4 ms·

The Steam Deck is a fantastic console for indie game developers, IMO. World class hardware, you can program your game on it, test on it, and ship on it. I like

The Steam Deck is a fantastic console for indie game developers, IMO. World class hardware, you can program your game on it, test on it, and ship on it. I like little consoles like this but I never get one because I'm almost certain it would be novel and almost nobody I know would end up having one, unfortunately. Update: and, importantly for the Steam Deck, you have a wide player base out of the box. Maybe not as much for the Deck itself (yet) but definitely on all three PC platforms.

bogwog 4y ago
As an alternative for people interested in developing on handhelds like this, homebrew for old consoles (PSP, 3DS, etc) is always fun. There are also hundreds of millions of those still floating around, so there’s a real chance people will actually play your game, and you potentially contribute to delaying their trip to the landfill.
- agentultra 4y ago
  Truth! I do homebrew on my N2DSXL and the developer tooling there is fantastic [0]. Same with NES and even older handhelds like the DMG-001. The nice thing about the Steam Deck though is that you can carry around your development environment on the same machine. You still have to cross-compile to reach the 3DS and such. [0] https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Main_Page https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Main_Page
- sangnoir 4y ago
  Also: old 7" - 8" Android tablets[1] that can run Lineage + Termux, if you're not particularly invested in integrated game controllers. I'm tinkering with 3D-printed slide-out landscape keyboards, but there are a lot of commercially available bluetoth keyboard cases. 1. The 2014 Nexus 7 packs a FHD screen compare to the 720 in TFA. Its display is shockingly crisp for an 8-year-old device
  - intelVISA 4y ago
    Is there a good resource for flashing Android to more user-respecting OSes these days? I haven't rooted a phone since the G1...
    - sangnoir 4y ago
      Device wiki pages on Lineage are enough. The process isn't complicated, and boils down to a handful of steps after downloading the requisite files. Off the top off my head: 1. Enable ADB on device 2. Unlock the bootloader 3. Use fastboot to install TWRP 4. Boot into recovery and use TWRP to complete installation from zip files (Android ROM, Google apps)
      - intelVISA 4y ago
        Awesome, much the same ish, I was a bit concerned w/ how locked down some bootloaders can be now.
user- 4y ago
Comments like this miss the whole point of fantasy consoles and similar hardware. The novelty is why they exist.
- rjh29 4y ago
  It's the console equivalent of a musical groovebox. Selling the idea that you just need to buy this device and you can make music/games too! It'll be a lot harder but it'll be more "fun" because you're limited creatively.
  - agentultra 4y ago
    That's an interesting take! It would be neat if it was easier to broadcast the experience of playing the game to more folks like how playing back a song recorded from a groovebox doesn't require much more than a device with speakers than can play an audio file.
- agentultra 4y ago
  I have been making games for the PICO-8 since it came out. I actually learned how to program on an Amiga 500. I know why fantasy consoles exist. Not trying to yuck in anyone's yum, just point out that yes this is great and so is the deck...
- rasz 4y ago
  The total fantasy is the part where someone thought this keyboard would be useable, and called Amstrad like cursor keys "gamepad" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schneider_664_en.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schnei...
- ordiel 4y ago
  The "fantasy" part of this things is the price... For that price I can get a full computer/ chromebook that supports Linux, I wouldn't put more than 100 bucks on something like this when ALL it can do I can do it with Termux on an Android phone...
  - 4y ago
smoldesu 4y ago
Honestly, if someone could make an x86 compute module in the form factor, there's no reason the uConsole couldn't run Steam and Proton. The tech isn't quite there yet though, so it makes more sense to target low-power emulators for this form factor.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

bogwog 4y ago

As an alternative for people interested in developing on handhelds like this, homebrew for old consoles (PSP, 3DS, etc) is always fun. There are also hundreds of millions of those still floating around, so there’s a real chance people will actually play your game, and you potentially contribute to delaying their trip to the landfill.

agentultra 4y ago
Truth! I do homebrew on my N2DSXL and the developer tooling there is fantastic [0]. Same with NES and even older handhelds like the DMG-001. The nice thing about the Steam Deck though is that you can carry around your development environment on the same machine. You still have to cross-compile to reach the 3DS and such. [0] https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Main_Page https://www.3dbrew.org/wiki/Main_Page
sangnoir 4y ago
Also: old 7" - 8" Android tablets[1] that can run Lineage + Termux, if you're not particularly invested in integrated game controllers. I'm tinkering with 3D-printed slide-out landscape keyboards, but there are a lot of commercially available bluetoth keyboard cases. 1. The 2014 Nexus 7 packs a FHD screen compare to the 720 in TFA. Its display is shockingly crisp for an 8-year-old device
- intelVISA 4y ago
  Is there a good resource for flashing Android to more user-respecting OSes these days? I haven't rooted a phone since the G1...
  - sangnoir 4y ago
    Device wiki pages on Lineage are enough. The process isn't complicated, and boils down to a handful of steps after downloading the requisite files. Off the top off my head: 1. Enable ADB on device 2. Unlock the bootloader 3. Use fastboot to install TWRP 4. Boot into recovery and use TWRP to complete installation from zip files (Android ROM, Google apps)
    - intelVISA 4y ago
      Awesome, much the same ish, I was a bit concerned w/ how locked down some bootloaders can be now.

user- 4y ago

Comments like this miss the whole point of fantasy consoles and similar hardware. The novelty is why they exist.

rjh29 4y ago
It's the console equivalent of a musical groovebox. Selling the idea that you just need to buy this device and you can make music/games too! It'll be a lot harder but it'll be more "fun" because you're limited creatively.
- agentultra 4y ago
  That's an interesting take! It would be neat if it was easier to broadcast the experience of playing the game to more folks like how playing back a song recorded from a groovebox doesn't require much more than a device with speakers than can play an audio file.
agentultra 4y ago
I have been making games for the PICO-8 since it came out. I actually learned how to program on an Amiga 500. I know why fantasy consoles exist. Not trying to yuck in anyone's yum, just point out that yes this is great and so is the deck...
rasz 4y ago
The total fantasy is the part where someone thought this keyboard would be useable, and called Amstrad like cursor keys "gamepad" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schneider_664_en.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amstrad_CPC#/media/File:Schnei...
ordiel 4y ago
The "fantasy" part of this things is the price... For that price I can get a full computer/ chromebook that supports Linux, I wouldn't put more than 100 bucks on something like this when ALL it can do I can do it with Termux on an Android phone...
- 4y ago

smoldesu 4y ago

Honestly, if someone could make an x86 compute module in the form factor, there's no reason the uConsole couldn't run Steam and Proton. The tech isn't quite there yet though, so it makes more sense to target low-power emulators for this form factor.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]