Post by ThreeSon in Star Quest 1 in the 27th Century comments

Star Quest 1 in the 27th Century » Comments

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Thanks very much for this nice update, especially for supporting modern controllers.

Is there any chance you could offer a portable .zip or .7z archive of the game for download, without an installation process (unzip to folder and play)? I ask so that it would be easier to play on Steam Deck, where we could add custom artwork and use Steam Input to modify our control layout.

EDIT:

After getting through the install and tinkering around with the resulting compatdata folder, I suspect it will actually require a Linux-specific version of DOSBox to be employed in order for this game to be playable on Deck. Windows DOSBox games just don't work without a custom-made exe file.

I now remember running into this obstacle many times in the past when trying to run my GOG DOSBox games on Deck. The problem being that Windows .bat files can't be run through Proton, obviously since they contain Windows-specific command strings.

So, unfortunately it won't be as simple as just packing all the game files into a portable archive, but also unfortunately I don't know enough about Linux to make a Deck-suitable version of the game myself. If anyone reading this does have the brains and motivation to take a crack at it, I would be deeply grateful.

Virtual Adventures4 days ago

Thanks for your comment and detailed information. I don't have a Steam Deck to try it but I will try to prepare a portable zip of the game and let you know when it is ready, in case you want to try it.

ThreeSon3 days ago (1 edit)

Thanks very much for your reply. To be clear you probably don't need a Steam Deck to test whether it would work on the Deck — any PC with a common Linux distro (Mint, Ubuntu, Bazzite, etc) with Steam installed and working should be a suitable test platform. I think the key questions to answer are simply: "Can I add SQ1 to Steam as non-Steam shortcut?" and then "When I try to launch SQ1 through Steam, does the game start?"

I wish I could be more helpful but even though I've been a heavy Deck user for nearly 4 years now, I still have only an elementary understanding of Linux. Such is both the greatness and weakness of the Deck that it can be thoroughly enjoyed in many different ways without ever needing to actually learn how it works.

Virtual Adventures3 days ago

I have added a tentative portable version of the game if you want to try it. It should be available for download now. I have not yet tested it on Linux with Steam though.

itch.io

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