How the fuck is elden ring the most played. Is it even playable on the steamdeck?
It is. In fact at launch it ran better than on high end windows PCs because linux handles directx shaders better.
I think it was actually, because the game stuttered when compiling shaders on PC. Valve then precompiled all the shaders for the steam deck and delivered those via the steam client.
Yes. But Valve didn’t do anything special. They provide pre-compiled shaders for all games on the deck and can only do so because of how directx shaders are handled on linux.
All games on linux and windows when using DX12/Vulkan must compile shaders. They should be compiled during loading screens and such, not gameplay, then cached for use later.
Elden Ring in particular, didn’t precompile shaders before gameplay, and then when it did compile them, it would discard the shaders rather than cache them. As a result the stutter would happen non-stop and never go away.
On linux, the equivalent compiled vulkan shaders are cached by VKD3D, eliminating the stutter except when a shader is used for the first time. On the deck, Valve will deliver the shaders precompiled with the game download to eliminate the need to compile them at all.
The fix of providing precompiled shaders was only possible on linux due to the use of VKD3D. And even without them, on linux the stutter would go away after a while as VKD3D will cache them even when the game doesn’t. Fromsoft had to update the game to fix it from their side on windows.
There was a code change to proton to remove stutters in ER
There were apparently several, now that I look into it. I didn’t know that.
They seem to try to mitigate other issues, like asset streaming and other general bad practices in the code of the game.
It seems there are many things wrong with how Elden Ring was coded.
I played through 99% of the game on Deck.
Only the last bosses I had the time and space to run it on PC and control it from the Deck.
But 0 issues with anything, ran like butter, at home, travelling. Controls are excelent.
It was my first souls game and I finished it thanks to the Deck.
I put mine at lowest settings, 40-45fps cap. Runs fine.
I am surprised there aren’t more local multiplayer games on the list. The steam deck is great hooked up to a TV with multiple controllers
I suspect most people who buy one already have another gaming device. If I’m gonna play couch co-op games, I’m just switching the video output of my desktop to the projector, not docking my deck.
I used to use Steam link with my desktop but I find the experience of docking the steam deck way more reliable.
That’s nice. But I think most people literally just hook up the big screen with an actual display cable.
Maybe if you live in an apartment or dorm where your gaming PC is in your living room.
Sure. And two controllers. Really useful when traveling.
Neat!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
While every month Valve has been posting a fresh set of the most played Steam Deck games for the previous month, they’ve now added a dedicated Steam Chart for it.
Like the most played for May and again for April.
So you no longer have to wait for Valve to post about what’s currently hot, you can just go and see for yourself.
Like other Steam Charts you can filter it and with the Steam Deck chart it lets you view the most played games over the last week, month and year based on player counts.
For example, this is for the last week, and handily it shows the Deck Verified rating too:
While you’re here, why not hop on over to our Forum to talk about Your favourite game so far of 2024?
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