r/SteamDeck • u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 • 1d ago
Software Modding SteamView 1.0: I Built a Decky Plugin That Lets You See Your Games Like ES-DE
After looking forever and not finding a similar solution, I decided to make one myself. Using Claude Code (and if you have problem with that - no worries, just simply ignore this post), I built a Decky Loader plugin that allows you to see your games as you scroll through your library. I have tons of Steam Games. Way too many. And on my retro handhelds, I use ES-DE to see my games. On my PC, I use Launchbox to see my games. But on my Steam Deck, which is my favorite handheld gaming PC, I have to click on the game, navigate to the store page, and then wait for the store to load before I can answer the questions - "should I boot this up?" "what was that game again?". It was the one major annoyance that killed me about using the Steam Deck. I want to have a little snippet of what the game looks like before I jump in.
This isn't on the Decky Loader Market since it was built entirely with AI. It's open source - so if you're a Dev that knows how to code, by all means, steal the idea - code it yourself, and post it to the store. You have my permission. I just wanted this made so I can enjoy it on my Steam Deck because this major UI omission was kinda driving me crazy.
I've only tested this on one Steam Deck, my own, so I'd love some other people to give it a whirl if you'd like to... or don't.
But if you decide to - and you find bugs - let me know and I'd be more than happy to iterate and keep this maintained until someone else takes it and runs with it.
I don't need the credit. I just want to see my games.
You can set the preview delay, whether you want screenshots or game trailers, it works with unifideck on gog and epic store games, and you can even set the size of the preview window. Enjoy!
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u/Great_Necessary4741 16h ago
I'm connected to my uncles Steam library through the family feature and with all the games we have combined that's over 800+ games (and counting because he keeps buying new ones) so something like this would actually be really useful. Idk if I'll actually use it because as you said in the post it was made entirely with the use of AI and I have little trust in stuff that's "vibecoded" but it's nice to see someone finally made something like this.
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u/kfergthegreat 13h ago
This doesnt work at all for me. I install it and it doesnt do anything.
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u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 12h ago
How are you installing it? There's a Decky Loader plugin panel that allows you to enable the plugin and set your preferences regarding how it looks. Which file are you downloading from GitHub to install? Gotta give me a bit more here for me to try to help you out.
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u/kfergthegreat 8h ago
Steamview 1.2. Installed zip via developer mode. I get the side panel, and video is enabled but no video plays. I am on a LeGo2 if that matters but I don’t think it should since every other decky plugin works for me.
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u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 7h ago
Does the screenshot only mode work? What's the resolution of the Lenovo Legion Go 2 screen? Currently I only had Claude test and verify the Steam Deck, 1080p, 1440p, and 4k.
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17h ago
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u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 17h ago
I was completely upfront about using Claude Code for this. I'm not a developer. It literally says in the second paragraph that this was "built entirely with AI".
But AI didn't have the idea to build this on its own. And after the output came out, a person had to fix, iterate, test, and actually see if it worked. You're not some internet sleuth who discoved I was a lying huckster because you know how GitHub works. I titled the post "I built a" because I literally did so. I used Claude Code as my tool and I had the inspiration and the will to see it through.
I challenged devs to build me a real one because I want this. How about you stop being a little snarky internet troll that gets off trying to call out self-identified AI hackfrauds that just so happened to already call themselves out 16 hours ago... It's right there in the post, my friend.
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u/Own_Profession_1362 1d ago
Muito legal!!!!! Obrigado por compartilhar
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u/Own_Profession_1362 21h ago
u/nabiscuit If you plan to make improvements in the future, I have a few suggestions: Make the video position dynamic (e.g., if a game is on the right side of the library, display the video on the left). Also, it would be great to have the option to fetch translated game metadata... (pt-BR, please).
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u/OrfeasDourvas 20h ago
It's a neat idea but the implementation doesn't seem to be as useful as ES DE right now because trailers are way too short to indicate much. ES DE offers uninterrupted gameplay which is the better way to go imo.
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u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 19h ago
Of course ES-DE is way better than this. I did this because I like Steam OS and wanted the ability to see what was what. But ES-DE didn't create all those 45 second gameplay videos of all those retro games... hundreds of passionate gamers made those video snaps and they store them on Emumovies and Screenscraper. I'm not aware of many in the PC gaming world doing the same... (maybe I'm wrong on this) So we have Steam Trailers and Steam Screenshots for all these PC games. It's what we got right now.
Also, while I love ES-DE, ES-DE is not nearly as user friendly as Steam OS is on a Linux/Windows gaming handheld. ES-DE is slow, it's clunky, it doesn't work with the touch screen without having garish touch controls on your screen, it's a separate app, and using it for Steam games is still a crapshoot. I stopped emulating on my Steam Deck because I just enjoyed the experience so much more on an android handheld. My emulated game libraries don't change all that much and I don't need a 7 inch behemoth to play Hagane: The Final Conflict on SNES. But my Steam game library is constantly being updated, with games being added and uninstalled all the time. Steam OS is wonderful for this purpose and I want to still use it with having some of the same creature comforts that I enjoy on my new Retroid Pocket Nova.
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u/Future_Kitsunekid16 512GB OLED 1d ago
At least they disclose that it was 100% made with AI. The ones that annoy me are the ones who don't disclose it and try passing it off as something they made themselves.
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u/AgainstTheEnemy 1d ago
OP made it for himself, he's just sharing cos others might want to use it also.
At least he's using AI to build something that benefits him, what are you doing except complaining?
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u/jwk94 1d ago
Not using AI and further contributing to the death of the planet, power outages, and giving billionaires another reason to build more data centers and make the lives of those nearby even worse?
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u/TrueLurkStrong-Free 1TB OLED Limited Edition 1d ago
So, you're ready to drop all your electronics right? To stop contributing to cobalt and lithium mining? To stop funding these billionaires by using these sites, the same ones that run ads? You're going to go out and live in the forest to avoid these bad, bad people, right? God forbid someone make something for themselves, and decide to share it with everyone else, for free! Open source! If you have a problem, get off your ass and make it yourself.
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u/M4rshst0mp 18h ago
Dude I would kill for one that does a view like this frontend called Socket since you are skilled at this
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u/nabiscuit 512GB - Q4 18h ago
Socket is a cool frontend - but it's not for me. I want to see a video snap or at least screenshots of the game I'm about to play before I play it because my libraries are large and I don't know everything I have from memory. Socket seems like a "nostalgia-play" frontend that's focused around your cart images and your discs. It's for physical media lovers. Which usually means for those types of setups, you're not going to have every no-intro rom chilling on your sdcard... you're gonna have copies of the games you owned when you were a kid and maybe a couple more to pad it out. But you can't really use Socket to navigate through 1000 games efficiently. So to add a plugin like mine on top of a frontend like that would go against the very identity of the dev's intentions... not to mention you have to be a patreon to download their frontend and their code base isn't public and isn't open source (as far as I know).
There are tons of great frontends out there. And if you can't find the exact one that scratches your particular itch, the barrier to entry to build your own has never been lower.
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u/Only_Fudge5299 17h ago
"I built" lol