I have recently got interested in this Valve’s new console and decided to ponder if it can be used to play EVE. With some thinking I really cannot come up with any reason why it would be impossible since Steam OS is just Linux and EVE still works in Linux.
However, when I considered the need to operate EVE using joystick primarily and tried to check if there is an option to at least map joystick keys to some shortcuts in the client I got disappointed. Apparently EVE does not support Joysticks at all.
I checked the related docs and figured out that I can make a Python script to convert my joystick buttons and axes into key-presses and even control of mouse cursor. I tested this approach and it is surprisingly playable.
However, here are a few things I’d like to ask CCP to consider in case you are interested in having EVE playable on the Deck (which would make it a unique space MMOG on that platform and that I heard is good for getting in new players).
First of all, EVE launcher issues need to be checked to ensure that on the deck and under Steam OS and latest Steam/Proton there are no crashes on startup for no reason. The rest of the client has been usually almost always stable except for, maybe, audio subsystem which is not critical and occasional graphics glitches which cannot be tested yet as Steam Deck is not yet publicly available.
Second, EVE client apparently misses a few key shortcuts that would make combat and mining game-play (I have not tested other things yet) much more joystick-friendly. These are shortcuts to turn your camera drones around the ship to get better view and shortcuts to switch between different overview tabs. Other tasks are not so time-sensitive as combat, so they can be done with less precise conversion of joystick axes or track-pads to control mouse cursor. I also feel the overview switching shortcuts will be a great addition to players who use traditional player-pod interfaces like mice and keyboards.
#CCPPlease make EVE on Steam Deck happen - based on my testing and publicly available specs it is actually so close to be a great experience there
It is a console-like experience in the sense that there are certified games and their experience should be like “press install” then press play. Press power button to suspend console then press again to go on playing in seconds, not tenths of seconds (as in getting your PC out of hibernation). But platform itself does not really require any extra porting as it has exactly the same architecture as your normal x86-powered PC. It should work already now (although we need to wait before someone confirms it).
However, in the sense of ergonomics there are some UI tweaks that are currently really annoying based on my tests on normal PC with 720p resolution and using a Flight-sim-style joystick for controls (which has shamelessly insufficient amount of buttons). I mentioned them in OP. Other tweaks and fixes of UI reaction to shortcuts would be nice to have as well (for example not all menus and windows support arrow-key navigation). And those which do not all have enough keybindings to activate all the features using only key presses. I bet all of those time investment will be positively affecting also keyboard and mouse users so it is a very worthy investment for everybody. I also doubt that it is really that time consuming if their code base is not entirely made of spaghetti.
with CCP offering no support for linux and I think the dev who did work with linux isn’t even here anymore, i don’t see them making it work on this new system.
I mean, the steam deck OS is arch based, worst case you can go to the desktop mode, install wine, install the windows version of EVE and run that.
I am not saying EVE is running perfect with controllers and touch controls, but it works (I once played with a drawing pen just for funz)
What do you mean by banned? EVE Online is currently on Steam. And even if it would not be - Steam launcher is not mandatory for the Deck - you can install EVE client with custom launcher from this forum.
Ok this is another topic, if you want to install another OS and other software, its up to you to get it working.
If you want official support, there is afaik no way around using steamOS and all rules made by valve.
It is actually not correct. There have been YouTube channels already demonstrating that you can leave Steam interface and have a standard KDE desktop. And SteamOS is Arch-derivative. So there will be no real need to install another OS.
Yes, as I said it is up to you what you install on it, BUT if you are asking a company to release and support a commercial product for the SteamDeck is something different.
What I am asking from them is two things (neither is directly related to the Deck):
Support Proton as method of running EVE. Fix a few bugs that cause launcher to crash and do minimal testing when updating. This is the most expensive part I guess.
Add a few keyboard shortcuts so that the joystick can be used properly to control combat.
Properly supporting EVE for the Deck would be of course awesome. But I understand the limitations of CCP’s budget and maybe at the first stage they could get away with these small fixes just to see if it attracts real player base. In practice if EVE fixes the first issue it would already be marked as playable under current rules for Steam Deck Verified program.
I really would prefer CCP put their effort into dumping Python 2.7 and porting to Go or something more… well, better.
The problem really is they went Metal for OS X and DirectX for Windows rather than Vulkan for all.
Wine does a good job for Linux so. Nothing wrong with Wine (well, there is, but it’s a fantastic package otherwise), it’s a subsystem, not an emulator. Please dump Python then we can talk native Linux.
Elite Dangerous is probably more suited to the Steam Deck than Eve Online, Frontier could port ED to Linux with low difficulty, but won’t, probably due to low priority.
That’s nothing to do with porting from Python to something better like Go (their backend is already taking up more Go). Launcher is in Qt too. Python 2.7 is dead, it’s also a bottleneck, and awful.
Mac also no longer uses Wine, it’s Native, there was a big news article and fanfair about it. Linux support (fixing breakages) was always an out of band unofficial effort.
You cannot “dump” Wine, since, wine is a compatibility subsystem for Linux, they would have to actively go out of their way to make sure it doesn’t work on Wine (which will be worked around likely anyway). The only way they can do that is to fingerprint Wine (they can) and then actively block accounts connecting (that would be as popular and welcome as a public enema).
Well. There are different opinions on how well Windows runs on Deck even with those drivers. I personally don’t plan to ruin Valve’s officially supported distro in favor of half-working Windows install even if it was the only way to run EVE - I would have just used streaming instead.
Other than that, again, I am not suggesting to make a native build of EVE. In fact I think it would be working worse than Proton/Wine version anyway as it is the case with many non-opensource games that have native builds nowadays.
As for ED I think it should work fine as is. It does have very good joystick support and it ran for me via Proton without any noticeable issues, so yeah - a good example for CCP.
The only way to play it would be with it docked and an external monitor and keyboard/mouse input as it’s hard enough to play on that configuration nevermind a tiny tablet/mobile size screen and pair of wiggly sticks. Now, add in being on a train or bus. Laughable really.
Playing Eve on a handheld device on the go with two nipples for input, it’s as funny as watching a gamer on a 17" laptop on the go.
Have you seen Steam Deck at all? From what you say about its inputs looks like you have not. It has way more inputs than necessary to bind combat actions. Everything that is not bind-able can be controlled with touchscreen or one of two touch pads.
I don’t know what country you are living in and what is the quality of railroad there, but in Finland I don’t see a problem of using Deck as is on a train from the perspective of screen shaking. The internet service quality is a whole other thing and broke my experience playing EVE on trains a few years ago.
As for buses judging from my “simulated” ergonomic experience with scaled window to match view angle of steam deck and 720p resolution and also from the experience of playing EVE on a 5’’ phone via remote play I can see that as an option for myself, but again, that is very location specific.
