Thought this might be worth a share here.

The developer of Junk Store (letting you play Epic Games and GOG titles on your Steam Deck) did a podcast with G. Bryant which he's shared on YouTube.

They cover things like:

• What is JunkStore?
• What inspired JunkStore
• What sets JunkStore apart from Heroic/Lutris?
• Original vision for JunkStore
• Goals for v2 of JunkStore
• What are your next goals for JunkStore?
• Recounting the JunkStore/Steam Store thing
• The NSL drama from Eben's perspective
• Eben's interesting living situation
• What everyone needs to know about JunkStore
• Conclusion

Here is the link to the interview on YouTube, which runs at 20:38

But there is also a longer, uncut interview which runs longer on Gardiner's blog for his suppporters:

In this nearly 50-minute interview, Eben Bruyns and I discuss the history and future of JunkStore, plus we chat about his interesting living situation, our favorite video games, his perspective on the Non-Steam Launchers drama from a few months ago, and how Steam accepted (then rejected) JunkStore on Steam.

The link to that longer version, again for his paying members, is here

cross-posted from: https://subscribeto.me/videos/watch/b509a7f3-97dc-4a4e-a974-5fb5306ed014

Learn more about JunkStore from their website: https://junkstore.xyz/?ref=gardinerbryant > Watch the full interview: https://gardinerbryant.com/full-interview-with-junkstore-creator-eben-bruyns/ > > -- Chapters -- > 00:00 Introduction > 01:04 What is JunkStore? > 01:43 What inspired JunkStore > 03:01 What sets JunkStore apart from Heroic/Lutris? > 04:36 Original vision for JunkStore > 06:42 Goals for v2 of JunkStore > 09:41 What are your next goals for JunkStore? > 11:32 Recounting the JunkStore/Steam Store thing > 14:33 The NSL drama from Eben's perspective > 16:22 Eben's interesting living situation > 17:57 What everyone needs to know about JunkStore > 19:49 Conclusion >

Well it’s been a little longer than it typically is for me covering recent gaming news I’ve spotted, and that’s entirely my fault! I am sorry!

But, hopefully you’re still in the mood to read through some bits and pieces I’ve spotted recently!

What are these posts?

My aim for these News Posts in general though is to format them in a more clearly not a professional, but someone who cares about gaming manner than most gaming sites do now. Less demanding? My ever-lasting inspo is the old, old video game sites, blogs and magazines that I never had the privilege of being alive for:

• Image/gif/link heavy (every time I make these, at least 4 GIFs end up being too big for Lemmy to upload, and it always makes me sad)

• Personal voice (I can’t help rambling, send help – this won’t be even slightly professionally written)

• Mostly news or articles or points which you won’t find on normal gaming sites. These are the smaller, lesser things that I’m drawn to. I know you’ll have spotted the big news articles, so I’m hoping some of these smaller ones might have been missed by you.

A mixed bag of what I’ve considered news this week, so there really is a bit of everything ahead.

So grab a coffee? Or a tea? Or a fresh juice? And enjoy <3

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GOG News:

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One-click Mods:

I know some of you have seen this by now, but its still important to highlight. GOG has brought in a simple mod program to their site, which is...quite unlike what is available elsewhere.

While you’re still free to mod your GOG games as you typically do, this method takes one major mod (which itself might be made of a few separate elements) and applies it to the game required. If you’d like to play that modded game, you download it (with one click!) and play! You install selected mods with…well, just one click. No manual setup, no digging into folders, you just hit install and go.

The first batch includes some all-time community favorites:

• ‘Horn of the Abyss’ for Heroes of Might and Magic III
• ‘Phobos’ for DOOM 3
• ‘Unofficial Patch’ for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
• Fallout: London – One-click Edition
• ‘Enderal: Forgotten Stories for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
• ...and coming soon – The Elder Scrolls Skyblivion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

So, you’ll need the base game in your library, but if you own it, then you’ll be able to download and install this pre-modded version of the game and just...skip the mod headaches! Everything runs smoothly right out of the box.

