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StarTopic Steam Deck Discussion |ST| Big Deck Energy

bmfrosty

bmfrosty

wins the battle!
Founder
This is a topic to track news about the Steam Deck - Pre Launch. I intend to add news articles to the OP as they appear and I will update accordingly. I also plan to add a bit more general information as time goes on and maybe a header as well. :)

10/18/21:

Valve launches Deck Verified, to show off what games will work well on the Steam Deck
With Steam Deck, we're bringing your Steam Library to a new form factor—a portable gaming PC. While many games run great on Deck out of the box, this shift means there are some games that, while they may be great on a desktop PC, aren't a great experience on Steam Deck.
Click to expand...



Source: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/...f-what-games-will-work-well-on-the-steam-deck - https://www.steamdeck.com/en/verified

VKD3D-Proton v2.5 is out for Direct3D 12 on top of Vulkan, improving DirectX Raytracing
This is a release with a little bit of everything!

Features​

DXR progress​

DXR has seen significant work in the background.
  • DXR 1.1 is now experimentally exposed. It can be enabled with VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr11.
    Note that DXR 1.1 cannot be fully implemented in VK_KHR_ray_tracing's current form, in particular
    DispatchRays() indirect is not compatible yet,
    although we have not observed a game which requires this API feature.
  • DXR 1.1 inline raytracing support is fully implemented.
  • DXR 1.0 support is more or less feature complete.
    Some weird edge cases remain, but will likely not be implemented unless required by a game.
    VKD3D_CONFIG=dxr will eventually be dropped when it matures.
Some new DXR games are starting to come alive, especially with DXR 1.1 enabled,
but there are significant bugs as well that we currently cannot easily debug.
Some experimental results on NVIDIA:
  • Control - already worked
  • DEATHLOOP - appears to work correctly
  • Cyberpunk 2077 - DXR can be enabled, but GPU timeouts
  • World of Warcraft - according to a user, it works, but we have not confirmed ourselves
  • Metro Exodus: Enhanced Edition -
    gets ingame and appears to work? Not sure if it looks correct.
    Heavy CPU stutter for some reason ...
  • Metro Exodus (original release) - GPU timeouts when enabling DXR
  • Resident Evil: Village - Appears to work, but the visual difference is subtle.
It's worth experimenting with these and others.
DXR is incredibly complicated, so expect bugs.
From here, DXR support is mostly a case of stamping out issues one by one.

NVIDIA DLSS​

NVIDIA contributed integration APIs in vkd3d-proton which enables DLSS support in D3D12 titles in Proton.
See Proton documentation for how to enable NvAPI support.

Shader models​

A fair bit of work went into DXIL translation support to catch up with native drivers.
  • Shader model 6.5 is exposed.
    Shader model 6.6 should be straight forward once that becomes relevant.
  • Shader model 6.4 implementation takes advantage of VK_KHR_shader_integer_dot_product when supported.
  • Proper fallback for FP16 math on GPUs which do not expose native FP16 support (Polaris, Pascal).
    Notably fixes AMD FSR shaders in Resident Evil: Village (and others).
  • Shader model 6.1 SV_Barycentric support implemented (NVIDIA only for now).
  • Support shader model 6.2 FP32 denorm control.

Performance​

Resizable BAR can improve GPU performance about 10-15% in the best case, depends a lot on the game.
Horizon Zero Dawn and Death Stranding in particular improve massively with this change.
By default, vkd3d-proton will now take advantage of PCI-e BAR memory types through heuristics
as D3D12 does not expose direct support for resizable BAR, and native D3D12 drivers are known to use heuristics as well.
Without resizable BAR enabled in BIOS/vBIOS, we only get 256 MiB which can help performance,
but many games will improve performance even more
when we are allowed to use more than that.
There is an upper limit for how much VRAM is dedicated to this purpose.
We also added VKD3D_CONFIG=no_upload_hvv to disable all uses of PCI-e BAR memory.
Other performance improvements:
  • Avoid redundant descriptor update work in certain scenarios (NVIDIA contribution).
  • Minor tweaks here and there to reduce CPU overhead.

