I mean, if you just absolutely had to play a Linux-hating kernel anti cheat game, then install a small-as-possible partition for Windows, dual boot, and stay in Steam OS every single moment you’re doing anything else but that game.
But most Windows-on-a-Steam-Deck people I’ve encountered just drive Windows all the time. I will never understand.
I haven’t encountered this, but it’s rare that I’m in actual desktop mode. Normally I’m using a flavor of Nested Desktop.
Not picking it up myself, but definitely hope that you enjoy it.
NGL, the whole FEX-compatibility thing that’ll let you also play non-VR games on it with a normal controller is kind of neat, though I have no idea of how it will perform vs Steam Deck / Steam Machine / other starter PC.
If I were in a situation where I didn’t have normal displays everywhere, I’d consider it as a traditional AR solution.
That seems a bit high high to me; if they want to move them in significant quantities, I’d think they’d need to try to land in the $80 USD range, give or take a hair.
They have quite a few other controller options out there that they are competing against, and even though it’s awesome, they definitely could potentially price people off of it.
Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s also a “depletion of LCD screen stock and/or 7nm APU stock” ingredient in the Doesn’t Make Sense Anymore soup as well.
I have a M & K available, and play docked a fair percentage of the time, but when I’m docked, I still prefer the console controls over M & K for BG3.
Much more streamlined, the intractable UI is not as busy, and the whole game is much cleaner-looking (95% of what you’re looking at is the game world when you have no UI elements calledup… whereas the M&K UI are taking up a chunk of screen real estate all the time).
I don’t have a problem, I can stop gaming any time I want!
This row of games is 92% of my playtime, there were a bunch of other games from my collection but I only played them briefly here and there.
100% Deck, it’s currently my only PC.
No issues yet, but I’m docked and using M&K or external controller probably 85% of the time or so.
I plan to keep my Deck as my stream-to around the rest of house device far into the future (read: until it disintegrates, the ergonomics and form factor are that good), even after my next upgrade to the Steam Machine or similar option, so I will be Hall-replacing the sticks if / when they start to drift.
Finally taking a break from BG3, though that will probably only last until I have a SM sitting in my comfy gaming zone.
Still heavily playing Deep Rock Galactic with friends, Streets of Rogue has entered my short-time gaming rotation, and I just picked up WH40K: DarkTide on the recent sale.
I haven’t heard many people talking about a key group here.
There are quite a few people out there who play the Deck handheld 95% of the time, so they rarely dock it… but they also aren’t out and about traveling with it.
They just play it in comfy spots around their house, without ever really hooking it up to a larger screen extendedly. There are probably quite a few of them talking in this thread.
For any of these people wanting a performance upgrade: Steam Machine is going to be HUGE, and much better than switching to a slightly more powerful handheld at nearly the same price point.
These people can hook the SM up to a TV to check on it alone if needed… but primarily they will locally stream from it to their Decks. And it’ll absolutely crush 60/70/90 FPS (the common max display rates on the Deck screens, depending on what flavor you have and whether or not you’re overclocking the LCD display) at 800p, with graphics cranked WAY up on a ton of games.
It’ll definitely be a fantastic era to be a household Deck gamer.
I’m not worried. Valve absolutely nailed the Deck ergonomics. They knew what they had to do here.
I wouldn’t say it runs particularly well currently. I play it at 720p lower settings and it will go 50 - 60 fps at several places and times… but then when there’s a ton of action and enemies, suddenly you’re in Jittery High 20s / Low 30s Land.
But it’s still very fun, especially with friends, and everyone picks their jobs and gets down to business. And it’s early access and early on in its road map… I imagine it’ll just get smoother as they optimize it more over time.
I haven’t noticed any increase, but I tend to use custom fan curves and play the same 5 - 10 games most of the time, so it doesn’t vary much.
Playing a lot of Jump Space and Deep Rock Galactic with friends.
Single player, Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to be my long haul game, and Brotato and Balatro remain my “20 free minutes to game” games
Day. One. Purchase.
I’m sorry friend, but I doubt you’re going to get many assisting responses here regarding this issue.
The overwhelming majority of people with a Steam Deck are running Steam OS on it, and I’d be stunned if more than a couple of dozen people on planet Earth are running your OS on one.
Add to that the fact that many, many people who play BG3 on the Deck are running the Windows version of the game under Proton (both for familiarity’s sake, and to make stuff like frame generation easier), and I don’t think that it’s just that you’re looking for a needle in a haystack… I think it’s more like you’re looking for a specific hydrogen atom inside the sun.
As someone who replaced a dying laptop with a Deck, I can tell you that it’s simply this: it functions great as BOTH a handheld and a regular portable PC, both docked and not docked.
Granted, I was lucky in that I already had one of the more expensive needed extra components (a really good 1440 gaming monitor that my sister gave me after she upgraded to 4k for her rig), but I literally only had to grab a dock, a couple of cables, and a bluetooth keyboard / mouse / headphone combo, and I was good to go. Far cheaper than a new (even-low tier) laptop, and it still would have been even if I would have had to buy a monitor… and honestly, I don’t miss getting crouch-heat blasted in the least.
Also, FWIW, I don’t think the Deck is particularly good at anything that is not gaming.
Honestly, that feels like an opinion from someone who hasn’t used it in that way. It works great for non-gaming stuff, even while mobile. 800p is totally okay on a sub-8 inch screen, which isn’t too small at the distance you view it from when not docked. I also don’t have issues with needing to one-hand the Deck often, but when that happens, laps and chests exist, depending on where I’m using it, so it’s never really been a problem.
As far as desktop navigation goes, it’s great. It has a touch screen, but if you’re someone like me who doesn’t like to touch the screen and print it up, you can just make up whatever control scheme is most comfortable to you. I use the joystick instead of the touch pad, I just find it easiest.
All in all, the Deck a great experience while mobile, and isn’t anywhere near as bulky as a gaming laptop to carry around.
Literally the only thing I ever miss is the ability to easily text chat in games while docked, but most stuff I play now, I can just use the mic if I have to talk to other players.
It’s my daily driver as well, I’ve had both LCD and OLED, and native display is normally off for both when I’m docked to my monitor. Personal preference, I don’t need the small Deck screen as a second monitor 99% of the time when I’m setting five feet (1.5m) away, and I don’t like losing my mouse cursor in it.
I’m one of those weirdos. It’s my daily driver desktop PC.
I ordered mine with the same intentions as everyone else in the Great Queue of 2022 and waited patiently until it arrived in June. The week before it did, my old laptop finally kicked the bucket.
At first I intended to replace that laptop, but… I docked up the Deck and fell in love. I had already divorced Microsoft and was on Linux anyway, so it was an easy transition, and the Deck is far more capable than that old laptop was, so weirdly… it was an upgrade. More capable on daily tasks, and more portable when I had to be on the go with it. It’s been a great several years, and no regrets.
I think a lot of us are eventually going to upgrade to stronger systems (steam machine or something else), but it’s going to be a long freaking time in that scenario before I stop streaming to my Deck when I’m home. It’s just the king of comfy, kicked back on the couch or bed gaming.