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Valve Steam Deck

steamdeck.com

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Re: Valve Steam Deck

#911

Post by baxuz »

thinkingemote wrote: post #909
baxuz wrote: post #908

Imagine if Apple made the Steam Deck with the M-series processors. Would probably have more power with 2x the battery life and 200g less weight. But you'd be stuck playing p2w RTS games and gachas.

And cost five times as much, wouldn't run a customisable OS, hardware couldn't be upgraded, no ports unless you bought a two extra dongles and included a free game from U2.

Doubt it'd cost any more than a 13" MBP or a MBA. So probably around the 1000€ mark.

All those things still stand, but I'd love to see Apple silicon on non-Apple hardware. It's a quantum leap over anything else on the market.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#912

Post by eb0la »

l0b0 wrote: post #606
css wrote: post #135

From the FAQ [0]: - What OS is Steam Deck running? SteamOS 3.0, a new version of SteamOS based on Arch Linux. - Will people be able to install Windows, or other 3rd party content? Yes. Steam Deck is a PC, and players will be able to install whatever they like, including other OSes. [0]: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/faq

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

And now 1) I am googling NixOS and 2) cursing why the #@! I didn't knew about after looking at the page. Thanks!

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#913

Post by eb0la »

fouc wrote: post #910
l0b0 wrote: post #606

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arch Linux is amazing. The biggest surprise for me was that it's more stable than so-called stable distros, probably because the various packages don't end up drifting several months from each other when keeping up to date. Hopefully this eventually results in more user friendly Arch Linux installers. The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty…

> The learning curve is an absolute wall when installing, even after several years on Linux, but after that it's pretty standard. I'm surprised, I found it very easy to get into Arch linux. But I came from distributions like Slackware & Gentoo where it was common to do the installation almost entirely from commands in the terminal. IMO distributions that keep the installation primarily command-line focused are a good…

I second this: Command-line and text files are more user friendly than it seems.

1/ You can search for stuff on the internet and get quick results (not a video) 2/ You can _paste_ a command and send it to someone to run it instead of a word document with instructions and screenshots. 3/ Once you learn to find and search for stuff in files, it is easy to discover where stuff is configured. 4/ Manual pages are great once you know how to read (I mean skim) them.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#914

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL »

thomascgalvin wrote: post #288
gfaure wrote: post #166

Many people I know have bought more games on Steam than they could ever play (a behaviour encouraged by seasonal Steam sales). This strikes me as a great chance for people to discover and play titles that have sat in their collections for years.

I really need to get around to beating Darkest Dungeon some year.

Omg. Darkest dungeon on this thing will feel amazing

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#915

Post by hyperpallium2 »

Deck vs OLED Switch: 40Whr vs 16Whr (3.7V * 4.310Ah) battery, to give similar 2-8hr vs 4.5-9hr, with 1.6TF vs 1TF GPU, weighing 669g vs 398g. Batteries weigh a lot.

ARM-based Deck possible?

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#916

Post by sbergot »

ergot_vacation wrote: post #743
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #56

Gotta admit, I never saw that coming. I thought SteamOS was dead after the failure of Steam Machines and Valve was only continuing with their Linux efforts because it's still a useful hedge against Microsoft locking everyone in the App Store. I totally did not expect them to copy the Switch use-case with it. I'm anxious to see how this turns out. Valve's history with hardware is not so great, so it could go nowhere l…

It's a neat piece of hardware, but I have a hard time believing it will be any more than a fad. Who is this for? Serious PC gamers? Why not just play on the "real" PC they already have, with the super-expensive monitor, graphics card, and input devices they carefully assembled? Casual gamers that don't care so much about those things and want to play meatier games on the go? Why wouldn't they just buy a Switch (which…

I have a gaming PC and a switch. I buy and play lots of indie games. Each time I have to pick a platform.

Steam: more support, lower price, won't have to buy it again if another "version" of the hardware comes out

Switch: portable, multiple controllers for local multiplayers.

Now I don't have to choose anymore. And I already have a big library of games. I will only need a switch for exclusive games and local multiplayer games.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#917

Post by arc-in-space »

awill wrote: post #627

I'm a little disappointed that Valve is focused on Proton only. This can also play native Linux games. A well written native game should perform better, and, more importantly, get better battery life. Maybe Valve is going about this the right way. Focus on Proton now, and if it takes off, game devs will make the effort to do a native port.

Sadly, some of the native linux game versions that I've tried were worse(less performant or unstable) than forcing Steam to run the proton version, since they don't get as much dev effort. I'm perfectly ok with this for now, given how well proton already runs. We'd need to find ourselves in a primarily-linux-gaming future first.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#918

Post by swiley »

aj3 wrote: post #885
BatteryMountain wrote: post #875

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to use it as a (mobile NUC with screen + battery) and use it for programming etc.. not going to buy it for gaming at all. Having an amd machine with 16Gb ram + nvme storage + linux - perfect setup for day to day coding! And will buy it as a thank you to Valve for supporting us all these years. I think this will pay off for them in the long run.

Can't imagine coding without a good keyboard though. And mobile mechanical keyboards are too heavy to carry around. It should be great for debugging random server problems while on vacation though.

I code on the train using xvkbd on my pinephone. You get used to it. A good editor like vim helps a lot. You're spending most of the time thinking not typing.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#919

Post by XCSme »

thom wrote: post #507
thorum wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One negative: With all that hardware it’s almost 3 times heavier than the Nintendo Switch, which is already near the upper limit for holding comfortable for longer play sessions. edit: On closer look that's comparing the Switch without controllers (297g) to the Steam Deck with controllers (669g). The Switch with controllers is 398g, so the Steam Deck is only ~1.7x times as heavy - though that's still a lot of extra w…

I've been thoroughly unimpressed with the build quality of the Switch, I'd probably have paid more for a sturdier 'pro' version, to be honest.

The build quality is the main I never considered getting a Switch. I simply hated playing with the joycons, they felt like things you win in puff snack bags.

Re: Valve Steam Deck

#920

Post by arc-in-space »

tqi wrote: post #664

As a person who is mostly interested in playing a few older PC games out of a sense of nostalgia (such as the definitive editions of Age of Empires / Age of Kings), should I get this and if so, what size?

You may have trouble running some older games if they aren't already on steam. If they are, though, then that seems like a fine use. The 64gb version would probably be more than enough.
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