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

Readher

Resident Cynic
Jun 23, 2020
430
1,236
93
Poland
There are at least two launchers on Linux that support GOG:
Minigalaxy (specialized on GOG)
and Lutris (support for many platforms)

Let's see how the support on the Steam Deck will be for such solutions.
Whatever works on Arch should work on SteamOS as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
I've been thinking about if/how Valve should signal Deck compatibility on Steam.

I feel like a "Steam Deck Support" icon (in the same place where e.g. the controller support icon is) would make a lot of sense.
And if they do it, it should be something for devs to actively opt into. Which puts the onus on developers to ensure that their game runs on it without issues (which in most cases shouldn't be a lot of work) and in turn rewards them with better visibility on Deck / an extra selling point towards Deck owners.
 

lashman

Dead & Forgotten
Sep 5, 2018
30,365
85,134
113
I've been thinking about if/how Valve should signal Deck compatibility on Steam.

I feel like a "Steam Deck Support" icon (in the same place where e.g. the controller support icon is) would make a lot of sense.
And if they do it, it should be something for devs to actively opt into. Which puts the onus on developers to ensure that their game runs on it without issues (which in most cases shouldn't be a lot of work) and in turn rewards them with better visibility on Deck / an extra selling point towards Deck owners.
yup, sounds like a good idea to me ... especially since, with that addition, people would be able to browse the store via that tag
 

Giant Baba O'Reily

Junior Member
Jul 16, 2021
2
5
3
I'm really excited to go back a couple of generations and play stuff like Remember Me, Singularity and Split/Second running better than I ever remembered on a handheld.

Even though I've owned a Switch since launch, as someone who grew up smuggling the OG Game Boy into school, the Deck feels like some crazy, super exciting, voodoo magic fantasy to me.
 

Alexandros

Every game should be turn based
Nov 4, 2018
2,669
11,485
113
I've been thinking about if/how Valve should signal Deck compatibility on Steam.

I feel like a "Steam Deck Support" icon (in the same place where e.g. the controller support icon is) would make a lot of sense.
And if they do it, it should be something for devs to actively opt into. Which puts the onus on developers to ensure that their game runs on it without issues (which in most cases shouldn't be a lot of work) and in turn rewards them with better visibility on Deck / an extra selling point towards Deck owners.
Personally I've been wondering about how Valve will help developers set their default quality settings for Steam Deck. Are they going to test each game themselves and recommend settings to developers?
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Ge0force

Excluding exclusives
Jan 12, 2019
3,982
13,792
113
Belgium
I've been thinking about if/how Valve should signal Deck compatibility on Steam.

I feel like a "Steam Deck Support" icon (in the same place where e.g. the controller support icon is) would make a lot of sense.
And if they do it, it should be something for devs to actively opt into. Which puts the onus on developers to ensure that their game runs on it without issues (which in most cases shouldn't be a lot of work) and in turn rewards them with better visibility on Deck / an extra selling point towards Deck owners.
I was thinking about this as well. Also, supported games should have configuration profiles for quality and performance. This would make the Deck much more suitable for the mainstream crowd.
 

kio

MetaMember
Apr 19, 2019
1,447
4,656
113
I've been thinking about if/how Valve should signal Deck compatibility on Steam.

I feel like a "Steam Deck Support" icon (in the same place where e.g. the controller support icon is) would make a lot of sense.
And if they do it, it should be something for devs to actively opt into. Which puts the onus on developers to ensure that their game runs on it without issues (which in most cases shouldn't be a lot of work) and in turn rewards them with better visibility on Deck / an extra selling point towards Deck owners.
It's a great idea but I can already see the articles about how Valve is bullying devs. By this point we should already know that anything that Valve does, no matter how positive, will be spined negatively by most news outlets.
Meanwhile things they should rightly be criticized for are nowhere to be seen.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
3,992
11,886
113
It's a great idea but I can already see the articles about how Valve is bullying devs. By this point we should already know that anything that Valve does, no matter how positive, will be spined negatively by most news outlets.
Meanwhile things they should rightly be criticized for are nowhere to be seen.
I almost expect Entitled Developer to moan that their game is invisible on the Steam Deck store at some point in the future. And when they’re asked whether they put the work in to ensure compatibility so they could get that visibility, they will moan about why they should have to do that.
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
Personally I've been wondering about how Valve will help developers set their default quality settings for Steam Deck. Are they going to test each game themselves and recommend settings to developers?
Is this the same Valve we all know and love we're talking about?
 

Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
5,461
8,524
113
No single device is gonna convince all PC devs to add better auto configuration utilities and standardize. But plenty games already include such auto detect on first boot. Not exactly hard to fathom they will detect the APU or the spec sheet and just set to lowest by default or whatever. Not impossible they won't either. Perhaps there can be a community driven thing like Steam Controller configs but with every game having different menus, config files, paths etc., probably not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

yuraya

MetaMember
May 4, 2019
2,403
5,615
113
Biggest reason for dev kit is to fine tune future releases at launch and maybe utilize the touch screen. Probably for bigger pubs and all the RTS devs out there.

As for graphics settings some games automatically set settings when you launch so I think all older/indie stuff just set to high/ultra would be for the best since its only 720p target. The newer bigger games can be @ medium settings. I don't really think Valve could do much themselves except that frame limiter which is basically a performance vs battery setting. Tbh I don't really see the need to baby PC gamers anyways as most always go to settings to tune games up for their own taste (vsync, motion blur, sensitivity, controls, etc)
 

Gengis Khan

Goodfella
Jan 26, 2019
75
298
53
Italy
mgmboxeisland.com
One think I'm wondering is how Valve plans to handle "sync" between different devices.
Let's say I'll play the same game on both my desktop PC and my Deck (assuming I actually manage to get one). Will I need to "readjust" my settings (resolution, details, frame cap, etc) at each swap between the two platforms or it have some more elegant solution in place to keep both separate?
 

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
One think I'm wondering is how Valve plans to handle "sync" between different devices.
Let's say I'll play the same game on both my desktop PC and my Deck (assuming I actually manage to get one). Will I need to "readjust" my settings (resolution, details, frame cap, etc) at each swap between the two platforms or it have some more elegant solution in place to keep both separate?
Generally, decently made games should store their HW-specific settings (like graphics) independently from saves in a per-system location that isn't part of the cloud saves. Then things like this should "just work". I do think that's the case for most games. Some might store their graphics settings in saves or the same files as saves, and then Valve can't really do anything about that.
 
Last edited:

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,029
25,776
113
I have been having fun doing some mock-ups with the Deck. :dualbladesblob: :blobeyes:

13 Sentinels on a Handheld, will it happen? who knows, but there's hope.


Shin-Chan too, we don't even know if it will come to the west but one can dream, right? heck, SteamDeck would look sick with thi


Dragon Quest 3 HD remake (hopefully this one will get confirmed for Steam one it comes to the west, but in the meantime)
 

EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
7,277
12,381
113
There we go, SteamDeck has health benefits too. You can get a wrist workout while playing games.
Though i'm sure half of the people in that twitter thread get a wrist workout playing games anyway.
 

ExistentialThought

Coffee Lover ♥☕
Feb 29, 2020
1,560
4,834
113
I have been seeing more and more takes that Valve’s messaging around this device will kill off native Linux ports.

I am sympathetic to a point, especially since I have not been a part of the Linix community and I understand it is a complicated topic. That said, I think folks are majorly downplaying the potential issues if Valve comes out saying anything less than devs will have no additional work for them in order for their games to work on the Steam Deck.

Seriously, if Valve even remotely hints that while Proton works, still consider making a native port. There will be devs who complain that Valve is making them do additional work and/or players are now requesting/demanding native ports if Valve’s messaging includes native port requests.

