Hey guys,

Is it possible to play VO on Steam Deck without installing Windows?

Thanks!

According to this older post in the linux specific subforums, you can use the windows version of the game through proton with little issue. However, maybe the linux version of the game now works? I'm not sure, I don't have a steamdeck myself, so I can't test it.

edit: that post says that the gtk library needs to be updated, but that was updated to gtk3 this October. However, that says it was for the updater; not sure if that affects the game itself at all. /shrug/, someone more knowledgeable can post more info.

A number of people have used the Windows version through Proton, like Luxen says.

We do intend to eventually make the native Linux version compatible with SteamDeck, but we don't yet have a device.

So, I also can't really comment on what the experience is like right now. In theory, I think (?) it should work; but it may require a fair amount of manual tweaking of the game configuration, and more advanced knowledge of the game and engine's configuration options and parameters.

@Luxen, @incarnate

I really appreciate your responses. I'm new to Steam Deck and didn't know it could run Windows apps.

Thank you very much for providing helpful links and advice. I will give it a try and will report back.

Guess he never replied XD. Ill be the next one to promise to report back after the attempt.

Works fine, you can use steam KB for the input too.
Downloaded installer, launched it under wine, installed, added as non steam game, and set the compatibility to proton. Thats it.

something to note if u use the windows .exe to play vo it does use a slight amount of shader cache (dx11 to vulkan) translation. u can stop this by setting vendetta to run in vulkan mode and it dosnt seem to touch the shader cache and still runs nice n smooth.

this therefore saves on your precious steamdeck space

We released improved compatibility of the native Linux install on the Steam Deck recently, and I welcome additional testing (particularly from veteran players, it's not really in a good place for new people). It's still pretty "beta" quality, and there's a lot to improve, but it should be fundamentally functional. Instructions:

1. Go to Desktop mode.
2. Run Firefox.
3. Navigate to www.vendetta-online.com, log in, download the Linux64
installer.
4. Open the Downloads menu in Firefox.
5. Choose the Folder icon next to the file.
6. Long-press vendetta-linux-amd64-installer.sh
7. With the installer highlighted, click on the Menu icon (three
horizontal bars).
8. Choose 'Actions for "vendetta-linux-amd64-installer.sh"'
9. Choose 'Properties'
10. Click on the 'Permissions' tab along the top of the window.
11. Click the 'Is executable' checkbox.
12. Click 'OK'
13. Click on the vendetta installer icon.
14. Choose 'Execute'
15. The installer will begin and prompt with questions.
16. Open the keyboard with the 'X' gamepad button.
17. Press 'Enter' on the keyboard twice.
Vendetta is now installed. It must then be added as a Non-Steam game to
your Steam Library and run from within Steam.

Note that you absolutely need to run it through the VO game launcher / updater, or it won't get the newer Steam Deck compatibility patches.

OH YESSSS! Thank you so much!!! Merry Xmas!

@incarnate - got to know about the news after receiving the email newsletter.

@ShatteredEssence, sorry I didn't reply - I haven't touched my deck since I made the post. This month was pretty much work work work, go home sleep, go back to work work work, sleep, etc.

Feedback welcome, eh? I've been playing on Deck for about a week and here's my thoughts.

As per instructions I installed VO in desktop mode, added it to Steam, and then launch from gaming mode. Not sure what's deck specific vs. updated in the few years since I last played so I can't comment on any features that aren't specifically pointed out to me.

Performance is great on default settings, steady 60FPS and great battery life. Vulkan driver is very unstable. While getting the Vulkan driver working may be better for general Linux stuff the only two obvious Deck improvements it could make are FPS and power efficiency but those are already effectively maxed. I encountered only one non-Vulkan crash, it was on launch and seemed to be a random one-off. Text is what most people seem to consider a bit small but I don't have a problem with it.

Default controls work but there are a few issues. The default controller setup works okay for flying (though I'm still tweaking for personal preference) and while menu navigation technically works, it's near impossible to tell what is currently highlighted. Setting up a trackpad as mouse is practically required for menu navigation, though that's also pretty par for the course for games on Deck that weren't designed around controller only input. The VO keyboard (guessing that's not on desktop) is functional but comparatively clunky. Valve's keyboard is Deck optimized and works a lot better because of it. That said, it is very nice that the VO keyboard always moves the text entry to where it's not blocked and embiggens it. I can always see what I'm typing, and that's a lot more than can be said for a lot of games. Seems to me like the best of both worlds would be to use Valve's builtin keyboard but keep the text box as well. There is also an issue where when VO is running it takes over non-mouse input from all other running programs. The Steam interface responds as normal, but when in another window such as a web browser or music player VO then seems to intercept all non-mouse input. Keybinds do not work and VO responds to the button press despite not being active. Makes starting up a podcast or something a bit annoying. There's also constantly text popping up saying I should press F1 for help. Mapping F1 and pressing it does not make it stop appearing. Kinda annoying until I manage to tune it out, but I keep noticing it again eventually.

Overall I find playing on Deck pretty good, requiring only minor tweaks and a bit of pre-setup unless VO is the one and only thing running.

You can turn the F1 message off.

Options > Advanced > Interface > HUD Settings > "Show help msg in HUD"

And yeah for the time being you're probably going to be better off running the game under proton unless you're keen on helping debug shit!

J37T3R, thanks for the feedback and testing.

- We are aware the Vulkan renderer is unstable on the Steam Deck. We haven't had a chance to dig into it yet, but, that is why it defaults to GL4 for the time being. I assume you went in and manually tried to use Vulkan.

- Unrelated to the Deck, there's a new UI in the works, which will hopefully improve the controller-specific navigation experience.

We'll factor in your other feedback when we get a chance to look at it next.

And yeah for the time being you're probably going to be better off running the game under proton unless you're keen on helping debug shit!

Well, his net message was that it worked pretty well. And, we really need people to test it, if anyone wants it to get better.

you guys continue to amaze me wi th your flexibility and dedication 🤩

INSTALLING now so +1 tester)