thingsiplay
@thingsiplay@beehaw.org
- Comment on Microsoft dives into the handheld gaming PC wars with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally 5 days ago:
Oh, I’m sorry, I completely misread that part about “with a real d-pad”. Not sure what happened there.
- Comment on Microsoft dives into the handheld gaming PC wars with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally 5 days ago:
Personally though, I’d buy a trackpad only deck (maybe with a real d-pad) but I know I’m in the minority on that one.
I can’t understand this. There are a few fans of the original Steam Controller (I have one too from launch of it) and they seem to be okay for the missing d-pad. Maybe if you play games where d-pad is never needed, I can see it. But games like Fighting Games, classic Platformer or anything that requires precise single clicks (even menus, like RPGs) are better with d-pad in my opinion. And if you are a fan of emulation like me, then there is no discussion, a d-pad is a must.
Do you really never use the d-pad?
- Comment on Microsoft dives into the handheld gaming PC wars with the Asus ROG Xbox Ally 5 days ago:
Well, it makes the hardware more complicated to manufacture, more error prone, more bigger, more costly. The software becomes also a little bit more complicated. Maybe they are afraid that trackpads wouldn’t appeal to normies, because it looks weird first and most “console” gamers might want to use a “normal” gamepad like handheld, like any other handheld. Trackpads look so different and weird compared to the Switch in example. Being similar to the Switch in the look might be a reason for them to exclude it. But most importantly, it makes it more costly. So, I can see reasons for this.
Having said this, I would never buy a PC handheld without a single trackpad again. I love them (not in the literal sense BTW :D). Compared with good software for input, like Steam Input, they become invaluable.
- Comment on Steam Deck Client and Beta Get New Updates For Fixes and New In-Game Shortcuts 1 week ago:
Wait a minute… I never used Steam Deck with a keyboard. There was no way to activate the menu via the keyboard? If so, how did people do it? Was there a need for always a controller on the side, when using Steam Deck with a keyboard?
- Comment on Is it possible to play Final Fantasy Tactics on Steam Deck? 1 week ago:
You should look into Romhacks of the original console games (especially PS1). There are some very interesting mods available: FFT (PSX) and FFTA (GBA) and FFT (PSP)
Now this involves patching original Roms with the Romhack mod files. I do most with Romhack Patcher JS directly in the browser (nothing is uploaded, its total offline and local application in browser).
- Comment on Is it possible to play Final Fantasy Tactics on Steam Deck? 1 week ago:
Emulation
RetroArch can be installed directly from Steam store like any other game. It has even Cloud save for save files of games. I use the Beetle PSX core on it, which needs to be installed from within the application itself. Each core can emulator other systems. Now for some people RetroArch is complicated. So its up to you if you want to go that route.
As an alternative, there are emulators or suits of emulators that help with setting everything up. In example RetroDeck or EmuDeck. They need to be installed outside the Steam store, either as a script or as Flatpak I think. I don’t use any of them, so cannot help further there.
- Comment on Steam OS page gets a redesign, finally retiring the old design from the Steam OS 2.0 era 3 weeks ago:
Valve Time. Finally.
- Comment on A note about the security of your Steam account 4 weeks ago:
- Don’t use the same password on Steam that you use from other services.
- Use a long password, with random characters and numbers.
- Use a password manager.
- Do not click on links in emails, unless you are 100% sure its from Valve. Better yet, visit Steam in your browser or the Steam app and search for the page there directly. Do not login on random websites requiring you to login to Steam.
- Do not click on links in chat from people you don’t know or added recently to your friends list.
- Set your Steam profile to private, or enable it for friends only at best. Especially if you have lot of skins.
- Ultimate weapon: Use official 2FA (2 factor authentication) with Steam app on your phone. Do not lose your phone, as you cannot login to Steam otherwise.
No security is perfect, but following these basic rules will help you to secure your account. And there shouldn’t be any need to reset the password often. If you feel better, reset it once per year or so. I don’t.
- Comment on The $3,000 Steam Deck Prototype... (and other Linux Gaming news) 2 months ago:
Is it actually proven this to be a real prototype made by Valve?
- Comment on Castlevania Advance Collection is so Good on Deck! 2 months ago:
That’s true. But there are legit ways to purchase Roms and extract them for use in your favorite emulator. In example the SNES Classic console from Nintendo, or the Genesis and Sega Games collection on Steam. If I were to buy Castlevania Advance, I would probably extract the Roms for use in RetroArch.
- Comment on Castlevania Advance Collection is so Good on Deck! 2 months ago:
Maybe Emulation is something you would look into? I actually prefer emulating the games myself, over playing the official Steam version (not at least because of the Shaders). Also there are lot of Mods (also known as Romhacks) for these games.
I imagine they must have given these are playable on PC, and doing them with a mouse would be just short of impossible.
The Steam Input system allows you to customize controls with lot of features available. So if they butcher this up, you have at least tools built into the Steam Deck to customize it. But it requires some time and effort, and that’s not always someone wants to put into to play a classic game.
- Comment on SteamOS 3.7.0 Is Now In Preview Channel With Some Huge Changes 2 months ago:
- Comment on Cheat Sheet Solution For Steam Deck Control Schemes? 3 months ago:
That was my exact same thoughts.
- Comment on Steam Deck Beta Client Update Improves Achievement Notifications and Adds New Controller Support 3 months ago:
- Notes are now available on the web! You can find them on the games list. Select the “Games” option under your profile name, then find the new “My Notes” option on the “My Game Content” menu. They will be added to the Steam Mobile app in a future update.
