I got Psychonauts to work! The button prompts are still for the keyboard version, but I was able to fix the camera and resolution by editing two .ini files. The hard part was figuring out that for some reason those files are not alongside the game’s local files but for some reason in a ~/.local directory, which I only figured out thanks to a random Reddit comment. I also had to manually set a few buttons to keyboard commands… none of the buttons would pause the game!
I was able to resolve most of the Dreamcast issues I was seeing by setting transparency ordering to “per pixel.” This was accompanied by a scary warning about performance issues, but I haven’t noticed any and battery life is still good (after about 20 minutes of playing Sonic Adventure the Steam Deck said I had 6-7 hours of battery life remaining).
I switched from standalone Retroarch to Steam Retroarch, which resolved all my control issues, but I had a heck of a time figuring out how to get it to work with my Steam Rom Manager shortcuts. I eventually realized I needed to manually edit the Retroarch path in each of those shortcuts to steam -applaunch 1118310, which would launch the Steam version with the correct permissions and auto-open the game I wanted.
Once the Retroarch stuff got sorted, I had no trouble adding, configuring and playing Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn games. Some occasional audio stutters at first but nothing major.
I found out there’s an HD texture pack for the GameCube version of Animal Crossing, I went ahead and installed it and it’s been a lot of fun playing that in handheld form without as much blurry-ness.
I’m quite a ways into Arkham Asylum and I’ve only had one crash (and it wasn’t the one I usually get on PC). I didn’t lose very much progress so I’m still calling this one a win.
I realized I’m very close to having every game in my all-time faves playable on this, so I think next I’m going to try virtualizing a Wii remote and mapping that to the trackpad or gyro controls.
I realize that all might sound like a headache, but I’m actually having a blast.
Ok, this has now got me quite excited. Being able to stream PS4 / PS5 games to a steam deck looks very straightforward. The only bit that looks like a bit of a hassle is getting hold of your PS ID number. I do occasionally use the official PS remote play app to stream to my iMac or iPad, but to be able to play on the steam deck is just a whole other level of convenience!
I’m still on the fence, but my union negotiated a retroactive increase so I might have funds that were not initially factored into my personal budget/savings. I may have less of an excuse not to grab mine when it comes up in the queue as a result. We’ll see. It does seem like the best option for all the indie games I want to play that aren’t on other consoles, simply because there is no PC in this price rage that feels worthwhile.
@tylerisrandom mentions there are some limitations and I’ve been following Rami Ismail’s Steam Deck journey and while he is/was running Windows on it and playing things like Destiny 2, he has pointed out that it’s not without its hurdles.
I know my tastes aren’t necessarily mainstream for my demographic, but I feel zero temptation to install Windows on this thing.
So far, I’ve played through the entirety of Arkham Asylum, Psychonauts, Aperture Desk Job, Say No! More, the first game in Spyro Reignited Trilogy. I’ve played a bit of Arkham City, Fez, Hexologic, Hob, Sega Bass Fishing, Shenmue III and Soul Reaver 2. I’ve emulated games for Dreamcast, GameCube, N64, PS2, Saturn and ScummVM.
The next geeky/hack thing I’d like to do is set up Chiaki for PS Remote Play. I already did the hard part (getting my PS ID), I just have to install Chiaki, associate it with my PS5 and add it to Steam.
I know my tastes aren’t necessarily mainstream for my demographic, but I feel zero temptation to install Windows on this thing.
I probably wouldn’t because what it enables is not tempting enough for me. If it were easy with dual booting maybe I would, but it wouldn’t be a priority.
I think I’ve said it elsewhere, but there’s probably very little chance I’d play anything but indie games on the Steam Deck.
The next geeky/hack thing I’d like to do is set up Chiaki for PS Remote Play. I already did the hard part (getting my PS ID), I just have to install Chiaki, associate it with my PS5 and add it to Steam.
What are the risks associated with this? Any chance Sony could ban accounts doing this?
Nah, it’s not doing anything Sony’s apps don’t already do… just on platforms Sony isn’t interested in supporting.
