For all the Steam Deck players who want full control over the graphics options

[Xeawn ~Rafa~]

Go into the game's properties in SteamOS and put this in your launch options:

SteamDeck=0 %command%

This will force the game not to recognize your system as a Steam Deck and override the bespoke settings the dev chose for it. Not sure if this is a coincidence or not, but when I launched the game it defaulted to Polish. You can go to the third option on the main menu, then the second tab and change the first option to your desired language.

As to why we would want to override the developer's preferred settings:

By default the Steam Deck configuration only allows you to adjust Bloom, Depth of Field and Motion Blur. All other settings are disabled. While you do have configuration that's designed for 45fps, this also defaults the resolution scaling technology to FSR 3 on I believe performance mode which causes some bad halo and spaghetti effects on character's hair and degraded performance in combat.

By adding this launch command you have the ability to tweak the game to perform how you want and can make the choice on which upscaler you're after. TSR looks better but is less performant, FSR is more performant but doesn't look as good, and Intel XeSS is a nice middle ground.

You can also of course tweak all the other settings so you can decide for yourself whether you want to prioritize graphics, performance, battery life, or a combination of the three.

I'll be digging into the game itself more this evening and can answer any questions about its performance and the like you may have. Happy gaming!

EDIT:

I've also seen talk of the game running into memory issues on the Steam Deck causing crashes. Evidently CryoUtilities alleviates that issue. I've personally used CryoUtilities for ages on my LCD deck and just recently set it up on my OLED model. There's great videos on why you may want to use CryoUtilities, and while I've personally never experienced issues with it, if you're on the fence it's worth watching them to get more insight into what these tweaks actually do.

[Hadraziel]

Thanks man! I was on the fence on buying the game

[defunct32]

Thanks for the tips and insight. I will keep in view of this game once the dev has release patches for improvements etc.

[Xeawn ~Rafa~]

Happy to help! It's definitely not a smooth experience at the moment. I found the best balance of performance and fidelity for me is everything on low, Intel XeSS set to balanced, TDP set to 13 watts and FPS locked at 30 frames.

The game is definitely in need of of some performance patches. It's playable, but depending on whether you've got an OLED or an LCD Steam Deck, whether or not it's worth it to you may vary.

The OLED model gets 30% to 50% better battery life than the LCD. With these settings I'm able to maintain a fairly constant 30FPS with a projected 2.45 to 3 hours of battery life. That means that worst case scenario, LCD owners are looking at between 1 to 2 hours of battery life (factoring in the TDP will ramp up or down depending on how much is going on at the time, i.e. battles and cutscenes, the latter of which are rendered in engine, will cost more power).

I'm experiencing the same weird dips in performance every time someone attacks that other outlets have reported; the game will be running just fine and then the moment someone attacks whether it's a human or a summon the FPS will suddenly drop to between 10 to 20 frames for a second or two.

It should be noted this dip happens even with the Steam Deck bespoke settings, though those are closer to 17 FPS drops.

If you have an OLED and you don't mind the dips in combat and the lower fidelity gaming, so far it's a fine experience. If you've got an LED model, it's likely worth waiting to pick this game up. For me personally, I want a minimum of 3 hours of battery life when gaming. I rarely have that much time, but it's more a factor of "How many times can I pick this up and play it for a bit between other obligations without stressing about the battery life and recharge time?"

That said, it's far from the worst performing recent launch on the Steam Deck (I'm looking at you, Pacific Drive), and it's optimization challenges seem less intensive than other games I've seen recently. And, in all fairness if you're willing to deal with how blurry FSR 3 is and the tesselation and halo issues you can get better performance at lower wattage.

In any case, I'm not off-put enough not to play the game on my OLED, but I absolutely would not play it on my LED model; 1 to 2 hours of battery life with frequent dips is in my opinion a very poor experience, especially since the fidelity of the game doesn't warrant the experience.

That said, if Remnant 2 and Lords of the Fallen, both Unreal Engine 5 games, can go from blurry slideshows to respectable framerates and fidelity with enough love and care, I'm sure The Thaumaturge can do the same.

[defunct32]

Originally posted by Xeawn ~Rafa~:

Happy to help! It's definitely not a smooth experience at the moment. I found the best balance of performance and fidelity for me is everything on low, Intel XeSS set to balanced, TDP set to 13 watts and FPS locked at 30 frames.

The game is definitely in need of of some performance patches. It's playable, but depending on whether you've got an OLED or an LCD Steam Deck, whether or not it's worth it to you may vary.

The OLED model gets 30% to 50% better battery life than the LCD. With these settings I'm able to maintain a fairly constant 30FPS with a projected 2.45 to 3 hours of battery life. That means that worst case scenario, LCD owners are looking at between 1 to 2 hours of battery life (factoring in the TDP will ramp up or down depending on how much is going on at the time, i.e. battles and cutscenes, the latter of which are rendered in engine, will cost more power).

