So earlier today i decided to test the streaming games on Steam Deck, because curiosity struck me while i was downloading RCT2 and putting OpenRCT2 mod on there and other supposedly non compatible games. I love old games, and they are still a ton of fun, even tho their graphics and gameplay is outdated by today standards. And easy to mod.
Unfortunately, the steam deck only has the option to stream my old non steam games, so that’s what i’ve went with. But when i did that, all hell broke loose.
- Cabelas Dangerous Hunts 1 didn’t even start.
- Tony Hawk American Wasteland Rethawed (Mod) didn’t either. I figured it had to do something with ReShade not behaving correctly, but it works fine with it while not streaming.
- Zoo Tycoon 2 (with widescreen support and a few mods) launches and touch screen only (Which honestly would be fine for this game), but the FPS is so bad even on it’s FMVs, and i couldn’t see the game because the screen was on the map still.
- Need for Speed Underground 2 (w Mods) has this unique problem where pretty much everything but the UI was black.
- And Ed Edd n Eddy MisEdventures doesn’t allow me to pass the main menu boss, and on top of shrinking my window on PC (Doesn’t matter much since i’m on an 800p screen on Steam deck), my character won’t stop moving to the right. It also seemed to mess my controls up (Which sucks, given there’s no way to remap buttons on that game)
You maybe going “Bari, these are all old games” and you are correct. But it shouldn’t matter because i’m not playing them locally tho. It should work nicely. And i’ve streamed like literally 2 feet minimum away from my PC (As in, testing), and my Internet works fine. I mean, Streaming is literally recording my screen and projecting it to me on another device while trying to mirror my inputs. How can that be messed up?
“Well maybe you’re just a streaming hater”. And Steam Deck did nothing to change my mind about that.
If you’re planning to play games that aren’t on steam or you don’t have on steam, just make sure it’s Linux compatible first and installed locally on your steam deck. Sure, it takes up space, but trust me, you rather deal with that being your only problem then what i had to went though. You think you do but ya don’t.
Esp since storage is getting cheaper all the time, and people… Somehow are able to install m2 Cards on the thing. I’m a PC Gamer and even i would call that black magic, but that’s Linux gamers. They are the real life magicians, while we Windows users are scrubs in comparison. 
Not saying you should, it’s way harder then it sounds, micro SD’s are your best bet for those who aren’t enthusiasts like them.