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

[Mivey]

But I wanted to start with Persona 4 Golden

Looking at ProtonDB, there's some custom builds of Proton that do seem to run it. So worst case, if it's not fixed in the next couple of months, you'll just have to do some tweaking. Alternatively, you could just do a Windows dual boot if you don't want to mess with anything and still play Persona 4

 

[Ascheroth]

Curious too see all the complains that game pass PC won't work on Deck when the machine is out.

Doubt it will be much.
Don't forget that the majority of the early buyers are most likely enthusiasts deeply within the Steam ecosystem. The "general public" is most likely end of Q2+ at the earliest, and by that time impressions from early buyers should make things clearer.
Also, technically game pass works on the Deck, but you need to install Windows.

Yeah judging from ProtonDb people are playing it via Proton-GE (Glorious Eggroll, a forked version that implements video fixes)
The video codec thing is really annoying indeed. Something that could be averted so easily, one would think. Hopefully the release of Steam Deck will lead to a change. But meanwhile, Wine 7 was released and among the release notes was better implementation of Windows Media stuff, so maybe that will have an impact on Proton soon, as well?

I thought Valve already had a solution for this? Re-encode the problematic videos server-side and distribute them to the Deck. Or was that something different, or does Persona have issues beyond that?

 

[LEANIJA]

Looking at ProtonDB, there's some custom builds of Proton that do seem to run it. So worst case, if it's not fixed in the next couple of months, you'll just have to do some tweaking. Alternatively, you could just do a Windows dual boot if you don't want to mess with anything and still play Persona 4

Yes, Proton-GE, which can be found here: Releases · GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom
Which can be easily installed using ProtonQtUp: ProtonUp-Qt

Proton-GE fixes some video problems, but not all. Windows Media Foundation continues to be a plague

I thought Valve already had a solution for this? Re-encode the problematic videos server-side and distribute them to the Deck. Or was that something different, or does Persona have issues beyond that?

Yes I thought so too but I dunno about their roadmap for that, nor how comprehensive it'll be. I read someone state somewhere that this happens on a game-by-game basis, whenever Steam detects a game having problems. No clue how accurate that is, however.

 

[Mivey]

I thought Valve already had a solution for this? Re-encode the problematic videos server-side and distribute them to the Deck. Or was that something different, or does Persona have issues beyond that?

I don't think this can ever be a generic solution. Not all games have their videos neatly as easily accessible video files, a lot of games ship all the resources in a compressed, and perhaps even encoded format. Not much Valve can do there.

 

[undu]

I don't think this can ever be a generic solution. Not all games have their videos neatly as easily accessible video files, a lot of games ship all the resources in a compressed, and perhaps even encoded format. Not much Valve can do there.

The system is more sophisticated than that and have fallbacks in place to avoid the test pattern situation:

 

[prudis]

 

[Mivey]

The system is more sophisticated than that and have fallbacks in place to avoid the test pattern situation:

This just explains how they find out about it. It does sound like Valve is ready to throw a large amount of (wo)manpower at this.
Would be interesting how they deal with cases where the videos aren't easily available, but as I said, inside some blob.

 

[undu]

This just explains how they find out about it. It does sound like Valve is ready to throw a large amount of (wo)manpower at this.
Would be interesting how they deal with cases where the videos aren't easily available, but as I said, inside some blob.

Plagman also commented that the sauce is secret for the time being. So we're unlikely to know more. I wouldn't be surprised if they did some memory scanning during runtime to produce the uncompressed video streams and then reencode those

 

[C-Dub]

P4G is a big deal for me. Really disappointed by this news.

I’m now curious to see how Windows runs on Stem Deck. Glad I’m in the Q2 2022 queue now so I can see how people get on with the device before buying.

 

[Vash63]

Yeah judging from ProtonDb people are playing it via Proton-GE (Glorious Eggroll, a forked version that implements video fixes)
The video codec thing is really annoying indeed. Something that could be averted so easily, one would think. Hopefully the release of Steam Deck will lead to a change. But meanwhile, Wine 7 was released and among the release notes was better implementation of Windows Media stuff, so maybe that will have an impact on Proton soon, as well?

It would help if the problem was due to bugs in the actual MF playback, but the major issue in most cases is the codecs used. If they're using any of Microsoft's codecs, it's never going to work with stock Proton until Valve's transcoded duplicate videos are downloaded for the game.

I don't think this can ever be a generic solution. Not all games have their videos neatly as easily accessible video files, a lot of games ship all the resources in a compressed, and perhaps even encoded format. Not much Valve can do there.

This isn't a problem. Proton hooks the video data as it's being played, it doesn't matter where or how the files are stored.

