How the fuck is elden ring the most played. Is it even playable on the steamdeck?
It is. In fact at launch it ran better than on high end windows PCs because linux handles directx shaders better.
I think it was actually, because the game stuttered when compiling shaders on PC. Valve then precompiled all the shaders for the steam deck and delivered those via the steam client.
Yes. But Valve didn’t do anything special. They provide pre-compiled shaders for all games on the deck and can only do so because of how directx shaders are handled on linux.
All games on linux and windows when using DX12/Vulkan must compile shaders. They should be compiled during loading screens and such, not gameplay, then cached for use later.
Elden Ring in particular, didn’t precompile shaders before gameplay, and then when it did compile them, it would discard the shaders rather than cache them. As a result the stutter would happen non-stop and never go away.
On linux, the equivalent compiled vulkan shaders are cached by VKD3D, eliminating the stutter except when a shader is used for the first time. On the deck, Valve will deliver the shaders precompiled with the game download to eliminate the need to compile them at all.
The fix of providing precompiled shaders was only possible on linux due to the use of VKD3D. And even without them, on linux the stutter would go away after a while as VKD3D will cache them even when the game doesn’t. Fromsoft had to update the game to fix it from their side on windows.
There was a code change to proton to remove stutters in ER
There were apparently several, now that I look into it. I didn’t know that.
They seem to try to mitigate other issues, like asset streaming and other general bad practices in the code of the game.
It seems there are many things wrong with how Elden Ring was coded.
I played through 99% of the game on Deck.
Only the last bosses I had the time and space to run it on PC and control it from the Deck.
But 0 issues with anything, ran like butter, at home, travelling. Controls are excelent.
It was my first souls game and I finished it thanks to the Deck.
I put mine at lowest settings, 40-45fps cap. Runs fine.
I have a hard time playing games like Elden Ring or any big budget games on the Deck. Games like Ballatro or Animal Well are much better.
My biggest use case for the deck is to be able to keep playing the same games as I do on my main gaming PC when I go on vacation. This was really put to the test with Cyberpunk 2077 and it worked shockingly well.
That said… it’s definitely not ideal, and it’s generally relegated to similar games like you’re talking about. Peglin, Celeste, etc
I’m surprised by Helldiver’s. Has there been some performance patches? I tried playing that on my deck near launch and it really struggled even at minimum settings - I can’t imagine how it would run at higher difficulties.
I recently tried it on Deck and it’s rough, but I think a lot of people only have a deck as an option to play it, so they use what they have. It’s a fun game, so it makes sense. If you have the option to play on a PC, it’s not worth using your steam deck though.
I play it on the deck all the time and it’s fine, graphics turned down to potato but they still look decent, and the FPS stays good in all but the most insane of situations (I play on difficulty 8/9, so I’m experiencing the most enemies possible). Only “hard” part is there’s no aim assist for controller so the high precision weapons like snipers are harder to use, but that doesn’t stop me from trying haha
I am surprised there aren’t more local multiplayer games on the list. The steam deck is great hooked up to a TV with multiple controllers
I suspect most people who buy one already have another gaming device. If I’m gonna play couch co-op games, I’m just switching the video output of my desktop to the projector, not docking my deck.
I used to use Steam link with my desktop but I find the experience of docking the steam deck way more reliable.
That’s nice. But I think most people literally just hook up the big screen with an actual display cable.
Maybe if you live in an apartment or dorm where your gaming PC is in your living room.
Sure. And two controllers. Really useful when traveling.
Neat!
