I went ahead and started a support thread on the off chance the connecting to the server issue is the only real problem, and possibly could be resolved without too much work.
But yeah, in the meantime, don’t buy it JUST for Boundless. However, I really like the system overall so far! For example, NMS looks great, and seems to run great too. And you can check the list of verified games - I suspect releases from now on will be likely to work on it. Sharing screenshots to Twitter a bit more convoluted since you can’t upload them directly from it but no big deal. For me, by FAR the biggest advantage it has right now is the portability - I now have 9 games downloaded on it, which the total size of would have taken a few days at home. Once I have the dock, I could see phasing out PS mostly, going primary with this, and Xbox for Game Pass.
@bucfanpaka … have you tried playing around with the SD’s network settings?
I often have issues with connectivity related stuff, but if/when I flush DNS and change my DNS server (to a more populist one like cloudflare - but never google) stuff starts working fine.
Purely just thinking aloud here … also … for troubleshooting purposes (along the NW line) try running via VPN, maybe?
Also, maybe a USB 3/3.1/3.2 Ethernet dongle? I’m not suggesting that’s any better than Wi-Fi (or that Wi-Fi is the cause) but maybe the SteamOS will allow you to set some slightly different network conditions for the wired connectivity than the wireless.
If you get bored enough I would be interested to troubleshoot this with you, later … as I’m intrigued.
Thanks! It is possible I might eventually play around with some of it some time, but I really am not good at this stuff and so for now would rather not mess with things and/or anything else up - it works great now for everything else. So for now, I’ll just wait and see if the devs say anything. Also, I’m sure others who play Boundless will eventually get one, I’m willing to wait and see what they do. At this point, I’m just happy I got the thing up and running and figured out the basics.
I’m very glad I got the Steam Deck still, this isn’t a huge deal since when I travel I can still check in on Boundless on the go with my laptop, and it isn’t a game I could have played in the car anyways with it. The huge advantage here for me is with new games, being able to, for the huge file ones, just stick it to the side at work and let it download quickly rather than killing our connection at home for days, lol. Also, it really is good for something I mentioned above - the screen looks great, and since my distance vision is going and I don’t like wearing glasses chilling with this looks a lot better.
Well, if it’s any consolation, DNS is not a fixed setting, and is easy to swap in and out on any system.
I suspect it’s a matter of a setting in the normal SteamOS UI, or switching to Desktop mode and clicking the WiFi thingy.
EDIT: Sorry, DarthPain literally pulled me away … as I was saying … it’s not too hard (that’s not said with a sneer!!). In windows I even use a special little program called DNS Jumper that I just switch from my private DNS server to the Cloudflare one when things get ‘non-connecty’ … then switch back afterward.
Thanks!! To be safe I’m going to hold off on trying anything unless the devs know of something for sure, but I’m guessing before long someone else here will come up in queue and get one and be willing to tinker! It is possible it could be a pretty easy fix perhaps, let’s hope so!
For any thinking of getting one, the feel of the system is really good. It is comparable to playing a Switch with Split Pad Pro joy cons, though I think I might like the button layout of the Steam Deck more, and of course everything looks better.
Always had a thing for handheld systems… started with the Game Boy!
Working now!! Seems to work fine in a quick run around my base, though I’m going to have to figure out some of the controls here a bit, may remap a couple things. We’re heading out here for a few hours but I’ll have time later.
Follow-up - Everything working very well! Looks better and faster than PS4 and home laptop.
Can’t figure out how to remap controls, doesn’t look like you can, but no big deal - playing with it more, it is really the same as a controller except for chat. For chat, you have to manually bring up the keyboard (Steam and X) then press t to get it. The keyboard also hides what you’re typing, but the good thing is, lot easier than typing on a controller since it is a touchscreen.
There is supposed to be some way to get access to the function buttons which don’t show on the keyboard on it, but I can’t figure it out yet. So have the UI on the screenshots for now.
I did buy my son one but I havent tried Boundless on it for very long. I asked him to see if he could get it to work when Paka was having issues and had the same issue, but seems he could log into it a few mins ago.
It did however look pretty good. Doesn’t have anything on my PC or laptop but both of them are pretty high-end machines. Running through my base was pretty smooth but nowhere near as smooth as my PC.
Lastly, the view distance is still lackluster as it is on the PS. Can’t say it’s worth getting just for Boundless but decent if you want to play on a handheld. I took my laptop with me today … just so much easier for me.
OK, so time for specifics, @bucfanpaka … we can see that it’s running at … 640p? (1024x640)
But what’re your in game graphics levels/settings at, and what’s the reported frame rate (average?) like?
This’ll help others, I’m sure … I mean, I’m sure everyone will tune it their own way … but there might be some creature comforts that you turn off, etc.
Guessing this will give you all the info, screenshots of the settings. This is what it defaulted to. Redlotus might be able to give better technical info.
Sidenote: Testing different games now just for basic playability. Getting used to the keyboard like here is the most common issue, Fallout New Vegas also won’t accept capital letters for some reason, weird. But other than that, Fallout New Vegas is great, so are a few others, Tetris Effect is really nice as the sound is quite good. No Man’s Sky is also really wonderful! Other games - Oblivion and Arcania - defaulted to such horrible controls I couldn’t use them, but they allow remapping so I can mess with them later. And some don’t work at all… Dragon Quest XI can’t get past intro without crashing, and Creativerse isn’t supported.
Steam Deck has a maximum resolution of 1280x800, ratio is 16:10 and runs at 60hz. You can dock it of course and get up to 8K but kind of defeats the purpose of portability.
I bought one for my son simply because of playing single player games that will not require WIFI. At home, it’s pretty pointless for us as my son just plays on my laptop or my PC when I am not on it.
GPU wise it is supposed to be the equivalent of a Radeon 6000 series granted the small display won’t push that high of a resolution. If I didn’t already have a PC for myself it might be an ok substitute.
Not sure, just left it on what it defaulted to, not too familiar with this stuff. But to me it looks great, not too different from what you posted there and a lot better than PS4!
Steam Deck has now spoiled me for NMS on PS4 and Xbox One now, I think. It is so much better! Very smooth, looks great, and creatures load in a lot faster when you land on a planet.
For example, NMS looks great, and seems to run great too. And you can check the list of verified games - I suspect releases from now on will be likely to work on it. Sharing screenshots to Twitter a bit more convoluted since you can’t upload them directly from it but no big deal. For me, by FAR the biggest advantage it has right now is the portability - I now have 9 games downloaded on it, which the total size of would have taken a few days at home. Once I have the dock, I could see phasing out PS mostly, going primary with this, and Xbox for Game Pass.
It is possible I might eventually play around with some of it some time, but I really am not good at this stuff and so for now would rather not mess with things and/or anything else up - it works great now for everything else. So for now, I’ll just wait and see if the devs say anything. Also, I’m sure others who play Boundless will eventually get one, I’m willing to wait and see what they do. At this point, I’m just happy I got the thing up and running and figured out the basics. 
To be safe I’m going to hold off on trying anything unless the devs know of something for sure, but I’m guessing before long someone else here will come up in queue and get one and be willing to tinker! It is possible it could be a pretty easy fix perhaps, let’s hope so!
Looks better and faster than PS4 and home laptop.
This is what it defaulted to. Redlotus might be able to give better technical info.
But to me it looks great, not too different from what you posted there and a lot better than PS4!