CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Got my email for ordering a 512GB one this morning and put in my order. Got a few days to decide if I just want to resell it or not.
Steam deck portable handheld gaming PC from Valve
- Thread starter spronk
- Start date
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Crone
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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They are selling so far above MSRP, AND so easily that it makes it really hard not to just resell them right now.
CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Decided to keep mine and just got it today. Guess im the first one on FOH to get one? So far it downloads games super slow. Downloading Ace Combat 7 now to test it out. And will try to see how Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous works on it.
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spronk
FPS noob
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CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Had my 512GB for a few days now. Overall it is really nice. The fan is loud, but unless you plan on playing next to someone sleeping while using headphones it really isnt an issue. It does remind me of PC gaming in the 90s with having a lot of issues with games though. Was playing Alice Madness Returns which Valve said is playable but the screen would go black when using a shrink ability that made it unplayable. Luckily someone had a fix on reddit by changing a graphics option it fixed it. Tried playing Warhammer 40k Space Marine which is untested and couldnt even get the menus in game to work right to start playing it. For Half Life 2 was surprised that using the right track pad instead of the right joystick makes aiming a lot easier and give your better control. That being said for some games like Ace Combat 7 it works perfectly and no issues.
Overall if you want it get it. It is awesome playing PC games in a handheld format.
Overall if you want it get it. It is awesome playing PC games in a handheld format.
I used a Steam Controller for a while and had a setup that I rather quite liked for FPS games, essentially using the pad as a software trackball instead of joystick. After a bit of fiddling I could reliably hit 180 snap turns and other maneuvers generally not possible on a joystick.
I have no idea if this setup transfers over to the Steam Deck, but it might help guide some choices:
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spronk
FPS noob
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yeah but if you are gonna start using external controllers why not just buy a laptop/tablet with a decent GPU and an xbox paired controller. the new intel laptops seem pretty nice too and super thin
i do use my switch pro with my switch in handheld mode sometimes so i get it, but PC has a lot more options than nintendo
thats ultimately my concern about the steam deck, its running SteamOS and the hardware will likely be fixed for 3 years, in 2 years a laptop will absolutely smoke the steam deck in performance and visuals. i mean even now an IPS 15" laptop screen with 120hz will look a lot better and not be crazy expensive
i do use my switch pro with my switch in handheld mode sometimes so i get it, but PC has a lot more options than nintendo
thats ultimately my concern about the steam deck, its running SteamOS and the hardware will likely be fixed for 3 years, in 2 years a laptop will absolutely smoke the steam deck in performance and visuals. i mean even now an IPS 15" laptop screen with 120hz will look a lot better and not be crazy expensive
CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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The more I try different games with the steam deck the more I realize the Valve playable ratings are way off. Sleeping Dogs Defintive Edition is rated unplayable by Valve but runs fine.
Hateyou
Not Great, Not Terrible
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The developer of the game may have to do some things to have it be verified. Steam has requirements for devs for various things. If that’s the case there will probably be a lot that say they aren’t supported but works anyway, just the devs haven’t put in the time to do whatever they need to do to get their check mark.
CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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This is the best site to find out what works and what doesnt on the the steam deck. People even leave comments on how to get games to work if it requires it on the deck.
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meStevo
I think your wife's a bigfoot gus.
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Had mine for a couple days, here's the rambling Adderall-fueled note for my friends who asked for an impression on Discord:
tl;dr - it's great, just be ready for technical issues, which can mostly just be googled and you'll find a video or reddit post covering it.
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My first impressions on Steam Deck... it's neat, but for technical users only right now IMO. I've had to re-verify integrity of various bits of the OS, had games not start, yolo'd right into trying to install a game and had to delete that because I couldn't install apps in desktop mode because of obscure linux errors (5mb flatpacks requiring 500mb of free space, only 490mb free or something). Once past that... thing is f-ing neat. Have some games installed, and Xbox Cloud Streaming working on it so far.
