Greetings, Viceroys!
We’re happy to share that Against the Storm has received the Steam Deck Verified status from Steam.
This is the result of multiple readability and control improvements we introduced to the game over the last couple of months. We’re grateful to the Steam team for recognizing the changes and positively re-reviewing the game.
What we changed
Among the many changes we introduced to meet the Steam Deck Verified requirements, some of the more significant ones were:
- The Steam Deck version can now read gamepad input and display controller glyphs.
- Changed UI elements so the game is more readable in 16:10 resolutions, with maximum supported UI size enabled.
- The Steam Deck version of the game now automatically launches with the maximum supported UI size.
- Increased the font size in numerous UI panels to help with readability on the Steam Deck.
- Adjusted multiple elements on the HUD to reduce instances of overlapping UI when playing with maximum supported UI size and 16:10 resolution (perks, species panel, resources, embarkation panel, etc.).
- The virtual keyboard is now automatically invoked when selecting a text box on the Steam Deck.
- Added the “Input Auto Focus” setting to the in-game Options. It’s enabled by default and it allows you to start typing values immediately on the PC keyboard and opens a virtual keyboard on Steam Deck. If you don’t like the virtual keyboard appearing automatically when opening panels with text fields (e.g. in the Trading Post panel), you can disable this option.
What about full controller support?
Please bear in mind that having a Steam Deck Verified status doesn't necessarily mean that the game plays like a console game. We introduced a very early and rudimentary version of basic controller functionality (for Steam Deck only), and you can control everything with a gamepad, but some UX features specific to console games (e.g., radials or snapping) aren't present in the game.
Control Layouts
We created a dedicated gamepad layout for Steam Deck which is loaded by default, but it’s by no means perfect and might even be considered a bit less intuitive the the legacy one - 'Keyboard and Mouse (Legacy)'. If you don’t find the current layout easy to use, we recommend giving the legacy layout a try. It utilizes track pads and additional Steam Deck buttons.
Here’s how to change the Control Layout on Steam Deck:
- While in-game, press the Steam button.
- In the game panel, select ‘Controller settings’.
- Press the ‘Controller settings’ below the controller layout.
- Browse available layouts and confirm your choice.
- The recommended layout is 'Keyboard and Mouse (Legacy)' available in the Community Layouts section.
What’s next
As we teased in recent announcements, we will continue to improve the controls on Steam Deck, but we can’t confirm whether the game will ever have the console-like UX features mentioned above.
Nevertheless, we will expand on this functionality and try to make the Steam Deck experience even smoother. Keep your eyes open for updates!
May the storm be gentle on you,
Eremite Games