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Steam Deck: First Anniversary

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Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#21

Post by Razengan »

pigsty wrote: post #7
Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

I’m on the other side. Almost bought a PS5. Or to be more accurate, wanted to buy a PS5, but they were insanely behind with shipping and the little stocks there were got bought up by resellers. Then once Sony managed to get stocks up somewhat, they jacked up the prices (something I don’t recall any other console manufacturer ever doing). I bought a steam deck instead and I’ve been playing basically all I would’ve bee…

> I’ve been playing basically all I would’ve been playing on the PS5 I wanted to get

One of the most surprising benefits of getting a real PS5 has been the DualSense haptics. It's more than just a gimmick and makes a real difference in games that utilize it well: Demon's Souls, Ghost of Tsushima, Doom Eternal, No Man's Sky...

Combat feels so solid, with every hit and clang of a sword ringing in your hand (literally, with the audio from the controller) and guns having distinct effects via the trigger resistance.

After you've tried that, playing non-DualSense games feels so dead in the hand. There's almost a physical discomfort from the lack of that extra dimension of sensation and interactivity.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#22

Post by lini »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

> If you install Windows, apparently Microsoft doesn't allow you to get updates (on W11) because of the Deck's lack of a "TPM".

I have installed Win 11 on my Deck because Easy Anti-Cheat does not work with Proton yet and have no issues with updates. The latest firmware (BIOS) seems to work fine for Win 11 requirements and I receive updates for Windows as well as new drivers from Windows Update.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#23

Post by bergheim »

elmerfud wrote: post #11

I have to say I'm very happy with it for the price I paid. Could it be better, sure, I wish the screen was better but I'm still very happy with it. I actually bought it on a lark because I'm 49 and I never really hand held gamed. Never got in to it beyond the beep-boop led games of the 70s/80s with boring family road trips. I watched many hand held platforms come and go and never could get in to using them. Always pr…

you.. carry a monitor? how is a steam deck, a keyboard and a monitor better than just having a laptop? also how does the monitor survive this, do you put in in the original box?

and if so, how big is your luggage? :)

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#24

Post by smileybarry »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

> If you install Windows, apparently Microsoft doesn't allow you to get updates (on W11) because of the Deck's lack of a "TPM".

False for almost a year, a fTPM was added in a system update in March 2022. It's even a note in Valve's Windows drivers page.

> Heck even an M2 MacBook + Windows VM would do.

I seriously doubt it, you have questionable GPU acceleration + 2 levels of binary translation + 3 GPU translation layers in the way. (I know VMware's DX virtualization is good but I have no experience with Parallel's) It's also at least 3x the price for meh gaming (on WOWARM64 on VM on DirectX on Parallels on Metal) performance.

> Valve is almost as infamous as Google for abandoning their hardware and projects.

Steam Link as an app is still fully supported and my Steam Link box not only works but gets updates, still.

> Some Deck-exclusive features and API so that it can be an independent platform in its own right, instead of just a mobile PC.

That's kind of the charm of it, though. It's meant to be a "play your existing games" type thing. Making more vendor-exclusive garbage won't drive adoption. The mouseaim-like trackpad, analogue triggers and haptics are useful exclusive features already, and they can be implemented by a user instead of relying on the dev.

> The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb up here in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option??

I wish mine was OLED too but I was thankful it wasn't when I had to keep it on for hours to download games. I could look around for a screen-off tweak but I didn't have to worry about pixel burn-in.

