Steam Deck (handheld from Valve) - shipping is 4-8 days from NL to UK

[Bonzai1888]

12 hours ago, yashiro said:

These drivers? https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/6121-ECCD-D643-BAA8

 

Which Windows version? You may need to mess around like this https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/steam-deck-audio-driver-installation-causes-blue/fa215a09-29ca-47ef-b057-89d89d1e6d52

 

Yeah, I was putting windows 10 on it hoping I could get Splinter Cell conviction to run (got it running on laptop so was hoping this was finally going to run on a handheld). 

 

Might follow that guide with 10 at some point to see if it finally works.

[Calashnikov]

6 hours ago, Gotters said:

It's proper confusing playing steam games, PS games, Xbox games and Nintendo games all on the same machine when it comes to what the back button is in any given menu/game

 

I know you can remap controls before somebody suggests it.

My Yakuza karaoke game is FUCKED

[Giddas]

1 hour ago, Jamie John said:

 

Is that paired to the actual Xbox as well? If so, how do you turn the Xbox controller on to link it with the Steam Deck without also waking up the Xbox? My Deck Dock arrived today and I'd like to be able to use my Elite controller with it, but also with my Series X, too. 

 

Not sure if you can although only used it a few times so can't remember the order of things. Might have just pulled the xbox cable.

[yakumo]

Ohh what about itch.io stuff on the deck?

[StephenM]

10 minutes ago, yakumo said:

Ohh what about itch.io stuff on the deck?

Came here to ask the same thing!

 

Making a list of stuff I want to sort — ideally Itch, Epic, and then Emudeck if that’s the best way to start sorting emulation. Love a tinker. 

[g wings]

4 hours ago, SMD said:

 

what have you decided to do about shipping?

I purchased one from a guy locally. It’s costing me an arm and a leg and it’s a totally illogical purchase given I mainly want to play games that aren’t even validated as being deck compatible but that’s life 😂

[SMD]

2 minutes ago, g wings said:

I purchased one from a guy locally. It’s costing me an arm and a leg and it’s a totally illogical purchase given I mainly want to play games that aren’t even validated as being deck compatible but that’s life 😂

 

ahh okay, the markup on imports has been crazy

[g wings]

Just now, SMD said:

 

ahh okay, the markup on imports has been crazy

Yep! Most sellers don’t even have them in hand. You pay the money and then one of their mates in the US or Europe sends it along. So you wait a month and pay twice the actual retail price!

 

Luckily I got mine through a mate so the price was discounted but I’m still paying over the odds. I should have just got one of my family back home to get me one but I’m an impatient idiot! 

[Popo]

8 hours ago, Popo said:

Has anyone successfully paired their Xbox Series controller to the Deck? I had a number of failed attempts last night where the controller appeared to pair, flashed as connected for a split second, then went offline while the controller continued to flash as of it was still in pairing mode. 
 

The Dual Sense worked first time, but I think I’d prefer the Series controller for use on the reg, since most games show Xbox button prompts (especially the older ones), and it’s got that nifty feature where you can flip it between Xbox pairing and ‘other device’ pairing just by double-tapping the pair button. 

Just a note for any would-be troubleshooters to come - I did a firmware update to the controller and it worked. 
 

Also - this is your reminder that Xbox controllers don’t automatically update their firmware!!

[Paulando]

3 minutes ago, Popo said:

and it’s got that nifty feature where you can flip it between Xbox pairing and ‘other device’ pairing just by double-tapping the pair button. 

WHAT. That sounds ace. Is it only the Series controllers or do the Xbox One controllers do this too?

[Hitcher]

Only Series.

[Jamie John]

First impressions of the Deck Dock are very positive. After a bit of faff where I had to update one of my spare Xbox controllers (as @Popo mentions above), it works flawlessly and I didn't have any audio or video drop outs or anything like that. I've got it connected to a 4K TV and it seems to default to 4K for the menus, but games still run in the Deck's native resolution. From what I could tell, anyway.