Plagman also commented that the sauce is secret for the time being. So we're unlikely to know more. I wouldn't be surprised if they did some memory scanning during runtime to produce the uncompressed video streams and then reencode those

I think the code is here: Proton/media-converter at proton_6.3 · ValveSoftware/Proton

That's the client side anyway. It saves the data being played to disk which is then uploaded to Valve by Steam any time there is a cache miss (meaning the video fails to play and the user sees a test pattern).

 

[LEANIJA]

P4G is a big deal for me. Really disappointed by this news.

I’m now curious to see how Windows runs on Stem Deck. Glad I’m in the Q2 2022 queue now so I can see how people get on with the device before buying.

I just tried Persona 4 – I run Manjaro + KDE, which is similar to what SteamOS will be. Installed ProtonUpQt, used that to install Proton-GE, and ran Persona 4 using that, and it ran just fine, videos playing and all. I dont think replicating those steps on Deck would take a lot of effort – it took me about a minute to setup.

 

[Mivey]

It would help if the problem was due to bugs in the actual MF playback, but the major issue in most cases is the codecs used. If they're using any of Microsoft's codecs, it's never going to work with stock Proton until Valve's transcoded duplicate videos are downloaded for the game.



This isn't a problem. Proton hooks the video data as it's being played, it doesn't matter where or how the files are stored.



I think the code is here: Proton/media-converter at proton_6.3 · ValveSoftware/Proton

That's the client side anyway. It saves the data being played to disk which is then uploaded to Valve by Steam any time there is a cache miss (meaning the video fails to play and the user sees a test pattern).

Hmm, this sounds pretty neat. But from what I understand, this is probably not something you want or can do ad-hoc. From my limited experience with video editing, transcoding videos is crazy expensive a task. Running that on the Deck would be a sure-fire way to empty the battery in like half an hour, and the use would still need to wait like 10 minutes for every short video to render.
Relying on Valve's servers as a sort of media cache is neat idea. It's stilly that this is even necessary, but it's a neat solution, if it works out.

 

[Vash63]

Hmm, this sounds pretty neat. But from what I understand, this is probably not something you want or can do ad-hoc. From my limited experience with video editing, transcoding videos is crazy expensive a task. Running that on the Deck would be a sure-fire way to empty the battery in like half an hour, and the use would still need to wait like 10 minutes for every short video to render.
Relying on Valve's servers as a sort of media cache is neat idea. It's stilly that this is even necessary, but it's a neat solution, if it works out.

It's definitely absurd it's necessary, but that's what happens when developers go with patent-encumbered proprietary video players instead of just using VP9 or even a self contained solution like Bink. As someone else mentioned, P4 doesn't even work on actual Windows if you have the N-editions that don't include licensed codecs.

Also to be clear, this isn't designed to run locally, the transcoded videos are sent through the Fossilize system along with all of the Vulkan pipelines (for shader cache generation) that get processed by Steam prior to every run of the game. As a user it looks much like a standard game update in Steam, just the files are stored in your compatdata folders instead of the game's actual install directory.

 

[C-Dub]

I just tried Persona 4 – I run Manjaro + KDE, which is similar to what SteamOS will be. Installed ProtonUpQt, used that to install Proton-GE, and ran Persona 4 using that, and it ran just fine, videos playing and all. I dont think replicating those steps on Deck would take a lot of effort – it took me about a minute to setup.

It’s probably not much effort if you know what you’re doing. My Linux experience is zero and I don’t want to mess around with configuring or installing multiple versions of Proton for different games. I’m hoping Valve can get it all working perfectly by just pressing install, because I don’t want to do much more than that on an 800p display with no dedicated keyboard and mouse plugged in.

 

[LEANIJA]

It’s probably not much effort if you know what you’re doing. My Linux experience is zero and I don’t want to mess around with configuring or installing multiple versions of Proton for different games. I’m hoping Valve can get it all working perfectly by just pressing install, because I don’t want to do much more than that on an 800p display with no dedicated keyboard and mouse plugged in.

Tell you what, as soon as I get my hands on my SteamDeck (I'm in the Q1 bracket), I'll take a look at it, and if need be, write you a detailed walkthrough how to get it done easily. Because it was super easy just now, and I assume it shouldnt be difficult on Deck either

but errrm remind me should I forget


~

A whole bunch of games just got Steam Deck Verified

Seems Valve has now properly started verifying games ahead of the Steam Deck launch, with a bunch of titles now verified ready to play so let's take a look.

www.gamingonlinux.com

Includes an interesting bit:

Want to check out the newer Steam store Tablet Mode? It will actually show the Deck Verified symbols and on store pages there's a whole new Steam Deck compatibility section that you can bring up like so:

To do so it's easy enough in Firefox. Simply open a tab with the Steam store and hit CTRL+SHIFT+M. From there you need to add a new device by selecting the dropdown list that will usually say "Responsive" by default. From there hit "Edit list" and set a name of "Steam Deck" (or anything really), set user agent string to "Valve Steam Gamepad" and a resolution of "910 x 568". Then select it after saving, and refresh and you will get the Tablet Mode.

