not sure if the latter versions work or work better, but for now that is enough tinkering for today haha. I will leave the steps that I did above, just in case it helps someone else figure out what is going on OR stops them from going down a wild goose chase if the first few attempts do not work.

 
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TheTrain

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Another user also reported that Alan Wake doesn't start. I will ask about available free space.
I played the game on deck a couple of month ago, if I remember well I had the same problem and the problem was that it was missing a windows redist installation or something like that. I fixed it by installing another game, like super meat boy or below, that indeed installed the windows pre requisites required for them to work
It was a pristine new deck even for me, problem is that, for some reason, Alan wake doesn't trigger the windows pre requisites installation during his first start. Only workaround I found was that, give it a try
That's also why it doesn't happen to anyone, if you install and start a couple of games prior to AW you'll never encounter the problem, because Proton container will start filling up his folder with all the different windows things necessary to work. I should've done a bug report but I'm too lazy, I'm pretty sure that it's a reproduceable issue if you just format the Deck and install AW on it in a pristine Proton container or whatever
 
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