There's a lot of linux-y things that people respond with to fix problems, that's absolutely not for everyone. I know nothing about kernels, etc, so people saying to use Proton-PE build and whatnot means nothing to me, obviously need to watch more videos - a nice boon for content creators and they've stepped up to the challenge for everything I've needed thus far, including getting emulators setup. I just need to get some ROMs over and probably install a BIOS or two that things like the PS2 emulator needs and I should be golden there. Less of a priority day 1, but something I absolutely want to get setup.
Long term... need a bigger microSD, and may swap out the internal storage once I'm more comfortable. Picking a few games that I'm going to play or revisit largely because of the novelty of the device - like Witcher 3 or Fallen Jedi, though some of those I really want to play on my desktop for the visuals, so will revisit. Have installed several games from Steam that are suitable for the device - Sonic, Rogue Legacy 2, and a couple RPGs (a Final Fantasy and Octopath Traveler). Did that this afternoon and then spent all my gaming time working through trying to get them working in offline mode and overcoming cloud sync errors - required restarts and verifying integrity of OS files... things your nontechnical gamer is going to need a lot of help doing IMO.
So not for everyone, but this is a nice device. It will get there, hope they revise the specs every few years. My primary justification for ordering it is for it to be a more multi-purpose Vita-style handheld. I want to be able to use all the streaming services (and most work currently) as well as a remote play device. Everything else is gravy, but intend to explore the limits.
tl;dr - it's great, just be ready for technical issues, which can mostly just be googled and you'll find a video or reddit post covering it.
----
My first impressions on Steam Deck... it's neat, but for technical users only right now IMO. I've had to re-verify integrity of various bits of the OS, had games not start, yolo'd right into trying to install a game and had to delete that because I couldn't install apps in desktop mode because of obscure linux errors (5mb flatpacks requiring 500mb of free space, only 490mb free or something). Once past that... thing is f-ing neat. Have some games installed, and Xbox Cloud Streaming working on it so far.
There's a lot of linux-y things that people respond with to fix problems, that's absolutely not for everyone. I know nothing about kernels, etc, so people saying to use Proton-PE build and whatnot means nothing to me, obviously need to watch more videos - a nice boon for content creators and they've stepped up to the challenge for everything I've needed thus far, including getting emulators setup. I just need to get some ROMs over and probably install a BIOS or two that things like the PS2 emulator needs and I should be golden there. Less of a priority day 1, but something I absolutely want to get setup.
Long term... need a bigger microSD, and may swap out the internal storage once I'm more comfortable. Picking a few games that I'm going to play or revisit largely because of the novelty of the device - like Witcher 3 or Fallen Jedi, though some of those I really want to play on my desktop for the visuals, so will revisit. Have installed several games from Steam that are suitable for the device - Sonic, Rogue Legacy 2, and a couple RPGs (a Final Fantasy and Octopath Traveler). Did that this afternoon and then spent all my gaming time working through trying to get them working in offline mode and overcoming cloud sync errors - required restarts and verifying integrity of OS files... things your nontechnical gamer is going to need a lot of help doing IMO.
So not for everyone, but this is a nice device. It will get there, hope they revise the specs every few years. My primary justification for ordering it is for it to be a more multi-purpose Vita-style handheld. I want to be able to use all the streaming services (and most work currently) as well as a remote play device. Everything else is gravy, but intend to explore the limits.
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spronk
FPS noob
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do you find the image quality of the screen to be acceptable or a big step down from vita/switch? Thats my biggest concern, I'm cool with fucking around with SteamOS and games and shit but i'm torn between a good thin laptop with a paired controller vs a steam deck. The former can sport a gorgeous 14-15" OLED 144hz screen while the deck is still kinda a meh 720p LCD screen
CaughtCross
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I have an OLED switch and a deck. The switch has a better screen for sure but the deck having more power makes the games look way better on the deck overall. Played Witcher 3 on both, its def better on the deck. When playing the deck I dont really have an issue with the screen, biggest issue is just it feels weird how far apart my hands are when playing games since it is so long.