Maybe someday a OLED screen mod will happen, the entire thing is super repairable and there's already hall effect joysticks available.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#25

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

bergheim wrote: post #23
elmerfud wrote: post #11

I have to say I'm very happy with it for the price I paid. Could it be better, sure, I wish the screen was better but I'm still very happy with it. I actually bought it on a lark because I'm 49 and I never really hand held gamed. Never got in to it beyond the beep-boop led games of the 70s/80s with boring family road trips. I watched many hand held platforms come and go and never could get in to using them. Always pr…

you.. carry a monitor? how is a steam deck, a keyboard and a monitor better than just having a laptop? also how does the monitor survive this, do you put in in the original box? and if so, how big is your luggage? :)

Not OP but I guess they carry a portable monitor to use as a second screen for their work laptop. A usb-c powered 13inches portable monitor looks mostly like a tablet. It's very easy to bring with you.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#26

Post by branon »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

For most of these I don't disagree, but I take issue with a few:

Windows is a distraction and lots of us have spent years decoupling PC gaming from Microsoft. That said I do think first-class Windows support would be a boon for the Deck. Not sure how decent the user experience is on Windows right now.

Exclusives are a foreign concept on PC. We do not need exclusives on Steam Deck, that is a console marketshare corralling strategy. PC has been getting ports of Sony titles lately. PC players win when there are _less_ exclusives, not more.

In my mind Steam already is an independent platform, so the Deck benefits from that by extension. Steam has an API called Steamworks. Again exclusivity is not needed here, you can add non-Steam games to the Steam client and still benefit from some of the platform's features w/o using the API.

As far as Valve abandoning products... they kinda do the opposite of that but I understand the sentiment. I never had a Steam Machine and doubt they're still in support, but Steam Link works great and the Steam Controller still gets firmware updates. Software, too - Source engine games see regular maintenance. Backwards compatibility is taken seriously, platform-wide.

Even the Steam Machine could easily be reformatted with whatever OS, and as soon as the Steam client is installed, it instantly becomes a first-class citizen again.

It's hard to truly abandon products that run atop an open platform.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#27

Post by cybrox »

Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

Small technical nitpick, Proton (Wine) is not an emulator.

I don't own a Deck but I've been gaming on Linux using Proton for quite a while now and I have yet to encounter an actual issue with WINEs platform implementation. So far, I'm very impressed with the stability and performance it provides.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#28

Post by Semaphor »

elmerfud wrote: post #11

I have to say I'm very happy with it for the price I paid. Could it be better, sure, I wish the screen was better but I'm still very happy with it. I actually bought it on a lark because I'm 49 and I never really hand held gamed. Never got in to it beyond the beep-boop led games of the 70s/80s with boring family road trips. I watched many hand held platforms come and go and never could get in to using them. Always pr…

> Always preferred the laptop, probably because with having a game thing I always needed my laptop.

What about the GameBoy (my first and last handheld console)? From what I remember, Laptops back then were not really a thing.

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#29

Post by smileybarry »

wraptile wrote: post #13
Razengan wrote: post #2

Ultimate? umm.. I almost purchased one as a Christmas gift for myself, but after doing some research I decided to spend the money on PS5 games instead: • The Deck's screen is not OLED, which is pretty dumb in 2023, especially when they have a "nano-texture" option for glare reduction; why not also provide an OLED option?? • By default it's Linux, and runs Windows games via Proton, resulting in some weird emulation bu…

Most proton games work flawlessly on steamdeck. The only issues after almost a year I encoutnered are related to anti-cheat and DRM. You can dock it with any hub that supports 45W usb c power and hdmi. There are lot of docks and valid cables online - it's really not that difficult to get it. So far Valve's support has been great and I'm not sure I agree that their infamous for abandoning hardware. The steam link has…

And ironically some games work better on Proton, partly because Wine shipped fixes for them (like RollerCoaster Tycoon 2) or Valve fixing game bugs on the Proton side (Elden Ring shader compilation stutters come to mind).

Re: Steam Deck: First Anniversary

#30

Post by diceduckmonk »

Has anyone used their Steam Deck with a projector and/or as home media machine (HTPC)? We bought a Chromecast while traveling abroad and took hours to setup Wi-Fi, login with various streaming accounts with arrow keys, then finally hit with regional lockouts (HBO not being available and Netflix having different catalogue). In the end, we just gave up and went to the movie theaters. It’d be great if we had a portable content streaming device that’s a proper computer and where we can have a VPN setup, possibly even with a offline catalogue while we’re on a plane.
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