 

[Minsc]

I really don't understand why you'd use anything but h265 or VP9 etc, I guess royalties? Handbrake doesn't cost me anything, but I guess maybe it's not the same for a business related product? Everything under the sun can decode those things now and they're very efficient.

 

[Durante]

You can't use h.265 due to royalties, but you can use VP9. There's really no reason not to use it, it's royalty-free, effective in terms of compression, and even software decoding is easily fast enough on any even remotely modern PC.

 

[jmga]

Is it really that hard to implement Windows video API and codec? Looking at how far we have come in a few years it seems a problem that can be easily done in a few months, even less if Proton GE already does it, why can't Valve merge that feature from Proton GE?

 

[Knurek]

if Proton GE already does it, why can't Valve merge that feature from Proton GE?

Software patents

 

[jmga]

Software patents

US law fucking again the rest of the world. Sad.

 

[Crayon]

It’s probably not much effort if you know what you’re doing. My Linux experience is zero and I don’t want to mess around with configuring or installing multiple versions of Proton for different games. I’m hoping Valve can get it all working perfectly by just pressing install, because I don’t want to do much more than that on an 800p display with no dedicated keyboard and mouse plugged in.

Think about it once it comes out and you can see a little guide. It's a quick tweak and will fix this kind of issue for many games that otherwise run perfect!

 

[LEANIJA]

Valve has worked with Epic to make it even easier for devs to implement a Linux-ready EAC:

Steamworks Development - Steam Deck Anti-Cheat Update - Steam News

Good news for EAC on Deck + Steam Deck test results getting published soon

store.steampowered.com

Our team has been working with Epic on Easy Anti-Cheat + Proton support over the last few months, and we're happy to announce that adding Steam Deck support to your existing EAC games is now a simple process, and doesn't require updating game binaries, SDK versions, or integration of new services. Alongside our BattlEye updates from last year, this means that the two largest anti-cheat services are now easily supported on Proton and Steam Deck.

 

[TioChuck]

Valve has worked with Epic to make it even easier for devs to implement a Linux-ready EAC:

Steamworks Development - Steam Deck Anti-Cheat Update - Steam News

Good news for EAC on Deck + Steam Deck test results getting published soon

store.steampowered.com

Epic would probably get away with it if wasn't for the meddling kids and the Vermintide 2 dev.

 

[Crayon]

That't the best news I've heard all week.

 

[ExistentialThought]

Valve has worked with Epic to make it even easier for devs to implement a Linux-ready EAC:

Steamworks Development - Steam Deck Anti-Cheat Update - Steam News

Good news for EAC on Deck + Steam Deck test results getting published soon

store.steampowered.com

They just updated the verbiage again to explicitly state no EOS required

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Valve has worked with Epic to make it even easier for devs to implement a Linux-ready EAC:

Steamworks Development - Steam Deck Anti-Cheat Update - Steam News

Good news for EAC on Deck + Steam Deck test results getting published soon

store.steampowered.com

That's a lot of tech speak. What does it mean in layman's?

 

[Ascheroth]

That's a lot of tech speak. What does it mean in layman's?

It won't work automatically, but adding support manually is as easy as it's going to get.
Toggle a checkbox on the EAC management site -> download a file -> publish a new build that contains this file(no changes to anything else needed).
Works with all versions of EAC, no EOS integration required.

Super exciting news. Really feels like they're getting close to "everything is just going to work".

 

[Alexandros]

Valve has worked with Epic to make it even easier for devs to implement a Linux-ready EAC:

Steamworks Development - Steam Deck Anti-Cheat Update - Steam News

Good news for EAC on Deck + Steam Deck test results getting published soon

store.steampowered.com

Bravo Tim, all is forgiven!

 

[Knurek]

Bravo Tim, all is forgiven!

One has to wonder what did Tim negotiate from Valve for that?
Maybe each Deck will come with EGS client preinstalled now?

 

[LEANIJA]

One has to wonder what did Tim negotiate from Valve for that?
Maybe each Deck will come with EGS client preinstalled now?

It's got no Linux client though

Epic is still also an engine and middleware supplier, not just a store. That side of them always seemed pretty open if im not mistaken

 

[Knurek]

It's got no Linux client though

Timmy will just order an SteamOS client, so that he has the cake (still a Linux hater) and can eat it (Fortnite on Deck)

 

[Arc]

It took three weeks to fix the EAC issue while it took three years to add a shopping cart.

