Warframe on Steam Deck SUCKS... A LOT.

[Creepio]

So, I've been trying to get Warframe working on the Steam Deck for 2 days now. Day 1 spent changing password, enabling 2 factor auth, contacting support due to verification code not being sent, adding e-mail to whitelist, etc etc etc.

Day 2: I get into the game and I'm surprised to see the game uses custom steam controls, which I consider to be a CURSE more than a blessing. I spend well over an hour trying to get gyro aiming working only to realize that the implementation is shockingly horrible. If you move your right joystick while aiming with gyro, the joystick is overridden by the gyro. I tried everything and decided, "screw this, I'm going to go FULL keyboard and mouse" by using the Keyboard and Mouse template, so that the Steam Deck's controls simply send mouse and keyboard commands. I.e. Left Joystick is WASD, right joystick is mouse, triggers are Left/Right mouse click, A button is Space bar for Jump, etc etc etc.

That causes me to spend a ton of time trying to get the game to STOP treating the Steam Deck as a controller, only for me to get absolutely nowhere with that. No matter what I try, the game STILL treats the game as a controller. This means, even if you bind right and left mouse click to your triggers, the game just flat out ignores them because it's expecting the custom steam actions.

If I could just completely disable controller detection on the Steam Deck, I might be able to set up a proper keyboard/mouse layout for the game and then I could use JoyFlick, which is a hybrid Joystick Mouse / Flickstick setup for the right Joystick, combined with Gyro Mouse aiming. This would be the holy grail for the game.

But here I am, no closer to getting ANY of that to work. So, I resigned myself to using the official controller layout for the game without any modifications, and I realized, the right joystick was hyper sensitive. This means, that when you go to aim at anything, your camera will fling uncontrollably and you won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn.

So, as it stands right now, I am SERIOUSLY debating leaving the WORST review for a Steam Game I have ever left for a game, simply because I've never encountered this much trouble trying to get a game working on the Steam Deck comfortably in even the slightest amount.

Can somebody please tell me if it's possible to FORCE Warframe to detect the Steam Deck as a mouse and keyboard rather than a controller so that I can force the game to behave in a way that isn't a complete dumpster fire?

[Pakaku]

Originally posted by Creepio:

Can somebody please tell me if it's possible to FORCE Warframe to detect the Steam Deck as a mouse and keyboard rather than a controller so that I can force the game to behave in a way that isn't a complete dumpster fire?

This has been a problem since the Deck's inception, because the game sees the hardwired controller and thinks you want that to take priority over M&KB, even if you plug anything in. This doesn't happen with most other games as far as I've tested. The Warframe devs simply refuse to actually fix that issue for whatever reason.

The good news is it's still customizable as a controller, but that's still about as good as it gets

[Nooneyouknow]

I'm not sure you can get the steam deck controller itself to register as a M/KB at all. If you use an actual mouse and keyboard, that will detect correctly if launched through desktop.

[Creepio]

Originally posted by Pakaku:

Originally posted by Creepio:

Can somebody please tell me if it's possible to FORCE Warframe to detect the Steam Deck as a mouse and keyboard rather than a controller so that I can force the game to behave in a way that isn't a complete dumpster fire?

This has been a problem since the Deck's inception, because the game sees the hardwired controller and thinks you want that to take priority over M&KB, even if you plug anything in. This doesn't happen with most other games as far as I've tested. The Warframe devs simply refuse to actually fix that issue for whatever reason.

The good news is it's still customizable as a controller, but that's still about as good as it gets

Bummer. I just don't want to play this game without Gyro. That's a completely gimped experience.

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

I'm not sure you can get the steam deck controller itself to register as a M/KB at all. If you use an actual mouse and keyboard, that will detect correctly if launched through desktop.

I tried adding "-nocontroller" as a launch parameter and then disabling Steam Input, no luck.

I feel like, if I were to go to Desktop Mode and then launch the game via a mouse and keyboard, it might work as intended, but as soon as I grab hold of the Steam Deck again and start using it, it might revert back to a controller.

I haven't tested it, but assuming it doesn't revert back to a controller, it seems like it would be very annoying to have to have a keyboard/mouse on-hand just to get the game to recognize the Steam Deck as a mouse and keyboard.

I haven't played much of Warframe, but from what little I've gleaned so far, this game is implemented in a totally half arsed way. I get it, Steam Deck is kind of a new thing and it's pretty edge case scenario, but just simply googling "warframe disable controller" yields results from people wishing for this feature for years.