 

The Dock itself is very unassuming, especially next to the Switch dock, but it looks smart enough. The USB cable is nice and tidy once it's plugged in. It is a bit light, though, and moves easily when you're putting the console in and out, but a bit of blu-tac on the bottom at either end seems to be enough to secure it to my TV unit pretty solidly.

 

I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of it, and I don't know if it's really worth £80, but it's a nice thing to have. I don't have any immediate buyer's regret, anyway.

 

[Siri]

2 hours ago, yakumo said:

Ohh what about itch.io stuff on the deck?

 

1 hour ago, StephenM said:

Came here to ask the same thing!

 

Making a list of stuff I want to sort — ideally Itch, Epic, and then Emudeck if that’s the best way to start sorting emulation. Love a tinker. 

 

There's a few ways you can do it:

 

- Manually downloading games from the website, and adding them as non-steam games. Time consuming, but good if you can't be arsed logging in for free games like FAITH and Space Funeral. This is what I do.

 

- Downloading the Linux itch.io client. Installs and works out of the box, but only has basic WINE support for Windows games and you can't change it to something more effective like Proton. Bit of a faff.

 

- Downloading the Windows itch.io client, and running it as a non-steam game through Proton. The best as a compartmentalized all-in-one client, but itch literally doesn't allow you to download the windows client via Linux. You can download the installer via your phone and send it to your deck somehow, however.

 

- Using itch.io integration in Lutris. Works well and has a lot of configuration stuff you can mess with, but you might not like that. And you still need to access the website to add games to your account.

 

Pick your poison!

[Popo]

2 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

games still run in the Deck's native resolution

I can’t get any game to run higher than 720p, so actually slightly worse than the Deck’s native resolution! I’ve tried a couple of games now and both were the same. A very worrying and unexpected outcome. 

[Siri]

Isn't there a global override to force the deck to output at a set resolution? I know you can do it per game as I had to fuck around with it to get Arcade Paradise running right before it got a patch, it would be naff of it wasn't considered before releasing a dock.

 

Edit: Yeah, you can set a resolution per game. I'm not a fan of that as opposed to a global option if/when it detects a screen other than the built-in LCD, but I guess it's more there if a game doesn't detect all the displays and resolutions it can output to.

[Jamie John]

Just now, Popo said:

I can’t get any game to run higher than 720p, so actually slightly worse than the Deck’s native resolution! I’ve tried a couple of games now and both were the same. A very worrying and unexpected outcome. 

 

Ah, you're right. I keep forgetting that the Deck's resolution is weird. I played the Dredge demo and had a very brief go on Hotline Miami 2 and they both ran in 720p. I'd have thought that it defaults to 720 because the 800p native resolution is 16:10, whereas most TVs and monitors are 16:9, so if it ran at 800p you'd have borders across the top and bottom of the screen anyway.

 

It seems odd that you can't force it to run at 1080, though, although I suppose pushing the Deck like that might start to cook its insides.

[Popo]

8 hours ago, Siri said:

Isn't there a global override to force the deck to output at a set resolution? I know you can do it per game as I had to fuck around with it to get Arcade Paradise running right before it got a patch, it would be naff of it wasn't considered before releasing a dock.

 

Edit: Yeah, you can set a resolution per game. I'm not a fan of that as opposed to a global option if/when it detects a screen other than the built-in LCD, but I guess it's more there if a game doesn't detect all the displays and resolutions it can output to.

Yes, you’re right! I forced HD resolution in the settings and now I can increase the in-game resolution of Far Cry 4 to the same. This did mean reducing the detail level to get the frame rate more stable, so clearly now bumping up against the capabilities of the Deck, but a very happy compromise none the less. 
 

I am noticing input lag while playing this particular game - I’m not sure if that’s due to the game or something that’s been introduced by the dock. I’ll install a couple more FPS games of similar calibre and see how they compare. 

[T Pot]

11 hours ago, yakumo said:

Ohh what about itch.io stuff on the deck?

