Zombie
Published
Steam version runs great on Deck via Proton (50-60FPS), you will need to manually add/download all the DLC content though
Trackpad with high acceleration for more precise aiming
EA app has replaced Origin - is recommended you keep a keyboard + mouse close to hand as easier to navigate. Sometimes it won't load properly esp. if not logged in first time and you will have to restart. You may have an easier time doing first setup in desktop mode
Works great, no complaints.
Initially tried running my original BF4 owned on Origin via Lutris from an A1 microSD and experienced microstutters and constant drops to 40FPS that made it very uncomfortable to play, so I uninstalled. I later picked up BF4 Premium Addition as part of a collection (with BF1 & V) during the '23 Winter Sales and tested the Steam version, run from SteamOS (installed to the same SanDisk A1 microSD) with Proton and it runs beautifully out of the box, no stutters close to 55-60FPS. For all of the DLC maps/content you will need to navigate to the Steam Store & manually add the Legacy Operations, Night Operations & Community Operations packs otherwise you won't be able to play on most of the MP servers but this is easily done.
Hook it up to a USB-C dock with a keyboard and mouse + you can recreate good memories of the classic '13 - 16 era of BF4
Default Proton leads to some kind of shader issue - flashlight & shadows not being visible etc. Switched to Proton Experimental to fix this.
Switch to Proton Experimental to fix issues with shadows / flashlight not displaying.
Haven't made attempts to tweak as of yet but at stock settings game not playable. Initially launched and got sound but no response. Switching to different iterations of Proton (and eventually GE) got me further with brief appearance of menu cinematic before black screen - could hear navigation of menu but get no further. Will try again when feeling more motivated but not something I can recommend to most people out of the box unless they're willing to deal with hangups
Dropped settings to medium, used FSR, set 40hz cap & dropped wattage down to approx. 12-13
Increase subtitle size to largest for best experience
Sometimes when waking the game from sleep mode the audio can experience some crackling
Difficult to describe but comes with dropping settings and using FSR - certain areas / views of game can look blurry and washed out. Is minor issue on small screen but would be more noticable if connected to larger screen via dock.
Very comfortable experience, no complaints at all. Comparably comfortable experience to playing on PS4 / PS4 Pro if not moreso due to additional frames.
With a few graphical tweaks & setting a 40hz and some TDP caps towards 12-13 you can probably get an extra half hour of battery life, but don't expect to get more than 90 - 120 mins of gameplay without having it plugged in. Easily the most battery hungry of games I've played so far.
Playable with caveats. Your mileage may vary - keyboard + mouse docked experience is preferable
Honestly requires heavy tweaking depending on what you prefer to play (Roleplay, Trouble in Terrorist Town, Zombie Survival etc) - you are better off using KB & Mouse
Occasion spawn menu weirdness when viewing materials but this may be a game rather than a Proton issue
Again, this is just as likely to be a game as much as a Proton issue. I found that when installed to my 1TB SanDisk A1 microSD it would crash when joining servers with lots of workshop content / addons - when I moved my installation to the SSD this went away. Crashes happened at random intervals occasionally, but this is something which happens to Windows users almost as frequently so your mileage may vary depending on what you play and how stable the script is.
Crashing when joining servers with large amount of addons / content if installed to microSD - move installation to SSD to fix this
Again, mileage may vary depending on servers and script used. This is more a GMod issue than a Proton issue
Don't use Native port. I found that when running the game from my microSD the game crashed when joining servers with high amount of content - moving installation to SSD fixed this. Performance varies wildly depending on map, server & gamemode - some are more optimised than others. Some places you will get 60FPS while others will drop to 15-20FPS with micro stuttering, this is not so much a problem with Proton or the Deck but just GMod itself and the Source engine being stretched to limits - recommend playing in SteamOS gaming mode for best experience as desktop mode will see your framerate drop in chunks (esp. if running other processes)
I personally prefer to play with my Deck hooked up to my USB-C dock for work with a full sized mouse + KB but it is playable with Deck controls, will be painful depending on what gamemode - be ready to customise layout depending on what you play (TTT, RP or ZS etc) and keep a bluetooth keyboard to hand just for convenience.
Unable to use gamepad & mouse trackpad controls together - very annoying when wanting to aim accurately.
No issue running on Deck at default settings, 50-60FPS easy. Slight annoyance in not being able to seamlessly use both gamepad + mouse trackpad controls at same time but is not showstopper.
45-50HZ framerate + TDP cap. Experiment at your leisure.
Cannot use both gamepad + mouse input at same time - can't use trackpad for mouse aiming
Runs smooth as a baby's skin.
It runs smooth as butter on Steam Deck (40-60FPS from testing on default settings so far) but you will be quickly kicked Easy Anti-Cheat. My recommendation is to run from Windows (possibly on an SSD patrtition) or ask Tripwire to make the SDK config changes to fix EAC for Proton users.
Unplayable due to EAC - Tripwire, please fix this! Otherwise game works fine easy 40-60FPS on Deck
High mouse trackpad acceleration, custom controls for keybinds. Good to keep a mini bluetooth keyboard on hand for certain commands.
Some text small
Easy Anti-Cheat prevents multiplayer gameplay on most servers
Easy Anti-Cheat currently prevents multiplayer gameplay. Can join games but kicked due to authentication failure within a 30-60 seconds.
Offline testing / training works OK.
Actual game runs fine - easy 40-60FPS at default settings on SD. Unfortunately, Tripwire have not made the SDK config changes provided by Epic Games which renders it effectively unplayable unless you want to play with yourself offline as you will get kicked shortly after joining a game due to authentication failure.
EAC finally fixed and playable on Linux! Decent experience with some tweaks. 45fps lock achievable with some dips
See my community "steam deck rice fields" layout. Right trackpad acts as mouse, clicking trackpad is melee. Left track radial menu with number / misc options (eg bayonet/bipod toggle, 1-6, voice channel selection)
Upper back buttons L4 & R4 are Q & E for leaning respectively. Lower back buttons L5 & R5 are Space (jumping) & CTRL / Crouch Toggle & Alt / Prone (long press) respectively
All in all once you get used to it it's a fairly playable experience.
Think some audio tracks / music not playing in background but this could be a game rather than a proton issue/
Some strange white-blue outlines and shading on certain items, barbed wire, trees etc - this isnt all the time but flickers at random
EAC no longer seems to kick you, I was able to play across 3-4 servers over a 6hr period no issues.
Finally playable on Steam Deck! The game is a decent experience, there are some minor graphical artifacts (random flickering, tree / barbed wire sometimes getting a weird outline / shading) but this doesn't prevent the game from being played. 40-50fps average achievable although some intense spaces see drops. Definitely look at community layouts though
