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Developers are getting their Steam Decks already - Phil Spencer likes his

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck

Developers are getting their Steam Decks and giving their initial verdicts | VGC​

Valve has been sending out dev units to studios so they can test their existing games

Developers around the world are starting to receive Steam Deck development kits, and are taking to Twitter to share their initial thoughts.
A blog post by Valve last week stated that the company was preparing to send out limited batches of dev kits to studios so they could test their games on the hardware and make sure they work.

Although these are development kits, Valve says they’re “units that are functionally identical to what will ship to [the customer]”.

Early feedback has been positive, with a number of developers showing their game running on the hardware, and others reporting that they perform well.

Mike Rose of publisher No More Robots reported that downhill cycling game Descenders “works flawlessly”, stating that with the graphics set to their full Ultra settings he was getting around 50-60 frames per second.
He also added that games which can only be played with a mouse and keyboard only can still work on the Steam Deck thanks to its touchscreen, but that developers would have to add their own controller support to these games if they wanted it.

Cliff Harris, founder of Positech Games, also reported that his studio’s game Democracy 4 performed well with the handheld’s trackpad controls.
“First impressions are that this is really really cool,” he tweeted, “and Democracy 4 seems to run okay on it out of the box, although the Steam paddle-finger doodads work 1000x better than the thumbsticks for my game. The sound is REALLY good. Framerate is perfect.”

Meanwhile, the official Twitter account of flight simulator software X-Plane showed a photo of the game being played on a beach, then later confirmed that the hardware supports flight sticks.
The $399+ device was announced in July, described as “a powerful all-in-one portable PC” capable of running the latest AAA games.

Steam Deck runs the latest version of Valve’s SteamOS software – which is based on Linux – allowing players to easily access their Steam games library and all of the platform’s features.
However, Valve insists that Steam Deck is also an open PC with the ability to install any software or connect with any hardware. That means players could be able to access other company’s game stores such as The Microsoft Store and Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer revealed last month that he’s been playtesting the Steam Deck, and said that Xbox games such as Halo “feel good” and “work well”.
“After having mine most of the week I can say it’s a really nice device,” Spencer said. “Games with me on the go, screen size, controls all great. Playing Halo and Age feels good, xCloud works well. Congrats SD team.”


Steam Deck will feature a “powerful, custom APU” developed with AMD, a 7-inch touch screen, full-sized controls with gyro and trackpads, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD expansion slot and a USB-C port.
It will begin shipping in December with prices starting at $399 (64GB eMMC). Increased storage options will also be available for $529 (256GB NVMe SSD) and $649 (512GB NVMe SSD).
 

CamHostage

Member
I put my money down on a different handheld (one of the new-gen Android devices coming out "soon",) and I'm prepared to regret it even at half the price of a Steam Deck, but that thing's got back-buttons, I couldn't resist...

(*Wait, does Steam Deck have fucking back-buttons?! Damnit!!)

The eMMC version of Steam Deck makes me nervous as far as performance, but once you pay up to get into the baseline SSD-supported models, Deck seems like a dream come true. I come from GB and Lynx and PSP and DS, and I was happy then with my dedicated handheld games, but the time is here to knock down the "Second Pillar" going forward. Hopefully this is just the start of very good things in portables being a viable option for all your gaming needs.
 
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kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
"Stream deck"? Mod pls fix
Season 3 Wtf GIF by The Simpsons
 

kingpotato

Ask me about my Stream Deck
The real story here is that it is going to work as advertised and I'm hyped.

Mods please save me from this title typo!
Stream -> Steam

praying homer simpson GIF
 
I haven't been this excited about a handheld device since the PSP. The idea of my PC library on a portable device that can play them at decent settings is making me giddy. I really hope this works as advertised because it'll change the way I play my games, or at least where I play my games. The switch doesn't do it for me in handheld mode since the performance really takes a hit.
 

WitchHunter

Member
Here is what comes next:

people sucked off steam for decades... oh steaaaaam, aaaaaahhh... aaaand a few years later if your game is not running properly on steamdeck:

- your title will not be shown as many times,
- ...conjure up google like things...
- gaben will slap devs sorry asses!

Oh, this will be joyous to see. All the steam lovers will see how a company turns EEEEEEEEEEEEEVIIIIILL.

Let's hope my predictions will be false.
 

Sorcerer

Member
Does Phil like the Playdate? I would love if Phil will bring Gamepass to the Playdate. Imagine Dark Souls with a crank???
 
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elliot5

Member
Here is what comes next:

people sucked off steam for decades... oh steaaaaam, aaaaaahhh... aaaand a few years later if your game is not running properly on steamdeck:

- your title will not be shown as many times,
- ...conjure up google like things...
- gaben will slap devs sorry asses!

Oh, this will be joyous to see. All the steam lovers will see how a company turns EEEEEEEEEEEEEVIIIIILL.

Let's hope my predictions will be false.
this is nonsense lmao. They didn't do this with steam machines or with steam link.
 

BigBooper

Member
Here is what comes next:

people sucked off steam for decades... oh steaaaaam, aaaaaahhh... aaaand a few years later if your game is not running properly on steamdeck:

- your title will not be shown as many times,
- ...conjure up google like things...
- gaben will slap devs sorry asses!

Oh, this will be joyous to see. All the steam lovers will see how a company turns EEEEEEEEEEEEEVIIIIILL.

Let's hope my predictions will be false.
Can someone translate?
 

Tschumi

Member
Here's the thing, for me:

It could be the best handheld ever.

But i don't want to hold a nearly-1ft black brick with a big old screen on the subway. And if i get somewhere discreet, I'll use a laptop.

I dunno, for me discretion is the most important part of handhelds. PSP is the best tradeoff for this, vita next, then new 3ds.. I'll never be caught dead with a switch in public. Maybe if i was the exec of a console i might feel slightly less awkward about it.
 
