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I finally broke and bought a Steam Deck.

Comandr

Member
I have been interested in the handheld scene for a long time. I bought an AYN Odin earlier this year and absolutely love it. Use it all the time. I’ve been looking for a beefier handheld that can locally play PC games, because my primary gaming PC is also the living room entertainment center and often in use in some form or another.

For a long time I really wanted a windows based handheld. Preordered the AYN Loki Max before finding out those aren’t coming out for another 6 months probably and then jumped to the Aya Neo 2 before second guessing myself and looking at the GPD Win 4.

The reason behind my hesitation for the steam deck was the relatively low power compared to other handhelds, the fact that it’s limited to 15w hampers it in some ways. Other handhelds have the benefit of going higher and have flat out faster chips.

I finally caved because the damn thing is available now, and significantly cheaper. If valve releases a new one in six months that’s like way better it’ll still be less expensive overall than just one of the competitors.

So! With all that said, another big reason I was holding out for windows was mods. Games like stardew valley are just more fun with mods. Full stop. Is there any current way to utilize nexus mods or anything like that? I understand you can install windows on the deck but I heard it’s a sub par performance experience even after you take the chip into consideration.

I’ve already purchased a new ssd and have the firmware install usb all ready to go. Any other recommendations? Fuck me up fam.

TL;DR: New deck who dis?
 

MidGenRefresh

*Refreshes biennially
Cool, good. We have a dedicated Deck thread. You're invited.

So! With all that said, another big reason I was holding out for windows was mods. Games like stardew valley are just more fun with mods. Full stop. Is there any current way to utilize nexus mods or anything like that? I understand you can install windows on the deck but I heard it’s a sub par performance experience even after you take the chip into consideration.

You don't need Windows to install mods. You can install whatever you need from Desktop mode.

Look at this eccentric fellow and his guide on how to install mods for FFVII. It's the same principle for everything else.

 
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I'm curious how well modding works on steam deck; is the same as any PC?

Trying to pick between Steam Deck, PC or Series S for Starfield and Elder Scrolls; my priority is modding.

I had a great time playing modded Skyrim on switch and played for about a year straight, almost everyday; replicating that feel would be awesome.
 
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Why not V3? It will clearly be better.
well duh. if that's your logic might as well never buy the thing at all or wait until it's almost dead.

for any new product i wait for, at bare minimum, second gen but ideally 3rd or even 4th gen.

it's yet to be seen if Valve will commit to a 2nd gen revision never mind 3rd or 4th.
 

Filben

Member
the fact that it’s limited to 15w hampers it in some ways. Other handhelds have the benefit of going higher and have flat ou
It's not limited to 15W. I've played games that drew as much as 24W. The Steam Deck is quite the power house if games are leaning more to the GPU bound side. In CPU bound scenarios it does lack some power, though.

The performance per price ratio in a handheld is incredible, however. For 420 EUR (+100 EUR for big sized SD card) it's an amazing device.
 
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drotahorror

Member
I'm curious how well modding works on steam deck; is the same as any PC?

Trying to pick between Steam Deck, PC or Series S for Starfield and Elder Scrolls; my priority is modding.

I had a great time playing modded Skyrim on switch and played for about a year straight, almost everyday; replicating that feel would be awesome.

I would not go with a Steam Deck if your priority is modding. Some may work, like say models or textures, ini settings and the like. But if a mod uses some sort of hook or injector or requires an additional exe to be ran beforehand you might run into some troubles. For instance, Risk of Rain 2 requires pretty much all of those things and can't be played modded on Steam deck using it's operating system.

Now if you want to get Deck and then install windows on it and play modded games that way, I'm sure it'll work fine.
 

Kupfer

Member
It's not limited to 15W. I've played games that drew as much as 24W. The Steam Deck is quite the power house if games are leaning more to the GPU bound side. In CPU bound scenarios it does lack some power, though
The APU (CPU&GPU) is limited to 15W, the rest, system features, hardware like screen, RAM, SSD, WLAN, speakers, connected devices add up to that 15W.
The 24W you see in gamescope is the whole package.
 
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drotahorror

Member
For OP:

If you want to transfer files easily to your steam deck (like roms, videos etc), I recommend this video:


There are probably easier methods but this one worked for me and I did quite a bit of research.

And I recommend this as well, this increased my performance in Fight Night Round 4 (RPCS3) from unplayable to pretty much 60fps locked:
 

Comandr

Member
Cool, good. We have a dedicated Deck thread. You're invited.



You don't need Windows to install mods. You can install whatever you need from Desktop mode.

Look at this eccentric fellow and his guide on how to install mods for FFVII. It's the same principle for everything else.



For OP:

If you want to transfer files easily to your steam deck (like roms, videos etc), I recommend this video:


There are probably easier methods but this one worked for me and I did quite a bit of research.

And I recommend this as well, this increased my performance in Fight Night Round 4 (RPCS3) from unplayable to pretty much 60fps locked:

Sweet. Thanks for the tips. I’ll dig into this.
 
The Steam Deck has become my main PC machine. I've been using it to play my backlog. I use the Dock and it does everything my HTPC did before.
I loaded Windows 10 onto a Micro SD card for windows programs including Gamepass, (It works but damn is it sometimes wonky when resolution and full screen issues arise)
Pentiment still refuses to launch in fullscreen, have to use an external monitor or TV to get a resolution that's supported by the game.
So far, the Steam OS has played everything I've thrown at it.

