Recent Posts

301

Living Room / Re: Animal Friends thread

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 11:40 PM »

this one cracked me up big time:
"Emmanuel Don't Do It"

-mouser (July 16, 2022, 10:34 PM)

She (the woman) kind of reminds me of someone I know.

302

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 09:04 PM »

How similar do you think a Steam Controller is to the controls on the Deck?

-wraith808 (July 16, 2022, 08:33 PM)

I've never seen one in person, so I can't speak for how similarly they feel to each other. But as far as features and functionality go, the Deck appears to have everything the Steam Controller (SC) has, and even more.



Based on the image above, here are the notable differences that I'm aware of:

• The Deck has two joysticks, the SC has only one.
• The Deck has a directional pad, the SC doesn't have one.
• The Deck has four rear "paddle" buttons (two on each side), the SC appears to only have two (one on each side).
• The Deck has a touch screen, the SC doesn't have one.

303

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 08:47 PM »

Okay, here's something a little new. I'm typing this up from the Deck, using a crappy bluetooth keyboard that often skips presses and occasionally double (or more) presses keys.

I made a stupid little benchmark "game" in Godot. It just performs a "binary search" of the optimal number of 2D physics objects that "hop" around while maintaining approximately 60 FPS.

It does this by either spawning a certain number of objects (which starts at 500) every 5 seconds or halving that number and despawning that new number of objects until the framerate recovers, it keeps adjusting the number of objects to spawn/despawn until eventually equilibrium is reached. This is by no means an original idea, nor is it an especially well executed one. But hey, it was made 100% on the Deck.



You can find downloads for Linux and Windows on my Keybase.

You can also try the web version here:

https://gotm.io/deozaan/deck-benchmark

Here are some numbers at which my various devices/modes reach equilibrium:

• Deck in Gaming Mode (1280x800): about 1410 hoppers
• Deck in Desktop Mode (1280x800): about 1234 hoppers.
• Deck on Web: about 600 hoppers

• My 11 year old Windows PC standalone (2560x1440): about 1500 hoppers
• My 11 year old Windows PC on Web Version: about 670 hoppers.

EDIT: Took a screenshot and added a few more details from Windows. Old habits die hard.

304

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 05:02 PM »

I just tried out Aperture Desk Job and things didn't go well.

In the opening moments of the game it shows you all the controls and requires you to push them all before it really starts. You can also see visually on screen that it is recognizing input. It even has little lights in-game that light up when the capacitive sensors recognize that you're resting your thumbs on the joysticks or the trackpads. Pretty cool so far.

But just a few minutes into it a robot asks you to take a photo (screenshot) of him. Doing so requires a special key combination (Steam + R1) to activate. That's when things went wrong for me. After I did that, none of the inputs worked in the game anymore. I was able to get some of them working again by toggling the Steam button menu on and off again, but about 1/2 to 2/3 of the inputs still were not working for me. Meanwhile the robot was telling me that every control was hooked up to something and should be doing something. I think the game expected me to be pushing every button because the game got stuck there. The robot kept telling me to go wild pressing all the buttons, looping through a few different lines of dialog every few seconds. But I've pushed every button and the game will not progress further. At that point the battery was getting low (I didn't start at a full charge) so I decided to just shut it off and let it charge for a while.

In my opinion, Aperture Desk Job should not be listed as a Deck Verified title.

I've been using Wormhole GUI for my needs- https://github.com/a...tOfChaos/WormholeGui
I've also been using Syncthing - https://syncthing.net/

-wraith808 (July 16, 2022, 11:44 AM)

It looks like there's a flatpack on Discover called RiftShare which uses the magic wormhole protocol. Wormhole GUI looks similar to, but more advanced/complex than Warpinator, so I think I'll just stick with Warpinator.

Syncthing, on the other hand, is something I think I've taken a look at in the past, many years ago, when trying to sync files to/from an Android device. But looking at it again makes me think it might be very useful in general and a tool I'll try to keep in mind. Thanks for getting me to look into that again.

