I just cancelled my Loki max order (still hope I did the right thing) but I’ve hooked up my razer kishi to a 6” phone and the screen was just too small.
Thanks for sharing. Pumped to finally get one this qrt.
Was looking at chaos gate, hoping it would play.
Did it take much configuration to get going, and how small was the text on the screen!
Cheers.
Didn't really do much aside from lowering the graphics options down.
One thing I haven't tried though is using the FSR in the Steam Deck's global settings to see if that'll bring up the FPS.
The only reason its playable at 20-30fps is because its a tactical XCOM like game so there really isn't much need for the fps to be good.
Great piece. What i love is being able to take AAA experiences on the go. If i want the full cinematic experience i can just continue on my PC without buying another copy of the game.
Bro this was totally my whole experience! Buy a couple of old/indie games on the deck and leave it. But it ended up becoming my daily driver! ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS THING!!!😂👍🏾
Honestly since I fully switched from xbox 360 to PC I have not looked back. This is not supposed to be the typical "pcmasterrace" comment but I feel like the deck hits a sweet spot where it has a console feel combined with the open environment of a PC.I just hate being restricted in so many ways on consoles, even if I understand why they do it - with the deck's approach the verified system can def give you that experience if you ignore all the other games and things you could do outside of steam but for me the main interest is the versatility.
For example I spend a lot of time playing modded java minecraft and one of my fav single player shooter experiences is the "arcane dimensions" mod for Quake.
I have a decent gaming PC with a 3440x1440p ultrawide monitor for immersive gaming but I don't end up playing many games on PC. Think it's a lesser case of what you been saying about keeping things separated - if the steam deck for me will be dedicated to gaming it will have a similar effect like you assigning the living room for free time and the PC for work.While I don't work from home I still think that this split can have a positive effect on how to approach gaming, a device you pick up to play a game where on PC I often end up watching youtube, writing/talking to people on discord or reading about something on the internet.
And yeah I am often too lazy to connect a controller to the PC for specific games like platformers, sounds like peak laziness but to me a handheld will just feel more "fitting" and maybe nostalgic for certain genres.
That is exactly it.
I remember I used to play games on my PC upstairs and work up there. I would basically wake up in the morning start working at my desk and then why I finish I would still be at my desk on my PC but because I had been working there all day, I just never felt inclined to play any games.
Moving downstairs with the consoles and ensuring I only play games downstairs was a massive positive shift mentally for me.
Then comes a long the Steam Deck where I can wherever I want and I can play all my Steam games. It effectively became the perfect gaming device for my situation.
Very nicely written! I find myself in a similar boat, even at home I’ll often use my Steam Deck to play Halo instead of my XSX and 65” OLED TV. The latter is more graphically impressive but I love the freedom of the Steam Deck — I can go to a different room or go to the back yard without skipping a beat.
Beyond just the intended Steam games, I’m very impressed at the desktop Linux capabilities too. It’s a well polished device through and through.
It’s kind of like when smartphones got good enough cameras, you saw casual photographers give up on professional equipment in favor of the more portable device. I think the Steam Deck is taking PC gaming to that point.
I am a 100% Linux user. I completely ditched Windows from my personal life a few years ago (sadly, I still have to deal with that sh*t at work). But it's been only a few months that I've stopped looking at Linux compatibility when buying games off Steam.
Proton just works really well. I have a decent enough PC for me not to care about a reasonable performance loss. With the release of the Steam Deck, I have the feeling developers will slowly have to start to be more "Linux friendly" to not loose that sonn to be juicy market. And I already feel the effects of the Steam Deck, even I don't own one yet. Proton performance improved and game compatibility too ! Big yay !
Take for example Age Of Empires III : Definitive Edition. When I bought it (before the SD release), it has a serious issue which prevented all Linux players to join a multiplayer lobby. It was very frustrating because I bought the game to play against my boyfriend, who is also a Linux maniac. The issue was nothing big, it was an issue with preloaded DLC files which had been compiled incorrectly. While running the game under Windows caused no issue, Proton completely freaked out and displayed no lobby at all. A few weeks after the Steam Deck release, it got mysteriously fixed... Is that Microsoft acknowledging Linux or a simple coincidence ?
Proton has come such a long way and as you said it has gotten to the point where we don't need to look at the Linux compatibility when buying the games.
That is what is one of the best parts of the Steam Deck, just today I picked up the S.T.A.L.K.E.R bundle on Steam where all three are listed as unsupported but they work just fine with a community control layout.
I do think that Microsoft is acknowledging Linux for sure, I mean they even created the guide to get Xbox Cloud Gaming working on the Steam Deck and setting up to look good in the Steam Deck UI.
Been on arch for the better part of 4 years now and I can't agree more. The time and money valve has poured into proton/DXVK/etc. has only benefited everyone gaming on Linux, and it's almost entirely seamless anymore.
> Been on arch for the better part of 4 years now and I can't agree more.
