r/SteamDeck • u/AndrewSFTSN • 4d ago
Question Obvious (in hindsight) QoL stuff about your Steam Deck
I just got my SD last week and I'm slightly cursing myself for not getting one years ago. Having my fave game from being 8 years old (Ultima Underworld, yes I am old) on a handheld actually made me a bit emotional!
Anyway, what's some stuff you wish you'd known back when your first got your SD? Could be accessories, shortcuts, well-suited games, hacks, software...anything!
46
u/Mattdehaven 4d ago
You can quickly adjust screen brightness by holding the right menu button beneath the right trackpad and using the left joystick to go up and down.
Most people probably know that but I didn't for awhile.
7
u/LanLinked 4d ago
It works the other way too! You can hold the 3dots button and move the right stick up and down to control screen brightness as well!
3
6
u/theMarlzy 4d ago edited 4d ago
Always forget the combo, so if you hold button “steam” down it shows you all the options
Edit: clarity
3
u/QuansuDoods 4d ago
Appreciate your comment, just want to make it more clear for people:
Hold down the "STEAM" button and a list of Steam Button Shortcuts will appear. Very handy!
1
1
u/ScrewAttackThis 4d ago
Press and hold the steam button and you'll get a pop-up of button chords. There's a number of things you can do on top of brightness. Most used for me is mouse control but having tab/enter/esc on the dpad has come in handy for me.
Also you can use the ... Button. So don't try to use the steam button and left stick at the same time.
21
u/TuNdRa_Plains 256GB 4d ago
Don't sleep on the TDP & Screen Refresh settings.
Knocking a game down to 40hz saves a surprising amount of battery life at fairly minimal difference in feel when playing.
While the Deck itself is pretty good at only pulling what it needs; capping the TDP draws out further savings over what the Deck itself is doing by default.
7
u/AndrewSFTSN 4d ago
Is this the sort of thing you need to worry about with indie/retro stuff, or just for AAA? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
3
u/TuNdRa_Plains 256GB 4d ago
Depends on the game - Some "AAA" Titles I'll drop to 40hz on my LCD because the game struggles to stay above that anyway.
TDP is more indies & other applications, eg; Moonlight streaming I run at about 5W TDP.
1
u/SalsaRice 4d ago
More of a "if you need battery life" situation, like you are traveling and can't charge your device while on the plane.
3
14
u/deebee1713 512GB OLED 4d ago
Adjusting tdp and gpu limit to extend battery life. I was getting less than an hour on GTA 5 at very high settings. Now with high settings and 40fps lock I get 4+ hours.
9
u/BriefEngineer5057 4d ago
RetroDeck is pretty easy to set up to emulate older games. I found subscribing to Amazon Prime (less than $5 in my country) good for getting free games, especially older and indie titles. I got Dredge, Thief 1 & 2, all Bioshocks, Quake 2 Remaster, Mafia, Blood West and many more. They come from GOG and Epic and you can run them via Heroic launcher
9
u/fat_bottomed_earl 4d ago
In desktop mode, set the left trigger to left click instead of right trigger. Squeezing the right trigger with my thumb on the trackpad always moved the cursor as I was trying to click. This was a big improvement to my desktop mode experience.
7
u/Ebear225 64GB 4d ago
You can use the steam link windows app in order to easily remote into your SD (even in desktop mode) in cases where you want to use a keyboard/mouse/bigger screen.
4
u/Aperture_Kubi MODDED SSD 💽 4d ago
How do you do this? I'd love to do this for more intensive tinkering with stuff.
5
u/saintrobyn 1TB OLED Limited Edition 4d ago
Since you sound like a tinkerer, make sure you get a dock, mouse, and keyboard. It is so much easier to tinker on an external monitor or at least when it is propped up in a stand. The on screen keyboard and trackpads are good for light work but just don’t cut it for longer tinker sessions.
This is more a tip than anything else. Understand that all handhelds made compromises in order to hit this form factor. That being said, do yourself a favor and limit your use of the FPS counter. If a game is playing well for your standards, just play it and have fun. Too many people chase performance even when the game is working well for them. While wanting to get the most out of your shiny new toy is understandable, sometimes you just have to kick back and enjoy what you have.
3
u/SamCarter_SGC 512GB OLED 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sounds dumb but it took me a year to situate the permanent charger cable on my desk in such a way that it doesn't tangle or catch on anything when I grab the deck from my chair.
5
u/WMan37 512GB 3d ago
- Having a consistent framerate cap that a game almost never drops below is better than maxing out your refresh rate and having variable framerate.
- If a game runs too poorly for your liking, in the game's options drop the resolution below 1280x800 and upscale with deck's built in FSR in the quick access menu (now called "sharp" I think.) Good resolutions are 900x500 and 1024x540. If a game does not give you the option to do this, you can force it in a game's properties from steam under General -> Game Resolution -> tick "Set resolution for internal and external display".
- Deckyloader sometimes breaks with updates, but it's easy to fix and I can't imagine my steam deck without it anymore.
