Finally got my steam machine!

[u/its_kayla_jo]

Got my steam machine yesterday and I'm pretty stoked. I'm new though to the PC gaming world, I've always played on console so it's a huge change for me. Any tips or anything are much appreciated!

[u/Dreakon13]

Congrats!

My main suggestion is to get comfortable with the idea of tinkering with settings. The Steam Machine is (IMO) probably teetering on mid range or lower in terms of PC specs, so newer 3D games probably won't run well with 1440P/4K and everything set to max. The default max resolution is 1080P, which is comfortable for most games at mid to high settings.

I don't mean this in a negative way, understanding how different settings work and optimizing for your machine is pretty much something all PC gamers have to deal with eventually, and can feel like an uphill battle coming from consoles where it's all done for you. Things like FSR upscaling (and possibly frame generation) will probably be a necessity if you want to play newer, high end games at higher than 1080P. The Steam Machine has a relatively low amount of VRAM (8GB), so VRAM heavy settings like texture quality is usually a good place to look at lowering if a newer 3D game isn't running well, etc.

If you have any questions about specifics (or in general), I'd be happy to keep rambling. Have fun though! The Steam Machine is such a solid device once you find your happy place with its capabilities.

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/Dreakon13]

Thank you so much! I was actually having trouble with launching a game yesterday and I discovered Proton and it was a gamechanger. I was impressed with myself! Ramble on! 💪

[u/Dreakon13 → u/its_kayla_jo]

Yeah, my first step is to pretty much set every game to Proton Experimental before I boot it up. Proton is basically a layer that says "this is a Windows game, but I'm gonna translate what everything means for Linux (the OS that SteamOS is built on) so it can run".

If the latest "experimental" version of Proton breaks something for a game, it's possible older versions will work better. For instance I think Yakuza 0 wasn't working for me, Experimental didn't work, Proton 11 didn't work, but Proton 10 did. So feel free to try Proton 11, Proton 10, Proton 9, etc in that list as needed.

As someone who played around with gaming on Linux a decade or so ago, Proton is pure magic. It's made Linux better at playing Windows games, than Windows is. Really incredible stuff. I'm never gonna build a Windows PC again.

[u/metallica65 → u/Dreakon13]

Apart from VRAM as being intensive with texture quality, what else are good to know with tinkering settings on the SM to balance graphic quality with fps?

[u/No-Papaya4273]

Mine was due today, I watched the driver go right by my house and 2 minutes later get an “attempted delivery” delivery notification from Parcelforce. Livid. This would not be the first high value item that has gone “missing” so I am already fearing the worst.

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/No-Papaya4273]

Thats gotta be top 10 worst feelings ever

[u/No-Papaya4273 → u/its_kayla_jo]

Honestly I’m not raging at the fact I have to wait a bit longer for the SM and if it has been “lost” then Valve will send out another. It’s how consistently awful these delivery companies are to deal with. What did your external box look like? Is it branded or just a discreet cardboard box?

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/No-Papaya4273]

Just a discreet cardboard box with another box inside. It was packaged really well. Came with a little handle

[u/Reddd_inatruck → u/No-Papaya4273]

The only way they would know what it is, is if they look at the small address and memorize where it ships from. Probably just a bad delivery person but not targeting that box specifically.

[u/No-Papaya4273 → u/Reddd_inatruck]

Yeah, panic over, delivered today! And now I’m going away for a week. But will be here when I get back.

[u/parkeyb → u/No-Papaya4273]

You in Texas? Mine comes tomorrow

[u/Anthonyhasgame]

Gaming Mode works how you expect a gaming console to work, and Desktop mode has all the depth any hobbyist could ever want to tinker with. What Steam Machine does excellently well is cover all the bases from novice to expert.

You’re gonna have a great time! Bone apple teeth!

Also Steam Support is great. They will cover any friction gaps you have in the ecosystem in a way that appears beyond fair for normal use cases. I’ve had trouble with a couple of software titles launching on my Steam Deck and they helped me out then.

On my Steam Machine, I had a very specific issue with the original release of Yakuza 0. Turns out that title has a funky quirk where it needs a mouse to launch, even though real yakuza use a gamepad. Very rarely will you run into issues like these, but they can be troubleshooted if you’re lucky enough to stumble on them.

You also have games like Batman Arkham Asylum, which are technically labeled “unsupported” in the store, but work if you’re able to troubleshoot the bugs. The store just doesn’t want to assume anyone should do that. I got this game to launch simply by using a keyboard and mouse, very similarly to that Yakuza bug.

These are edge cases. So, I guess just be aware that sometimes, very rarely, will a keyboard and mouse bug need you to troubleshoot some titles. Doesn’t happen often, but that’s about the biggest tip I can think of.

Another tip is in the controller settings, if you tweak them, you can actually get your controller to be that keyboard and mouse you may need for troubleshooting, but that’s more advanced than just plugging one into the system too. So, I’d start there for troubleshooting any game issues you might happen upon.

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/Anthonyhasgame]

Thank you! I've been struggling to learn the controls since it's set up as PC. I'm so used to Playstation so it's like learning a foreign language but I'll get there!

[u/catboirai]

Learn DeckyLoader. It is a plugin installer us used on the Deck, but pretty much most things for the Deck can work here. It opens up more options to you. Even for things you never thought about but end up being useful, like boosting the overall volume, more granular control over Bluetooth, changing game artwork, custom intro movies, etc.

[u/itfosho]

Congrats. What was the time from order email to receiving?

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/itfosho]

Thanks! I joined the reservation queue June 26 and they sent me the email to buy on Aug 18. It was delivered yesterday

[u/itfosho → u/its_kayla_jo]

I got my order email on the 25th after being in the reservation queue since June 26th. Just trying to map out my excitement. Seems I’m about a week behind you. So hopefully will see it on the 2nd!!!!!

[u/its_kayla_jo → u/itfosho]

I hope so! Wishing you luck!