305

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 02:27 PM »

I have my delivery date

-wraith808 (July 16, 2022, 11:44 AM)

Woohoo! I hope FedEx is more reliable for you than they are for me.

Maybe if you have a separate laptop around and just want to experiment with developing games, this might be for you, mouser

-wraith808 (July 16, 2022, 11:58 AM)

That's still not quite the same since you'd probably want the actual hardware to test with. I imagine it would be hard to develop a game featuring gyro or dual trackpad controls when you can't test it. But it's a good way to get a feel for the Steam OS experience and might be great for a little HTPC connected to the TV.

306

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 16, 2022, 03:35 AM »

Well, the day got away from me and I didn't personally get any more quality time with the Deck. But I did confirm that the trackpads don't "click" when the device is off, so it's definitely some kind of simulated haptic feedback rather than a mechanical switch under them. 🤓 But when it is turned on and it clicks, it's so hard for me to believe it's not a real button!


Something worth mentioning is that the person who this 64 GB model is ultimately intended for tried out the Deck today. So now there are multiple accounts on the device. Support for multiple user accounts was a big concern of mine early on, as I haven't found there to be a lot of information about it online. Most of the YouTube videos I've seen that focus on the Deck seem to be made by people who don't have to share it with anybody else. Switching accounts isn't quite as seamless or fast as it is on, say, the Nintendo Switch or the Wii U before it. It feels slightly buried in the UI but it's not too bad. I think Gaming Mode is basically just a new Steam Big Picture Mode interface, and when you change accounts it appears to completely restart the Steam client, if not the entire device. It takes about 25-30 seconds to completely change accounts once they're on there.

It does not make a new Linux user account, so all the Desktop Mode stuff appears to be shared. Same Downloads folder, same Documents folder, same Desktop icons/files, etc. If your browser is set up to restore tabs when it launches, it will restore the tab(s) that the last person had opened. That kind of data sharing is not ideal, IMO. I don't necessarily want someone else to be able to access and edit/overwrite my files, whether intentionally or not. That said, there are probably workarounds to most of the issues. For example, internet browser profiles are a thing that exist, so each person could probably just have their own icon on the desktop that launches their browser profile.

Another unfortunate thing about multiple accounts is that games I've installed on the Deck show up on the other person's "Recent Games" list in Gaming Mode and vice versa. But that may just be a bug that will be fixed in the future. Or maybe it's an intended feature since we have authorized the Family Sharing feature, meaning that either of us could play the games owned by the other person, so maybe it's just kind of highlighting those games as a way to say "Hey! This game is ready to play right now if you wanted to." Either way, that's kind of a one-time problem since actually launching the games on one account doesn't bring the game to the front of the Recent Games list on the other account, so it's not that big of a deal.


One other thing I figured I'd mention is the approach I've used to transfer files from my Windows PC to the Deck.

I decided to give Warpinator a try. If you're not aware, Warpinator is a (LAN-only?) file transferring utility created by the folks at Linux Mint. I installed the Warpinator flatpack on the Deck from the Discover app. And on Windows I used an unofficial Warpinator for Windows. This was my first time using Warpinator. I like it! It's nice and simple. Just run it on both computers on the same network and they show up and you select which file(s)/folder(s) you want to transfer and then accept the transfer on the other machine and it does its thing.

Maybe someone with more experience and knowledge than me would find it easier or better to set up a SAMBA share or something similar, but I know next to nothing about that and from what little I do know it sounds complex to me. In short, I liked Warpinator and will likely use it again in the future.


And finally: I remembered that Aperture Desk Job is a free game specifically designed to show off the Steam Deck's features. So I've gotten that installed. I'll probably try that out tomorrow as the first thing I do on the Deck.