I'm experiencing the same weird dips in performance every time someone attacks that other outlets have reported; the game will be running just fine and then the moment someone attacks whether it's a human or a summon the FPS will suddenly drop to between 10 to 20 frames for a second or two.

It should be noted this dip happens even with the Steam Deck bespoke settings, though those are closer to 17 FPS drops.

If you have an OLED and you don't mind the dips in combat and the lower fidelity gaming, so far it's a fine experience. If you've got an LED model, it's likely worth waiting to pick this game up. For me personally, I want a minimum of 3 hours of battery life when gaming. I rarely have that much time, but it's more a factor of "How many times can I pick this up and play it for a bit between other obligations without stressing about the battery life and recharge time?"

That said, it's far from the worst performing recent launch on the Steam Deck (I'm looking at you, Pacific Drive), and it's optimization challenges seem less intensive than other games I've seen recently. And, in all fairness if you're willing to deal with how blurry FSR 3 is and the tesselation and halo issues you can get better performance at lower wattage.

In any case, I'm not off-put enough not to play the game on my OLED, but I absolutely would not play it on my LED model; 1 to 2 hours of battery life with frequent dips is in my opinion a very poor experience, especially since the fidelity of the game doesn't warrant the experience.

That said, if Remnant 2 and Lords of the Fallen, both Unreal Engine 5 games, can go from blurry slideshows to respectable framerates and fidelity with enough love and care, I'm sure The Thaumaturge can do the same.

Thank you! That was a very interesting read. As much as I do not mind a little bit of a performance drop I may have to forego the PC version (I don't have a PC or a decent enough laptop to run this).

I have the LCD Steam Deck, I will only upgrade if and when there is a Steam Deck 2.

My best bet would be the PS5 (if it ever comes) or patches and improvements in future.

[ALM_92k]

Hi

[Cihanello]

I've uploaded a Steam Deck gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8KDONsLhL8
I'm getting between 30-50 FPS.

[Xeawn ~Rafa~]

What settings are you using? I notice you don't have any overlay up during any part of your gameplay video (not a criticism, a statement of fact) but just sighting your visuals and the brief lag spikes in combat I'd hazard you're using the bespoke developer designed Steam Deck settings with FSR3? There's been a few updates since last night in addition to time for shader caches to be built out as more people play it, so it looks like the bespoke settings are performing better in many areas though not without tesselation issues and still experiencing combat spikes.

If you're using default you're not getting 30 to 50, you're getting 45 with occasional drops. Also, did you limit your TDP at all? Without metrics to go with the video it's difficult to gauge what the experience will be in terms of battery life.

I've also noticed that further into the game performance gets worse; you're still in the opening area, but there's an investigation coming up that is more performance intensive in its outdoor environments.

Reports I've seen from outlets like Steam Deck HQ confirm you can hit that constant 45 with combat drops and environmental drops, but generally at full TDP and reduced battery life, and with the visual hits FSR 3 grants. Which, again, if a player doesn't mind the visual hits and decreased battery life, the bespoke settings do offer a smooth enough experience.

[Cihanello]

FSR 3 with Performance mode. High textures and other options are generally medium. I've tried to get constant 40 FPS. But in outside areas it dips a bit. But in inside locations it's pretty good.

In this early state of the game; performance and graphics are fair. In the future it'll get better i believe.

[Xeawn ~Rafa~]

For sure. I noticed some rubber banding in the video as well (the protagonist suddenly shooting forth quickly then slowing down then hitting normal speeds again).

Overall for me personally the loss of battery life and the visual glitches like haloing and the like aren't worth using FSR3 and unlocked TDP, but that's a matter of taste that will vary from person to person. I'm fine with XeSS without the visual glitches locked at 30 frames for better battery life and more consistent visuals.

That's one of the wonderful things about PC gaming; it offers the freedom for every player to decide "these are the factors that matter the most to me" and adjust to reach that experience accordingly, and one of the things I love about the Deck.

I also still believe that with time the game will perform better and better. UE5 presents a lot of challenges for developers still, but The Thaumaturge performs better with it than a lot of other UE5 games I've seen.

Performance aside, I'm greatly enjoying the game itself in general. I've logged around 2 hours and can't wait to play more.

[Cihanello]

I agree with you. I'm still experimenting the graphics options. Trying to find the best solution. The game deserves attention and needs some time to reach it's full potential.

[Mr Orange]

After this launch command I have TV test card instead any in game video...

[NerazarPC]

The Steam Deck settings need to be default customizable - I really hope the devs revert that launch change.

That being said: The Frame Generation tools at hand really are not working that great. The moment you turn it on, all of the fur and hair elements immediately become spaghetti. Maybe the devs should extend the possible options so that stuff like shadow of lighting can be degraded instead.

[Cihanello]

Originally posted by NerazarPC:

The Steam Deck settings need to be default customizable - I really hope the devs revert that launch change.

They've done it with the latest update.