Protondb.com is a much better resource than the Deck Verified system, when you want to see if/how a game runs on the Steam Deck ; not saying the article is wrong, but it seems to be a common misconception to see the Deck Verified badge as a must have for a game to run well.
this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2024
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Steam Deck
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I use the protondb badges extension deck loader. Quite convenient.
And I've played a small handful of "Verified" games that needed some kind of modification to play 100% correctly (River City Girls, for example, requires an older Proton version to play 100% correctly).
Doesn’t deck verified mean a lot more than just Linux compatibility? Specifically conforming to deck controls, the deck screen size, and other aspects of playing on the deck?
Yes, it requires it runs well with default settings, everything is accessible with the standard deck controls, that all the control displays use the steam deck icons, and it doesn't reference controls the deck doesn't have. It's a very high bar.
Also UI has to look good at either 720p or 1280x800. A lot of modern games don't do that well at low res.
And if there is a need to write text, it has to pop up the in screen keyboard automatically. Which afaik means "you have to implement the Steam Input API", unless there is some hacky workaround for that. But in any case, it's something the dev has to do specifically for Deck support, it doesn't just happen.
Icons actually can just happen, as quite a few games use libraries that already have the SD icons included if it detects the controller type.
Steam did try to hack Wine's handling of windows textboxes to automatically trigger the OSK. I'm not sure if they gave up there (or I got lucky in disabling it), but it suuucked. It's very easy to get into fights with that auto-popup, particularly if you're trying to do wine-tweaking tasks.
Elder scrolls online works perfectly , you just have to tap touchscreen to play on the launcher then close the launcher.
There are some games that run perfectly on the deck that aren't fully verified simply because you have to enter text at some point and it does not automatically summon the steam deck keyboard
Yep, and that includes things like automatic UI scaling or automatic keyboard pop-ups where required. If you have to do any tweaking, from navigating a separate launcher or modifying controls, it will only get "Playable" at best.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't work at all or that the tweaks are hard to set up. Verified just means it should be 99.9% idiot-proof.
Yes, Deck Verified basically means it should run on deck as if it were designed for it specifically. It should be comparable to how well a console game runs on its target console.
Oh yea, I can't remember what game it was but the fact it had a launcher where you had to click play with the touch pad was enough that it wasn't verified. It's a pretty high bar.
Bitch-slapping games with a stupid launcher, that I can get behind. Wanna be verified? remove the shitty launcher. Done.
Pretty sure it does, also many games listed as unverified or not supported run just fine.
On the other hand it’s possible the opposite. Gunner HEAT PC is verified. There’s no way to get 30 fps and controls barely work with a keyboard, so I wonder what the devil happened between the time it got verified and when I tried it.
Bad patches? Sketchy verification?
It’s early access so at least it’s understandable things might change, but hot damn lol
I don't care for Linux compatibility anymore. I just play whatever game I want to. Luckily I almost never play multiplayer games so that is also no problem for me.
We've come a long way, games on Linux used to require a lot of research to see if they would work. Now, except for some multiplayer games, I just buy games and assume they'll work
It's also nice that you can easily return games if they don't run well on your system (at least with steam).
I remember back like ten years ago, you had to run Steam inside wine if you wanted to even begin the process of getting a game to run on Linux.
It's incredible how far we've come since then. Most of the time I don't even bother checking compatibility before installing something. Most of the time it just works as if I was running Windows.
Just to make sure it's clear: not being Deck Verified doesn't mean it won't run on the Deck or on Linux in general. It means Valve has not hit their testing threshold for the title to mark it as verified or unsupported.
More specifically, it means Valve cannot guarantee a) the game will run (though anecdotally, I've had most if not all unverified games I tried work without issue), b) that the text is large enough to be readable on the Deck, or c) that the controls are usable (=you might have to just use the configurator yourself).
I think a danger Valve has introduced with the verification system is people thinking that not verified == no worky.
The Verified tag is imperfect, and only means the game runs without any issues by steams criteria.
I've played plenty of games that get the next level down, "!" compatability warnings and it can be something as minor as the Steam Deck keyboard overlay appearing in game or even just the controller icons in the game not matching the icons on the deck or custom controllers. Having a 3rd party launcher can make the game not verified, even if the game runs flawlessly.
So not surprising that 30% of games are not verified.
Same, but I can understand that Valve doesn't want to give false impressions that a game runs perfectly when there are imperfections as mentioned. Valve has high community trust.
But yeah, I usually just read the incompatibility issues and usually decide it's not a big deal and play anyway.
I can understand that Valve doesn't want to give false impressions that a game runs perfectly when there are imperfections as mentioned
Idk, I disagree with this. It means that games are being labeled as "not verified" because of things that don't really hamper what people would care about - the keyboard popping up for naming your character or seeing "A" in a green circle isn't going to make people be like "oh no, this doesn't work well on my steamdeck, I'm not playing it". Does it look unprofessional? Sure. But that's not what people care about when looking at the ratings for compatibility. They just want to know if it's going to run well.
These systems are all about trust and evaluating the right metrics. Having the right button icons matters to Valve but not the player. Once players play games that aren't verified and they run fine, and they play games that are verified but still have performance hitches in some places, etc, the rating system loses its credibility and then it's meaningless.
On top of this, developers are already shunning the verification and just not bothering. Some of the things they ask for don't directly affect the playability of their game. It's an extra hoop for the developer to jump through, and if people don't trust the badge, there's no point in chasing it. Valve is literally undermining their own system from both sides by doing this.
There's already people in this thread touting protonDB being a better evaluation. It's exactly this that will happen and will continue to happen and continue undermining their rating system until Valve aligns their verification system with what users actually care about.
I've been playing games such as Dirt Rally which isn't even on the store anymore. It's not verified on the Deck, citing small writing may be hard to read. The only small writing was on the opening titles - the rest of the game works brilliantly. I was expecting some kind of issues, but nope, not a single one!
In some ways it's even replacing my desktop. Having a wireless mouse/keyboard connected and the deck docked, I can easily play games like Civilization which has a big incompatible rating 🚫 next to it on the store. I can play party games locally with friends by docking the deck and connecting some Xbox pads to it. It's been one of the best buys of recent years!
Be good if they could have a spilt rating for user scores or just incorporate protondb to handle the non steamdeck compatibility.