What is more is Valve has already gone down the path of requesting native ports for Steam machines and it failed miserably when ports failed to materialize. Obviously over simplifes, but it still was a part of the issue.

I have mentioned before, but I have always been interested in trying Linux. Though without game support, it has always been a complete non starter. Same for most folks I know. I understand folks do not want a dependency layer at the mercy of a companys whims, but honestly I do not know how else it could be if folks actually want more games to be playable on Linux.
 
OP
prudis

prudis

anime occult member
Sep 19, 2018
10,229
26,760
113
The Kingdom of Beer and Porn
twitter.com
Where is the comic about how you have to rebuy old games over and over again on switch VS playing all your games that you've bought over the last decade ago on the deck.
i love how pretty much all the press is ignoring this side of things , which is pretty much the main selling point for most folk
 

Yoshi

o_O
Jan 5, 2019
700
3,958
93
"Everyone I know has relatively high hopes for the Steam Deck right now," says JMC4789, a contributor to GameCube/Wii emulator Dolphin. JMC4789 is optimistic about how well Dolphin could run on the Steam Deck—and so are the developers of Yuzu, the leading Nintendo Switch emulator.

"We believe that the hardware should likely be capable enough to run some games pretty well right out of the box, and potentially run Yuzu very well with optimizations to the emulator," the developers say in a joint statement to PC Gamer.
 

madjoki

👀 I see you
Sep 19, 2018
3,009
11,158
113
i love how pretty much all the press is ignoring this side of things , which is pretty much the main selling point for most folk
Yup. My top reason for not buying a Switch.
Second reason being no cross-saves on majority of games.
Third being, I'm still salty missing 30€ switches at local online shop some months back.
 

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
3,962
11,271
113
on other side if things ... big Shamefull display here :face-with-tears-of-joy:
Seems like CEG expects the Windows Steam client to provide certain files, which the Linux client of Steam cannot do (yet).
I assume this is really easy for Valve to fix, it's not even a bug with Proton as such.
 

Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
466
1,159
93
Brighton, UK
copons.wordpress.com
on other side if things ... big Shamefull display here :face-with-tears-of-joy:
Holy shit, most of that thing is a big NOPE for me.
I mean the random users coming complaining, discussing, speculating on an issue? NOPE NOPE NOPE.

I'd assume that the actual people working on Proton, the developers and whatnot, don't have to necessarily give a fuck about the Deck, and this is just major noise and pressure for them.

This as a rule of thumb, when you see a GitHub issue:
  • contribute valuable infos (e.g. "neither [some game] work with Proton") = VERY GOOD
  • anything else (e.g. "valve said Deck runs all the games, but this breaks the marketing promise, shameful!") = ULTRA BAD

Like, I work in an entirely different industry than Valve and the Deck, and casually scrolling that issue made me super anxious anyway.
Don't do it. There are better channels for complaining without messing up with the daily devs workflow. Send a mail to Gaben, review bomb Ricochet, but don't unnecessarily crowd GitHub. :cry:
 

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
3,962
11,271
113
Holy shit, most of that thing is a big NOPE for me.
I mean the random users coming complaining, discussing, speculating on an issue? NOPE NOPE NOPE.

I'd assume that the actual people working on Proton, the developers and whatnot, don't have to necessarily give a fuck about the Deck, and this is just major noise and pressure for them.

This as a rule of thumb, when you see a GitHub issue:
  • contribute valuable infos (e.g. "neither [some game] work with Proton") = VERY GOOD
  • anything else (e.g. "valve said Deck runs all the games, but this breaks the marketing promise, shameful!") = ULTRA BAD

Like, I work in an entirely different industry than Valve and the Deck, and casually scrolling that issue made me super anxious anyway.
Don't do it. There are better channels for complaining without messing up with the daily devs workflow. Send a mail to Gaben, review bomb Ricochet, but don't unnecessarily crowd GitHub. :cry:
There's an easy fix, though: just lock the issue to contributors and close any new issues people make about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
466
1,159
93
Brighton, UK
copons.wordpress.com
There's an easy fix, though: just lock the issue to contributors and close any new issues people make about it.
That's not how things usually work in open source, though.
And I presume that these things don't usually happen, and there has never been any need to close to "outsiders".