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Sorcerer

Member
It's just a low powered PC, so it's not like PC games wouldn't work on it. Don't really get the excitement over developers getting their hands on it. None of them will be making steam deck exclusive games or specific steam deck changes.
I think it's more that Valve wants developers to get familiar with Proton, not really making games for the deck specifically. Supposedly it's very easy to implement. That would be a big boon for Valve if all dev's learned to use it.
 
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MrFunSocks

Banned
I think it's more that Valve wants developers to get familiar with Proton, not really making games for the deck specifically. Supposedly it's very easy to implement. That would be a big boon for Valve if all dev's learned to use it.
Isn't the whole point of proton that there's nothing for developers to do? It plays windows games on Linux.
 
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Sorcerer

Member
Isn't the whole point of proton that there's nothing for developers to do? It plays windows games on Linux.
Sure, but I imagine it has to be implemented in some way I gather. Valve is giving dev's a wink wink and a nudge nude. Basically just wanting them to use it.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
Sure, but I imagine it has to be implemented in some way I gather. Valve is giving dev's a wink wink and a nudge nude. Basically just wanting them to use it.
Nope, it doesn't. Developers don't "use" proton - they either make a Windows version and it runs via proton, or they make a linux version and it runs natively. Proton is the middleware between the windows version and the linux OS.
 
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Sorcerer

Member
Nope, it doesn't. Developers don't "use" proton - they either make a Windows version and it runs via proton, or they make a linux version and it runs natively. Proton is the middleware between the windows version and the linux OS.
Oh wow, even easier than I thought, really nothing for the dev's to do then. Thanks for the insight!!!
 

Sophist

Member
Of course Phil Spencer "like it", pretty sure Him and Gaben did met at Microsoft in the early 90's and remained friends in the shadow. Also, all these peoples are literally neighbors in Bellevue and the Starbuck is located right in the center. A big family.
 

vkbest

Member
Oh wow, even easier than I thought, really nothing for the dev's to do then. Thanks for the insight!!!
The most games are not supported by proton, really nothing for the devs its not accurate. There are developers who fixed thing to works with proton.

Proton is wine, basically.
 
Since when PCs have development kits??
Since it's a standardized PC with integrated controls running a custom OS. :)

Nope, it doesn't. Developers don't "use" proton - they either make a Windows version and it runs via proton, or they make a linux version and it runs natively. Proton is the middleware between the windows version and the linux OS.
Well yes, but that also limits what it can do - there's no helping games like Nex Machina, for instance, where a minor memory leak that is sort of tolerable on Windows gets exacerbated to unplayable levels under Proton. For the ten-twenty percent of games, that don't run perfectly on Proton from the get-go, there's still work that devs can do on their end to ensure that their games run without issues. Even for games with native Linux versions, there's occasionally benefits to be had from getting the Windows build running under Proton.
 

Kupfer

Member
I'm still hyped for this.
Is the steam deck neccassary? Probably not
Do I want one to just increase the possibilities of my gaming behaviour? Absolutely!
I think it will be a great "retro" machine, for playing 3D games from the 2000's - 2010's flawlessly. Can't wait to to replay Max Payne 1-3, Dead Space 1/2, Blood, Brütal Legend, Duke Nukem Forever, F.E.A.R. 1-3, Fallout 3, classic Hitman, Kane & Lynch, Mafia, Owlboy, Painkiller, Portal, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and so much more. Just laying around somewhere I want to, playing the games I had to play on a beefy PC some years ago sounds great to me.
 
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Smasher89

Member
Neat, been a while since the initial hands on impression videos. Considering its variety in controls that can be used, i wonder if theres a dev that takes the challenge to do some kind of small game which utilizes ALL of those controlleroptions!
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
I bet they will. Why are you threatened by this device?
Threatened? Are you serious? Hahahahahahaha.

I've got a PC with a Ryzen 7 5800 and a 3070 and a 1440p ultrawide VRR monitor, somehow I think I'll be OK.

They don't need to make games exclusively for the Steam Deck, but it could be useful for them to tailor their games for certain aspects of the hardware, such as the control scheme.
It doesn't have a unique control scheme though. It's just a mistake mash of a controller and a mouse/keyboard. Most devs aren't going to spend money making device specific changes for a device that will likely have a maximum install base in its lifetime of a couple of million at best.
 
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OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
Threatened? Are you serious? Hahahahahahaha.

I've got a PC with a Ryzen 7 5800 and a 3070 and a 1440p ultrawide VRR monitor, somehow I think I'll be OK.


It doesn't have a unique control scheme though. It's just a mistake mash of a controller and a mouse/keyboard. Most devs aren't going to spend money making device specific changes for a device that will likely have a maximum install base in its lifetime of a couple of million at best.
You've done nothing but try and downplay it. Something has you shook. You honestly don't think developers won't even go through the trouble of offering settings optimized for this? Come on now.
 

jigglet

Banned
I still can't get over how bad this looks, the weird proportions reminds me of the OG DS for some reason. I can't help but think with a few small tweaks to the design it could look great.

iu
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
It's just a low powered PC, so it's not like PC games wouldn't work on it. Don't really get the excitement over developers getting their hands on it. None of them will be making steam deck exclusive games or specific steam deck changes.

Some devs will optimize performance or can create performance profiles for Steam Deck. Games can be written to detect that they are running on the deck and do whatever they want really.

Valve is also working with devs w/ launchers and whatnot to get rid of them on the deck, or make steam deck versions of them (really the point is to log in to their services first and foremost).
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
As time goes on I'm warming to the idea of a Steam Deck. I think it's about $100 overpriced but if it's really good I could get there.
 
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