307

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 15, 2022, 08:47 PM »

Nice. I've been looking into some hubs. I've been hoping to find something for about $35 at the high end of the price spectrum, but honestly I'm not sure I'll be buying any accessories for a while since buying two Decks back to back is really putting a strain on my budget. I'm really hoping Valve's official Docking Station isn't much more than that when it finally becomes available. I'm also hoping it's not backordered for another year when it launches. 😅

I actually got a 3rd party stand for my Switch a couple years ago that I've intended to repurpose for use with the Deck. But about a year ago I realized that I never play the Switch in tabletop mode (either always docked or handheld) so I removed the stand from my desk and put it away somewhere and I haven't been able to find it since.



In the meantime, I've been using a stand that came with my Wii U. I've found it's actually pretty comfortable to sit the Deck into this Wii U stand and rest my wrists on the desk or table or wherever it's standing and just play it that way.



Here it is in that stand. The camera focused more on the reflection than on the Deck/stand itself, so the important stuff is a little blurry. . .



I've actually been pretty busy with other things today and haven't had much time with the Deck yet. But I've gotten Hellpoint installed, which I'm looking forward to taking for a test drive on the Deck soon. It was a free giveaway on GOG sometime last year which I grabbed and then promptly forgot about. I finally tried it out in March or so and really liked it, and it features multiplayer, including split-screen multiplayer, so I bought it on Steam so I could take advantage of Steam's Remote Play Together feature for "local" multiplayer with faraway friends.

308

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 15, 2022, 05:48 AM »

As best as I can tell, the hubs "bricking" the Deck was a BIOS issue that has been fixed by now.

https://old.reddit.c...ick_devices/i24z4ey/

I had a little bit of a rough start with the Deck. I had read on Reddit earlier that the Deck doesn't power on when you plug it in, and the instructions said to plug it in before turning it on for the first time, so I plugged it in without turning it on and then I walked away for a few minutes for something else that needed my attention before I got engrossed with the Deck. When I came back it was on and asking me to configure my time zone and connect to WiFi. I pressed a couple of wrong buttons a few times in quick succession and suddenly the screen went black, though it was still lit. I had no idea what was going on. It seems it crashed, or something, and rebooted itself, because after about 30 seconds or so (it felt longer in my confusion) I saw the Deck splash/logo thing and then I was right back selecting my time zone and WiFi. Once I connected to WiFi I can't remember if it asked me to sign into my Steam account right away or if it downloaded some updates first. But the download took longer than it felt it should. And the estimated time remaining said 5 minutes for pretty much the whole time. Then I stopped paying attention to it and eventually it finished and booted into Steam OS. At which point I got a notification that there was a system update ready to be downloaded and installed. So I did that one, too. But that one was really quick, even though it included a reboot of the device.

The 64 GB of storage feels pretty tight. After finally getting into the OS and taking a look at storage, it showed about 42 GB free. I wasn't sure what game(s) to install that I wanted to play right away. I was wary of using up all the storage on games I just wanted to see on the Deck but didn't actually intend on playing. Or on the other hand one game I've been playing lately is the Master Chief Collection (6 Halo games), which takes up over 64 GB and that's without any of the PvP multiplayer stuff installed, and even though you can kind of modularly install each Halo game, the collection is listed as Unsupported, so I didn't want to risk wasting time/space on something that wasn't going to work. So I was having trouble deciding what I should install. At the same time, I had a young family member asking to play a little car/racing/driving game and it was under 500 MB so that was my first install on the Deck. We played that for about an hour and then I decided to check out the Deck's Desktop Mode.

I've never really used Arch Linux before, so there's plenty for me to figure out and explore there. I don't have a hub, and I don't have any USB-C to USB-A adapters, so I can't really connect any of my other devices to my Deck. I also don't have a bluetooth mouse, but I did remember eventually that I have a small bluetooth keyboard I got for an Android device many years ago. So that makes using desktop mode slightly less cumbersome than having to use the virtual keyboard.

