Steam Deck

Hello community!

We in the team thought we could give you a quick status update on how development is going.

GitHub link if you do not know what the project is: https://github.com/XargonWan/RetroDECK

Status update 2023-09:

We hope that everyone had a good summer and that you are ready for a tiny status update with a plethora of mixed topics.
But before we get into what we are working on we want to make a short statement.

Our commitment to Open-Source

As the RetroDECK team, we are deeply concerned by the rumors about how others have handled their dependencies and their relationship with those developers.

We would like to say this:

Emulation is a multigenerational effort of development that has lasted for decades, motivated by the pure love for video game preservation for current and future generations. RetroDECK depends on the constant development of all our dependencies (the emulators, front-end, various assets, etc...). It would be unfair to both the hard work that has been done in those projects and to the entire open-source community if we said otherwise or tried to take credit, conceal, or obscure it for our own gain.

We always strive to have the best possible relationship with the teams that generously provide and develop the third-party software we are depending on now and in the future. Everyone that works on RetroDECK is immensely grateful for the global collective effort and work that has been done. Without these projects and those passionate people RetroDECK would not be possible.

We also want to add a word for the developers of the third-party projects:
Please feel free to reach out to us, talk to us for any reason and share your ideas. We value your feedback and suggestions, and our door is always open for collaboration and improvements. You are the backbone of our project, and we appreciate your contributions.

You can find more about our dependencies on the wiki and how to donate to them or us:

https://github.com/XargonWan/RetroDECK/wiki/Donations-%26-Licenses

//The RetroDECK Team

Now on to the new stuff:

Two new developers and one tester have joined the team

We are incredibly happy that three new members have decided to join us. All of them have been active in their contributions and helping the community. They bring exciting innovative ideas and skillsets to the project.

Adding individual ROMS to Steam and launch them with RetroDECK

One of our new developers is looking into adding individual ROMS to Steam and hopes to have this done for the next big major release 0.8b - Bonsai Banana. This will allow you to list the ROMS you want as a separate game in the Steam interface and thus have different power profiles for each game.

It is something many of you have requested and given feedback about.

Dynamic viewports / scaling system

Another new developer is looking into making a dynamic scaling / viewport system for the various emulators and cores to match the borders and resolutions to the most common screen types.
This would allow better desktop screen support and better handling on undocked / docked Steam Deck resolutions.

The goal is simple but complex:

The borders and scale of the games should look nice and proper on your external screen when you plug in your movable device.

Better external controller hotkey support

As part of the Controller Unification Project and with the addition of the SELECT button as a hotkey trigger in 0.7.1b. We now have a better understanding of Steam Input’s controller template system and should be able to make a template for common external controllers with the button bound hotkeys combos that use SELECT as the trigger.

However, the entire radial menu system is a bit harder as many controllers do not have touch input or a logical and comfortable way to navigate it. We will investigate if it is feasible to port the radial system to controllers with touch and those without.

Status on the Multi-user system

We are still working hard on the Multi-user system, but it might not be ready for 0.8b as we had hoped. There are tons of complexity, and we want to make it right. Some parts of the development team have other IRL priorities that take preset over RetroDECK development (new baby incoming and fatherly duties).

That is all for this month

A minor patch 0.7.2b will be out soon with a emulator update refresh and some bug fixes.

See you next month.

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