Ability to stream Steam games while another another user continues to use PC

[metallic_gel]

I have not found the ability to both stream Steam games and continue to use Windows 10 Pro (or Linux distributions) at the same time.

Here is the scenario, you have a powerful desktop PC that you'd like to use as your gaming rig. You can setup Steam streaming from a laptop or steam link to that powerful desktop PC, but currently you *must* tie up that entire desktop for only the game.

This means that when you remote connect, you will use the power of your desktop PC, say on your laptop but a user in front of the desktop can not continue to do any work on that desktop if they are directly connected to the console.

[Desktop]
Doing spreadsheet/web browsing (local user)
^
[Laptop/Steam Link] (connects to the desktop)
Wants to play video games (remote user)

The common suggestion for "tscon" in Windows does *not* solve this issue.

For example,
tscon 4 /DEST:console

This suggestions just switches the current remote rdp session over to a console session and will lock the screen for the other user who is trying to get work done. This is probably some type of Windows limitation that only allows 1 console session at a time. It looks like Windows 2012 Server may allow for more than one concurrent console sessions at the same time? I'm not trying to violate any licensing issue hear, but let's be realistic about the workloads that a family may do in today's world. It's reasonable that you may just want to allow family members/etc to play games off of your desktop while you are using it for other work. This is in the "server" realm, but to expect a common users to configure and host a true server environment to just allow the playing of games at the same time is a real pain.


Request:
I'm looking for a solution that would either allow "user1" to continue to use the desktop for other normal tasks, while another person is able to stream games from the desktop at the same time. The problem if you do it under one logged in user (user1) with multiple monitors is that even if you move the game over to a second or third monitor, you must have the game (application) selected. So you could use a steam controller/ds 4/etc to control the game, but the moment the other user tries to do some work in another application with will pull away from the game and freeze it until you select it back.

I kind of got "user1" (local console) and "user2" remote rdp to work, but the remote rdp performance is terrible. If you are logged into "user1" and try to use the built in steam stream feature then you must unlock your local console desktop connection just to allow the remote connection to work.

Life is simple right? I just want to main powerhouse desktop server to facilitate all of the workload.

It's hard to justify getting a steam link as a stand alone device if you still have to completely tie up the more powerful device that it is connecting to.

[Azaol]

Up !

[autodidakto]

Despite it being 2020 and entirely possible, software (windows) and hardware (gpus, keyboards, etc) just aren't designed for this kind of use. Windows terminal services is actually pretty close (people log in as separate users, are assigned resources) but you dont want this in a home setting.

What you want to do is sometimes done at home by running a virtual machine hypervisor like esxi or unraid on a computer with multiple gpu outputs running multiple windows instances, one of which is dedicated to game streaming. If you enjoy this kind of stuff, it will be a fun and frustrating project. Realistically, get a separate computer.

Consider steam link as more convenient than moving your gaming computer to another room (though still needs a wire and dedicated controllers) and nothing more.

[Azaol]

So sad for 2020 UX... Let's keep hoping computers might get designed for humans some day
Thanks for your reply!

[Fer]

There is a free 30 days trial software called ibk Aster that let multiple windows users simultaneously.

[Bevo__]

I'm having this same issue in 2022. There's a setting now to designate which monitor to stream from, but as soon as you click anywhere else it focuses on that screen. I raised a support request to steam, they said they couldn't help and to only respond if I had a new issue. Lol.

[Angular Velocity]

This would be a killer feature.

My PC is the central hub of my home, and using its power to stream to the steam deck means the PC can't be used for lighter tasks.

I'd settle with steam remote play being able to stream audio of the game separate from the rest of the PC. That way a second monitor can still be used for something passive like video, without needing to go into windows an setup audio devices per app everytime.