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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?  (Read 9401 times)

DuckSoup

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Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« on: March 04, 2022, 10:01:25 AM »

Got me a Steam Deck coming in for Q2, and Starsector is one of my most played games.

Was wondering if anyone has received one, did any testing, or if there might be support for the Deck.
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Fireside

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2022, 10:38:05 AM »

I'd actually be really curious about this as well.  I've been wanting to work on doing a controller setup for this, and that would be right at home on a Steam Deck.
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shenrougu

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2022, 03:24:15 PM »

It runs perfectly. 60 FPS stable. I only just started a new playthrough so how performance is late game I don't know.

There is no community control scheme for it so I'm working on that. I'm using the right track pad as the mouse, left track pad as the mouse wheel, left trigger to select enemies in combat, R1 and R2 for two different weapon groups and the back paddles for things like transverse jump, scan etc. Left thumb stick as WASD.

Unless Fractal launches Starsector onto steam it won't be supported but as there's a Linux version it really doesn't matter.

This took me some time to figure out so for future people I'll add this, to add it to the steam deck UI all you do is launch Steam in desktop mode (not the Steam deck UI) and add a non-steam game just like you would on a desktop, and point it to starsector.sh.

Edit: Combat, moving and shooting is very playable but sadly the moment opposing ships meet and start firing the game freezes and I don't know why. No mods installed.

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: March 05, 2022, 05:33:18 AM by shenrougu »
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Supereor

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2022, 11:52:33 AM »

It runs perfectly. 60 FPS stable. I only just started a new playthrough so how performance is late game I don't know.

There is no community control scheme for it so I'm working on that. I'm using the right track pad as the mouse, left track pad as the mouse wheel, left trigger to select enemies in combat, R1 and R2 for two different weapon groups and the back paddles for things like transverse jump, scan etc. Left thumb stick as WASD.

Unless Fractal launches Starsector onto steam it won't be supported but as there's a Linux version it really doesn't matter.

This took me some time to figure out so for future people I'll add this, to add it to the steam deck UI all you do is launch Steam in desktop mode (not the Steam deck UI) and add a non-steam game just like you would on a desktop, and point it to starsector.sh.

Edit: Combat, moving and shooting is very playable but sadly the moment opposing ships meet and start firing the game freezes and I don't know why. No mods installed.
Have you tried running the Windows version with Proton, or its community-made versions, like GE?  I'm not sure how you'd go about that, but it might be worth a look if you're having issues with the native Linux version.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2022, 11:55:16 AM by Supereor »
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Darloth

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2022, 06:06:35 PM »

They both run on Java, though.  There's not really a 'native' version of anything running java, it's all a question of which JVM you're using for it - in theory, anyway!  Would be interested to hear if the two launch methods differ in practice.
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dik1337

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2022, 01:16:49 PM »

I have Steam Deck and can confirm the Linux version of StarSector is working with the latest SteamOS patch. Haven't played all too much but seems to be stable, including during battle. Only minor annoyance is having to set up all the custom keyboard/mouse mappings, but it's totally functional once you do (including using the thumb stick for WASD controls)!
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MacComie

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2022, 09:29:29 PM »

Is anyone else having trouble with control inputs? I tried to set up the controls as others have described in this thread, but for me the only input the game responds to is the touchscreen.
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Brainwright

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2022, 10:14:07 PM »

Can you get the steam overlay to work if you add it to Steam as a non-steam game?  The old Steam controller had a lot of nice features, like you could turn the touch pads into a number pad.  Would be really nice for getting this game to work.
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Midnight Kitsune

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2022, 06:39:42 AM »

I have Steam Deck and can confirm the Linux version of StarSector is working with the latest SteamOS patch. Haven't played all too much but seems to be stable, including during battle. Only minor annoyance is having to set up all the custom keyboard/mouse mappings, but it's totally functional once you do (including using the thumb stick for WASD controls)!
Can you post the control scheme that you use for this here? Like a picture of it?
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dik1337

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2022, 07:53:50 PM »

I have Steam Deck and can confirm the Linux version of StarSector is working with the latest SteamOS patch. Haven't played all too much but seems to be stable, including during battle. Only minor annoyance is having to set up all the custom keyboard/mouse mappings, but it's totally functional once you do (including using the thumb stick for WASD controls)!
Can you post the control scheme that you use for this here? Like a picture of it?
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dik1337

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2022, 07:59:19 PM »

The layout I posted is a w.i.p. For example I'm still playing with the mouse and combat controls mapping.
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dik1337

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2022, 06:57:17 AM »

Also, to improve performance of Starsector on Steam Deck, highly recommend increase the UMA Frame Buffer allocation:

1. Turn off your Deck
2. Hold the volume up (+)
3. Power on the Deck, releasing the volume up button when you hear the startup chime
4. This puts you in BIOS mode, from here select Setup Utility, then the Advanced option
5. Under the UMA Frame Buffer size menu option, select the drop down menu and change to "4G"
6. Save and exit.

This should dedicate more to VRAM from the Deck's shared memory pool (16 GB).
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Midnight Kitsune

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2022, 09:40:03 AM »

Are you playing in desktop mode or did you use?
Are you using any specific proton version? Version 7? GE? Experimental?
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dik1337

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2022, 03:26:24 PM »

Are you playing in desktop mode or did you use?
Are you using any specific proton version? Version 7? GE? Experimental?
All of the installation, RAM allocation tweaks, and mods were done in the Linux desktop mode. I then added it as a "non-Steam" game using the regular interface and did all the button mapping. I'm using the latest stable release. Only other tweak I made was the UMA Frame Buffer increase I mention previously. The UMA Frame Buffer increase helped with some of the lag during battles. I'm still pretty early in the playthrough on my Deck so unsure if it will hold up during "huge" battles.
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Brainwright

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Re: Anyone test Starsector on Steam Deck?
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2022, 04:36:48 PM »

Spoiler
I have Steam Deck and can confirm the Linux version of StarSector is working with the latest SteamOS patch. Haven't played all too much but seems to be stable, including during battle. Only minor annoyance is having to set up all the custom keyboard/mouse mappings, but it's totally functional once you do (including using the thumb stick for WASD controls)!
Can you post the control scheme that you use for this here? Like a picture of it?

[close]

I know from using the Steam Controller that you can use the trackpads to bring up a menu of sorts to select inputs, such as a 1-9 selection with a small menu at the corner of the screen.  Is this something you can use?  If so, have you not used it because of some problem, like the screen is too small?
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