DFU running on Steam Deck

[Metalhead324]

Hello all! I know I don't post around here often, but a lot of you know me as the admin of the Lysandus's Tomb DFU fan server. I got my Steam Deck today, and after installing some of my Steam games on it and getting a feel for the system, I tried getting DFU running on it. I knew on paper there was nothing stopping it, but confirmation is good. Turns out, it works great! Installing it is no different than installing it on any other Linux system. A USB-C hub or bluetooth keyboard/mouse can make it easier, but the trackpads and virtual keyboard got the job done for me. You do have to use desktop mode to install it, but once installed, you can add it to Steam as a non-Steam game in desktop mode, then you can launch it from SteamOS like anything else. I haven't tried any mods yet (I probably will tomorrow) but I would imagine they'll carry over just fine.

I attached a few photos from my phone to show it running.

[Interkarma]

That's really exciting! Great to have confirmation it works.

Hopefully someday the Steam Deck is a bit easier to acquire Down Under. They look like a nice bit of kit.

[Metalhead324]

Yeah, I was really delighted to see it up and running and getting that confirmation! I'll definitely report back later once I try some mods and saving/reloading. That's my Steam Deck goal 1 today, my other being trying out some emulation.

I also hope the Steam Deck becomes available in Australia at some point. I already love the system. It's definitely not perfect, but it is a great system at the price point. Just wish Valve would allow customers some choice in courier, because Fedex is notorious in most areas of the US for being awful (my packaging arrived ripped...fortunately, the contents weren't tampered with).

[Metalhead324]

Ok, time for an update! I spent a good chunk of time installing mods. DFU runs fine on Steam Deck with mods, and can do so while launching from the SteamOS interface. The one quirk is that other than the joysticks, controller settings don't carry through for some reason. I might fiddle some more to see if there's a setting that I need to toggle somewhere to get Steam to read those. Thankfully, Steam allows full controller customization so it's easy enough to assign keys then get playing. There's also one downloadable controller template that is editable, and works right out the box, as it were. I also confirmed that you can save and reload a save with no issues.

Photos attached of mods activating for character creation and at the start of the first dungeon.

[jefetienne]

Hey! Sorry I haven't been active on Daggerfall Unity lately. I am getting my Steam Deck hopefully this weekend and I will absolutely make sure it runs fine on the Steam Deck if it isn't already.

The one quirk is that other than the joysticks, controller settings don't carry through for some reason. I might fiddle some more to see if there's a setting that I need to toggle somewhere to get Steam to read those.

Have you tried manually binding the buttons in the Controls window?

Since it looks like many people aren't aware about native controller support, it might be good for me to look into creating preset controller profiles based on controller and OS sometime in the future if Interkarma is okay with a post-1.0 feature.

[Metalhead324]

Have you tried manually binding the buttons in the Controls window?

Thankfully, Steam allows full controller customization so it's easy enough to assign keys then get playing.

See above...I already did exactly what you suggested once it seemed that controller support wasn't going to work "out of the box," as it were. I've already got keybinds set, some right in DFU, some in Steam, to get things working in a way that feels comfortable to me, though I'm still tweaking binds here and there. It's just that binding controls custom controls or downloading a template is an extra step that people need to be aware of to get things working. I've confirmed it runs just fine on Steam Deck (see my pictures of it running on mine) just getting everything going takes a little bit of fiddling in the setting all key controls department. It's not difficult to do, just still an extra step.

Edit: I do think a new level of preset controller support post 1.0 release would be great, just for that more "works right out of the box" user experience across multiple platforms.

[Interkarma]

Since it looks like many people aren't aware about native controller support, it might be good for me to look into creating preset controller profiles based on controller and OS sometime in the future if Interkarma is okay with a post-1.0 feature.

I'm more than happy for you to do that, jefetienne. I appreciate all the stuff you've done around controller support and more in DFU.

[Metalhead324]

Come to think of it, with the Steam Deck having the trackpads as well as the 4 extra back buttons, I might post my controller setup on my unit or upload it as a template to Steam. To get all the controls working, I had to do some manual control assignments in DFU, but also in Steam itself to get various button presses to be read as keyboard inputs.

[jefetienne]

See above...I already did exactly what you suggested once it seemed that controller support wasn't going to work "out of the box," as it were. I've already got keybinds set, some right in DFU, some in Steam, to get things working in a way that feels comfortable to me, though I'm still tweaking binds here and there. It's just that binding controls custom controls or downloading a template is an extra step that people need to be aware of to get things working.

I see what you mean now, that's good to hear!

I'm more than happy for you to do that, jefetienne. I appreciate all the stuff you've done around controller support and more in DFU.

Always happy to help out, and it's great to hear from you!

Come to think of it, with the Steam Deck having the trackpads as well as the 4 extra back buttons, I might post my controller setup on my unit or upload it as a template to Steam. To get all the controls working, I had to do some manual control assignments in DFU, but also in Steam itself to get various button presses to be read as keyboard inputs.

That would be a good idea! I do that have recommended binding page listed in a couple of the blogs, but I'd like to hear from you on it and adapt.

[Metalhead324]

I left a ping for you on the discord with some additional thoughts, but the TLDR version is that it seems something in the Steam Deck stops the built in controller support from activating properly, and you kind of have to "trick it" to kick it in. IIRC it autodetected DFU as mouse and keyboard going by the controller template I think defaulted to. Fortunately, the Steam Deck enables rebinding pretty seamlessly. When I did my bindings, I used the configuration posted here https://www.dfworkshop.net/daggerfall-unity-0-10-23/ as a starting point, but I adapted it according to what made sense to me. I'll try and post my binding this weekend, both here and in the discord.