Stream Windows store/Xbox games without stuttering?

[ObviousMan771]

My graphics card came with an Xbox game pass membership, and with Halo Infinite coming out I'd like to play the campaign on my big TV instead of in my office where my desktop is located. I've tested out the both the Steam and Windows store versions of the multiplayer, and the Steam version streams flawlessly, but the Windows store version stutters like crazy over the SteamLink and isn't playable even though both run great locally. I've tried adding the Windows store version to Steam through glosc, as well as just launching it from the desktop through the steam link but I haven't had any success. I also tried the same thing with Forza Horizon 5 and I have the same issue, so it's not game specific. Has anyone had any success streaming something from the Windows store?

Thanks!

System:
Ryzen 7 1700 @3.7GHz
Radeon 6800XT
16GB DDR4 @2933MHz
Desktop and SteamLink both hard wired to the router

[_I_]

make sure windows network is set to private not public
steam -> settings -> remote play -> allow direct ip = enabled or your/all devices (not disabled)

and that the host and client get a similar lan ip
192.168.same.different
and you can ping the link from the host

if the link/client are using wifi, check the routers settings, disable wifi isolation

any of those set wrong will force remote play to use steams internet relays instead of a direct connection, using your lan, instead of internet data upload+download

[ObviousMan771]

Thanks, yes all of those things are set correctly. Like I said, streaming Steam games works flawlessly, my question is if there is anything I can do to get games from the Windows Store/Xbox app streaming properly?

[_I_]

steam grabs the desktop at 30fps
ok, make a desktop shortcut from windows/xbox games, then add that shortcut to steam as a non steam game
then when you launch the non steam game, steam will grab it at 60fps

[ObviousMan771]

Thanks. I'm not sure you read my initial post? I've tried adding the windows store games to Steam in a variety of ways, most notably with a tool called glosc that is supposed to work for this, but it didn't. That's why I'm asking if there are any other options. You can't add a windows store shortcut to Steam because those games don't have a normal .exe file you can reference.

Either way, even on the desktop it doesn't capture at a constant 30fp, it stutters like crazy...

[_I_]

can you check your routers data usage to make sure its not using internet data while streaming?

and make sure you can ping the link ip

that sounds like its being forced to use steams internet relays instead of direct connection between the host and client

[Ghostdoge]

The first comment from this Reddit thread helped me add windows games to to gloSC, hope it helps somehow. https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamController/comments/bz78ig/quick_workaround_for_game_pass_games_windows/

[ObviousMan771]

Yes, I can guarantee you that is not the issue. When streaming from my SteamLink if I open the performance overlay it shows:

Ping Time: <1ms (direct)

With the (direct) showing that it's a direct ip connection between my host pc and the link.

I have wired gigabit throughout my home and the streaming experience is as close to perfect as I can imagine for every game I own through stream. I only see the issue when attempting to add and stream Windows store games through the SteamLink.

Edit:
Thanks Ghostdoge, I have tried several glosc guides but I never found that one. I will try it!

[_I_]

enable the osd stats on the link

link menu -> settings -> streaming -> advanced

may help diagnose problems


also check host options
steam -> settings -> remote play -> advanced host options
make sure hardware encoding on amd gpu is ticked
software encoding cores = auto

also post steams streaming log
..\Steam\logs\streaming_log.txt

find lines similar to this

	"ClientDeviceID"		"Steam Link"
	"ClientDeviceVersionID"		"build 822"
	"GameNameID"		"Desktop"
	"appid"		"413080"
	"TimeSubmitted"		"1638253944"
	"ResolutionX"		"1920"
	"ResolutionY"		"1080"
	"CaptureDescriptionID"		"Desktop BitBlt RGB + libyuv + libx264 main (4 threads)"
	"DecoderDescriptionID"		"Marvell hardware decoding"
	"BandwidthLimit"		"30000"
	"FramerateLimit"		"0"
	"Transport"		"1"
	"SlowGamePercent"		"0"
	"SlowCapturePercent"		"0"
	"SlowConvertPercent"		"0"
	"SlowEncodePercent"		"0"
	"SlowNetworkPercent"		"0"
	"SlowDecodePercent"		"0"
	"SlowDisplayPercent"		"0"
	"AvgClientBitrate"		"117.508697509765625"
	"StdDevClientBitrate"		"7.48337459564208984"
	"AvgServerBitrate"		"14474.3330078125"
	"StdDevServerBitrate"		"0"
	"AvgLinkBandwidth"		"100000.0078125"
	"AvgPingMS"		"0.00123719929251819849"
	"StdDevPingMS"		"0.0042224847711622715"
	"AvgCaptureMS"		"1.69841742515563965"
	"StdDevCaptureMS"		"0.338843613862991333"
	"AvgConvertMS"		"0.502587616443634033"
	"StdDevConvertMS"		"0.121930778026580811"
	"AvgEncodeMS"		"4.61191558837890625"
	"StdDevEncodeMS"		"1.3757026195526123"
	"AvgNetworkMS"		"2.01723432540893555"
	"StdDevNetworkMS"		"2.69426703453063965"
	"AvgDecodeMS"		"1.47869515419006348"
	"StdDevDecodeMS"		"0.403627365827560425"
	"AvgDisplayMS"		"0.188516482710838318"
	"StdDevDisplayMS"		"0.63621443510055542"
	"AvgFrameMS"		"20.6915073394775391"
	"StdDevFrameMS"		"5.01650333404541016"
	"AvgFPS"		"61.8206329345703125"
	"StdDevFPS"		"13.4990310668945312"

[ObviousMan771]

I have Halo Inifinite added to Steam through gloSC. It looks like the issue is that even when launching it through my SteamLink the encoder goes into desktop mode:
Desktop DWM NV12 + libx264 main (4 threads).