One funny thing I caught myself doing: On my Windows PC I have Godot installed through Steam because I figured that would be the easiest way to keep it up to date. But for some reason I didn't even think about installing Godot through Steam on the Deck and went straight to the Discover app and installed the flatpack from there. Though maybe I was smarter than I realized because as I think about it more, I'm not going to want to be confined to Game View (or whatever it's called) while working in Godot. I'll probably want a browser open and probably a file manager and maybe other stuff to alt-tab back and forth to. And I don't see that being a good experience while in Game View. But I'll have to experiment and see how things go.

I actually didn't even run Godot because I wanted to set up some emulation while I was in Desktop mode so I inserted a 256GB microSD card I had laying around after decommissioning my Raspberry Pi earlier this year, and then I spent a couple hours copying files over and making sure the artwork looked nice and by the time I "finished" (in quotes because there's more I want to do) with that I had forgotten about Godot and was eager to get back to the Game View to test out the emulation. Then I started a game I used enjoy a lot in my youth and unintentionally played it all the way through to the final boss. Then I realized how far past my bedtime it was so I checked back here and wrote this up. So that was my first ~12 hours with the Deck.

I actually haven't done much with it yet, but so far I'm really liking it.

One really interesting thing I noticed: The trackpads feel like they physically click, like they have a mechanical button underneath them. Kind of like how you can click joysticks or a mouse scroll wheel. But I think the click feeling is actually just haptic feedback, because if you close the Steam client in Desktop mode, you lose some of the Steam Input stuff and how you interact with the OS changes slightly, and the trackpads no longer "click" when you press on them. It was a really weird feeling to not have those clicks when I pressed down on the trackpads when I thought there were buttons under them. Even thinking about it now after having been using the trackpads quite a bit to drag and drop files and type on the virtual keyboard and stuff, I'm honestly doubting myself and wondering if I actually experienced the click go away. The click just feels so clicky that I'm having a hard time believing that it's not really clicking a mechanical switch. I guess that's another thing I'll have to experiment with some more.

309

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 14, 2022, 03:43 PM »

https://www.reddit.c..._bricking_the_steam/

-wraith808 (July 14, 2022, 03:38 PM)

I hadn't seen that. Thanks for the link.

The 64GB Deck just arrived! I opened the box to make sure everything was there and that it appeared to be in good condition, but haven't even turned it on yet. Time to dive in!

310

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 14, 2022, 03:10 PM »

You found the secret loophole!

-Deozaan (July 14, 2022, 12:33 PM)

I reported it just because I don't want to see anyone exploit it and screw up the queues. I should have figured it would be an issue, because I've seen before how the carts on the client and the website are not linked, and it's screwed me before.

-wraith808 (July 14, 2022, 12:44 PM)

You couldn't have waited a week until I get my 512 order email?

I've heard horror stories about 3p docks, so just went for a stand, and I might get this Anker dock later

https://smile.amazon.../product/B08C9HZ5YT/

-wraith808 (July 13, 2022, 04:06 PM)

Have you heard horror stories specifically about the Deck? I've heard tales of 3rd party docks for the Nintendo Switch bricking the system, but nothing about docks/hubs breaking the Deck.

Also, did you see that that Anker hub only supports 4K @30Hz? I'm not sure how well the Deck can handle anything at 4K, so maybe 30Hz is good enough. But I just wanted to be sure you were aware of that hub's limitations in that regard.

311

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 14, 2022, 12:33 PM »

You found the secret loophole!

312

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 14, 2022, 11:02 AM »

If you weren't aware, it may be faster to check your Steam account rather than wait for the email. I've read reports of people not receiving the email for a while, but their Steam account notifies them that they can complete the purchase.

313

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 13, 2022, 02:38 PM »

The FedEx tracking information updated about 20 minutes ago. It still says the expected delivery time is within the next 2.5 hours, but it's at least a 5 hour drive away from here. Maybe if they put the package on an airplane to the nearest major airport and then drive it here it could get here on time, but I seriously doubt anything remotely close to that will happen. At this point I'm not confident it will even arrive tomorrow.