Fact is, for (some) developers, GitHub is basically our workplace, and this kind of behaviour is somewhat similar to having a crowd picketing downstairs.
I'm not saying it's wrong per se, but it can be very heavy for the workers, who in most cases are doing what they can to fix these issues, and don't really need any additional pressure.
 

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
3,962
11,271
113
That's not how things usually work in open source, though.
And I presume that these things don't usually happen, and there has never been any need to close to "outsiders".

Fact is, for (some) developers, GitHub is basically our workplace, and this kind of behaviour is somewhat similar to having a crowd picketing downstairs.
I'm not saying it's wrong per se, but it can be very heavy for the workers, who in most cases are doing what they can to fix these issues, and don't really need any additional pressure.
I agree, but I think I have seen this a few times in long standing issues in popular projects, where after a while the devs just can't stand the constant spam anymore.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman and Copons

Copons

MetaMember
Nov 12, 2018
466
1,159
93
Brighton, UK
copons.wordpress.com
I agree, but I think I have seen this a few times in long standing issues in popular projects, where after a while the devs just can't stand the constant spam anymore.
True, it happens more often than it should.

It just feels weird to me, most likely because my own perception of GitHub as a work tool — not a tool for communicating with my customers.

It's kinda like if you go to a restaurant and you're served a crappy meal, and then go inside the kitchen, move in front of the prep table, and then start complaining about your meal to the cooks.
It's absolutely your right to complain, and the complaint can also be productive for the cook to improve.
But you just don't do it in the restaurant kitchen. :D


Now, closing the issue can also be seen as a kind of censorship.
People might take offence and being annoying elsewhere, making the whole situation worse.
Looking at it, there are about 100 comments, most of them happened before the Deck was announced.
I don't know if anyone from Valve was observing the issue, but it was definitely serving its purpose appropriately.
Then the Deck shows up, and all the comments turn into discussions about the Deck.
I guess if it was me, I'd probably just wait for those people to move elsewhere (which... is kind of the modus operandi of Valve since the beginning of time :D ).
 
  • Like
Reactions: lashman

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
3,962
11,271
113
True, it happens more often than it should.

It just feels weird to me, most likely because my own perception of GitHub as a work tool — not a tool for communicating with my customers.

It's kinda like if you go to a restaurant and you're served a crappy meal, and then go inside the kitchen, move in front of the prep table, and then start complaining about your meal to the cooks.
It's absolutely your right to complain, and the complaint can also be productive for the cook to improve.
But you just don't do it in the restaurant kitchen. :D


Now, closing the issue can also be seen as a kind of censorship.
People might take offence and being annoying elsewhere, making the whole situation worse.
Looking at it, there are about 100 comments, most of them happened before the Deck was announced.
I don't know if anyone from Valve was observing the issue, but it was definitely serving its purpose appropriately.
Then the Deck shows up, and all the comments turn into discussions about the Deck.
I guess if it was me, I'd probably just wait for those people to move elsewhere (which... is kind of the modus operandi of Valve since the beginning of time :D ).
Valve already said they have a non-public version of Proton running on the Deck, and I assume this will not get patched before the Deck releases. If the issue still persists on the Deck, then I think Valve will be addressing it quite quickly.
 

Alexandros

Every game should be turn based
Nov 4, 2018
2,669
11,485
113
It's really great that Valve is in a position to make long-term plays for the health of the platform (and its own profits of course). We majorly lucked out that it was Valve that rose to that position of prominence instead of someone like EA or Activision. Can you imagine?