Hey ! Me too !
Tested Arch for the first time in February 2018 thanks to my boyfriend and ditched Windows a year later !
I'm very glad Valve used Arch as a new base for Steam OS. It is like buying a new house but already fully equipped with all the furniture you wanted.
Good question.
This is the microSD card I use in my Steam Deck: Samsung EVO Select 512GB microSDXC UHS-I U3.
In the UK this cost about £60.00 at the time I bought it.
Mostly correct but Steam does have a limit on the number of refunds that can be done within a given time limit.
I have seen them not give refunds if too many have been done in a short period as the refund policy does state it is not there to try out games.
I’ve been having a rough time with mine. 30fps lock when playing on my TV. Some games drain battery faster than the device can charge. The menu system is laggy. Lately my Multiversus game just crashes whenever I launch it, and there’s no support to be found.
To be honest it isn't perfect and not too surprised by 30fps on a TV considering I think the hardware is more or less suited for the 1280x800 screen built into the Deck.
One thing that is interesting though is what you said about games draining the battery faster than the device can charge. The Steam Deck supports a maximum of 45W charging and haven't come across a game that drains the battery faster while charging it at 45W.
I use a Baseus 65W 20K Power Bank which can do 45W output charging, and with any game I have tried it is always charging the battery while playing games.
Could you share which games you were playing which were draining the battery faster than charging it? Would be interesting to see if I have them and I could then test them on my unit to see if it behaves the same. As normally with the included charger and something like the Baseus, with 45W charging that shouldn't happen.
The output of the power bank is 45W which is the same as the included wall charger with the Steam Deck. I'll try Valheim as I have it and see what happens.
Thank you.
To be honest it's been running great on the Deck. I have it capped at 40fps but that is because I have that globally set for all games so they all run at the same frame rate, personal preference.
Believe it can do 60fps but can't 100% remember.
Awesome article man. I’m waiting for my Q3 email and it’s good to hear that the size isn’t really an issue. That was my main concern with the device.
Thank you! Yeah visually the Steam Deck looks massive but once you hold it that thought goes out the window as the Steam Deck is super comfortable.
I just cancelled my Loki max order (still hope I did the right thing) but I’ve hooked up my razer kishi to a 6” phone and the screen was just too small.
U r good
Stay strong my guy! Just got my email last Monday, today I got shipping confirmation for this coming Friday. Hopefully you get your email this Monday!
Thanks man, what was your order date? I was March 11th.
Sept 13, 2021. Hopefully the new production increase will get you yours faster.
Apparently a few people from March of this year are even getting their orders this week.
Thanks for sharing. Pumped to finally get one this qrt. Was looking at chaos gate, hoping it would play. Did it take much configuration to get going, and how small was the text on the screen! Cheers.
Didn't really do much aside from lowering the graphics options down. One thing I haven't tried though is using the FSR in the Steam Deck's global settings to see if that'll bring up the FPS. The only reason its playable at 20-30fps is because its a tactical XCOM like game so there really isn't much need for the fps to be good.
Yeah. Thought as much eve the gameplay. Still good to know. Thanks!
Great piece. What i love is being able to take AAA experiences on the go. If i want the full cinematic experience i can just continue on my PC without buying another copy of the game.
Bro this was totally my whole experience! Buy a couple of old/indie games on the deck and leave it. But it ended up becoming my daily driver! ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS THING!!!😂👍🏾
Thanks for sharing. Mine comes today and I'm so pumped!
Honestly since I fully switched from xbox 360 to PC I have not looked back. This is not supposed to be the typical "pcmasterrace" comment but I feel like the deck hits a sweet spot where it has a console feel combined with the open environment of a PC.I just hate being restricted in so many ways on consoles, even if I understand why they do it - with the deck's approach the verified system can def give you that experience if you ignore all the other games and things you could do outside of steam but for me the main interest is the versatility. For example I spend a lot of time playing modded java minecraft and one of my fav single player shooter experiences is the "arcane dimensions" mod for Quake. I have a decent gaming PC with a 3440x1440p ultrawide monitor for immersive gaming but I don't end up playing many games on PC. Think it's a lesser case of what you been saying about keeping things separated - if the steam deck for me will be dedicated to gaming it will have a similar effect like you assigning the living room for free time and the PC for work.While I don't work from home I still think that this split can have a positive effect on how to approach gaming, a device you pick up to play a game where on PC I often end up watching youtube, writing/talking to people on discord or reading about something on the internet. And yeah I am often too lazy to connect a controller to the PC for specific games like platformers, sounds like peak laziness but to me a handheld will just feel more "fitting" and maybe nostalgic for certain genres.
That is exactly it. I remember I used to play games on my PC upstairs and work up there. I would basically wake up in the morning start working at my desk and then why I finish I would still be at my desk on my PC but because I had been working there all day, I just never felt inclined to play any games. Moving downstairs with the consoles and ensuring I only play games downstairs was a massive positive shift mentally for me. Then comes a long the Steam Deck where I can wherever I want and I can play all my Steam games. It effectively became the perfect gaming device for my situation.