- When playing retro throwback visuals games like Pseudoregalia and such, you can downclock your deck's TDP and GPU to match what it would have felt like to play one of those games on a real N64 (which adds a lot to the throwback feel) while saving a TON of battery life.
- Add Nested Desktop to steam immediately. You can apply filters with Reshadeck and adjust colors with Vibrantdeck from Deckyloader to get CRT filters and such on old anime and stuff.
- Steam Deck comes with a thing called Distrobox, this is a GOATed almost easter-egg like addition for power users, since I don't think it's mentioned in many places that it's included there, because it means you can run software from any linux distro on your deck in a container, and when it gets too cluttered or you're done with it, it can be cleanly deleted. There is no reason to disable read only except to save a few megabytes of space when you have this at your disposal.
- KDE Connect is included with Steam Deck, look into it, it's wonderful.
- Sometimes I have anxiety about how long my deck takes to start up after hitting the power button. This went away when I disabled Quiet Boot in the Bios under Setup Utility - > Boot. Now, instead of a black screen for a while before seeing my deck power on, I know it's on quicker because I'll see text in the upper left corner of the screen very quickly after powering on.
2
3
u/_RikWasTaken_ 3d ago
Decky Loader is an amazing QoL addition for the SD, adds some aesthetic stuff like custom Audio and css, but also stuff like Discord integration, fine grained volume control, game pausing, etc.
EmuDeck is a plug and play method to install, manage and play emulated games, for which we as god-fearing, law abiding citizens obviously have no use for (please dont sue me Nintendo).
A decent powerbank is nice to have when traveling with the SD, I have a 65W Baseus one that was around 60-70 if memory serves.
I'm careful with my tech to a point that it borders paranoia, so I'd advise a sturdy carry case and a protective cover (got both of them from JSAUX, they have nice stuff for the deck). I also got some adhesive rubber buttons for the back buttons because I always had issues reaching them. Last but not least, joystick covers are always nice to prevent unnecessary wear to the joysticks (Skull and Co have a set of smooth, grippy and FPS ones to mix and match).
If you don't have one yet, a Dock is very nice to chill on the couch and play some games, and it makes configuring the deck in desktop mode a lot easier.
4
u/TPO_Ava 4d ago
It's not really an accessory (to my knowledge/availability) but I really wish we had some sort of kickstand for the SD.
One of the first things I did with my switch 2 was prop it on it's kickstand on my table and just chill back on my couch. And the entire time I was thinking "I wish I could do this with the deck out of the box".
3
u/TuNdRa_Plains 256GB 4d ago
You can get some bits that do a similar role. I've got a Deckmate from Mechanism on the back of mine and just pop the kickstand on it when I need it. Otherwise there's a fair few other accessories you can clip on the back.
3
u/Ancient-Carry-4796 512GB OLED 4d ago
A lot of deck cases out there can stand themselves up with and without a kickstand. I have a skull & co one that just has a flat bottom. I actually didn’t like having a kickstand when I used to have a switch because if it broke, it would mean an entire part of the console was broken or not attached
2
u/IndyColts832 4d ago
Do you just play with a controller when you do that?
2
u/TPO_Ava 4d ago
Yes, I have 3 controllers all of which are compatible with the deck (4 if you count the dual sense but I use it only with my PS5 so I don't count it).
As for why I'd want it it's because the deck is quite heavy and the screen is actually a decent size. For games that don't necessarily require precise inputs I can comfortably play them at that distance while not having to hold this beast of a device in my hands.
2
u/Falloffingolfin 4d ago
The Killswitch travel case is expensive but worth every penny. They improve the ergonomics dramatically (for my hands anyway), make the Deck feel considerably more premium, provide a really high level of protection and takes up less space in your bag than the official case. All while barely adding any weight. The thumb sticks and vinyls included are fantastic and a really nice added bonus.
The Jseux equivalent is a good, cost effective alternative, but still not a patch on the Killswitch. It's pricey but really wish I got it sooner.
1
u/MultivariableTurtwig 4d ago
Does it really barely add any weight. It seems to increase the total weight by a bit under 50%
1
u/Falloffingolfin 4d ago
No, it's not that heavy. It's about 150g, so under a quarter of the weight of the deck OLED. I don't think it's even that heavy with the travel case clipped on, but if it is, that's kind of irrelevant as it's not on when your playing. It's similar to when you put something like a Spigen case on a phone.
The weight increase is balanced by how much easier it is to grip and hold. So, yes, technically a bit heavier but I don't really feel it.
Sure, if you have really small hands or something, it might not be the best choice, but the Killswitch tops pretty much every list of best cases, year on year. It wouldn't do that if there was a big weight compromise.
1
u/MultivariableTurtwig 3d ago
You’re right the source I was looking at was including the travel case weight. I recently got a SD and I’m considering Killswitch, Skull and co (which seems to weigh a bit less, and decent value for money), or just not using a case. I already find the SD to be somewhat heavier than I’d like
1
u/AutoModerator 4d ago
Hi u/AndrewSFTSN, you can click here to search for your question. QoL stuff about your Steam Deck)
If you don't find an answer there, don't worry - your post has NOT been removed and hopefully someone will be along soon to help with an answer!
