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The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

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Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#161

Post by groovybits »

nerdjon wrote: post #81
brainzap wrote: post #25

steamdeck verified is a lie, I bought a steamdeck and tested 20 games. Lots of problems.

They really need to do much better about how they communicate this to users. Developers are unable to opt out of the system and Valve will just put a "verified" tag on a game with zero input from a developer. Valve needs to set proper expectations of who to be mad at when a game breaks on the Steam Deck if the developer themselves never pledged support. Most users don't understand what an OS really is or how a game w…

> Valve will just put a "verified" tag on a game with zero input from a developer.

This is a big claim, is there evidence for this? I'm an end-user, not a developer, but there are plenty of games in Unknown status. I would assume that should be the default, not Verified.

I can see an argument that Valve has incentive to have flagship games get that Verified badge, but there is also precedence for them downgrading popular games after launch. For example, Spider-Man 2 recently went from Verified to Playable (rightfully so, in my opinion).

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#162

Post by piyuv »

Shacklz wrote: post #94
whytevuhuni wrote: post #3

They’re not saints, especially with the games distribution platform monopoly they’re sitting on top of, but... I really think Valve have become the de-facto owners of the “don’t be evil” motto nowadays, even if they don’t advertise themselves as such.

Unlike other corporations, they actually didn't really do all that much to make it a monopoly though. It's kind of an organic monopoly simply by being better than everything else, by a wide margin. There's not much "lock-in" apart from the games one owns on the platform; and the social aspects of steam are mostly negligible or niche - sure there's the friendlist, but no gamer I know uses steam voice-chat so the frien…

The library one amasses is a huge lock-in though, you’re downplaying it

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#163

Post by ferbivore »

jerf wrote: post #142
haunter wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the answer isn't even "Play Switch 1 games", the Steam Deck does that better too What about motion control games like Switch Sports?

I don't have any personal experience running Switch games on the Steam Deck, but I do have experience trying to use the Switch Pro controllers. I think they may work fine for some people now, but I have never been able to have them have a stable wireless connection. But when the connection was established, the accelerometers worked fine. (I gave up and just bought some XBox controllers.) I'm sure the emulators accept…

Is this really the case? Every video I've seen about Switch emulation on the Deck shows stutter, low framerates, audio glitches, etc. in most games.

For ToTK in particular, this video suggests it'll barely hit ~30FPS on the Deck under Yuzu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afetsBdQFyc

Whereas on a modded Switch you can run it at ~60FPS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Z6W_AUNY0

There are other more recent videos backing this up and showing that the game has far more frequent stutters than on the Switch.

Anyway, the point is, I wouldn't dismiss sticking a picofly into your Switch as pointless. Even if you have no desire to inflict some Meta-style "fair use" on videogame publishers, it's still worth doing for perks like sys-clk, RetroArch, sm64nx and 2s2h.

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#164

Post by thih9 »

WolfeReader wrote: post #148
thih9 wrote: post #146

How good is platform support - can I install e.g. Diablo 3 and have the thumbsticks control the character and not a virtual mouse? Or would I need to remap the input myself?

It varies by game - if the devs created a default control scheme, the Deck will load that by default and you're good to go. (The green check mark means that Valve verified this behavior, as well as other things.) And if not, the Deck UI makes it pretty easy to create your own mappings and share them, or download "community layouts". You don't need a Deck to try it - you can run Steam in "big picture mode" on any comp…

I was going to check that and I realized i can’t find diablo 3 on steam. I know I could install it myself through some other online store. Still, I wish there were cartridges that “just worked”; consoles (including today’s Nintendo) got that part right IMO.

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#165

Post by SXX »

tomnipotent wrote: post #154
dpatterbee wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft used its influence over OEMs to stifle their competition in the browser market. This blog post is about how Valve are very much not doing that.

Valve used its influence over game publishers to stifle their competition in the digital distribution market. I'm a happy Valve customer, and I'd still likely buy with them even if other platform's offered lower prices, but that doesn't change that they've leveraged their market domination to force concessions from publishers that benefit their business at the cost of competitors and customers.