These mods aren’t just fan content, they’re part of how games survive. Some restore cut content, others add entire campaigns, new factions, or modern fixes that never made it into official releases. GOG is treating them like the preservation work they are, and they hope this makes it easier for more people to enjoy what the modding community has built over the years.

• GOG themselves made an official announcement on YouTube you can watch here, where they cover it

• And the link to the available (so far) mods is here, too, if you want to read about each one

• Here is a link to the GOG forum discussion on the new one-click mods!

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Some GOG Game Updates:

As always, I try to bring some attention to some games which have had updates (or releases) recently, because...well if you’re a GOG user you’ll certainly know, sometimes keeping games up-to-date can be difficult, or pass you by.

Mostly though, this is probably just going to be an excuse for me to add some GIFs and talk about a handful of games I love?

• Trudograd

Trudograd is an interesting one. This is a kinda ‘expansion’ on the base game (though that base game is not required to play Trudograd) Atom RPG, and is a great take on Fallout 2. Those turn-based post-apocalyptic cRPGs you love? This one is a fantastic example of them. Trudograd was released in 2021, and somehow still having fixes and lil updates. If you love the original two Fallout games, then this might be one you enjoy

• Arctico (-80% off currently on GOG)

Arctico is as independent as you can get, but the dev is so dedicated to the game, which is lovely to see. It’s sitting at ‘Mostly Positive’ (1,913 reviews at time of typing) on Steam, so it is a niche game.

Explore Arctico with your dog sled, kayak, and parachute! Build and customize your base camp, gather resources and samples, set up labs, and take good care of your dogs in this peaceful island.

This latest update is from June 5th, and was the ‘major base building update’. I’d recommend this one, if you want a cute, cozy and kinda relaxing off-kilter game, you can get it on GOG or Steam, and IDK, makes me feel nice to have supported a little venture into game dev!

• Captain Blood

This is a odd game, it was abandoned back in the 360/PS3 era (15 years ago now) and left for dead:

The story of Captain Blood begins in 2003, when Akella, the publisher behind the original three Postal games (including the now-infamous Postal 3) announced it was going to make a pirate game based on the work of novelist Rafael Sabatini. After an initial reveal at E3 2004, production on the game was restarted. Playlogic, which you may remember for cult horror hit Obscure 2, signed on as publisher. But in 2006, progress on Captain Blood again came to a halt and development of the game was restarted a second time. The first trailer arrived in 2008. A website went live in 2010. And after that, silence.

But, somehow the game was reassembled and relaunched and is now available for everyone to play. Is it worth it? I think it needs a few more patches, but I am a total sucker for pirate games (seriously, we have so few in gaming!). It’s very of-the-time, very ‘2006ish’ and rather clunky, but I’m a fan of the novel (which is really only a name-sake for this project), and I’m glad its getting updates and patches!

• Crow Country

I know, I know, I’ve shouted at you all before to play this but...you really should play it! If you’ve any nostalgia (you’re old) or curiosity (me!) for the ‘survival horror games’ from the PlayStation 1 era like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dino Crisis etc...this one should be one for you!

The year is 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, Crow Country. But your arrival has broken the silence, Mara Forest. If you want answers, you’ll have to venture deep into the darkness of Crow Country to find them…

It’s sitting at ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ on Steam right now, out of 5,038 reviews, and...since I’m writing about it here in my ‘recently updated on GOG’ section – you’ll no doubt see that it has been updated!

Puzzles, tricks, riddles, an abandoned theme park, some horror – and even an ‘exploration mode’ for those (like me) who aren’t actually super-duper great with horror scares!

• Timberborn

Want to help beavers create a giant metropolis? If you’re into Sim City-ish games, then this one will tick that box for you:

Humans are long gone. In a world struck by droughts and toxic waste, will your lumberpunk beavers do any better? A city-building game featuring ingenious animals, vertical architecture, water physics, and terraforming. Contains high amounts of wood.

‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ on Steam, with 29,667 reviews, this is one of the coziest ‘just ten minutes more’ games I’ve played, and the water physics in it are incredible - barely any bugs, and obviously updates and support are super consistent. One thing to note though is that this game is in Early Access, but in this case, it is...in my eyes well beyond what you’d expect for E.A.

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Newly Released on GOG:

I also thought it might be nice to just share a tiny copy/pasted ‘about’ for some recent games to arrive on GOG, a snap-shot of what they looks like (or my fav – a GIF!), and a link. This is by no means comprehensive...just something fun :)

• Trident’s Tale

Set sail for an epic action-packed adventure in Trident’s Tale, where you’ll become Ocean, a bold young captain on a quest to reclaim the legendary Storm Trident—a mythical artifact that grants power over the seas. But beware the ocean is vast, treacherous, and crawling with danger at every turn!

(link to the trailer here, on YouTube)

• The Alters

The Alters is an ambitious sci-fi survival game with a unique twist. You play as Jan Dolski, the lone survivor of a crash-landed expedition on a hostile planet. To survive, you must form a new crew for your mobile base. Using a substance called Rapidium, you create alternative versions of Jan—THE ALTERS—each one shaped by a different crucial decision from the protagonist’s past.

(...and here is a trailer for this one, too – if you want to see more!)

• Repose

In the facility, each step, each shot, each mistake costs precious energy. Rendered entirely in black and white, this mystery can be unravelled. The puzzle can be solved. Don't ask who tried to solve it before. Do the job. Find oxygen and sleep. Go deeper. And don't ask about Aaron.

(trailer link via YouTube is here!)

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition

Step into the armor of a relentless Space Marine and use a combination of lethal weaponry to crush overwhelming Ork forces. Immerse yourself in an intense and brutally violent world based on the richest science fantasy ever created.

(there’s a link to the trailer for it here, on YouTube if you’ve somehow not seen it yet!)

• Anoxia Station

Anoxia Station is a mining management game set in a dystopian near-past. A supervolcanic eruption devastated the Earth’s surface, rendering it uninhabitable. Nations now teeter on the brink of extinction relying on the Terranauts - miners sent into the hellish depths of this dying world-. Their mission: extract petroleum, crucial to sustaining humanity's essential infrastructures and survival.

(link to the trailer here on YouTube)

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This Month on GOG:

Just a recap of a couple things I have covered before, but...this month there really has been a fair lot of GOG news, which is a bit of a rare thing. So if somehow you missed what I shared before, there’s some brief dot-points here for you:

• GOG added authenticator apps for your account

• 5 Warhammer games entered the GOG Preservation Program, along with Armageddon and Sanctus Reach becoming GOG exclusives due to being removed from Steam

• GOG invited the public to apply for jobs at their company, in a range of positions

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GOG’s Meeting Rooms (in their own words):

Every GOG employee is a gamer, so we love to gamify our day-to-day work. Each meeting room in our office is named after a game-related place, so throughout the day, we find ourselves visiting places like Khorinis, Tristram, Night City, Erathia, and more! It makes each meeting feel a bit like an adventure. And yes, every meeting in Tristram should start with “Stay awhile and listen” but that is a work in progress. Bonus fact – we also have a meeting room called Roach and to be fair – it’s as comfortable as riding a horse. Fortunately, Roach meeting room won’t suddenly appear on a roof of a building. Or will it?

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Retro Gaming / Emulation News:

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SBC Gaming (briefly):

I’m not going to go into much detail here, because in at least one of these the specs of the upcoming handheld are presented in one of the pictures. SBC (single board computer) handhelds began as primarily community built and driven Raspberry Pi projects, but now has well and truly become polished handhelds. Running Android or Linux, they’re released (it is joked) every week or two, but sometimes really are magic.

The latest to be announced (or leaked) which are interesting to me are:

Anbernic’s RG Slide:

One thing to note of the RG Slide is that there has been a leak of the price, which will be $189 (USD)

Ayaneo’s Flip 1S DS:

Retroid’s Dual Screen Add-on:

One thing to note on this one is that MelonDS (a Nintendo DS emulator – or the DS emulator!) has released their own update to support this incoming dual screen add-on:

In anticipation of the upcoming dual-screen Android handhelds, I’ve taken the opportunity to implement dual-screen support in melonDS for Android! We now have two great ways to enjoy the Nintendo DS in all its glory: DraStic, and my own fork of melonDS with dual-screen support. 