Warframe seems to be the ONLY game in my library that behaves horribly, followed closely by Shadows of the Tomb Raider. I was at least able to get SOTR to treat the Steam Deck as a Mouse/Keyboard but it required renaming the action set to something else in order to fool the game into thinking it's using a mouse and keyboard.

Steam could somewhat mitigate this issue by having a feature that forces the game to not see any controllers what-so-ever, but the reason they don't do that is because they want the Steam Deck to be seen as a Steam Controller in gaming mode by every game, which is weird but OK whatever. Seems dumb to me to enforce that.

[Razer]

Honest question. Why do you want a mobile gaming computer to behave like a stationary one?

[Katzh]

eww, mobile device..

[Creepio]

Originally posted by Razer:

Honest question. Why do you want a mobile gaming computer to behave like a stationary one?

What?

I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume that you have no idea what I am trying to accomplish because your question is so off the wall that I just can't fathom why you would even ask that.

So, for starters, I sort of got things working. I now have Gyro and JoyFlick working mostly correctly, and I was able to accomplish it without emulating a mouse and keyboard via steam input. If anyone wants to check it out, do a search for "Creepio's Warframe" and download the latest controller layout.

Secondly, the reason I wanted to emulate a mouse and keyboard is because the default controller layout for Warframe wasn't allowing me to use Gyro correctly. It kept bugging out any time I would turn my camera while using Gyro for the camera simultaneously. So, the obvious workaround is to just use a keyboard/mouse controller layout.

I can only assume that you were asking me why I would want to plug a real physical keyboard and mouse into a Steam Deck. And my answer to that is, I absolutely do NOT want to do that, nor am I intending to do that, nor does anything I've suggested here indicate that I am trying to do that.

Someone merely suggested that plugging a mouse and keyboard into the Steam Deck might cause the game to override its controller and use a keyboard/mouse as default, but my gut feeling says that's not going to be the case. I haven't tested this yet, and I'm honestly too lazy to test that. Too lazy and tired. It's 4:30am here and I need to go to bed.

Originally posted by Katzh:

eww, mobile device..

Anyone who types "eww" in regards to a Steam Deck should reevaluate their entire life... for OBVIOUS reasons. But, in case those reasons aren't so obvious, the Steam Deck single-handedly made PC gaming amazing in handheld form factor, and has everything including the kitchen sink in regards to customization to ensure that you can accomplish almost anything. It manages to make first person and third person games enjoyable because of the amount of gyro and flickstick options, allowing you to get extremely accurate/precise aiming that literally no other gaming handheld on planet earth has been able to accomplish. You can even get RTS games like Starcraft/Warcraft to be playable with the right controller layout. Point being, what Valve is doing is like parting the seas. It's like catching a SpaceX booster. It's f***ing unheard of, and anyone who doesn't understand that needs to be educated, ASAP. The entire gaming industry needs to be taking notes.

[Nooneyouknow]

Originally posted by Creepio:

Originally posted by Pakaku:

This has been a problem since the Deck's inception, because the game sees the hardwired controller and thinks you want that to take priority over M&KB, even if you plug anything in. This doesn't happen with most other games as far as I've tested. The Warframe devs simply refuse to actually fix that issue for whatever reason.

The good news is it's still customizable as a controller, but that's still about as good as it gets

Bummer. I just don't want to play this game without Gyro. That's a completely gimped experience.

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

I'm not sure you can get the steam deck controller itself to register as a M/KB at all. If you use an actual mouse and keyboard, that will detect correctly if launched through desktop.

I tried adding "-nocontroller" as a launch parameter and then disabling Steam Input, no luck.

I feel like, if I were to go to Desktop Mode and then launch the game via a mouse and keyboard, it might work as intended, but as soon as I grab hold of the Steam Deck again and start using it, it might revert back to a controller.

I haven't tested it, but assuming it doesn't revert back to a controller, it seems like it would be very annoying to have to have a keyboard/mouse on-hand just to get the game to recognize the Steam Deck as a mouse and keyboard.

I haven't played much of Warframe, but from what little I've gleaned so far, this game is implemented in a totally half arsed way. I get it, Steam Deck is kind of a new thing and it's pretty edge case scenario, but just simply googling "warframe disable controller" yields results from people wishing for this feature for years.

Warframe seems to be the ONLY game in my library that behaves horribly, followed closely by Shadows of the Tomb Raider. I was at least able to get SOTR to treat the Steam Deck as a Mouse/Keyboard but it required renaming the action set to something else in order to fool the game into thinking it's using a mouse and keyboard.