I set it up this evening and played a little Miles Morales, which is a rather awful game not to play on a bigger screen but a good test for lag and stuff. It played really well on my home network, though obviously YMMV!
The setup was a little “eh.” Chiaki is pretty clunky starting and exiting from gaming mode. It isn’t a big deal if you’re reasonably techy, and once I’m in it’s awesome, but it’s far from polished. But what’s I’m in, it was easy to focus on the game.
It’s just that I really don’t trust them. Any of the console manufacturers. They just keep blocking us from the games we want to play I’m never optimistic they won’t find another way to block us.
It’s ok. I don’t think streaming is a huge priority for me. Maybe if change my mind after seeing it in action.
Happy to report that getting @itchio games running on the Steam Deck is as easy as booting into desktop mode, downloading/booting itch, installing games, then adding those games as non-steam games!
I'm guessing it's going to vary by game, but Patrick's Parabox is working great!
According to this, my reservation is 207 seconds after the latest known reservation time in this thread. I think I’m probably going to be a few weeks out based on what I’m reading. It seems like they only got through about 45 seconds of reservations this week. Here’s hoping I’m wrong!
I love the Internet sometimes and the lengths people go to accumulate data.
Once GE Proton is installed, it’s very easy to switch to it. You just go to the game’s options (works in gaming or desktop mode), compatibility, then choose it from the drop down of Proton versions.
I usually try a game with regular Proton, then Proton Experimental, and then GE Proton is Plan C.
I’ve been poking around ProtonDB and noticed people solving issues with specific games by loading Proton Experimental or GE and I was wondering how easy that experience was.
How well did Journey to the Savage Planet play, and did you have any issues with Heroic Launcher?
Do you generally only use RetroArch for emulation when a blithering standalone emulator isn’t available (like Dolphin, PCSX2, etc.)?
With Primehack, is aiming bound to the right analogue stick or the right touchpad, or can you select either one?
One more question, have you compared loading speeds playing from the NVMe storage versus MicroSD? I’ve heard reports that loading from MicroSD is actually decently snappy.
I only started up and played a bit of Journey to the Savage Planet until I realized I really wanted to play that game with the audio on, not muted on the couch between puppy training and play sessions! Once I installed Heroic Launcher, all I had to do was install the game and add it to Steam as a “non-steam game.” I used Steam Grid DB to customize its artwork, but that’s optional. I could have also added Heroic Launcher as a non-Steam game, but I prefer Gaming Mode’s UI.
I prefer to use individual emulators for the newer consoles because I find their performance a little better. But the consistency of Retroarch is nice, knowing the menus are always going to be basically the same is nice. Sometimes there are options exposed via Retroarch that would require command line flags and stuff like that with the standalone emulator as well.
With Primehack, you select a controller profile of either “keyboard and mouse” or “controller.” I chose “keyboard and mouse,” made note of the default settings, and then used the Steam UI to select the “keyboard and mouse” preset and customized it accordingly. By doing it that way, I can use Steam’s built-in support for emulating the keyboard via joystick or touchpad, so I can actually aim either way.
My only issue with Primehack is that it seems a little buggy on this device with Metroid Prime Trilogy. I eventually went to the GameCube games because they performed better and the controls worked as I expected them to. (I’m only really interested in playing through the second game, though… it’s always been too difficult for me to play legitimately, so I decided to go through the game with cheats.)
I have a 512gb model so I haven’t had reason to load anything on a MicroSD yet. I’ve heard that it works just fine!
Do you know if it’s possible to install DRM free games on the Steam Deck, say games from one’s Humble library? Example, I have Hollow Knight via a DRM free executable or Linux build. Can I freely install that Linux copy on Steam Deck?
Once I installed Heroic Launcher, all I had to do was install the game and add it to Steam as a “non-steam game.” I used Steam Grid DB to customize its artwork, but that’s optional. I could have also added Heroic Launcher as a non-Steam game, but I prefer Gaming Mode’s UI.