GitHub link is here

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MGS/17:

Nothing to go into here, but Metal Gear Solid 4 has now turned 17 years old! And...is somehow still locked to the PlayStation 3 platform. I know we’re all assuming (let’s face it, with strong reasons to!) that the next MGS ‘pack’ on Steam will bring it to modern systems, but for now it’s a nightmare to play.

Emulation is still a mess, I have read plenty of people who tell me how easy and fine it is to emulate, even on the Steam Deck – that’s certainly not true. It’s the opposite of easy, and it runs poorly.

Interesting though, that Metal Gear predicted the use of AI and rise of certain global threats. Mechanized walking tanks won’t be too far off, we already have them in miniature form, it’s just scaling them up at this point.

And here’s a little snapshot of the ladies behind the B&B Unit in MGS4:

Anyway, happy birthday MGS, you still remain one of my fav ‘franchise’ of games ever made!

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Game Boy Coasters:

Otzedotze has been making some fun little coasters, as you’ll see:

I wanted to test the color system on my 3D printer, so I quickly turned some titlescreens into coasters. You can download the files here:

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PS2 Jailbreak:

This one is kinda niche, admittedly, but if you've an interest in the PS2 jailbreaking scene, then you'll be excited to hear a new exploit is coming for ProtoKernel models. It will allow for DTL-H10000 and DTL-H10000S to be finally disc-less exploitable.

Took 25 years, but now we can say that all PS2 models are hackable without discs!

I found these images demonstrating the process, but it is coming soon:

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Atari Handheld:

This one’s...curious. While hitting the nostalgia notes for those old enough to have experienced it back before time began, it’s going to be an incredibly niche product.

The criticism I’m seeing (and agreeing with), is the limited-to-three-games idea. I do understand licensing is a nightmare to organize, but when the entire library of the 2600 is maybe 10-16MB big, there’s no excuse for keeping the number of games so low (I suspect it’s a petty attempt to make more money by selling more of these with similarly limited game options)

Regardless though, it is a nice retro design:

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Arari Decanter Set:

IDK, this just made me laugh when I saw it. Done by the same studio that is making (apparently) the handheld above – ThumbsUp — its a glass decanter set for all the fancy Atari fans! Just added this because it was mildly amusing:

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Massive Update for PPSSPP:

No, it’s not the sound of me calling a cat (I know...that old joke), PPSSPP is overwhelmingly referred to as the emulator. It’s been around forever, runs on a potato, performs perfectly.

A few days ago, version 1.19.1 was announced, and is making a lot of people who enjoy emulation very, very happy!

The full release notes are here, via ppsspp.org

And the ‘upcoming changes’ page is here, on the same site

Of interest though:

From now on, major releases will be yearly, instead twice a year. Due to the additional platforms supported, the release process is longer and more complicated than ever, so it doesn't make sense to do it too often. The plan is to make a new major release every spring, probably March or April.

Additionally, upcoming requirements from Android means that we will soon have to update an important development tool (the NDK) to a newer release, which will force us to drop support for the very oldest version of Android. Not to worry too much though, as the current estimation is that we'll still be able to support Android 4.3+, which is still very, very old!

Another new thing is that in the next release, the "Windows ARM64" release will be considered officially supported. This doesn't make much difference though as it already worked well, but I now have a device to test it on! ARM64 is the CPU architecture (or rather, ISA) used by processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon and Apple Silicon. The former is starting to show up in PC laptops and is performing really well in my testing, much like the latter.

If you’d like more info presented in a far more professional manner, you can visit this blog post by Gardiner Bryant who covered it perfectly!

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Other Gaming News:

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Xbox/ROG Handheld Prices:

I won’t bother covering the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X (horrible naming conventions, typical for the Xbox ecosystem), but I will mention that the pre-order, release date and price for these has leaked.