Steam could somewhat mitigate this issue by having a feature that forces the game to not see any controllers what-so-ever, but the reason they don't do that is because they want the Steam Deck to be seen as a Steam Controller in gaming mode by every game, which is weird but OK whatever. Seems dumb to me to enforce that.

So, the funny thing about Warframe's Steam Deck controller support is that...they were one of the only games on the market to support the old Steam Controller. That supported kinda stopped being updated when the controller stopped being sold, and it partially interfere's in the way Warframe detects the deck. I couldn't get used to it Warframe on controller at all myself. Aiming wasn't really a problem, but I couldn't get comfortable with the movement on deck.

I'm kinda lucky in that I only play WF on the deck when traveling, so I have a mouse and keyboard to use when it's docked for that.

Edit: Actually, the default layout for the dual sense is really useable. I'll have to see what the thing is like on my Deck when I get to my office tomorrow, since it's docked on my desk, it might be better than I last remembered it being.

[Carbadox]

Hi, sorry to hear about your bad experience playing on Deck. I've put about 100+ hours in WF with it (as well as currently using it in writing this post lol) so I'm happy to try and assist where I can. In regards to Gyro, I haven't had a problem setting it up unless some update retroactively has affected it. I've posted my own layout, should be called Carb's Modded Official Layout. It has bindings for back panels + gyro implemented so you should be able to adjust it from there. Let me know if you need any help with it.

[Creepio]

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

So, the funny thing about Warframe's Steam Deck controller support is that...they were one of the only games on the market to support the old Steam Controller. That supported kinda stopped being updated when the controller stopped being sold, and it partially interfere's in the way Warframe detects the deck. I couldn't get used to it Warframe on controller at all myself. Aiming wasn't really a problem, but I couldn't get comfortable with the movement on deck.

Interesting. It's weird that they supported the Steam Controller but their support for Steam Deck appears to be lame. They have actions called "Action 1, Action 2" etc etc. Not very informative. They also have "look" and "action mouse". And they don't have Gyro enabled out-of-box which is a shame. Moreover, for Gyro to be any useful, you have to lower your in-game sense 10 for controller, and 10 for mouse.

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

I'm kinda lucky in that I only play WF on the deck when traveling, so I have a mouse and keyboard to use when it's docked for that.

Edit: Actually, the default layout for the dual sense is really useable. I'll have to see what the thing is like on my Deck when I get to my office tomorrow, since it's docked on my desk, it might be better than I last remembered it being.

I'll have to check that out. I believe I have Gyro working. I had to implement it by using "action mouse" instead of just "look" which isn't obvious.

Originally posted by Carbadox:

Hi, sorry to hear about your bad experience playing on Deck. I've put about 100+ hours in WF with it (as well as currently using it in writing this post lol) so I'm happy to try and assist where I can. In regards to Gyro, I haven't had a problem setting it up unless some update retroactively has affected it. I've posted my own layout, should be called Carb's Modded Official Layout. It has bindings for back panels + gyro implemented so you should be able to adjust it from there. Let me know if you need any help with it.

I will check it out. In my response to the other person, I said that I had to change "look" to "action mouse" or something like that.

Can you check out my controller layout? It's still very much a work in progress. It's called "Creepio's Warframe". Whenever I get a chance, I will definitely check out yours to see what you changed.

Be sure to lower your in-game joystick sensitivity to 10 and your mouse sensitivity to 10 for optimal results.

I gotta say, I was expecting some snapback for my snarky attitude, but everyone so far has been really understanding and helpful. So, I will change my attitude. 😊 Plus, it also helps that I've managed to get Gyro and JoyFlick working, so that changes my outlook a lot. Thanks for your feedback, everyone.

[Carbadox]

Don't worry, I sympathise. I've tried to get gyro working for alot of games and when it doesn't work, its definetely disheartening.

[Nooneyouknow]

So DE's default layout for WF is actually pretty good now. It's not taking advantage of the back buttons, but unlike when I was trying this last year it's quite useable.

However, I cannot get the gyro to do anything but look at the floor and spin. It might be because I'm trying to enable it in game instead of before launch though.

[Creepio]

Originally posted by Nooneyouknow:

So DE's default layout for WF is actually pretty good now. It's not taking advantage of the back buttons, but unlike when I was trying this last year it's quite useable.

However, I cannot get the gyro to do anything but look at the floor and spin. It might be because I'm trying to enable it in game instead of before launch though.

Do a search for creepio's warframe and pick the most recent controller layout. It should work for you.