Fixes and workarounds​

  • Fix behavior for swap chain presentation latency HANDLE. Fixes spurious deadlocks in some cases.
  • Fix many issues related to depth-stencil handling, which fixed various issues in DEATHLOOP, F1 2021, WRC 10.
  • Fix DIRT 5 rendering issues and crashes. Should be fully playable now.
  • Fix some Diablo II Resurrected rendering issues.
  • Workaround shader bugs in Psychonauts 2.
  • Workaround some Unreal Engine 4 shader bugs which multiple titles trigger.
  • Fix some stability issues when VRAM is exhausted on NVIDIA.
  • Fix CPU crash in boot-up sequence of Far Cry 6 (game is still kinda buggy though, but gets in-game).
  • Fix various bugs with host visible images. Fixes DEATHLOOP.
  • Fix various DXIL conversion bugs.
  • Add Invariant geometry workarounds for specific games which require it.
  • Fix how d3d12.dll exports symbols to be more in line with MSVC.
  • Fix some edge cases in bitfield instructions.
  • Work around extreme CPU memory bloat on the specific NVIDIA driver versions which had this bug.
  • Fix regression in Evil Genius 2: World Domination.
  • Fix crashes in Hitman 3.
  • Fix terrain rendering in Anno 1800.
  • Various correctness and crash fixes.
Click to expand...


Source: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/...on-top-of-vulkan-improving-directx-raytracing - https://github.com/HansKristian-Work/vkd3d-proton/releases/tag/v2.5



Source: Email
 
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Oh, I'm going to put this one on my watch list. Thanks for making the thread!
 
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I've also got a 256GB preordered. Getting pretty hyped for it!
 
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I'm still bummed that it took me 45 minutes for an order to go through, meaning I won't get mine until Q1.

But at least it gives me a chance to change my mind if it doesn't turn out so hot at V1. Glass half full, right?
 
deadfolk said:
I'm still bummed that it took me 45 minutes for an order to go through, meaning I won't get mine until Q1.

But at least it gives me a chance to change my mind if it doesn't turn out so hot at V1. Glass half full, right?
Click to expand...
You and me both! I intend to go through either way. If it ain't great, I can always use another server. Can live in the closet with the raspberry pis.
 
Super excited for this. I'm a huge Nintendo fan, of course, but most of my playtime comes from PC these days - so it'll be nice to have an alternative, y'know?
 
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bmfrosty said:
You and me both! I intend to go through either way. If it ain't great, I can always use another server. Can live in the closet with the raspberry pis.
Click to expand...
Lol, but think how many Pis you could buy for that price!
 
deadfolk said:
Lol, but think how many Pis you could buy for that price!
Click to expand...
Yep. But none of them will have 16 Gigs of RAM and a x86 processor.

Any which way, if I enjoy it and a Steam Deck 2 comes out and I jump at it, the first Steam Deck becomes a server anyway.

I'm not going to rely on reviews given how much FUD the PCMR directs towards linux gaming.
 
bmfrosty said:
Yep. But none of them will have 16 Gigs of RAM and a x86 processor.

Any which way, if I enjoy it and a Steam Deck 2 comes out and I jump at it, the first Steam Deck becomes a server anyway.

I'm not going to rely on reviews given how much FUD the PCMR directs towards linux gaming.
Click to expand...
Good point!
 
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deadfolk said:
I'm still bummed that it took me 45 minutes for an order to go through, meaning I won't get mine until Q1.

But at least it gives me a chance to change my mind if it doesn't turn out so hot at V1. Glass half full, right?
Click to expand...
Same! But to be honest I have such a backlog I can wait for all the initial teething issues to resolve themselves. Also I think my partner is too enthusiastic about playing the Sims in bed.
 