• Pre-orders for both are set for August, 2025
• Release is October, 2025
• €599 (or $499 USD) price tag for the standard ROG Xbox Ally
• €899 (or $799 USD) for the higher-end Ally X

Full article with the source of the leak, and all kinds of filler to make the article seem to be lengthy is here if you want to read more!

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Another Xbox ‘leak’:

Take this one with more than a single grain of salt, but ‘code strings attached to Xbox Game Pass’ suggest an incoming price hike. Again.

A WindowsCentral link is here if you wanna dig deeper!

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Digital Foundry with Switch 2’s Cyberpunk:

The full video is best, but here’s a brief breakdown of what you can expect (it runs well but Phantom Liberty struggles):

• 720P/810P Handheld (Via DLSS upscaling) or 1080P docked (Via DLSS Upscaling)
• Better Texture Quality than PS4 or Series S
• Better reflections than PS4 or Series S
• Better Framerate than PS4
• Similar FPS to Series S Quality mode except in Phantom Liberty
• Significantly better asset loading speed than PS4
• NPC/Vehicle Density on par with PS4 but behind Series S
• Outdoor shadows less sharp than PS4 Interior Shadows improved compared to PS4
• 40FPS mode is kind of pointless as it doesn't hit it in stress tests and Quality mode is actually more stable

One thing to remember, in handheld mode the game runs at 360p/450p and is then upscaled to 720p.

Here is the link to their video on YouTube, if you’d like all the details!

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Epic Games Browser Library:

A user (jamesyb0y) has created a handy way for you to see your Epic Games library. Currently there’s...weirdly no way for you to see what games you have from Epic on their website. The only kinda workaround to seeing them is to go through the account and transactions pages – which is arduous and stupid.

So they’ve made a browser extension (currently only on Chrome, but it has been submitted to Firefox and is under review for now, so it is coming soon if you’re a Firefox or fork user).

The Epic Games Library Extension addresses those weird limitations by providing:

• Direct access to your games library without navigating through multiple pages

• Built-in search functionality to quickly find specific games

• Sorting options to organize your collection

• A clean, user-friendly interface for browsing your games

Its a nice addition, for those who want to check if they might have claimed a free game before buying it again!

---

Crescent County:

The developers stated that after being rejected by over 50 publishers, they instead crowdfunded their game – called Crescent County – on Kickstarter in under 23 hours.

I just thought this game was interesting, and to bring it to some attention, because it shows how darn hard it is to have a game made. Of course the indie game scene is its own gigantic and fruitful world, but the idea that publishers expect a massive amount of hype created before the game is even ready: getting followers and posts to make them even take note? Exhausting.

Anyway, on to Crescent County:

Crash headfirst into this witch-tech open world, drifting and driving on the back of your new motorbroom. Make deliveries, trick out your broom, and race your new friends (and crushes) as the sun sets. Get into gossip, sort your life out, and discover what it means to find home.

During the day you’re a motorbroom courier: delivering packages, herding sheep, and fixing leylines. Help the locals and get to know their struggles and endless drama (plus earning yourself a little bit of cash). Plan your day by picking your jobs and broom setup, and then zoom around getting things done!

There is a demo on Steam now, which has controller support!

And here is a link to their Kickstarter, it only has a few days left and I’m linking it because they’ve got all the info there to better show their game](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/annahollinrake/crescent-county)

---

Firebreak:

I’m so excited for Remedy’s upcoming game, Firebreak!!!

Do you have friends to play this with? ...no, no I do not. But I’ll be jumping in solo and loving it regardless.

Anyway, this one’s for the Steam Deck users – Remedy shared their video showing it playing perfectly on the Steam Deck itself. And fans of their (beautiful) game Control might notice some sticky notes there in the background, too!

The link is here!

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That’s That:

---

I know, not so much covered this time around, but I solemnly pinkie-swear that the next ‘issue’ I write up will be back to form.