Watching videos of people trying to get the Calisto Protocal to run well have been dishearting. Hope that is a one off for future games on the Deck.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Congrats bro, it's the best system to play indies and older games.

People tend to say it's great to get rid of your backlog... But I don't know man, mine has kept growing bigger and bigger, lots of games I wouldn't have been interested before now strike me as "I bet this plays great on the Deck".
 

Comandr

Member
Watching videos of people trying to get the Calisto Protocal to run well have been dishearting. Hope that is a one off for future games on the Deck.
I wonder how much of this just isn’t the fact that the game seems to run like butt on ANY pc right now. Hopefully in time it will get some nice optimizations. I’m eager to jump in but want to wait until the performance is ironed out a bit.
 

near

Gold Member
Congrats bro, it's the best system to play indies and older games.

People tend to say it's great to get rid of your backlog... But I don't know man, mine has kept growing bigger and bigger, lots of games I wouldn't have been interested before now strike me as "I bet this plays great on the Deck".

I wanted to buy the Deck when it was announced and almost did but didn't. I will eventually get one for the exact reason you mentioned, I think it will compliment my Steam library and enable me to tackle the huge backlog of indie games that I've accumulated over the years. Some games just feel more cosy to play in handheld.
 

Vyse

Gold Member
Nice! I broke down as well. Mine came last week. They shipped the steam deck and the dock separately, but have both. Really enjoying so far.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Great machine, I don’t play anything intensive on it but just having access to mods on the go is magical.

Would definitely buy a V2 if it’s a bit smaller and fixes the few remaining design issues (back buttons, shoulder buttons, kinda muted colours).
 

GymWolf

Member
Cool, good. We have a dedicated Deck thread. You're invited.



You don't need Windows to install mods. You can install whatever you need from Desktop mode.

Look at this eccentric fellow and his guide on how to install mods for FFVII. It's the same principle for everything else.


Is he eccentric for the mustaches or for the shirt?
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Ok?

Like PS1 to PS2 was a big step, but after that they're all basically the same?
Better analogy is the DS, ds to ds lite was a big jump and cemented the design language for the rest of the brand. but ds lite to dsi wasn't a big deal and intact you lost some features (like gba compatibility for example)
 
Honestly I haven't been thrilled by my purchase. It's a massive pain in the ass to do basic stuff, it's way too big, and the battery life is bad. I don't find it enjoyable to play. I'll probably sell it to a friend and buy an Android handheld capable of PS2/GC emulation next year
 

Topher

Gold Member
You can wait for V2 while enjoying V1. Otherwise, you're just missing out.

Exactly. Besides, you can always sell the V1 to help pay for V2. That's what I'm going to do.

Congrats bro, it's the best system to play indies and older games.

People tend to say it's great to get rid of your backlog... But I don't know man, mine has kept growing bigger and bigger, lots of games I wouldn't have been interested before now strike me as "I bet this plays great on the Deck".

I'd say best emulation system as well. I've got a number of PSP games copied from UMD to Steam Deck. With stuff like EmuDeck out there, it is ridiculously easy to emulate from older systems.
 

anthony2690

Banned
Feel free to break and buy me a steam deck 👀

I can't even enter Geoff's giveaway as I haven't purchased anything on steam in years 😔
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
waiting for version 2, the current steam deck is just too ugly, too fat, and feels like a beta product. v2 hopefully will have more power and an OLED screen.

But also given Steams wayyyy less than stellar hardware track record of keeping products alive.. I expect even with its success they'll ruin it somehow and never make a v2. Ala Steam Link, The Steam Controller and the Valve Index.
 
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stranno

Member
There are probably easier methods but this one worked for me and I did quite a bit of research.
It is much more easier with SSH. Just type this on the Konsole.

sudo systemctl start sshd
sudo systemctl stop sshd

For a single session.

sudo systemctl enable sshd
sudo systemctl disable sshd

To make the service start with SteamOS each time. Probably not recommended since there's a little I/O impact and you don't need it active all the time.

I use WinSCP client, but there are many, Filezilla should work fine.
 

_Ex_

Member
I'll buy a Deck when I can get one that's completely solid state. I don't like fan noise.
 
I'll buy a Deck when I can get one that's completely solid state. I don't like fan noise.
The one I got is actually pretty quiet. It is audible but not annoying.
I was worried as I read many review talking about fan noise. The one I got was from October.
 

SyberWolf

Member
i am patiently waiting for steamOS 3.0 to release for desktop computers. (without having to mod the steamdeck version)
 

dave_d

Member
I'd say best emulation system as well. I've got a number of PSP games copied from UMD to Steam Deck. With stuff like EmuDeck out there, it is ridiculously easy to emulate from older systems.
Emudeck makes it really easy doesn't it? I used my SteamDeck to finally play Mother 3. (Seems appropriate to play it on a handheld.) Before any complains yes I actually own the cartridge
 

Topher

Gold Member
Emudeck makes it really easy doesn't it? I used my SteamDeck to finally play Mother 3. (Seems appropriate to play it on a handheld.) Before any complains yes I actually own the cartridge

Yeah, it is fantastic. My PSP games never looked so good.
 
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