Pineapple Pizza said:
Same! But to be honest I have such a backlog I can wait for all the initial teething issues to resolve themselves. Also I think my partner is too enthusiastic about playing the Sims in bed.
Click to expand...
The. Sims. In. Bed.

Oh my God, every time I think of another game to try on this thing, it blows my mind all over again.

Although... The Sims still requires Origin, no? I wonder if that will be problematic.
 
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This'll most likely be my next-gen console replacement. The Switch has gotten me really attached to portability and the Deck hopefully seems like it should be able to handle a good amount of titles this generation (at least until cross-gen support completely dies off, and even after that it might be able to handle some with heavy compromises, which I can probably deal with)

Really excited to get mine in Q1 2022, or hopefully earlier if my order gets moved up. I feel like I ordered fairly quickly though I don't have an exact time or order placement.
 
lemonfresh said:
The actual switch pro right here
Click to expand...
My problem is it's a portable pc, ugly, and too expensive for a model with decent memory. As a mass market fan this would be assessment. This is why I don't see it selling well.

Maybe when it comes down in price if Nintendo doesn't release a 4k model beforehand I'll give it a try.
 
Fellow 256 model pre-order-er.

Been primarily a handheld gamer due to convenience. So Deck is the gateway to serious PC gaming for me.

Also a GeforceNow subscriber, and thats pretty cool and has been consistent. Except for when Nvidia takes a game down for updates and it stays down for over a month (looking atchu, Divinity). Dedicated hardware is still king!

deadfolk said:
But at least it gives me a chance to change my mind if it doesn't turn out so hot at V1. Glass half full, right?
Click to expand...

I waffled, but figured when I spent the time to secure the pre-order "worst case I decide I dont want to keep it and it will be easy to resell".

I expect Deck is gonna bring the thunder when it drops, gamer all over it, media coverage all over it. While being near impossible to actually purchase. Seriously, what mass production capacity does Valve have?
 
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Kreese said:
My problem is it's a portable pc, ugly, and too expensive for a model with decent memory. As a mass market fan this would be assessment. This is why I don't see it selling well.

Maybe when it comes down in price if Nintendo doesn't release a 4k model beforehand I'll give it a try.
Click to expand...
I didnt mention anything about sales, im just talking tech wise
 
My preorder for the 256GB version says Q1 2022 is possible.
Will propably order it for real
 
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My pc runs like piss due to no SSD and I can’t figure out what one to buy for my omen, so I’m hoping this solves my pc gaming needs. Got one in the Q1 2022 slots, but if I hear good things at launch i may be tempted to jump the line and buy an early one off eBay…
 
SeafoamGaming said:
Got one in the Q1 2022 slots, but if I hear good things at launch i may be tempted to jump the line and buy an early one off eBay…
Click to expand...
Dang, I just double-checked and I am also slotted in "Q1 2022"; For a hot minute I deceived myself into thinking I scored in the first (Dec) wave :\
I remember that morning thinking I was ready to hit the pre-order button on the dot it was made available ... only to end up in a clusterfrack as I struggled to add to cart, and then labored to complete checkout, for like an hr.

Tbh, I am not going to be surprised if Valve struggles to deliver enough units enough to satisfy the pre-orders within the stated window, including ours.

I was just looking at the website again and saw the section about the teased dock. And I was like "Oh yeah theres a dock too ... why haven't they talked more about that and started taking pre-orders for that as well?" 🤔

I know they created the Index and other hardware like controllers, but going by that red-hot response to pre-order any of the Deck models, it could be that executing on mass production and delivery for this is proving a whole other level of difficult.
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
This'll most likely be my next-gen console replacement. The Switch has gotten me really attached to portability and the Deck hopefully seems like it should be able to handle a good amount of titles this generation (at least until cross-gen support completely dies off, and even after that it might be able to handle some with heavy compromises, which I can probably deal with)

Really excited to get mine in Q1 2022, or hopefully earlier if my order gets moved up. I feel like I ordered fairly quickly though I don't have an exact time or order placement.
Click to expand...
As long as PS5 and co keep targeting 1440p and higher at 60 fps, I think the Deck will be good to go for large parts of this generation, especially at its target resolution or lower (down to around 600p, I imagine).
PC folks used to 60 fps and more will likely have to adapt to 30 becoming the standard for many/most new games on the Deck, though. Gotta compromise somewhere after all, looking at the form factor, tech, etc.
 
