A bummer it isn’t just natively like that. I hate extra steps. I just wanna plug in and play. But it’s nice to know there’s an easy solution. Hopefully the devs will unlock it at some point.
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It’s natively configurable on PC, and you only have to unlock graphical options on Steam Deck. Some devs are locking games to what they feel is an optimized setting for Steam Deck to give it more of a console experience, so that users don’t have to tinker. So far, most games that I’ve encountered which do this can be further optimized through settings by the end user, but the devs are trying their best to deliver a turn key option for users who don’t want to bother. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 did the same, but you can get it to run much better if you adjust the settings yourself, as I did.
It’s unfortunate that trying to provide a simplified setup specific for Steam Deck is having a bit of the opposite effect to what is intended, and people are disappointed with the choices the devs made for the defaults. I guess on traditional console, where users are always locked out of advanced graphical options it’s not something the majority of that player base thinks too heavily about, so it doesn’t have quite as negative an impact on player perception. But devs are stuck between PC users, used to adjusting their settings, and console users who just want it to work out if the box. Given the Steam Deck is a bit of a hybrid, they need to find a way to appease both groups, and that can be tough. But locking it to default or optimized settings for general users who don’t want to tinker and letting PC gamers put in a launch command seems like the best compromise.
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Incidentally, here is Creatures of Ava playing on a Steam Deck (with optimal settings). I think it looks pretty slick.
I think there are PC gamers out there that are so worried about compromising on things like frame rate that any game that doesn’t hit 60fps is going to run like crap in their eyes. I’ve managed to play a ton of games on Steam Deck that people claim simply don’t run, and I genuinely wonder what these people’s standards are.
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Ah, cool. I’d seen a different video. It is a shame about the need to mess around. Is that just the start up/ launch command that you can edit through Steam itself? If so that’s pretty easy, but going into actual game files isn’t what I’m wanting to do.
I am surprised how off Steam’s own verification system appears to be. Both Arkham Asylum and Arkham City run great, but Steam says City has issues and Asylum can’t run at all, which just isn’t true. 
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Just in Steam itself. No mucking about in files.
In my experience it’s down to two things: Valve is slow to formally review everything and Valve will ding games for things like small text, meaning they’ll only give it a conditional pass. Take a look at the pass for The Alters below. It’s dinged for small text, despite the fact that the game has three text sizes, the last intended for consoles like the Steam Deck. But because that size isn’t the default, the game doesn’t receive a full pass. So yeah, you’re going to run into all sorts of games that run fine despite not being verified by Valve.
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This may not be directly relevant but brain wants to share: I had to install a mod for Clair Obscur on PC because the cinematics were so crunchy looking. My partner told me it’s because they lock the cutscenes at 30FPS? Or something like that so I installed a mod that unlocks it and it looks phenomenally better.
They definitely are locked at 30fps. Lots of games do that and while I don’t love it, but I don’t care enough to mod it out. Also I find that it’s largely fine except for the beginning and end of the cutscene because of the transition from 60fps during playable moments down to 30 fps during cutscenes. That transition is where everything feels off. And then again from 30fps up to 60fps at the end of a cutscene. So I’m not opposed to 30fps cutscenes, I just hate that they don’t handle the transition from playable sequences to cut scenes and back again well. Even huge budget games do that for some reason, and many then release a patch later on that lets you unlock the cut scene framerate, letting everything run smoothly.
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Yeah. The smallest thing will not be “Steam Deck Verified” so I always just launch the game regardless what Steam says because usually it’s something minor. 8/10 times, the game runs and plays perfectly fine with some games requiring me to visit its settings or options first (which I usually do anyway).
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I don’t bother looking at the verified status. I don’t even bother with ProtonDB anymore. I just run things, tweak them, and make them work. Very seldomly do I find something that really gives me trouble that I then have to search the web in to find a solution for.
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I would say normally it’s not something I really care for either, and I could be misquoting my partner so bare that in mind, but it was atrocious. Like it was super crunchy looking and I was making a stink face the whole time. I had no idea why it looked that bad but it broke the immersion every time. Normally I don’t mod games on my first playthrough but this was required for my enjoyment.
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The slowdown and stutter at the start and end of every cutscene is really bad. I don’t think it bothered me if a cutscene was long enough. Short cutscenes are the worst.
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Some trailers for very different games.
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I’m really excited for Wheel World but woof, even in this most recent trailer the framerate is super inconsistent. Hopefully it gets patched up a bit.
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Randomly thinking about this (probably because The Last Guardian was mentioned on the main site):
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My bother brought this up after he watched the GenDESIGN trailer above, because he said it reminded him of another game he’s eagerly awaiting, and then proceeded to describe DokeV to me. So here we go. Still hoping Pearl Abyss is diligently working on this:
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It’s an older one at this point, but I still absolutely love the first trailer for Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. So frenetically paced, with a great balance of stylish cinematics and enticing gameplay snippets.
And then just now I’ve found this one for Wind Runners, which looks like it’s maybe vaporware but has a rad aesthetic. Adore the crisp pixel dogfights reflected off tranquil lakes, the 90s throwback D&B soundtrack, and the eerily expressionless faces of the cyborg pilots.
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Wow, Wind Runners looks fantastic! How did I miss that in the showcase?
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It was hard for me to notice the frame rate drop…but the concept looks really fun and wholesome to play with friends.
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I need to play their other games. I’ve only completed the Last Guardian.
The DokeV game I remember seeing awhile back. I wonder why they unlisted that trailer is unlisted. Apparently the composer for the ROCKSTAR song did music for the K-Pop group ITZY which is pretty cool.
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Pipistrello looks great though I’m not sure it’s the game for me. I still added it to my wishlist. Wind Runners definitely sold me on the art direction alone. Just wow.
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