How are controls on Steamdeck?

[DeSelby]

I don't have a pc but do have a Steamdeck (no dock) and really want to try this game. How are the controls at the moment? Is it manageable or far too complex to make it worthwhile?

[DaBa]

The game is technically playable on a controller if you make a proper layout for it to cover all the necessary keys. Technically. In practice it would be a constant struggle and not a very enjoyable experience.

And I'm afraid even if they end up adding official support for controllers and adapt them as best as they can it's not going to be much better. Some games just aren't suited for controllers, this is one of them without any doubt.

Then there's also the question of performance, this is a sandbox factory builder with a big map and relatively resource hungry 3D visuals. Not a good fit for Steam Deck's hardware. I would expect the game to run okay on minimum settings and then get progressively worse and worse as you build more structures.

[Fenix]

With some tweaks, I found a community made one that was pretty good. Wasn’t perfect, but was playable.

[Green Cat]

It's complex since you need to keybinding everything.

Example, the + button. I key bidden 1 - 4 shortcut. Doubble press is for 5 - 8 shortcuts. And long hold is 9 - 0 shortcut and the other 2 or different functions.

While I don't use this on a steam deck, I use it on an xbox controller and can tell you it's very easy to use once you learn what you actually set up yourself. Especially since the steam deck (IIRC) also has the back buttons adding even further combinations you can use.

But, let me put it like this, if you can't bother setting up your steam deck layout for this game, you won't have much fun with this game early one.

Also, I did not see anything made by community that I can say it's even worth using exactly because they did not use any of the extra commands. Or did I not notice? Well, doesn't matter for me since I set up everything already. But for others: Ensure you take your time to check the list of keys in options since a lot of them will be needed later on so it's best to revers some of them. Like for copy paste

[DeSelby]

Thank you for the comments. I'll take another look at this before I pull the trigger

[Neil]

The Steam Deck has touchpad mouse and a touch screen, reducing the need for keybindings and taking the pressure of the controller. I think you'd probably find it was fine. Would love to hear feedback if you get it.