In contrast, when I launch a native steam game (I tried Nex Machina which works perfectly) the encoder switched over to:
Game polled D3D11 NV12 + libx264 main (4 threads)

I think the issue would be solved if I could figure out how to force to a game polled encoder, instead of the desktop one. I will post the log in a separate post.

I have tried both hardware and software encoding. Both perform equally, but I think software encoding has slightly better image quality so I usually stick with that.

[ObviousMan771]

[2021-12-04 22:47:32] "SessionStats"
{
"ClientDeviceID" "Steam Link"
"ClientDeviceVersionID" "build 822"
"GameNameID" "Desktop"
"appid" "413080"
"TimeSubmitted" "1638683252"
"ResolutionX" "1920"
"ResolutionY" "1080"
"CaptureDescriptionID" "Desktop DWM NV12 + libx264 main (4 threads)"
"DecoderDescriptionID" "Marvell hardware decoding"
"BandwidthLimit" "30000"
"FramerateLimit" "0"
"Transport" "1"
"SlowGamePercent" "0"
"SlowCapturePercent" "0"
"SlowConvertPercent" "0"
"SlowEncodePercent" "0"
"SlowNetworkPercent" "0"
"SlowDecodePercent" "0"
"SlowDisplayPercent" "0"
"AvgClientBitrate" "37.5149879455566406"
"StdDevClientBitrate" "5.71576452255249023"
"AvgServerBitrate" "18777.8046875"
"StdDevServerBitrate" "0"
"AvgLinkBandwidth" "100000.0078125"
"AvgPingMS" "0.089933447539806366"
"StdDevPingMS" "0.167354881763458252"
"AvgCaptureMS" "0.419045120477676392"
"StdDevCaptureMS" "0.143172293901443481"
"AvgConvertMS" "0.00401917612180113792"
"StdDevConvertMS" "0.00741647137328982353"
"AvgEncodeMS" "8.09463024139404297"
"StdDevEncodeMS" "3.41151618957519531"
"AvgNetworkMS" "1.99884021282196045"
"StdDevNetworkMS" "2.86311483383178711"
"AvgDecodeMS" "1.54843378067016602"
"StdDevDecodeMS" "0.511887013912200928"
"AvgDisplayMS" "0.21060335636138916"
"StdDevDisplayMS" "0.392187416553497314"
"AvgFrameMS" "25.9821376800537109"
"StdDevFrameMS" "6.47323417663574219"
"AvgFPS" "65.6158676147460938"
"StdDevFPS" "22.1953468322753906"
"BigPicture" "1"
"KeyboardMouseInput" "1"
"SteamControllerInput" "0"
"TouchControllerInput" "0"
"GameControllerInput" "1"
"XBox360ControllerInput" "0"
"XBoxOneControllerInput" "1"
"PS3ControllerInput" "0"
"PS4ControllerInput" "0"
"OtherControllerInput" "0"
"GameControllerVID" "1118"
"GameControllerPID" "746"
"WasSpectating" "0"
"RemotePlayTogether" "0"
}

Thanks!

[_I_]

while its streaming, can you play the game smoothly on the host?

it could be the host isnt capable of running demanding games while streaming

the first gen ryzens were good, but not great, around 4th gen i7 core performance (minus the extra cores)

[ObviousMan771]

Yes, it runs perfectly on the host while streaming. Like I said, the Steam version of Halo Infinite Streams perfectly, but the Windows store version stutters. It seems like the issue is that the desktop encoder is being used instead of a game version, any idea how to force a different encoder?

Seems like the desktop encoder has a lot of issues, a quick Google search reveals lots of people having issues with it.

[_I_]

not sure how i did it, but when i stream winamp+milkdrop in desktop mode (not from steam as a non steam game), steam captures it at 60fps, even out of focus or in background of other things
but most other desktop apps and non steam games are limited to 30fps

[Mary-Jane Rottencrotch]

Originally posted by _I_:

not sure how i did it, but when i stream winamp+milkdrop in desktop mode (not from steam as a non steam game), steam captures it at 60fps, even out of focus or in background of other things
but most other desktop apps and non steam games are limited to 30fps

The desktop isn't limited to 30fps. I don't know where you got this from. Also _|_, it might be worth reading the posts before answering because a lot of your replies are distractions. ObviousMan has stated multiple things that you go and ignore. Helping out is great but try and understand the problem first before throwing lots of junk info out.

[_I_]

ok, it looks like they did change desktop to 60fps, but it looks a little stuttery with the mouse overlay being 1-2 frames ahead of the host (20ms)

does the game use dx12?
steam had some trouble capturing dx12 titles