You'd think that once it got scanned at a location 5 hours away on the day it's supposed to be delivered they'd update the expected delivery time/day to reflect the reality of the situation.

314

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 13, 2022, 01:29 PM »

I guess I'm in... I bought some accessories already on Prime Day. Now to await the notification!

-wraith808 (July 13, 2022, 11:29 AM)

Nice! You probably won't have to wait long. Or at least, not much longer.

Which accessories?

I was really hoping the official Docking Station would be ready by now (before it got delayed last month) so I could order it with the Deck. I may have to go out and buy a generic hub, because one of my primary intended uses for my Deck is to see how it fares as a total desktop PC replacement when connected to a monitor and mouse, etc.

It should arrive tomorrow if FedEx can deliver on time, which is a pretty big "if" in my experience!

-Deozaan (July 12, 2022, 12:22 PM)

As expected, FedEx is as worthless as always. The tracking information hasn't been updated for two days but still says it's scheduled for delivery today. So I can't tell if it's still halfway across the country or if it's on the way to my door right this minute.

315

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 13, 2022, 02:45 AM »

I guess we'll find out. 😅

316

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 12, 2022, 12:22 PM »

Assuming the same percentage jump (about 12.3%) from the last update (June 27th-30th) holds true for all future "email days," you should get your email in 5.5 more email days. Rounding up to 6 would put you at July 21.

-Deozaan (July 04, 2022, 02:30 PM)

It jumped over 20% for you yesterday, wraith808, which puts you at 86% and means you'll likely get your email to confirm your order this Thursday the 14th.

I haven't received the 64 GB model yet. It should arrive tomorrow if FedEx can deliver on time, which is a pretty big "if" in my experience! I was expecting to have about a month with the 64 GB model to put it through its paces and decide if I wanted to proceed with the 512 GB model, but now it's looking like they're speeding things up fast enough that I might get my email next week!

317

Living Room / Re: Random M.2 SSD Disconnects

« Last post by Deozaan on July 11, 2022, 01:02 AM »

Okay, so Ath's comment got me looking into things.

I actually had the timeline a little reversed. I actually bought the SSD and enclosure at the same time and it kept disconnecting on both Windows and Raspberry Pi OS which I assumed was the enclosure's fault. Then, a few months later I got the DeskPi Pro 2.0 case which has a 2.5" SATA adapter and even using that I still experienced the disconnections and eventually realized it might be the drive itself. But the 30-day return window had long expired by then. (I've updated the OP with the correct timeline of events and fleshed out some details.)

When Ath mentioned replacing under warranty from the supplier (which I read as manufacturer) I thought that maybe it had a 1-year warranty and that just maybe it was still within that 12-month window. But it turns out I bought the SSD 13 months ago.

But after a little more research, it looks like it actually has a 3-year warranty. So I'm going to attempt to RMA it.

318

Living Room / Re: Random M.2 SSD Disconnects

« Last post by Deozaan on July 10, 2022, 11:50 PM »

I experienced the same issue when mounted internally using Linux and when using it externally with an enclosure on Windows, so I think it's the drive.

319

Living Room / Random M.2 SSD Disconnects

« Last post by Deozaan on July 10, 2022, 08:22 PM »

Some time ago I was hoping to get some faster I/O speeds for a Raspberry Pi project, so I got an M.2 SATA SSD and an enclosure to connect it to the Raspberry Pi. I quickly found while trying to copy the boot image onto the SSD that it frequently disconnected/disappeared from the filesystem. I could never reliably reproduce it, but it often seemed to break in the middle of large/sustained file copies. I did manage to get things set up for the Pi and get it to boot from the SSD. But it wouldn't be too long before the entire Pi would become unresponsive because the drive would disappear and the Pi couldn't read or write anything to it until I rebooted.