I think one of the more interesting aspects is that it will provide a specific pc platform hardware target that may sit next to medium called steam deck. I wonder if AMD will release the SoC separately or in a partnership as a mini itx or smaller platform. I could see something from simplynuc or gigabyte for instance.
 
One of the games I'm looking forward to the most to try on the Deck is actually a rather mid-tier title, namely MH Stories 2. Its uncapped/unlocked/generally unstable framerate on Switch is killing me, but I just don't see myself playing it on the big(ger) screen either. Gave the demo a shot on PC, and yeah, good version overall, but it's definitely a handheld game to me. Deck will likely resolve any issues I had with the game so far from both the technical and practical standpoint. Something I'm very much looking forward to.

In general I feel that I'll be playing a lot of third party games on Deck which don't run as well as I'd want them to on Switch. I can see myself playing through Witcher 3 again, starting over in Outer Worlds, play the aforementioned MH Stories 2. It will be fantastic to have the alternative and option in cases like those.
 
Imitatio said:
In general I feel that I'll be playing a lot of third party games on Deck which don't run as well as I'd want them to on Switch. I can see myself playing through Witcher 3 again, starting over in Outer Worlds, play the aforementioned MH Stories 2. It will be fantastic to have the alternative and option in cases like those.
Click to expand...

This is where I’m at as well. I’m not convinced everything will run as well as I’d like it to, but that’s where refunds will be useful.
 
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I'm kind of curious as to whether Verified will allow for user comments like ProtonDB does. For those games that are marked as playable (yellow) that run but not perfectly, it'd be nice to see what problems you encounter, or tweaks to make things better etc.

Worst case scenario I guess ProtonDB will still serve that purpose.
 
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Imitatio said:
One of the games I'm looking forward to the most to try on the Deck is actually a rather mid-tier title, namely MH Stories 2. Its uncapped/unlocked/generally unstable framerate on Switch is killing me, but I just don't see myself playing it on the big(ger) screen either. Gave the demo a shot on PC, and yeah, good version overall, but it's definitely a handheld game to me. Deck will likely resolve any issues I had with the game so far from both the technical and practical standpoint. Something I'm very much looking forward to.

In general I feel that I'll be playing a lot of third party games on Deck which don't run as well as I'd want them to on Switch. I can see myself playing through Witcher 3 again, starting over in Outer Worlds, play the aforementioned MH Stories 2. It will be fantastic to have the alternative and option in cases like those.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is me. Steamdeck is likely going to become my designated "third party machine" in the future.

One of the things I imagine will be a dilemma will be if in the case of RE Outrage debuting on Switch first (like with GnG)...would I be willing to wait a few months?
 
Valve really going all out with the user friendliness with the Steamdeck. I really hope it sells well as a result.
 
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TreIII said:
One of the things I imagine will be a dilemma will be if in the case of RE Outrage debuting on Switch first (like with GnG)...would I be willing to wait a few months?
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Cases like that will heavily depend on the Switch version's quality. If it's a good version to me, I'll most likely play it on Switch, maybe buy it on sale later on Steam if I liked it well enough. I've already been double dipping here and there, and I think this trend is going to continue with Deck.
 