I don’t know if it has a launcher, but if it’s just an exe you can still install. I’ve been using lutris to get Windows games running. Open RCT & Virtua Cop etc 

[Popo]

1 hour ago, Popo said:

I am noticing input lag while playing this particular game - I’m not sure if that’s due to the game or something that’s been introduced by the dock. I’ll install a couple more FPS games of similar calibre and see how they compare

Having now spent some time with Bioshock 2 remastered and Soma I am happy to report that whatever input lag issues Far Cry 4 suffers from are its own and not caused by the dock. 

[Jamie John]

What did you push the docked resolution up to, @Popo? Does it make the Deck start a-blowing hard?

 

And I'm hoping some bod somewhere will make a thing so that the Xbox controller you've got paired to the Deck is able to turn it on, and the TV, like it can the Xbox.

[Popo]

29 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

What did you push the docked resolution up to, @Popo? Does it make the Deck start a-blowing hard?

 

And I'm hoping some bod somewhere will make a thing so that the Xbox controller you've got paired to the Deck is able to turn it on, and the TV, like it can the Xbox.

Of the three games I tried I pushed them all up to 1920x1080. Far Cry 4 makes it run quite hot, as it does in handheld mode, but the others not so much (I guess they are older, less demanding titles, and not open world, so rendering a lot less). 
 

Setting the resolution on a per game basis is a ball ache! I imagine one would have to revert the setting when one wants to play handheld again too. I hope this is something Valve can address in a future update. 

[Popo]

I hear you about the controller auto-on, @Jamie John. Interestingly, the Deck recognises the Dual Sense as ‘Wireless Controller’, and the Series controller as ‘Xbox Wireless Controller’, so perhaps this reflects a deeper level of potential integration for the future? I haven’t been able to get the double tap to work on the controller yet!

[Jamie John]

20 minutes ago, Popo said:

I hear you about the controller auto-on, @Jamie John. Interestingly, the Deck recognises the Dual Sense as ‘Wireless Controller’, and the Series controller as ‘Xbox Wireless Controller’, so perhaps this reflects a deeper level of potential integration for the future? I haven’t been able to get the double tap to work on the controller yet!

 

You may be right there. I noticed that all of the button prompts changed to the Xbox buttons once I'd connected it, too. The big X symbol to pull up the menu, for example, and the three stacked lines.

[Popo]

13 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

 

You may be right there. I noticed that all of the button prompts changed to the Xbox buttons once I'd connected it, too. The big X symbol to pull up the menu, for example, and the three stacked lines.

Yea, that’s a really impressive level of consideration Valve have made, although to be fair the prompts also change to those of the PlayStation when the Dual Sense is connected too. 
 

It’s another good example of the attention to detail that’s gone into the Deck that elevates it above being merely a handheld PC experience. 

[Calashnikov]

I ask this every now and then, but has anyone got any idea how Forza Horizon 4 (the UK themed one) runs on this thing nowadays?

[g wings]

Well that escalated quickly…

 

 

only had an hour with it as it was hand delivered late this evening but it’s a lovely bit of kit isn’t it.

[Siri]

I played through the pilot episode of Star Fetchers. Only about a 45 minute jaunt.

 

I'm not entirely sure what I played, but I liked it a lot. Overly violent, grindhouse styled, full of blunt sweary slapstick humour, banging soundtrack. 

 

Link to a playthrough, hyperlink because it's probably NSFW

 

If you do give it a go on Deck, use the Steam controller layout and change the analogue triggers to Shift and LMB.

[StephenM]

I’ve already gone way over my ‘buy some games to get me started’ budget BUT is there a go-to PC rhythm game I should be getting for the deck?

 

Wondering if any might have custom dlc even, which would be amazing. 

[Siri]

4 minutes ago, StephenM said:

I’ve already gone way over my ‘buy some games to get me started’ budget BUT is there a go-to PC rhythm game I should be getting for the deck?

 

Wondering if any might have custom dlc even, which would be amazing. 

 

No custom DLC, and it's not even properly out yet, but Unbeatable: White Label is fantastic. And free!

 

There's also Rhythm Doctor, Trombone Champ, Friday Night Funkin' (via itch.io), Muse Dash and DJMax Respect.

 

I mentioned El Tango De La Muerte and FNF in my budget guide.

[StephenM]

Oh free is welcome! I’ll get it downloading