Since we’ve got more games that aren’t in your Steam library, maybe Epic, or you have some ROMs that you’d like to run. Here are some things I am going to recommend you install first, so you don’t have to go back and forth each time, as they should be considered the basics.
For this, after you’re all logged into your Steam Deck, you’re going to want to get into Desktop Mode, to get there, hit STEAM, go down to Power and choose Switch to Desktop
Here’s where having a few things listed in Steam Deck: What should I do first? come in handy, along with a keyboard and mouse, or maybe just Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Touch With Easy Media Control and Built-in Touchpad, but if you don’t have the dock, you’ll need something like this JSAUX USB C to USB Adapter [2 Pack] to allow you to use the keyboard and mouse combo, or maybe a USB C hub like iDsonix 4 in 1 USB-C Laptop USB Type C Hub which allows for multiple USB 3.0 devices to be plugged in. Do keep in mind, neither option allow for power delivery, so you’ll be running off of battery power. I use the SABRENT 6-Port Docking Station for Steam Deck when I need to do anything on my Steam Deck, because it’s connected to my TV, and have the Logitech K400 to get me into what I need, which is really just the initial setup of things, because a keyboard and mouse make it easy to navigate and add packages (like VNC, see the guide here)
But if you’re comfortable with your Steam Decks controls, lets dive into it
In Desktop Mode, you’re going to want to go into the Discover Software Center, it’s the little blue bag on the bottom toolbar, if it’s not there, click the Application Launcher, you’ll find it under system. We’re going to install the following apps from there, in no particular order
- Protontricks
- ProtonPlus
- ProtonUp-QT
- Lutris
- A web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Brave)
- Optional Utilities
- Disk Usage Analyzer (good to find where all your drive space went)
- Flatseal
- Most of what is installed through discover are FlatPaks, and permissions can get a bit hairy, so instead of dealing with terminal commands, you have this nice utility
- PeaZip
- Free file archiver utility to open and extract ZIP, TAR, and RAR files
- Warpinator
- Simple way to send and receive across your network. More on this here
So you’ve installed the Lutris, Protontricks, ProtonPlus, and ProtonUp-QT, and well, hopefully a browser too, and you’re now wondering why. Well, Lutris makes it easy for us to access games from other platforms, and install them on our Steam Deck, and we’ll get into the other things soon.
As you can see, Lutris allows us to connect to our other services that we may have games on, and bring them onto our Steam Deck
Here I have a 2 games I have from Epic installed on my Steam Deck, the one thing to keep in mind, not all games are going to be compatible with your Steam Deck, so I recommend checking sources like https://steamdb.info or https://www.protondb.com/
For instance, protondb will tell you what you may need to know as far as what aspects of the game may, or may not, be playable with the hardware, also, any tweaks you may want to make to have a more enjoyable gaming experience. You can also search for your game in the Steam Store, and it will tell you if your games are playable, without having to install them and find out the hardway.
So, you’ve gone through Lutris, hit the burger menu, and went into Preferences, and chose your sources
Back on the Lutris screen, you’ll see your sources on the side, and for this example, we’re going to go through the Ubisoft Connect setup process, which is very similar to Epic, and EA. From the sources side bar, you’re going to hit the person button
From there, you’re going to get an error that the service requires a game launcher, you can hit OK, and we are going to goo through a few different setup screens. Again, the screens for Epic, and EA are very similar. GOG, Amazon, Itch.io, they just prompt you with a sign in screen.
So from here What are those Proton things?