 

[beep boop]

edit: wrong thread oopsie

 

[undu]

That's a lot of tech speak. What does it mean in layman's?

Epic has collaborated with Valve to make enabling anticheats (EAC) on windows games for the steam deck (and linux) really very easy for developers.

On top of that Valve is sending emails to developers when they are using anticheat with instructions to help / try to pressure them into enabling anticheats in steam deck.

 

[Mor]

Ok, I think I will share the latest dev kits found on the net so we can see even more games that will be compatible.

Let's get this thing started:

This one you all saw, likely, GOW booting on Steam Deck thanks to Shu, this one sure is exciting.

And here you have a huge collection of indie games running on Deck too.

More in here. a lot of them

 

[Alexandros]

The most exciting thing is that so many devs report that their games work perfectly out of the box.

 

[LEANIJA]

The most exciting thing is that so many devs report that their games work perfectly out of the box.

Yep! but it honestly it does not surprise me much anymore–Proton is truely amazing and games running great out of the box is the norm for me playing stuff on Linux. Its already a bit odd when a game doesnt run (and its very seldomly not linked to either EAC or video codecs).

 

[Crayon]

I was really expecting the new big picture to roll out on the widows client at the same time as steamos but we haven't heard anything about it.

 

[ExistentialThought]

I was really expecting the new big picture to roll out on the widows client at the same time as steamos but we haven't heard anything about it.

Yeah, I was really hoping some of the changes would start to appear in the Steam client or Valve would even release a beta of SteamOS, all ahead of the Deck launch.

Big picture is still the biggie for much needed changes, but I hope Valve also revamps the overlay. If these were revamped, there would only be a few minor things I still want to see on the Steam store such as changing how free DLC is redeemed, allowing things to be added to the cart without having to go to the cart (especially from the wishlist), and a custom DLC store for games you already own (allowing to view game content, soundtracks, and other items separately). Oh and allow me to have more than 100 curators/publishers/blocked things!

 

[Alexandros]

I was really expecting the new big picture to roll out on the widows client at the same time as steamos but we haven't heard anything about it.

I am not surprised, I think Valve right now has all hands on Deck

 

[Durante]

I was really expecting the new big picture to roll out on the widows client at the same time as steamos but we haven't heard anything about it.

I really wouldn't expect that. Even SteamOS for non-Deck devices might not roll out when Deck does IMHO. I'd expect these things to happen once work on the Deck software settles a bit, and that will probably take a few months.

 

[Knurek]

Durante BTW, does the SteamOS on Deck has a sound bite on achievement unlock, or is it the same as current ones?

 

[C-Dub]

I really wouldn't expect that. Even SteamOS for non-Deck devices might not roll out when Deck does IMHO. I'd expect these things to happen once work on the Deck software settles a bit, and that will probably take a few months.

If this is the case, that’d be a shame. As a comfy coucher, Steam’s BPM urgently needs an overhaul.

I will pretty much continue to use Playnite to launch my games until Valve drops the new BPM. Then I’ll be extensively testing it to see if I can get all the functionality I want out of it.

 

[Ge0force]

I've been thinking a lot about which games I want to (re)play first on Steam Deck, but I don't know where to start. I guess the compatibility list will help a lot next month.

 

[C-Dub]

I've been thinking a lot about which games I want to (re)play first on Steam Deck, but I don't know where to start. I guess the compatibility list will help a lot next month.

Whenever I get mine, it’ll probably be some VNs. Or maybe a Yakuza game, compatibility willing.

 

[LEANIJA]

It's been linked before, but www.Protondb.com is a really good place to check what runs well/great/not at all on Linux

I keep thinking "I'd like to play this on the Deck right now" with numerous games recently

 

[Crayon]

I really wouldn't expect that. Even SteamOS for non-Deck devices might not roll out when Deck does IMHO. I'd expect these things to happen once work on the Deck software settles a bit, and that will probably take a few months.

I had counted 100% that the distro would be released with the deck. I'm just now starting to doubt. How could they do this to me?!?!

I've been counting on the deck launch day being my SO3 launch day. I'll be so sad.

 

[TioChuck]

You need to reply to this thread or react to this post in order to see this content.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Epic has collaborated with Valve to make enabling anticheats (EAC) on windows games for the steam deck (and linux) really very easy for developers.

On top of that Valve is sending emails to developers when they are using anticheat with instructions to help / try to pressure them into enabling anticheats in steam deck.

Thanks

 

[LEANIJA]

Valve sponsors more work to improve Linux graphics drivers

Valve sponsors more work to improve Linux graphics drivers

More improvements will be coming to Linux graphics drivers, as Valve have sponsored work towards continuous integration (CI) testing.

www.gamingonlinux.com

Article is Technical stuff - bit too technical for me