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I have the mid range option pre-ordered, even though it is more expensive than I would pay for a console. But, the enthusiast in me was like "Okay, I just a couple of duplicate GameCube games for 3 grand, so I will set some of that aside for one. As a primarily handheld for the longest time, this is up my alley. Will sit nicely next to my Switch, Vita, and 3DS :D

That said, I really hate that Gabe (looking at the interview transcript) said this: "If you're a gamer and you pick up a Switch and you pick up (a Steam Deck), you're gonna know which one is right for you. And you're gonna know it in 10 seconds."

Like, why is that necessary? It just screams of ridiculous fanboyism. The Deck is really cool, I am getting one, but there is no need to say crap you would read on GameFaqs. I hate that kind. I love video games all my life and they are BOTH right for me.
 
Clix said:
That said, I really hate that Gabe (looking at the interview transcript) said this: "If you're a gamer and you pick up a Switch and you pick up (a Steam Deck), you're gonna know which one is right for you. And you're gonna know it in 10 seconds."
Click to expand...

I dont think he is trying any subtle digs there; rather, underscoring that the Deck's design target will be noticeably different than the designers of the Switch aimed for. Not just in looks, but in feel, in heft, in complexity. Nintendo aims for software and hardware that can be picked up by anyone. Thats not Valve's first priority w/ Deck, i.e. aiming to please an established "core gamer/tech-savvy" who understands they are gonna hafta tweak stuff, interface w/ like 2 dozen inputs, not everything will work, its gonna be a bit of a brick, "yo this is linux", etc. Which makes sense to me.

Now all that said, Valve did drop that Deck announcement like immediately after the widely muted response to Switch OLED's reveal.

That timing was kinda savage (and kinda hilarious) 😆
 
Clix said:
Like, why is that necessary? It just screams of ridiculous fanboyism. The Deck is really cool, I am getting one, but there is no need to say crap you would read on GameFaqs. I hate that kind. I love video games all my life and they are BOTH right for me.
Click to expand...

Similar to @uncleoptimus, my read was that he was referring to whether you'd like to get an easily accessible experience or if you're open to all the bells and whistles and tweaking that this allows for (and will certainly even demand). Like, it's a PC flavored console and that's what he was trying to say, I think. That has both positive and negative connotations. I'm into it, but it's certainly not a mass market device. So I didn't feel like there was any nefarious subtext behind it.
 
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I think the either or mindset is kinda corny at this point. Big Switch fan and owner here, still getting a Deck in December ( 256gb gang ) as well as looking forward to to the next-gen Switch.

Like people can own multiple consoles, but it has to be either or when it comes to Switch and a portable PC ala Deck ? Nah.
 
cw_sasuke said:
I think the either or mindset is kinda corny at this point. Big Switch fan and owner here, still getting a Deck in December ( 256gb gang ) as well as looking forward to to the next-gen Switch.

Like people can own multiple consoles, but it has to be either or when it comes to Switch and a portable PC ala Deck ? Nah.
Click to expand...
I feel like Deck + Switch is probably going to end up a pretty popular combination, relatively speaking.
 
uncleoptimus said:
I dont think he is trying any subtle digs there; rather, underscoring that the Deck's design target will be noticeably different than the designers of the Switch aimed for. Not just in looks, but in feel, in heft, in complexity. Nintendo aims for software and hardware that can be picked up by anyone. Thats not Valve's first priority w/ Deck, i.e. aiming to please an established "core gamer/tech-savvy" who understands they are gonna hafta tweak stuff, interface w/ like 2 dozen inputs, not everything will work, its gonna be a bit of a brick, "yo this is linux", etc. Which makes sense to me.

Now all that said, Valve did drop that Deck announcement like immediately after the widely muted response to Switch OLED's reveal.

That timing was kinda savage (and kinda hilarious) 😆
Click to expand...

dingbat said:
Similar to @uncleoptimus, my read was that he was referring to whether you'd like to get an easily accessible experience or if you're open to all the bells and whistles and tweaking that this allows for (and will certainly even demand). Like, it's a PC flavored console and that's what he was trying to say, I think. That has both positive and negative connotations. I'm into it, but it's certainly not a mass market device. So I didn't feel like there was any nefarious subtext behind it.
Click to expand...

