5 ms·

I've hesitated buying one. I haven't so far because I've been wondering about two things : text size, which I assume is not designed for small screens by game

I've hesitated buying one. I haven't so far because I've been wondering about two things : text size, which I assume is not designed for small screens by game makers and will make lots of games difficult to play, and noise. Would you mind sharing your experience regarding these two points?

goosedragons 4y ago
For small text size Valve will lower a game's rating from Verified to Playable and it will tell you it's playable because the font is too small (although in my experience still readable for me anyways). With noise it can be about as loud as gaming laptop IME. Not too bad and can easily be drowned out with headphones. However you can often adjust the graphical settings down so it ends up quieter. I usually do that anyways as it improves battery life.
thesandlord 4y ago
I've never had an issue with text size, and there is a shortcut to bring up a magnifier. Then again I haven't played any text heavy RPGs on the deck. Noise isn't an issue with PS3/360 era games and older (make sure you cap the frame rate). Newer games definitely push the system and the fans, but it's equal to a thin gaming PC. I think mine is the newer revision with the better fan, the first run had a louder fan iirc.
theogravity 4y ago
I'm a heavy visual novel player, which involves reading a ton of text (the games are essentially 90% all text), and have never encountered issues when it comes to reading on the Steam Deck. Out of many games I've played, one had impossibly small to read text that wasn't a visual novel, nor was it a triple A title; it was an indy game that I don't think was popular to begin with.
titusjohnson 4y ago
Text size, just fine. A few games have had pixelated text that was obviously meant for a larger screen, but I've had zero issues reading in these cases. Note, I'm not trying to play Civilization VI or some 4X game that _wants_ a big monitor. While the screen is small (bigger than a Switch screen, bigger than my phone) the resolution is great. I'm playing games on it that I last played on a 1024x768, or a CRT TV (Fable). Noise-wise, yeah you can hear the fan kick in but it's not really loud. No issues bothering other people nearby, no issues with the onboard speakers playing over the fan noise. In regards to the Deck not having games designed for it, Valve has done a fantastic job laying the groundwork for this product. Go all the way back to the Steam Controller and Steam Link; while those products were not a huge commercial success for Valve, I can see all the lessons learned paying off with the Deck. Wanna save some battery life and you're on your LAN? Stream the game from your beefy desktop. Controller layout not working? Every button is fully programable and removable. This thing has inputs out the arse. Touchpads, D-Pad, 4 extra under-side triggers. Wanna play a game that's not officially supported? 90% chance some fan has already made a community gamepad layout that's better than what the game maker would have made, you can download it and it works instantly.

goosedragons 4y ago

For small text size Valve will lower a game's rating from Verified to Playable and it will tell you it's playable because the font is too small (although in my experience still readable for me anyways). With noise it can be about as loud as gaming laptop IME. Not too bad and can easily be drowned out with headphones. However you can often adjust the graphical settings down so it ends up quieter. I usually do that anyways as it improves battery life.

thesandlord 4y ago

I've never had an issue with text size, and there is a shortcut to bring up a magnifier. Then again I haven't played any text heavy RPGs on the deck. Noise isn't an issue with PS3/360 era games and older (make sure you cap the frame rate). Newer games definitely push the system and the fans, but it's equal to a thin gaming PC. I think mine is the newer revision with the better fan, the first run had a louder fan iirc.

theogravity 4y ago

I'm a heavy visual novel player, which involves reading a ton of text (the games are essentially 90% all text), and have never encountered issues when it comes to reading on the Steam Deck. Out of many games I've played, one had impossibly small to read text that wasn't a visual novel, nor was it a triple A title; it was an indy game that I don't think was popular to begin with.

titusjohnson 4y ago

Text size, just fine. A few games have had pixelated text that was obviously meant for a larger screen, but I've had zero issues reading in these cases. Note, I'm not trying to play Civilization VI or some 4X game that _wants_ a big monitor. While the screen is small (bigger than a Switch screen, bigger than my phone) the resolution is great. I'm playing games on it that I last played on a 1024x768, or a CRT TV (Fable). Noise-wise, yeah you can hear the fan kick in but it's not really loud. No issues bothering other people nearby, no issues with the onboard speakers playing over the fan noise. In regards to the Deck not having games designed for it, Valve has done a fantastic job laying the groundwork for this product. Go all the way back to the Steam Controller and Steam Link; while those products were not a huge commercial success for Valve, I can see all the lessons learned paying off with the Deck. Wanna save some battery life and you're on your LAN? Stream the game from your beefy desktop. Controller layout not working? Every button is fully programable and removable. This thing has inputs out the arse. Touchpads, D-Pad, 4 extra under-side triggers. Wanna play a game that's not officially supported? 90% chance some fan has already made a community gamepad layout that's better than what the game maker would have made, you can download it and it works instantly.