I'm game developer, co-founder of my own company and I hate Valve 30% cut.

Yet Valve did nothing to stiffle competition. Their only major requirement for games published on Steam was that games suppose to get same efficient discounts as they get on other storefronts. E.g you cannot constantly sell your game on Epic Games store for $10 while Steam version cost never drops below $12.

Also game developers are allowed to request sane amount of Steam keys for free and sell them elsewhere while pocketing all the profit while Valve covers all the distribution costs.

Epic Games stiffled itself. Their store is shitty and dont even have player reviews. No surprise they have no customers except those who come to play Fortnite or get free games.

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#166

Post by MostlyStable »

candiddevmike wrote: post #143
glenstein wrote: post #4

It truly is, and it's the culmination of a long history of development to get to this point. Back in, I want to say 2016 or so, we had Steam Machines, which were a series of hardware partnerships with various vendors for a console-style form factor of essentially PC hardware running on the first version of Steam OS. It was an incredible idea, but at the time rather frustratingly, I think some people came down with wh…

Valve should acquire Framework and have them do Steam Machine 2.0.

I'd much rather a partnership than an acquisition. Valve is great, but open, repairable hardware is not their core mission. I think Framework needs to stay independent to maintain that.

But also, Valve is doing a decent job of it on their own already, with the steamdeck being quite repairable and upgradeable, especially in comparison to the competition. I'd rather there be a greater number of companies all independently demonstrating that repairable hardware can be a commercial success rather than the market takeaway being "oh that's just that weird Framework thing, it won't work for us".

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#167

Post by spookie »

PaulHoule wrote: post #34
glenstein wrote: post #4

It truly is, and it's the culmination of a long history of development to get to this point. Back in, I want to say 2016 or so, we had Steam Machines, which were a series of hardware partnerships with various vendors for a console-style form factor of essentially PC hardware running on the first version of Steam OS. It was an incredible idea, but at the time rather frustratingly, I think some people came down with wh…

The Deck is so transformative that if Microsoft were serious about XBOX at all, the next XBOX would be a handheld.

The next Xbox is a handheld.

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#168

Post by vel0city »

TehCorwiz wrote: post #22

No company is your friend. But Valve does a great job at being consumer friendly. Steam is a great low-pressure sales environment. It provides features that make it more enjoyable for users to play, hang out, communicate, share content, mods. It doesn't harangue you or change your settings, or the UI, or your games (mostly) without reason and warning. Things work like you expect them to in other apps, back buttons wo…

> I bought Alan Wake 2 on Epic since it's a timed exclusive. I plan on buying it again once it releases on Steam because Epic is just so terrible.

Epic is so terrible, I'll pay them twice for the same game!

And we wonder why the game industry is in such a shit shape...

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#169

Post by barnabee »

brainzap wrote: post #25

steamdeck verified is a lie, I bought a steamdeck and tested 20 games. Lots of problems.

I have a pretty big Steam library and have had no issues with any “verified” game and very few issues even with those that are just marked “playable”.

What problems have you seen?

Re: The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly

#170

Post by ZeWaka »

lupusreal wrote: post #149
TehCorwiz wrote: post #22

No company is your friend. But Valve does a great job at being consumer friendly. Steam is a great low-pressure sales environment. It provides features that make it more enjoyable for users to play, hang out, communicate, share content, mods. It doesn't harangue you or change your settings, or the UI, or your games (mostly) without reason and warning. Things work like you expect them to in other apps, back buttons wo…

> Steam is a great low-pressure sales environment. Eh.. It seems very common for Steam users to have libraries of thousands of purchased games, 99% unplayed, purchased at steep discounts during sales. The way Steam operates does a great job of instilling Fear Of Missing Out, and getting people to buy things they never end up using.

> thousands of purchased games, 99% unplayed, purchased at steep discounts during sales

This is more of a Humble Bundle thing than a Steam issue.

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