I’ve actually gotten some odd news – I’ve got a bit of nerve damage. So that depressing fact is what is weighing on my mind lately, and while I do share daily on Mastodon, writing one of these up just kinda felt a bit too Leviathanesque to me.

I also changed the image I attach to these posts, unsure if this one will be ‘it’ for good, but...idk, do chime in if you’ve any ideas on that!

---

What have you been playing?

Can’t help but sneak this in, as I always do. I’d love to hear what games you’ve been playing. Have you tried anything from Steam’s own Next Fest 2025? Emulating? Have you found a little-known game you’d recommend? I’d love to hear it!

I’ve been gaming a little less than usual. I’ve got a bunch of new games from GOG, and have been playing Death Stranding instead!

---

Previous Posts:

If you’d like to read my previous Gaming News posts (they’re mounting up in number now!), then you can find them here:

• Steam Deck / Gaming News #2
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #3
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #4
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #5
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #6
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #7
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #8
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #9
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #10
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #11
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #12
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #13
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #14
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #15
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #16
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #17
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #18

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Mastodon:

I do tend to post there each day, 99.99% gaming nonsense. If you want more of this, then come drop by!

I do find the small bag to be a bit too small. Would be nice to fit the charger in the case in a more secure fashion.

I have a steam deck and it automatically switches to the tv audio. When I installed bazzite on the legion go it automatically would switch too. However both steamos and cachyos do not automatically switch. Idk if this is because they are both arch based, but the steam deck automatically changes.

Any help with this issue is appreciated!

(Sorry if my LeGo blasphemy isn't allowed here :'( )

Wanted to talk about this a bit. I've seen some things showing how well along translation layers have gotten with both proton from windows based games and x86 apps running on ARM. I think it'd be a huge improvement for something like standby time. Although I'm not sure how well it'd be for power efficiency while gaming since it might use the same amount of power for similar performance regardless. Maybe better for low complexity games like balatro or vampire survivors?

This will probably be the biggest competition the Steam Deck has within the handheld PC space.

Most noteworthy is that windows is finally focusing on providing a decent handheld experience, including booting straight to a controller friendly interface, and reducing background processes for better fps and battery.

Edit: The handheld Xbox UI will.come to all windows PCs, but it's not clear if the reduced performance bloat version will be available. It sounds like only Xbox branded devices may get the full benefit of optimized windows.

It's also the ugliest handheld PC yet (imo), but I can appreciate that they're pushing for comfort over looks.

Hello, I've spent maybe 5h+ trying to troubleshoot Remote Play from my Linux (Fedora 42 GNOME) PC host to my Steam Deck OLED client and I keep finding outdated or contradicting information regarding HEVC.

1.) Main crux of my issues with remote play seems to be fixed after solving some WiFi congestion issues and I'm able to get perfectly smooth 60FPS 50Mbps stream without HW-encoding&decoding with the h.264 codec.

2.) The HEVC codec is a major visual improvement for the Remote Play however the frametimes are all over the place when streaming HEVC and I'm at a loss on how to solve this.

It does not matter if I have HW encoding&decoding enabled/disabled, the HEVC streaming experience is just bad. Is it just a limitation within the Steam Deck or is that some SW issue? Any way to try to fix this?

Note: issue is not related to bandwidth for streaming and even for x264 stutters starts to happen the moment I enable HW-decoding

My main PC runs 5800X3D with RX 6800 XT 16GB and 64GB RAM

Note2: For client - If I use HW decoding or if I use just HEVC without HW-decoding I can use the Steam Deck HW overlay just fine but if I just use h.264 with no HW-decoding then I can't access the Steam menu or the "..." menu until I quit the game... what's up with that?

Just got Ogu and the Secret Forest free via the epic games giveaway. And while it is rated gold on proton and verified for Steam Deck I cannot get it to run properly.

Installed it va Heroic launcher, I can start it but as soon as I start a game it keeps freezing on the loading screen. Left it running for a while, nothing happens. I use Proton experimental for that. But switching Proton didn't help. I switched to older ones mentioned on ProtonDB, then it just does not start.

