Oh, that’s cool! I just switched from Windows to CachyOS a few weeks ago. It started out as an experiment to see how usable it would be, since I’ve always run into issues with nvidia drivers in the past. I kept Windows as a boot option, but I literally haven’t booted it in 3 weeks now. Everything just works, and works really well!
So far things are looking good. I usually spend a week or so trying to get everything working then usually get frustrated and wipe the install. Usually over something like GPU drivers. This time setup went almost entirely without a hitch. I spent way more time trying to decide what distro to use than actually installing it. Everything (video, audio, input devices) was working on the first full boot. The only thing I ran into was when I tried to turn on HDR on one of my monitors, everything went black. I had to open a terminal to delete a config file and reboot but it has been fine since. Steam and Proton were part of a single package install. I did have some difficulty getting Steam to set up a library folder on a separate mounted partition, but I got it working.
From here it’s mostly about what games I can get running, and if I need to find replacements for apps I use a lot on Windows, or if Linux versions are available. I’ll be very interested in whether I can get it to work well with my Quest 3, but that seems like a stretch.
All that said, I’m pretty optimistic so far.
Every few years I dip my toes in the Linux pool to see how things are going. This weekend I set up a separate drive on my gaming rig to install CachyOS. I haven’t had time to try many games yet, but the ones I have tried run really well. This might be the year I actually make the switch away from Windows.
Yeah, this infuriates me every time I have to use a Mac for something.
Yup. And games that save more state-based data often have another problem: when the game gets updated, it can render old save files no longer compatible. There were several games over the years that I never finished because I didn’t want to start over from the beginning after a major update released.
Kind of a silly question if you don’t provide any selection criteria. You can literally use just about any USB/Bluetooth keyboard or mouse you want.
While my family is on holiday break from school and work, I hooked my deck up to the TV and we’ve been playing our way through Sunderfolk. It’s a tactical RPG. The deck hosts the game and everyone gets to join and control their character with their phone. It runs great.
One of the lesser known applications for VR is for seated simulation type games. I personally have spent hundreds of hours playing games like Elite Dangerous, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and a few racing titles in VR. The sense of presence from VR makes them far more immersive and actually improves situational awareness.
The top end Quest 3 has an msrp of $500. They can often be found with a discount or used for less. I paid $300 for mine. That’s a pretty difficult price point to beat.
It actually works very well as a PCVR headset. What you need to understand is that it does not work as a dedicated display like traditional headsets do. You have to run a program on your PC that streams the display data to the headset over either a USB or wifi connection. An app on the headset receives and decodes the stream. There are some tradeoffs involved in doing it that way but it works surprisingly well for many use cases. I use mine over wifi with the third party streaming app Virtual Desktop. It’s shockingly smooth and the display quality is very good.
The next thing you should understand is that the Steam Frame is designed to work in exactly the same way for PCVR. That said, I am hopeful it will be more optimized and a smoother ux than a quest due to Valve’s priority on PC gaming. The fact that they include a dedicated 6ghz wifi dongle should give it a significant advantage in both stability and bandwidth. But I expect it will cost more. Probably a lot more. For my part I will have to decide if the benefits outweigh the price difference.
Android is already a Linux-based OS.
Have you tried Tabletop Simulator?
A tablet isn’t set up to act as a display for another device. Any solution you find is going to have to involve software running on the tablet to decode and display the video stream, which is going to add significant lag. You’d be better off buying a small monitor. Something like this: https://a.co/d/2hmCX3q
They demoted the guy who won and made him play out a cosplay battle where America Wins!
To be completely accurate: Paul Van Riper was already retired when he agreed to lead red force in MC02. After it was clear that red force was winning, they stopped the exercise and restarted it with a bunch of new restrictions on what red force was allowed to do. Essentially, scripting the win for blue force.
One of my favorite in-person MP games of all time is Towerfall Ascension. My family and I used to spend so much time laughing out loud while playing that game. So many ridiculous trick shots with all the power ups. I haven’t tried it on Steam Deck, but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work, assuming you can get multiple controllers connected.
Speaking as a US citizen, I’m terrified of the rhetoric the leaders of my country are spewing right now. It feels like a preamble to open war against multiple peaceful allies. He has surrounded himself with sycophants that are urging him on. Hopefully your government is meeting with other world leaders and making appropriate plans. This shit is crazy.
My list of endorphin-boosting games:
Dorfromantik
Unpacking
A Little To The Left
Tiny Glade - though this one barely qualifies as a game
If you want something a little more gamified: Balatro is amazing and addictive.
With all the executive orders he’s spewing forth, I wouldn’t be surprised if you run into some roadblocks, if only out of confusion on the part of immigration officials. For both your sakes, I hope it isn’t too disruptive. Mazel tov!
Tape to Tape. It’s a roguelite hockey game that has a big sense of humor.
You can already replace the battery. You can purchase a replacement here, along with all the tools you need to replace it if you don’t already have them: https://www.ifixit.com/products/steam-deck-battery
There’s also a full video guide on the process.
Valve worked with iFixit to make sure they have replacements available for every part in the deck. Valve was very up front that they wanted to enable people to do their own repairs and upgrades.
For sure. I’ve tried to use various Linux distros as a daily driver several times in the past. But when it came to gaming, I would always run into hardware compatibility issues. Eventually, I would give up since gaming is my most frequent use for my desktop PC. But this time has been incredibly trouble-free. I think the only significant issue I’ve run into is that I had to manually build the xone driver to get my wireless xbox controller dongle to work.