Makes notes much more useful if you have a Desktop Pc and a Steam Deck. It would be nice if the notes could be accessed directly on the store page too.
- Comment on Cheat Sheet Solution For Steam Deck Control Schemes? 3 months ago:
I would like to have that too. When I looked (oh god its already a year ago) couldn’t find any. I’ve created a control scheme that I would like to share and its fairly complex. Having a standardized files to edit for sharing, or better yet, convert directly from Steam and export to an image (.png or .svg) would be great.
Anyway, no solution, just expressing my interest. I actually want to write a manual for the control scheme.
- Comment on Half-Life 3 is just the hot exclusive Valve needs to propel SteamOS past Windows 3 months ago:
Please do not make a SteamOS exclusive game. I love Linux and Steam Deck, but this is not a good idea to exclude Windows users from playing the game.
- Comment on Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming 3 months ago:
Ayaneo Next II seems to have two trackpads and Lenovo Legion Go 2 only one.
- Comment on Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming 3 months ago:
Agreed. The touchpads are one of the key points why the Deck is so great to me. I could live with only one, but it really requires at least one touchpad; ideally two.
- Comment on Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming 3 months ago:
I still think Valve need to release the SD2 soon before these manufacturers eat their dinner.
The other PC handhelds aren’t really competitors in the classical sense. Valve can (unlike the consoles) wait and release the Steam Deck 2 whenever it is ready. No need to rush and make it bad. Remember, most people buying a PC handheld to play PC games will probably install Steam. And it does not make any difference for Valve if they purchased the game on Steam Deck or any other PC system, as the price cut is the same across hardware.
Sure, Valve wants to sell and control the PC handheld as much as possible. But bringing out any new device is not that urgent right now. Valve got already what they want; the Steam Deck is the default target by developers, when it comes to PC handheld.
- LGR had best experience of The Sims 1 & 2 Legacy Collection on the Steam Deck (timestamp at 14:16 min)youtu.be ↗Submitted 4 months ago to steamdeck@sopuli.xyz | 2 comments
- Comment on PSN account no longer required for God of War Ragnarok, Spiderman 2, Last of Us Part 2, and Horizon Remastered 4 months ago:
Good, but its too late. I don’t care for those games anymore. At least I might check future games out. This should have been done day one.
- Comment on [Discussion] How is your Steam Deck's battery holding up? 4 months ago:
100% - first gen Deck
I am not a huge Deck user, meaning most of the PC time and games are played on my actual PC. The Deck is only a secondary device, for a few times here and there. I have over 130 hours on RetroArch, and a few hours on various other stuff. Therefore its expected that the battery is still in good condition.
- Comment on What handheld PCs should do to fight the Nintendo Switch 2 4 months ago:
Why can’t the Steam Deck and other handheld PCs coexist with the Switch 2? Both are not interchangeable, just because its a handheld. You can are not forced to buy a handheld PC to play certain games. This is not a situation like Playstation vs Xbox.
- Comment on Steam Deck Brick Mod: No screen, no controller, and absolutely no sense, just a power button and a USB port. 4 months ago:
If you hate your Steam Deck. :D Jokes aside, I am always flabbergasted by the ingenuity and knowledge of extreme modders like him. He has a use case and first it sounded stupid, but after reading a little bit it makes sense for him. I guess there is no solution like this one can buy, right? Or is it too expensive? It just hurts me personally seeing the Deck crippled like that (just jokingly talking here, man I am funny as hell today). But there was some really cheap refurbished old Decks sold on the Steam site.
Interesting project, but not my taste to be honest.
- Comment on PC game development surges in Steam Deck handheld era — But don't count Xbox and PlayStation out 4 months ago:
How many of them are indie developers and how many do AAA? I think one of the biggest contributors to this is that supporting Steam Deck is much easier thanks to Proton, especially if they already have a Windows version. And the extra exposure they get through the Steam store and various articles and forums by having a Steam Deck version.
- Comment on Name your most played and most surpring game you played on Steam Deck 2024 4 months ago:
RetroArch
I am a huge emulation fan and on my Steam Deck I often tend to play games I do not on my big PC. Off course RetroArch itself is not a game and it supports many systems and games, therefore its a bit unfair to list it here. But I played Game Boy Color, SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis games, such as Wario Land 3 and Crusader of Centy (or Soleil). I play RetroArch on my PC too, so even then the most played “game” on Deck is RetroArch. This shows how much I like emulation.
South Park Stick of Truth
I had this game in my back catalog for many years and always wanted to play it. Well I did a few hours and never finished it. The game is alright and its presentation is really good matching the quality of the TV show. But I don’t know, at some point I got a little bit bored by its gameplay and was stuck and could not progress.
The End.
- Comment on Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is Steam Deck Verified 4 months ago:
I really love how SquareEnix is putting effort into making their games work well on Steam Deck.
- Comment on Marvel Rivals Dev Apologizes for Mistakenly Banning Steam Deck/Mac players, will unban accounts 5 months ago:
Not really. EA sometimes made changes that broke Linux or Steam Deck support. It was Valve (and probably others to be fair) who fixed it couple of times.
- Comment on Marvel Rivals Dev Apologizes for Mistakenly Banning Steam Deck/Mac players, will unban accounts 5 months ago:
That’s so refreshing to see.
- Comment on [Leak] Steam Controller 2 render thumbnail leaked in SteamVR drivers 6 months ago:
Agreed. I can’t access Twitter because its blocked (through some plugins). I think sotwe can display posts without using Twitter directly (not sure if this is a good site, literally just found it): www.sotwe.com/SadlyItsBradley
