Steam Deck OS 3.4.9 released with GPU fix for Starfield
Steam Deck OS 3.4.9 released with GPU fix for Starfield
As I speculated previously when Steam Deck OS 3.4.9 went into Preview, Valve has now released it as a Stable update for all Steam Deck owners for Starfield.
And a few hours later, 3.4.10 is out. This is already more OS churn than I want, for a game I that don't have. :p
How well does SF run on the Deck?
I can't imagine very well. I tried it with my 3080ti and 5800X3D and was getting 55 fps on 720p upscaled to 1440p on high, not even ultra. I can't say what that would equate to on a steam deck.
Damn. IIRC Bethesda games scale terribly on high end hardware, we'd need to see someone test it.
DLSS isn't natively supported, but you can mod it in now if it helps
What's the game actually like? I was sort of expecting a mind-blowing science fiction exploration rpg space opera, but after the initial mining bit, it sort of just looked like another boring (I understand that might be a bit of a minority opinion) first/third person shooter game.
I haven't been able to play it yet, but I did see some reviews, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.
If you're familiar with Bethesda games then starfield will feel familiar in some ways. The gunplay is close to fallout 4's, where some enemies health scales with difficulty. There are a lot of guns you can hoard. However there have been major improvements which seem to address shortcomings of other Bethesda games.
In the cities, they've managed to cram more NPCs in to give life to hub areas. The lockpicking minigames and hacking have been replaced with digipicking, which is an actual puzzle and requires some thinking to solve. You can fast travel from anywhere, you no longer have to be outside. Render distance is impressive in some areas. There's a new persuasion system. NPCs have (somewhat stiff) facial animations. You can highlight loot with a scanner, and the same scanner can act as a guide to the objective.
The real strength of the game is just how much effort has been put into it. You really can find how parts of this game look like a real labor of love. Some voice actors are big names. There's a lot of content to constantly side track you. There are 4 factions that I know of, and each has their perks once you work with them enough. Finally, there is a ton of customization. Weapons, suits, your ship, and late game outposts you can make. The game is very pretty.
Are there bugs? Yes. They aren't as bad as previous titles however. I haven't heard of the game crashing. Performance seems to be pretty alright as well.
That's a very comprehensive answer, thanks! It sounds very positive. I'll definitely try and find a few longer gameplay videos. On the other hand, I'll probably wait for the discount and bugfixes a year down the line.
It looks like Fallout 4, but hopefully with more depth to the side content. I haven't played, but I watched someone playing last night and the player got distracted with side content, so it seems like a classic Bethesda game.