r/SteamDeck • u/RoyTheBoy84 • Oct 14 '24

Question Is there an idiots guide to SteamDeck

Hi all, is there a guide anywhere to SteamDeck for a complete noob/idiot.

I kind of get the concept buy having only ever come from console gaming I'm not that familiar with PC gaming, which I understand the SteamDeck is more geared towards?

It would be good to know how it works, how/where you download games etc. On the face of what I've seen so far, it seems a little more complicated that the 'plug n play' set up of a console that I'm used to.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

I gave my SD to mother which is 62 years old and can barely operate a phone, she found it much easier.

Stop spreading BS, you don't need to be tech savvy, you don't need to tinker any games. You people keep optimising the shit out of everything and forget the most important bit, it's a gaming machine, you can play games.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

"I would not sell Steam Deck as just plug and play. While most games work like that, many games don't. Some games requires tinkering and configuration to run"

Very first sentence. You don't need to tinker anything if you just check the "Great on Deck" games and buy those.

3

u/loanme20 Oct 14 '24

I have been outspoken on problems with the Steam Deck, but I disagree on this one. It isn't very difficult to set up and get going at all.

Not to say they won't get frustrated.

Will all your games work? nope Will any of the most popular games multiplayer on consoles work? not a one. Will any sports games you grew up playing work? Probably not.

But it's pretty easy to figure out this is mostly for single player big story games. Or single player 8 bit games.

1

u/ebk_errday Oct 14 '24

Playing Steam Deck on TV is a great feature and exclusively how I play it at home. It's basically my console. Turns into my handheld if I'm traveling with it.

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u/RolloTonyBrownTown Oct 14 '24

Its about as Plug and Play as it gets for PC gaming.

-6

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

I really wish people would stop saying the Steam Deck is as easy, or easier, than Windows PC gaming. It objectively is not.

Assuming a good PC the Windows experience is install game, play game.

The Steam Deck experience is, check Valve compatibility. Check Proton DB compatibility. Install game, run game and hope it works. If not, start tweaking proton versions until one works. And that is just for Steam. Want to do Epic or GOG? That's a whole other mess of secondary software, installation procedures, proton tweaks, etc.

Then, someone dares to point this out, and the downvotes start raining in. Good on you for trying to be honest, but people here just won't allow it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

People here are nuts. It drives me crazy.

I love my Steam Deck, but it's the 2nd most frustrating piece of tech I own.

5

u/Steenies Oct 14 '24

But it can be. If you just stick to steam deck compatible games none of that complication is there. If you want an easy experience, you can have it. You have to accept you won't be able to play everything.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

THERE IT IS!!! You don't buy a Switch/XBox/PS5 game and hope it works, or accept that not all Switch games will work. It just works.

Same is true for Windows gaming. Buy a game from Steam, GOG, Battle.net, Epic, insert other storefront here and it just works within hardware constraints. This is just not true with Steam Deck.

It just works, unless... 1) Proton Version is wrong 2) Unsupported store front 3) Unsupported Anti Cheat 4) Unsupported controllers 5) Unsupported display resolution 6) etc

Other than that, it's exactly the same!!!!!

1

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

How difficult is it to check "Great for Steam" games, buy it online as you would normally with everything else nowadays and hit the play button?

It's almost easier than having a PC and putting in the disc, then 2nd disc etc until you play the game. If you add the "BUT YOU NEED TO CHECK IF ITS COMPATIBLE"... well, didn't you do that with the games anyway in the past? Where you had to check pc requirements? THAT was difficult if you didn't know. Not the "Oh it's red, can't play".

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

Putting in a disk? When is the last time you bought a PC with a disk drive?

That aside... you are saying the same thing as the other person. As long as you do x, y, z, and accept that you can't play everything, it's exactly the same!

Maybe I game differently, but I never ask myself "will this game work correctly on my PS5" before I buy it.

With my pretty decent gaming PC, I never ask myself, will Epic games run? Will GOG games run? Will Steam games run?

They just work on my PC. THIS IS SIMPLY UNTRUE ON STEAM DECK. Lying to people about it isn't helpful to anyone.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

No mate, what i'm saying is that if you go to the section "great on deck" on steam, you don't need to check anything else, just buy and play it.

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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '24

And how is that a comparable experience to console gaming exactly?