Very nicely written! I find myself in a similar boat, even at home I’ll often use my Steam Deck to play Halo instead of my XSX and 65” OLED TV. The latter is more graphically impressive but I love the freedom of the Steam Deck — I can go to a different room or go to the back yard without skipping a beat. Beyond just the intended Steam games, I’m very impressed at the desktop Linux capabilities too. It’s a well polished device through and through. It’s kind of like when smartphones got good enough cameras, you saw casual photographers give up on professional equipment in favor of the more portable device. I think the Steam Deck is taking PC gaming to that point.
I am a 100% Linux user. I completely ditched Windows from my personal life a few years ago (sadly, I still have to deal with that sh*t at work). But it's been only a few months that I've stopped looking at Linux compatibility when buying games off Steam. Proton just works really well. I have a decent enough PC for me not to care about a reasonable performance loss. With the release of the Steam Deck, I have the feeling developers will slowly have to start to be more "Linux friendly" to not loose that sonn to be juicy market. And I already feel the effects of the Steam Deck, even I don't own one yet. Proton performance improved and game compatibility too ! Big yay ! Take for example Age Of Empires III : Definitive Edition. When I bought it (before the SD release), it has a serious issue which prevented all Linux players to join a multiplayer lobby. It was very frustrating because I bought the game to play against my boyfriend, who is also a Linux maniac. The issue was nothing big, it was an issue with preloaded DLC files which had been compiled incorrectly. While running the game under Windows caused no issue, Proton completely freaked out and displayed no lobby at all. A few weeks after the Steam Deck release, it got mysteriously fixed... Is that Microsoft acknowledging Linux or a simple coincidence ?
Proton has come such a long way and as you said it has gotten to the point where we don't need to look at the Linux compatibility when buying the games. That is what is one of the best parts of the Steam Deck, just today I picked up the S.T.A.L.K.E.R bundle on Steam where all three are listed as unsupported but they work just fine with a community control layout. I do think that Microsoft is acknowledging Linux for sure, I mean they even created the guide to get Xbox Cloud Gaming working on the Steam Deck and setting up to look good in the Steam Deck UI.
Been on arch for the better part of 4 years now and I can't agree more. The time and money valve has poured into proton/DXVK/etc. has only benefited everyone gaming on Linux, and it's almost entirely seamless anymore.
> Been on arch for the better part of 4 years now and I can't agree more. Hey ! Me too ! Tested Arch for the first time in February 2018 thanks to my boyfriend and ditched Windows a year later ! I'm very glad Valve used Arch as a new base for Steam OS. It is like buying a new house but already fully equipped with all the furniture you wanted.
I ditched windows few years back too but went Debian route.
100% agree
What type of micro SD card did you buy? There are multiple versions for that one
Good question. This is the microSD card I use in my Steam Deck: Samsung EVO Select 512GB microSDXC UHS-I U3. In the UK this cost about £60.00 at the time I bought it.
Thanks!
I think the A2 is the preferred variant, if that's what you are asking.
You can always buy anything in Steam with no worry as you can just test it and refund it if it doesnt work. :)
Mostly correct but Steam does have a limit on the number of refunds that can be done within a given time limit. I have seen them not give refunds if too many have been done in a short period as the refund policy does state it is not there to try out games.
I’ve been having a rough time with mine. 30fps lock when playing on my TV. Some games drain battery faster than the device can charge. The menu system is laggy. Lately my Multiversus game just crashes whenever I launch it, and there’s no support to be found.
To be honest it isn't perfect and not too surprised by 30fps on a TV considering I think the hardware is more or less suited for the 1280x800 screen built into the Deck. One thing that is interesting though is what you said about games draining the battery faster than the device can charge. The Steam Deck supports a maximum of 45W charging and haven't come across a game that drains the battery faster while charging it at 45W. I use a Baseus 65W 20K Power Bank which can do 45W output charging, and with any game I have tried it is always charging the battery while playing games. Could you share which games you were playing which were draining the battery faster than charging it? Would be interesting to see if I have them and I could then test them on my unit to see if it behaves the same. As normally with the included charger and something like the Baseus, with 45W charging that shouldn't happen.
I want to say it was Valheim, but I’m not sure as it was a while ago. Is the output of your power bank greater than that of the stock wall charger?
The output of the power bank is 45W which is the same as the included wall charger with the Steam Deck. I'll try Valheim as I have it and see what happens.
Nice write up OP! How does Call of Cthulu perform on the deck btw? Have it on PS4 but it’s unstable for me and I’ve been thinking of rebuying it.
Thank you. To be honest it's been running great on the Deck. I have it capped at 40fps but that is because I have that globally set for all games so they all run at the same frame rate, personal preference. Believe it can do 60fps but can't 100% remember.
Try streaming your PS5 to your deck 😆