SteamDeckHengst

“Tames your games. Wrangles your inputs. Rides splitscreens like a pro.”
SteamDeckHengst is the rowdy stablehand to your Valve stallion – launching up to four simultaneous game instances and splitting your screen like a Texas rodeo.
Based on partydeck-rs by wunnr – I just gave it spurs and attitude.

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🧪 TL;DR Features

• 🧩 Launch up to 4 simultaneous game instances
• 🖥️ Auto-tiles games in split-screen (KWin + Gamescope)
• 🎮 Full controller masking with per-instance isolation
• 📂 Profiles for saves, settings, stats – one per player
• 🕹️ Linux-native + Proton support
• 🔗 LAN multiplayer via Goldberg Steam Emu
• 🔀 Toggle 2-player layout: side-by-side or top-and-bottom
• 🧼 No extra drivers needed – works out of the box on SteamOS

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🚀 Quickstart

SteamOS (3.7.0+)

1. Launch in Desktop Mode:

   partydeck-rs

2. Gaming Mode?
   Add PartyDeckKWinLaunch.sh as a non-Steam game and disable Steam Input. That’s it.

Desktop Linux

1. Install KDE Plasma, Gamescope, Bubblewrap:

   # pacman
   sudo pacman -S gamescope bubblewrap
   
   # or apt
   sudo apt install gamescope bubblewrap

2. Then:

   partydeck-rs

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🛠️ Setup & Build

./setup.sh       # installs rust + system dependencies
./build.sh       # builds the project (release by default)

# Debug mode (optional):
export BUILD_MODE=debug
./build.sh

# Optional HID battery support (requires libudev):
cargo build --features hid-battery

Result: Everything ends up in /build.

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📦 Game Handlers

You'll need these for game launching and sandboxing:
👉 Download from Proton Drive

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🧠 How It Works

Layer	Description
KWin Session	Custom session for window orchestration
Gamescope	Renders & resizes each game instance
Bubblewrap	Masks inputs + binds profile-specific data
UMU Launcher	Wraps Proton to launch Windows games
Goldberg Steam Emu	Emulates Steam multiplayer locally
You	Brave user, probably fighting 3 friends for one screen

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🧨 Known Issues

• 🛑 No Flatpak/AppImage support (yet)
• 🧊 UI freezes during heavy loading – no spinner, no mercy
• 👀 No multi-monitor support (would need deep KWin magic)
• 🎮 Primitive controller UI navigation
• 🔥 LAN discovery sometimes fails → open port 47584

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🗺️ Roadmap

• Fully controller-navigable “Big Picture”-style UI -> in progress
• UI loading indicators / async progress feedback -> in progress
• Multi-monitor + multi-keyboard/mouse support
• Central handler repo & browser
• In-app update mechanism -> in progress

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🤝 Credits

• 🛠️ wunnr – partydeck-rs mastermind
• 🧠 MrGoldberg – Steam API wizardry
• 🍷 GloriousEggroll – Proton magic
• 🧩 Tau5 & Syntrait
• 🧃 SplitScreen.me – Handler inspiration

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📜 License

TBD – choose wisely (MIT or GPL recommended).

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⚠️ Disclaimer

This software was created for academic tinkering and curious hacking. Do not use it to break things. If you do, don't blame the stablehand.

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💌 Contribute

Pull requests welcome.
If you find a bug, feel free to submit an issue – or better yet, a fix.
Bonus points if your commit messages are funny.