Also tried installation with Lutris, doesn't even start. Anyone who got it running successfully from the Epic games store?

cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/6007005

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/snakeycakes on 2025-06-05 19:18:34+00:00.

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I know a lot of people on here got this Powerbank as this is where i seen it and got myself one

I got an Amazon alert when i logged in.

Product Safety Alert: 5 Jun 2025 Stop using the following item because of a potential safety issue. Visit the public notice or review the safety alert for more guidance. Baseus Powerbank 30000 mAh, PD 65 W

model number BS-30KP365

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Baseus-Portable-Chargers-Recalled-Due-to-Fire-Hazard-Sold-on-Amazon-com-by-Shenzhen-Baseus-Technology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKv7VIEIkP0

It just occurred to me that the Switch 2’s MouseMode could be the only control method that the Steam Deck is “missing.” I would absolutely love to be able to play DOOM or Halo: MCC or Overkill from the couch. This would be the only thing I’d like more than the rumored Steam Controller 2 design.

Epic Games’ Unreal Fest:

Plenty was shown at this years Unreal Fest, I thought I’d just format this together for Lemmy.

One thing to keep in mind (I'm sure there's at least a few of you here wondering what this has to do with the Steam Deck) is that Epic's platform is playable on the Steam Deck (well, 99% of it is), by using:

• Junk-Store

• Heroic Games Launcher

Unreal Fest Orlando ‘25 gave us an expanded look at Epic's roadmap for the store in 2025 and what's next. So, here’s a summary and a bunch of pictures to show what they’re up to:

From Epic Games Store 2024 Year in Review:

Next year we will continue to make significant investments in the Epic Games Store with the intention of improving both the player and partner experience. Some of the highlights include:

Epic Games Store Mobile App:

The Epic Games Store on Android and iOS will continue to be a focal point of our development roadmap throughout the next year. Initial work on the app will include building an enhanced App Library & Discover Experience to scale against an ever-increasing catalog size, and, for our developers, AAB file type Support. This is only the start; much more is still to be announced!

Non-Gaming Apps: The Epic Games Store aims to allow the publishing of all types of content a gamer might need across PC and mobile offerings. Within our Self Publishing Tools, we’ll be opening up the ability to self-publish non-gaming apps offering a wider variety of content to be listed on all Epic Games Store supported platforms.

Gifting: Sharing is caring, particularly when it comes to gaming, and so in 2025 we’ll be adding gifting to our list of purchase options!

New Download Manager (PC/MAC): Originally planned for release in Q4 2024, the wait is nearly over and our PC Launcher will have an entirely new Download Manager, now arriving in Q1 2025. The functionality will include the ability to control the timing of updates, schedule downloads, and reorder your queue; amongst other quality-of-life changes.

Pre-Loading (PC/MAC): Pre-Loading will allow players to download and install their pre-purchased content ahead of launch, ready to play from the moment a title is officially released.

Search & Browse Overhaul (PC/MAC): New features including predictive search and semantic search are in development along with several under the hood improvements.  Expanded Search will move into full release with improvements.

Multi-Platform Social:  We’re bringing new social features to all of our players with robust support for connecting with your friends. This comes via all new voice chat, text chat, game independent parties, invite/join/play and looking-for-group features across all Epic Games Store supported platforms.

Platform Store Switching: Users will be able to switch from their native platform store view to other supported platforms to browse and shop for apps.  

Beyond these highlights, we're also dedicated to improving your experience through continuous updates to the Launcher and Store, focusing on areas like performance, stability, and ease of use.

The full link is here, so you can see more!

Expanded 2025 Roadmap from Unreal Fest Orlando 2025:

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PC:

• Download Manager (March 2025)

• Pre-loading

• Gifting

• Language Expansion

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Mobile:

• Search and Browse

• Friends, Presence, Text and Voice Chat

• Authenticator and QR Code Login

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PC + Mobile:

• Wallet Cards (POSA)

• EGS Webshops

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Ongoing Workstreams:

• Product Page Improvements
• Improved content discovery and surfaces
• Search Improvements

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Mobile SPT will come Q4 2025

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Up Next Roadmap:

PC:

• Dynamic Merchandising Surfaces

• Regional Storefronts

• Bundling

• Friends Activity and Social Shopping

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Mobile:

• Library Management

• Gifting

• Clip Capture and Sharing

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PC and Mobile

• Remote Install

• Multi-Platform Shopping

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Ongoing Workstreams:

• Launcher Performance

• Improved Wishlist Communications

• Social. Social. Social.

