If the majority of a users playtime at the time of review was from playing on Deck, the review will have a Deck icon next to it.
The game in the screenshot is SAND LAND. You can view the reviews here to easily see some examples of this new icon.
Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a way to filter reviews to show Deck reviews only.
It should also show icons for the OS as well. Since games can have dramatically different issues and performance depending on the OS sometimes. Having an icon showing a review is from a Linux machine compared to Windows for instance can help figure out if your system might be affected by reviews mentioning something that all seems to be from one type of OS.
Heck, I’d even take it a step further and have it include basic system specs for each review since Steam already gets that info.
I think OS is fine.
Making specs public is a privacy issue.
could do tiered categories! low, mid, and high spec or something.
Yeah and anyone with a laptop has to wear a scarlet letter!
Which is probably something steam could whip up given they do there hardware survey.
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The hardware survey is so yeah?
Maybe something like on the protondb website where you can list your hardware, if you want. Partly or completely.
I am a part of your nickname.
You are more than that.
You also have an ‘E’!
I forgot about that :D
I like the idea, but with Linux, that could be tricky. Unless it’s an immutable distro, the end user could have modifications causing issues from some borked config, library, or package.
It probably wouldn’t be especially useful info for end users, since ymmv, and Valve already knows what hardware and setups people are using via system scans.
ProtonDB is far more useful and already exists, because it includes system info and fixes people have tried that did/n’t work.
I was referring more to just like Windows, Linux, MacOS icons. Not specific distros. As a Windows user for instance, Linux issues from any distro probably don’t matter to me.
Could have yeah, but I already find looking at distros and specs to be super helpful on ProtonDB. Of course it isn’t going to be 100%, but if every person who has a problem with a game is using a certain GPU or distro it’s usually safe to assume that something about that is causing the issue
On the other hand, you have to keep your system specs up to date manually on protondb. I don’t know how many people keep their kernel and video driver versions up to date. Steam could pull the latest system configuration when I submit a review.
Right, in my experience AMD vs Nvidia graphics can make a difference in whether a game runs or not.
ProtonDB is currently the best resource for this, but I would appreciate some of this info being built into steam as well.
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I mean… they haaaaave all of your specs. They just keep them private unless you consent to the survey.
Everything you run has your specs.
The application yes, but the programmer? That requires network, api and a sent packet or more.
Just because you run a binary doesn’t mean a server across the Internet knows you.
Users though, disregard my advice. Assume what you run is running foreign remote code that could encrypt and ransom you.
Oh I super agree with you! The question was “does Steam know what your hardware is without consenting to a survey” and the answer is “yes absolutely Steam does!”
Also your last paragraph? I know software and I think you’re too lenient hahahaha
I don’t even use phone apps unless they have almost zero permissions.
Not all of them. Full scan of hardware is performed only when participating in a survey or requesting a hardware report. An example is Steam on my PC not detecting a SteamVR native headset (goggles icon doesn’t appear) until I’ll launch VR mode.
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…Introduction to Software Design?
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Do you legitimately think software you run does not know what hardware it’s running on?
If so, I can’t help you.
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Heck, I’d even take it a step further and have it include basic system specs for each review since Steam already gets that info.
That would get complex for games that are played for lengthy periods of time and across different builds. Basic specs as of the review would be cool though.
Just have another option for multiple devices or types used beyond a certain threshold. Just like here they’re using a majority of time spent playing on a Deck to show that icon.
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I can understand why they don’t put a Linux-specific icon, because there is such a variety of builds and hardware permutations that people could start complaining “it said it could run on Linux but it doesn’t run on my Linux.“
Steam already indicates which games will run on Linux, without any distro or configuration caveats. There’s literally an entire section of the store for “SteamOS & Linux” games, and games that support multiple platforms have the system requirements listed for each of those supported platforms.
We’re just talking about putting the icon for the platform they used on the review, to help you filter reviews that may be more or less relevant. Linux users complaining about Linux related issues aren’t relevant to Windows users for instance, and vice versa. Same goes for the 15 or so MacOS gamers I guess too.
without any distro or configuration caveats.
In those cases, they generally have the Ubuntu version that’s supported in the specs section
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Steam provides it’s own linux userspace runtime. The game developers just target that to avoid the problem you describe.
Neat!
If this is to give more context to reviews that give poor reviews for the performance of a game, why don’t they just have the user’s full system specs visible somewhere? They do already collect that info.
I mean what if they use something like the ROG Ally?
I agree good. Idea. its like when people watch a movie on their iphone and then say it wasnt that good. You’ll enjoy a game more on a big screen running high fps
Games have specs on steam. We could easily get a performance percentage for gamers with less than optimal setups without blasting their systems. I personally have a good one yet may struggle during forced windows updates or when my ssd is getting heavy loads from my other apps. That would not be caught by such ratings.
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How the heck are people writing reviews on the Steamdeck? Are they plugging in a keyboard?
I can barely form sentences on the virtual kb and tagged keyboard only games so I can play them at my gaming PC.
You can write the reviews from your PC still, and it will tag it as a steam deck review if most of your playtime is on deck.
As for typing on the deck, the OLED has a much more responsive touchscreen and typing is better on it. On the LCD deck I would stick to track pad typing though.
