Steam & Steam SDK Support?

paulp_games

My games https://store.steampowered.com/app/1073810/Shapik_The_Moon_Quest/ use the FRESteamworks ANE to unlock Steam achievements.

FRESteamworks ANE is very old but works fine.

FlashFix

Did you use a 64-bit FRESteamworks ANE ? I use 64-bit architecture in my game for desktop.
I found this on the web. https://github.com/waveofthought-code/FRESteamWorks

Cool game by the way !

paulp_games

FlashFix

Cool game by the way !

Thanks! I used the old 32-bit version(0.7).

FlashFix

Just a wanted to give a update. I have successfully uploaded my game build made with AIR to Steam.

Everything is working perfect even got it working on my custom built arcade with X-Arcade setup and Xbox controllers.
You can play touch screen or with keyboard/mouse. I need to fix some bugs before getting the build reviewed by Steam.
Also be adding more Power Ups and Bosses. 😉

The remote play function is amazing and works out of the box with my game for COOP multiplayer.

paulp_games

FlashFix Cool! Good luck!
I found steam ANE with 64bit support https://github.com/waveofthought-code/FRESteamWorks

kupo_games

paulp_games
I used this 64-bit version of FRESteamworks with my latest game on Steam, Epic Battle Fantasy Collection.
Works just like the 32-bit version - I haven't had any problem with it. I switched to the 64bit Flashplayer for this latest game because the 32bit one was running out of memory occasionally when playing in resolutions higher than 1080p, so I guess it's best to update and stay safe.

FlashFix

Very interesting indeed. Wondering if debugging on local machine can work or I have to send the build over to steam and make a custom debug UI. Its worth the try after getting performance and bugs fixed.

The game should be Steam Deck compatible 😉

kupo_games

FlashFix
Testing new builds on Steam is pretty easy - you can just put your latest build into the Steam installation folder and replace the local files of your game, and all the Steam features should work. There's no need to upload it to Steam, but if you want to, you can easily make beta branches that users can opt-into. Achievements, cloud, overlay, etc, can be tested before a game is public, but users won't be able to see the "see all achievements" page on Steam until the game is live.

And when you do push out an update to all of your users, it goes live pretty much instantly, but users may need to restart Steam before they see the update. IMO testing on Steam is a lot faster than on mobile!

FlashFix

Wow @kupo_games nice work with your games. I got a Final Fantasy nostalgy feeling looking at Epic Battle Fantasy Collection on Steam. I'm curious about the Steam Deck about how to make it compatible with my game.

I will have to test out releasing my game on the Steam Deck but I don't have one yet...
Do your games work with the Steam Deck out of the box ?

https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/testing

It looks like you need a Linux build of the game for Steam is it possible or just a Windows build .exe works ?
After looking at the documentation I am still a bit confused about that part.

I have a Razor Kishi for my Android phone and my game is working great with controller support. (Xbox input)

kupo_games

FlashFix My games all work on the Steam Deck to various degrees. I haven't made any changes to them to work on the Steam Deck - they are all Windows games only.

Bullet Heaven 2 is a Starling game with controller support and works perfect on Steam Deck.
Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is a Flash display list game, and the performance is not perfect, but pretty decent. I've heard that some of the resolution options cause some issues on the Steam Deck (I used quite an old version of AIR and an external app to change screen resolution). The text in the game is slightly too small for comfort. But I think the biggest issue is a lack of controller support, which means you have to play with the trackpads or the touchscreen - some people like them, but I personally don't.

So in summary:
Performance on the Steam Deck is decent, even with the Flash display list.
(If it's been optimized for mobile, it will probably run very well.)
Windows games run just fine, I haven't seen any issues with Flash running on it.
Controller support helps a lot.
Use a mobile-friendly UI with big text.
Don't do anything weird with resolution options.

FlashFix

FliplineStudios I did not include the Steam SDK and it is not a requirement for your build. However it is recommended to add some extra stuff like achievements for users.

I enable the remote play option and managed to play my game in COOP mode. It was awesome and worked out of the box with a friend on Steam.

In my game I have a Top Score so I will probably put the leaderboard feature from Steam SDK in 64-bit.

kupo_games Ok thank you for the tips. I have made my game in Starling with GPU optimizations. I'm curious on how to get better battery performance. The game last long but if some hack or some tricks exist to lower the battery consumption even more with Air that would be worth the shot.

FliplineStudios

Somewhat related question: Does anyone know if Steam SDK integration is required for releasing a game on Steam? If I didn't plan to use any SDK-specific features like achievements and leaderboards, it sounds like the Steam Overlay is automatically injected into anything that's uploaded. Does anyone have any experience of how well AIR apps handle that injection if you're not integrating the SDK using an ANE? Or are you better off to just include the ANE even if you don't use anything with the SDK?

kupo_games

FliplineStudios The Steam overlay requires no work - it just works. But something to keep in mind is that the overlay will freeze if there is no animation happening in the Flash display list - so you need to have some animation somewhere at all times to keep it updating. With Starling I haven't noticed this issue though. Other Steam features are not required (you don't even need any DRM), but achievements and cloud saving are quite popular. Cloud saving is just a case of specifying which files in the installation folder should be backed up by Steam - super easy if you choose to do it this lazy way.