I assumed it was a problem with the enclosure rather than with the SSD, and rather than looking into it further I just put the project on hold for a few months until I came across the DeskPi Pro 2.0 case, which has connections for mounting an M.2 SATA SSD to an internal 2.5" SATA slot.

The issue still persisted whether in the enclosure or in the case, on both Linux and Windows, so I've since sold the Raspberry Pi and the DeskPi because it wasn't working for my intended use. I realize now that it was probably the SSD that was faulty, since the problem remained across different devices and OSes, with only the SSD being the common factor.

Because the drive is unreliable, I've been using it only as a kind of temporary backup device for short-term backups or other ultimately unimportant experiments. Large/sustained copy operations of a few GB in size will often break partway through because the drive disappears, but if I can get the data copied to the drive, it seems to stay there. But it's not just large copy operations that break the thing. I've left the drive tucked away by my PC tower, plugged in, and even when I haven't actually used the drive for weeks I occasionally notice that it's no longer appearing in my list of drives and I have to disconnect it and reconnect the USB cable to get it to show up again.

It's a (Silicon Power) SP M.2 2280 SATA III A55 256GB.

This is my first experience with M.2 drives, and though I'd like some of the theoretical faster speeds, I've been hesitant to buy another. Is this kind of thing a known or fairly commonplace issue with M.2 drives? Is there anything I can do to fix the issue or am I out of luck? Is there something I'm doing wrong? Did I just get a faulty drive which should have been replaced under warranty? Or perhaps I bought a make or model that is known for being unreliable?

320

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Leap of Faith

« Last post by Deozaan on July 10, 2022, 10:56 AM »

The artwork I attached above is what the artist created based on my entry.

321

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Leap of Faith

« Last post by Deozaan on July 09, 2022, 05:56 PM »

I just participated in a Godot-specific game jam on Gotm.io and my entry was a re-creation / re-imagination of Leap of Faith. The new game is called Teleleaper, and it's a little less sisyphean than Leap of Faith is. Anyone who would like to give it a try is free to play it in the browser here:

https://gotm.io/deoz...tm-jam-18-teleleaper

-Deozaan (July 04, 2022, 03:27 AM)

One thing I neglected to mention is that one of the prizes for the Gotm Jam is that an artist is commissioned to create an artwork based on the jam entry of their choice, and this month's artist, Mateus Nery, chose my entry.

322

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 07, 2022, 11:38 PM »

Here's a tongue-in-cheek review of the Steam Deck that may help fence sitters decide whether or not they really want to get one:

Girlfriend Reviews: Should Your Boyfriend Get the Steam Deck?

Checking my link again, it seems like they're really accelerating!

-wraith808 (July 07, 2022, 04:10 PM)

Yeah, the 64GB link jumped from 90% to 144% today. And at the same rate of today's progress for my spot in the 512 queue (~9.5%), I should be able to order it (if I still want it) by August 1st.

323

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 07, 2022, 01:59 PM »

I confirmed my order for the 64 GB model today.

 

324

N.A.N.Y. 2010 / Re: NANY 2010 Final Release: Leap of Faith

« Last post by Deozaan on July 06, 2022, 02:46 AM »

I might actually try a Godot one. I've been wanting to stop waiting for Godot, and just get on with learning and making. (Sorry... bad pun, but I wanted to make it, so there)

-wraith808 (July 05, 2022, 01:16 PM)

Gotm.io has a monthly jam that lasts 10 days (two weekends plus the full week between them), so it's pretty relaxed compared to traditional 48-72 hour jams. Seems like the perfect opportunity to get started without too much pressure.

And as an added bonus, they have money prizes for the top submission(s)!

325

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve Announces Steam Deck: A Handheld PC

« Last post by Deozaan on July 06, 2022, 02:40 AM »

There really is no "on the go" for me.. I'm home 24/7. 

-mouser (July 05, 2022, 09:20 PM)

What about while you're "going" in the bathroom? Or when you "go" to bed?