AndyCalling
Published
So this is an issue with this game and Steam in general, and will do the same thing on any PC under Windows or Linux. The game does not like Steam Input for multiplayer, and the first controller will control all players. Turn off Steam Input for this game (in the properties for the game, in the desktop version of the Steam client). Don't worry, you can still reconfigure the controls if you want. This issue only affects local multiplayer.
There is no online multiplayer really, but there are online leader boards and they work fine.
Once Steam Input is turned off, works fine.
Note that the old arcade version of the game is also provided, but that pegs the game speed to the refresh rate (the main game does not do this). This is true on Windows too, and on any PC. Switch it to 60Hz for the old game version.
Works well with GE-Proton7-29. Zero issues so far.
However, it won't even get to the initial menu with GE-Proton7-30 as the game locks up when it tries to play the initial company logo video. Keep this one on GE-Proton7-29 for a smooth ride.
Given the massive bug, you would have to be fine with regular restarts. You can do it but life's too short. You'll play other games instead.
Performance is great for some time, if you fiddle with the detail levels. 30 fps on Steam Deck is fine for this game. Problem kicks in after a while playing, especially if you are in a world with lots of 'biomes', or environments. It happens even quicker, it seems, if you're flying around fast. However you play though eventually everything will suddenly slow to a crawl. Textures start to pop in very severely. The game will then become unplayable until you exit and reload. When this state occurs, there doesn't seem to be excessive load on any CPU cores or excessive gpu usage. The ram and vram usage seems fine. This happens on an internal 512gig SSD with lots of free space so it isn't a storage issue. This game has always had these tendencies on Windows, but was eventually made to work by the devs before it was abandoned. On Steam OS the problem is far worse and remains to this day, it seems.
Every positive reporter here hasn't played it for very long on the Steam Deck before posting I have to assume, as it doesn't take too much play to trigger the enviable massive slowdown bug. If you can find a tweak to solve this, please publish here. Shame, because the game runs well, until it hits the wall and tanks. Note that I have put huge hours into this game on desktop PC via Windows (privacy settings mask that on here) and have it almost 100% complete but cannot do the same on the Steam Deck despite this looking promising when it is first run. The devs are long gone, so only community tweaking can save this game now. Any takers?
Set graphics to medium. Turned off 30 fps limit in Gameplay settings. Running at 40Hz/40 fps in Steam settings.
Though subtitles can be made much larger in the accessibility settings, this does not affect in-game tutorial pop-ups or menu content (both in game menus and the main menu) which remain tiny.
Works fine so far with GE-Proton7-30.
When launching with Steam's default Proton it crashes about 50% of launches before reaching the main menu. Seems to run the rest of the time. With GE-Proton7-30, no more crashes. Hopefully the game is now stable in general, it does seem to be playing well. One tip, find the default 30 fps limiter setting in the Gameplay settings (not in Display or Graphics settings, so easily missed) and turn it off. Use the Steam limiter instead. Set Graphics settings to medium for a battery saving good time at 40Hz/40 fps if you choose that in your Steam settings.
