Steam Deck, a perfect companion to your Steam Ant - The Bear and Badger

GurtTractor

If you stick to the Steam OS that it comes with you should be fine, it should auto update pretty smoothly being Linux. If you want to do stuff with Windows etc then you can expect some faff, but there will be probably be a lot of good guides.

acemuzzy

Are they making Cloud Saves more ubiquitous as part of this? Or will some games continue to not support? Save states are a bit of a mess in Windows aren't they?

GurtTractor

Well they are doing cross PC/Deck cloud saves. I think it's down to the individual devs to implement it. Pretty much every game I play seems to have Steam cloud saving, but I think some games have really huge save sizes so they don't have it by default because if you go to restart the game you might be waiting a while for your save to sync.

b0r1s

I’ve decided to stick to Steam OS. GamePass on PC isn’t great and I’ve only really got a bunch of free games on Epic. I want the simplicity and hopefully more optimised experience.

[Deleted User]

GurtTractor wrote:

How big is your phone screen?

6.5" (Galaxy S20 FE)

GurtTractor

The Deck has a 7 inch screen so slightly bigger, probably not a huge difference then. UI scaling and general visibility is likely to be an issue people might have with many games, but if this form factor grows in popularity I think it's likely that developers will focus on tailoring the games more to it, or at least having UI modes for a small screen.

AndCallMeCharlie

b0r1s wrote:

I’ve decided to stick to Steam OS. GamePass on PC isn’t great and I’ve only really got a bunch of free games on Epic. I want the simplicity and hopefully more optimised experience.

Won’t most games run slower since they are optimized to run on windows rather than Linux?

GurtTractor

There's probably not going to be a huge amount of difference, also keep in mind that Windows will have much greater overhead in terms of background processing and RAM usage compared to the minimal Steam OS.

From here.

I'm not seeing an awful lot of benchmarking on this just yet, but I'm sure the likes of Hardware Unboxed etc will do some good Proton vs Windows game performance pieces in the coming months.

AndCallMeCharlie

Yes it will be interesting to see windows bulk v wine type conversion
If it’s approx the same then the question is convenience or flexibility
Many YouTube videos to follow

b0r1s

And I’ll hopefully be leaning more towards the convenience. My current PC experience has been mixed. Some great games but spread across several stores and then some issues with GamePass and the usual driver downloads from Nvidia every week it seems.

I’m guessing Gabe is hoping people keep the stock steam store and he wins back sales from Switch indies. I’m assuming sales of indie titles have taken a hit on steam due to Nintendo.

GurtTractor

I certainly wouldn't expect much of a problem with games that have clean visual styles and relatively simple graphics, and those are probably what's going to work best on a 7 inch screen anyway.

Though it may be quite capable this likely isn't the device to get if you are really stoked to play the latest and greatest massive super shiny games, a desktop would probably a better investment. It's going to be very cool to see such things running on it though.

hunk

I can see Linux-Windows proton compatibility gaining a definitive boost from SteamOS based hw. 720p handheld/1080p docked at low/mid settings should be plenty viable? Especially with Devs optimising sw for it like with the Switch.
Of course you could install w10 on it but I wonder if you'll lose functionality and performance due to windows overhead? And if so, by how much?

Also, Arch based Linux? That should give the Linux install base a healthy boost. For the people who want 4k, in house streaming is the only option for now. Untill APU processing power and FSA catch up that is.

b0r1s

I’ve got a nice ASU’s USB-C powered portable monitor that would be a great pairing with this for taking on holiday. Xbox controller and the screen at 1080p could be a nice way to play more text based games that may not work so well on the 7” screen.

Wonder if it will hit a million sales at launch. Scalpers are already in on the action. Weirdly that may push up interest in the console.

hunk

Also, I can see why Valve went the Switch route. It's obviously the cheapest point of entry to market with the biggest potential for growth. The controller tech was already there as was the OS. AMD's next generation APU's close the deal.

It's also perfect timing as this gen MS is solidifying it's grip on w10 with Xbox gamepass. And that's without mentioning W11. Valve being valve, it's obvious they want more independence from MS Windows. What better way to escape the MS overlords than by expanding the Steam ecosystem with more SteamOS hw? If they can increase the Linux userbase over time, valve will have more leverage against behemoth rival MS.

Armitage_Shankburn

Rip Nintendo Nintendo is dead rip reg also hahahahaha all hail jabba the hut our new overlord

hunk

Nah, Nintendo is eternal and will never die.
Unless they do a Sega.....

b0r1s

I don’t think Nintendo need to worry.

EvilRedEye

Was having a serious think about one of these for a moment then checked the website and noticed the two higher-speced ones are now backordered until Q3 2022. Gen 2 might not be long off by that time.

SpaceGazelle

I like how Nintendo know 720p is fine in handheld. No options, just play the game.

Facewon

b0r1s wrote:

. Some great games but spread across several stores and then some issues with GamePass and the usual driver downloads from Nvidia every week it seems.

.

I mean the gamepass issues and updating is a thing for sure. (Surely steam updates are the most common?)

But gog has largely solved the multi store issue for me.

So easy having all installed games in one spot.

So much so that I don't even tag my steam games these days.

Blue Swirl

yourfavouriteuncle wrote:

Blue Swirl wrote:

How so?

Sorry, it was a vague attempt at me passing on my views that it’s a fairly turgid game. I didn’t enjoy much of my time with it, so I wouldn’t be looking for anything that could run it.

Ah, I see. I did just find out that EDGE gave it 6/10, which is not the glowing review I expected.

Blue Swirl

GurtTractor wrote:

Here's someone playing Resi Village on an Aya Neo, which is somewhat comparable in power - Seems aight to me, and the Deck has a much better control setup.

I skimmed through the video, couldn't find any sections with combat. My laptop ran the game smooth as butter until things started attacking me, then it was less than single digit FPS.

GurtTractor

What are your laptop specs?

Lurch666

Blue Swirl wrote:

GurtTractor wrote:

Here's someone playing Resi Village on an Aya Neo, which is somewhat comparable in power - Seems aight to me, and the Deck has a much better control setup.

I skimmed through the video, couldn't find any sections with combat. My laptop ran the game smooth as butter until things started attacking me, then it was less than single digit FPS.

That's the anti tamper screwing with the game.
Get a pirate copy and that problem goes away.

GurtTractor

DRM fucking over the consumer as usual.

Blue Swirl

GurtTractor wrote:

What are your laptop specs?

I'll dig it up when I get home. I think I fall a wee bit short of minimum, so I was probably being optimistic.

Blue Swirl

GurtTractor wrote:

DRM fucking over the consumer as usual.

Defective by design, and all that.

RamSteelwood

Can't cheat if it doesn't run!

b0r1s

stellavista

The most power-hungry game they show in-game footage of in that is probably Portal 2? They show plenty of games on the dashboard like Control and Death Stranding but not gameplay footage? What’s that game at the end - is that Control? But mainly the gameplay footage is all Portal 2 and Hades. Which is a bit disappointing.

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