Fair enough. I read it as one of the "real gamerz" kinda shitposting you see on Twitter.
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
I feel like Deck + Switch is probably going to end up a pretty popular combination, relatively speaking.
Click to expand...
Relatively to what ? Because just based on the numbers alone it wont ever come close to the Switch/Xbox, Switch/PS or Switch/insert another popular gaming plattform combinations xD

I think the Deck, just as the Switch did before will increase the footprint of portable gaming even further, which is very good news.
The Deck is targeting a portion of the Switch audience as well as the general PC gaming audience, there was always a large crossover between these audience and PC + Nintendo portable was always a very popular combo.

In general its good to have another strong alternative on the market, especially with NIntendo taking their time when it comes to hardware upgrades - so especially for people that want that powerful upgrade now, the Deck couldnt have come at a better time. The rest will likely just wait for the Switch 2.
 
I'm a big switch gamer. I have 750gigs of games or so filling up a 1TB microSD card. I'm still super hyped for this in that it's looks like a good tinker system, and I'm also extremely pro linux.
 
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cw_sasuke said:
Relatively to what ? Because just based on the numbers alone it wont ever come close to the Switch/Xbox, Switch/PS or Switch/insert another popular gaming plattform combinations xD

I think the Deck, just as the Switch did before will increase the footprint of portable gaming even further, which is very good news.
The Deck is targeting a portion of the Switch audience as well as the general PC gaming audience, there was always a large crossover between these audience and PC + Nintendo portable was always a very popular combo.

In general its good to have another strong alternative on the market, especially with NIntendo taking their time when it comes to hardware upgrades - so especially for people that want that powerful upgrade now, the Deck couldnt have come at a better time. The rest will likely just wait for the Switch 2.
Click to expand...
Well yeah relative to total Deck sales, since Deck sales in general will be far lower than any major console.

But I think it has the chance to appeal to a lot of Switch owners who might really like portability and want to get into non-Switch gaming. Though probably I'm just overestimating the size of that demographic since it includes myself.
 
NabiscoFelt said:
But I think it has the chance to appeal to a lot of Switch owners who might really like portability and want to get into non-Switch gaming. Though probably I'm just overestimating the size of that demographic since it includes myself.
Click to expand...
I agree but supply will not be there and neither will brand recognition, so I think it’ll end up being niche even in a best case scenario. Hopefully successful enough to warrant a consistent product line and expansion into other markets, like Japan. It’s odd that it’s not coming there in the first place, imo. I think it could do pretty alright.
 
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NabiscoFelt said:
Well yeah relative to total Deck sales, since Deck sales in general will be far lower than any major console.

But I think it has the chance to appeal to a lot of Switch owners who might really like portability and want to get into non-Switch gaming. Though probably I'm just overestimating the size of that demographic since it includes myself.
Click to expand...
Nah, you are right even though this might be more of a longterm process. The initial shipments for the Deck will be kinda low, but a couple years and revisions/updates in i think its gonna establish itself as a strong portable alternative to a traditional gaming device ala Switch.

Though i think outside of the people that are already heavy invested into Steam, most of the reception probably comes because of the hardware advantages they have right now - the gap will never be as big as it is right now since the Switch is a 5 year old plattform.
 
cw_sasuke said:
Though i think outside of the people that are already heavy invested into Steam, most of the reception probably comes because of the hardware advantages they have right now - the gap will never be as big as it is right now since the Switch is a 5 year old plattform.
Click to expand...
That's a good point, and I think that's also why Valve crammed as much into the Deck as they did. Even down the line when a follow-up or revision of the Switch releases, it likely won't have stuff like track pads, capacitive sticks, and back buttons, or allow the user to extensively tweak things about the software running on it, how you interact with it input-wise, and so on. So the Deck will still have a few differentiating features when it does eventually become the weaker hardware.
 
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