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2025 Roadmap Concepts:

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PC Concepts:

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Gifting:

Pre-Loading:

Expanded Store Localization:

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EGS Mobile Concepts:

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EGS Mobile Improvements:

EGS Mobile Search:

EGS Mobile Browse:

EGS Mobile Social:

QR Code Login:

Authenticator:

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PC + Mobile Concepts:

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Wallet Cards: (Epic's own V-Bucks will work to purchase games on the site, not just as Fortnite's currency)

Webshops:

[The link to the livestream / video on YouTube (presented in 4K) is here, if you'd like to see it in video form](Livestream 2, Day 1 | Unreal Fest 2025 - YouTube)

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Other News:

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The Witcher 4:

The show kicked off with a technical demo we’ve been working on with CD PROJEKT RED — not The Witcher 4 itself, but a showcase of some of the cutting-edge tech powering the new Witcher saga. We also revealed the latest on Unreal Engine 5.6, including major performance upgrades to empower teams to build large-scale open worlds that, just like this tech demo, run smoothly on current-gen hardware.

When we launched Unreal Engine 5 three years ago, CD PROJEKT RED announced they would collaborate with us to bring large open-world support to the engine. Together at the State of Unreal, we revealed what we’ve been working on.

The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo follows witcher Ciri, a professional monster slayer, as she explores the never-before-seen region of Kovir in the midst of a monster contract.

The tech demo provides an early look at a number of 5.6’s powerful new open-world features in action — all running on PlayStation 5 at 60 frames per second with raytracing — including the new, faster way to load open worlds via the Fast Geometry Streaming Plugin.

As Ciri explores the bustling market of Valdrest, we see how 5.6 handles busy scenes full of high-fidelity characters and visual effects like ML Deformer. The tech demo also showcases Nanite Foliage — which provides a fast and memory efficient way to achieve gorgeous foliage density and fidelity, slated for release in UE 5.7.

• one thing to note is that the videos other channels on YouTube have of the tech demo of Witcher 4 are limited to 1080p - not 4K. The only 4K video you can see at the moment is from the Epic presentation itself, but maybe that'll change?!

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Epic Itself:

The Epic Games Store has now paid developer and publisher partners over $2.1 billion since launch. On mobile, EGS now has a library of 70 awesome games and 40 million installs to date, and it’s on track to hit 70 million by the end of 2025. To give publishers an even better deal, we just changed our initial revenue share to 0% for the first $1 million then 12% thereafter.

The facts are just presented by a bunch of pictures, so I'll share them here:

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Obv lots more was announced and covered, including Unreal Engine 5.6, but this is all I can be bothered formatting!

I'm kinda amazed it took this long, but valve finally added:

Added in-game keyboard shortcuts to open the Main Menu and Quick Access Menu.

Default Main Menu hotkey: Shift+Tab
Default Quick Access Menu hotkey: Ctrl+Shift+Tab
Customizable in Settings->In Game

So i used some 99% isopropyl alcohol on a couple buttons on the deck and now my screen has weird streaks. I’m devastated. Will it be ok? It’s only viewable at certain angles but this has been the device i’ve taken best care of.

Update: The smudge is 99% gone but the weird X going across the whole screen remains. I’m only a little disappointed but I’ve been tinkering with electronics my entire life and I’ve never seen this before so I’m more fascinated than anything. View from my normal angle is undisturbed.

Still very new to my deck. FFT has always been one, if not my favorite game in the FF universe. I did not see it listed on Steam. Wondering if there is a way to play it, or if I need to break out my PS3 to get my fix.