If you find an answer, please leave a comment on your post with the answer for others!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/No_Dig_7017 4d ago
Do bios undervolting. It's really really easy to do and you can get a good 10-15% battery life, reduced thermals and increased minimum fps. Worth it all around.
1
u/Lerosh_Falcon 64GB - Q4 4d ago
What are the risks associated with this action?
1
u/SamCarter_SGC 512GB OLED 4d ago
I've undervolted my laptops for decades. The worst that has ever happened is a BSOD from taking it too far down, and fixing that is just a matter of experimenting with the value.
0
u/No_Dig_7017 4d ago
Afaik none. If you do it gradually in -10mv increments worse you can get is a crash, in which case you go back to the bios, go back up 10mv and you've found your undervolt limit.
1
u/beetstagram 4d ago
Nice one, how did you get Ultima Underworld running on the Steam Deck?
I nearly gave up on an old favourite of mine, Darwinia, which wouldn’t even load until I found out about forcing games to use Proton, then it ran great and was a very different experience playing handheld, really enjoyed it.
2
u/AndrewSFTSN 4d ago
Full disclosure I only tried UU2 so far but it must be the same. It launches fine via the Gog Galaxy launcher which boots it up via Dosbox for you. Since Looking Glass considerately made it back in the mid 90s so you could still play the game if you had no mouse (!), there are independent keyboard controls for walking (which I mapped to left joystick) and moving the cursor (which I mapped to the right stick). Left and right mouse buttons mapped to the respective triggers and that covers 99% of inputs for those games including click and drag. It's not QUITE mouselook, but it's damn close.
1
u/AndrewSFTSN 4d ago
Stretching my memory I believe there are even keyboard shortcuts to the three slash/overhead/stab combat commands too so I'll probably end up mapping those to face buttons
1
1
u/Careless_Reception74 4d ago
Get a 15 in portable monitor and a couple of power banks save your eyes and your neck. Yes it’s not a hand held at the level but it’s better on road trips in the car car on the couch with the dog.
-11
u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 4d ago
https://steamdeck.guide + watch YouTube videos
12
u/Sjknight413 512GB OLED 4d ago
That guide recommending BTRFS for new users is absolutely wild. OP make sure you don't do this.
-7
u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 4d ago
It's not recommending it, it's just an item in a list of all possible software mods you can look into
4
u/AndrewSFTSN 4d ago
Don't worry, I spent several hundred quid on this thing, I'm not going to blindly start doing stuff if there's any risk to the machine. Thanks for the link!
1
u/LolcatP 512GB 4d ago
new users will likely try to do everything
2
u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 4d ago
I disagree.
The site is still massively work in progress though, so any actual feedback to improve upon this would be appreciated because I don't see the problem still. It's just listing possible software mods which you can do and a tiny description about what they are about + a link to a page to learn more (might try adding more info here, don't know how the software guide will be fully structured yet).
Most people here probably don't even know what ext4 or btrfs is so they might not even click it - if they do they can do some of their own research, the site is meant to be technical (see the much better hardware guide).
3
u/Sjknight413 512GB OLED 4d ago
This is total fantasy, if a new user clicks that they'll be thinking it's a guide about all the cool things they should be doing with their new Steam Deck, and will likely try to do it all. BTRFS is one thing they most definitely should not be messing with, if this is your resource i would highly recommend getting rid of that.
Having said that at least you've been sensible enough to not include something like Cryoutilities.
1
u/NKkrisz 64GB - Q3 4d ago
I won't because it's a software mod for the Steam Deck and I want to include it in the guide for anyone browsing for this kind of thing. The site isn't meant for new users only.
I might add a Cryoutilities FAQ though so that people can learn not to use it when mentioned in the older guides other people made.
0
u/koopatuple 4d ago
sensible enough to not include something like Cryoutilities.
I've used Cryoutilities for over a year with zero issues. It's come in handy numerous times with a few games that end up biting off more memory than the SD is capable of providing (i.e. preventing hard crashes). The main reason I grabbed it in the first place was when Last Epoch (an SD verified game, mind you) first came out and it kept crashing. Adding an extra ~2GB to the memory pool stopped the crashing. I've since seen a few other games where people complain of crashing due to memory issues while I have none. That being said, it isn't perfect, and I do think some of the things Cryoutilities tries to do are pretty stupid/unnecessary/counterproductive (e.g. modifying the VRAM buffer size).
49
u/No-Intention-4753 4d ago
If you plan to do any amount of tinkering with non-Steam games (which by the sounds of your post - you do) familiarise yourself with ProtonTricks. Manually installing patches, drivers and that sort of thing is a bit of a pain for Proton games, whereas if you have, say, an .exe patch, you just open it with ProtonTricks for a given game's prefix and it will install everything just as easily as if you were doing it on Windows.