Yesterday’s Steam Deck client update (beta) has added a bunch of fixes, particularly for the Downloads page in Game Mode, the OSK, Desktop Mode, and the “New” Big Picture Mode. Patch notes are as follows: General Fixed downloads page crashing when starting in offline mode Downloads page now properly responds to online/offline status Virtual Keyboard now has a maximum width, so that it doesn’t stretch to an unusable size on large screens in Docked mode Desktop Mode

New release of ChimeraOS is out. It’s rather small, but does add a few new features, including the ability to add Wii ROMs via the Chimera app, as well as being able to “select additional artwork on emulated games” for the Steam Deck UI. Some fixes have also been added: Fixed missing Text Editor shortcut in desktop mode Fixed artwork selection for emulated games Fixed additional artwork for Steam games not downloading or applying under certain conditions Fixed external monitor not working on Gamepad/Deck UI Finally, non-Steam shortcuts marked as “hidden” will no longer appear in the Deck UI.

DXVK (DirectX to Vulkan, a translation layer for D3D9/10/11 games, a part of the Proton toolkit) has had quite the upgrade. D3D9 games now have the following: memory management improvements for 32-bit games – “up to several hundred megabytes”! render target feedback loops – you shouldn’t be getting “rendering artifacts” on newer AMD hardware with games like Grand Theft Auto IV alpha test improvements – “fixes inaccuracies in various games,” and games that needed the d3d9.

I must have missed this yesterday. We have a new Deck client update (beta) that mostly focuses on bug fixes for mailto links, third-party Switch controller glyphs, offline mode, and a few others. Patch notes are as follows: Added error dialog for when the user clicks on a mailto link Set scale for startup movies so that the top and bottom of the movie are cropped for 16:9 aspect ratio in docked mode Fixed issue in desktop mode that sometimes made it difficult to drag the Friends List Fixed glyphs for third party Nintendo Switch controllers while streaming Fixed inaccurate location of context menus for the Friends List in desktop mode Fixed a bug that could prevent exiting offline mode in the same session where the client entered offline mode Patch notes can also be read on Steam.

Worried about the “Unsupported” mark on the Steam store page for Sonic Frontiers? Bah, that’s garbage. It runs out of the box with Proton 7.0-4 and GE-Proton. Though it’s a somewhat barebones PC port, we have a few options at our disposal for the best optimized settings. I’ve got some gameplay footage running anywhere between 40-60 FPS, but there are spoilers there, so watch out for that. After putting several hours into the game today on Deck, I’ve come across a few tweaks that I think you might like.

Ever notice the Wi-Fi icon has a yellow exclaimation point on it after resuming from suspend? That should no longer be an issue in today’s Deck client update (beta). There’s also a installation picker option if there’s multiple library folders, and a few fixes for Desktop Mode. Patch notes are as follows: General: When installing a game always show the install location picker if there is more than one library folder, and automatically focus the default library folder when the dialog shows up Fixed issue where Steam would be unable to connect in some cases after suspend/resume Fixed issues where the main window would close and then be reloaded: When selecting a friend in the previously or recently played When selecting a guide in a game’s Community Feed When selecting the “Downloading” label on a game’s detail page Desktop Mode:

It’s been a while since we had a 3D Sonic game. The last one we had was Sonic Forces back in 2017, which had been met with lukewarm reception. Sonic’s reputation in the 3D realm has been scarred. He’s turned into a werehog. His arch rival was given a gun. His modern self has met his 90s counterpart. And don’t even get me started with Sonic ‘06. I think Sega tried a little too hard to cater to fan service – that or they just shipped their products to the shelves way too quickly – and for the most part, they failed hard.

GE-Proton7-39 adds a freeze fix for Overwatch 2. Though GE-Proton is not meant to be used for games outside of Steam, this fix should help other games. Elder Scrolls Online now has the gamedrive option enabled by default (never heard of gamedrive, to be honest). Protonfixes have been removed for the following titles/launchers: Sonic Adventure 2 Far Cry 5 EAC – yup, apparently the game has EAC Origin The individual tools that make up GE-Proton have been updated to “latest bleeding edge” or “git”:

Steam Deck Thursday’s client beta fixes games with multiple launch options and the controller re-order dialog Wednesday’s client beta further decreases load times for users with large libraries along with several fixes I reviewed the dock and case by Funalot. The case is certainly good I went over my top 10 favorite boot videos. Shame on me for not including the Metal Gear Solid one in the list! if you ever wanted to use the Deck as the host for game streaming, check out my guide Hardware AMD announces the RX 7900 XTX and XT, priced at $999/$899 respectively Steam for Chromebooks has now entered beta Software Updates Proton Experimental 11.

That EA App sure has become a royal pain, huh? Well, Valve/CodeWeavers are quick to address this dilemma. Flickering on this app should no longer be an issue on the Deck. In addition, Quake III: Arena and Quake III: Team Arena have the “weird texture” removed over the menu. That’s all for today’s update. See the patch notes on GitHub.