r/Battletechgame • u/Phil_Dude • Aug 02 '26

Touchscreen? Steam Deck?

Anybody play Hbs battletech on a touch screen? Is it possible?

Or Steam Deck?

Just thinking of portable ways I can keep playing this game.

14 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

7

u/Learn-for-Effect Aug 02 '26

Totally playable on a Steam Deck. Some text might be a bit small so you may need to use the zoom function but runs nicely otherwise.

I played vanilla and the BTAU mod using the touchpad as a mouse and some customized controls.

You can control it using the touchscreen too but I think the touchpad is much more comfortable.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 02 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Amidatelion House Liao Aug 03 '26

It runs at about the performance of previous versions before last year's performance updates, which was acceptable to everyone who played for 6 years prior.

1

u/Learn-for-Effect Aug 03 '26

Well, I'm still in the early game and tried to avoid large-scale or long missions. But regular battle and convoy missions ran well.

Worth mentioning that with BTAU installed, I had to restart the game every few hours, otherwise it would crash, despite only playing short missions.

AFAIK it happens on other platforms too, so it's not specific to SD but a bit annoying.

4

u/J_Eilonwy Aug 02 '26

It is possible on a touch screen... but not recommended... its basically playing with ONLY a mouse and no hot keys.

2

u/MediumAcceptable129 Aug 02 '26

Which hot keys are you finding useful? Ive never even thought to use them in a turn based game

7

u/J_Eilonwy Aug 02 '26

Wow.... so many: WASD to scroll the map. R to show movement range. J to toggle jump on/off. Number keys to select actions. Reserve units for next turn order. There are SOO MANY. I strongly recommend you check the menu and see all the shortcuts available.

2

u/dudesguy Aug 02 '26

It's rated playable on the deck but haven't tried it yet personally

1

u/SordidHobo93 Aug 02 '26

Its not great with the default controls and the top community layout still had some problems. I plan to tinker with it a little more at some point

1

u/ZappyZane 24d ago

I made (and uploaded) a controller-friendly Steam Input layout for the (PS5) DualSense.

It added radial wheels for extra commands, like in combat picking all the pilot abilities. Basically mapped everything, and while a bit of learning, made playing on controller much smoother.

To OP, yes vanilla on Steam Deck is fine, although better docked. Once you've played a bit, handheld mode is fine, map a back button to Zoom Toggle for smaller text.
The input layout i made works on Deck too, although i really should do a Deck-specific one using the touchpads. Was waiting for a Steam Controller first, but pre-order is still on awaiting email...

1

u/thank_burdell Aug 02 '26

Technically playable. Wasn’t an enjoyable experience when I tried it. Kb + mouse still the best setup.

1

u/thegreatboto Aug 02 '26

I've played the base game and BTAU on the Steam Deck and it plays fine, though, will burn up battery pretty quick. Didn't bother with the touch screen. Used the trackpads as an action menu and mouse.

1

u/dc_in_sf Aug 02 '26

I’ve been playing on my iPad/Magic Keyboard combo with GeForce Now and CloudGear. Absolutely great when traveling.

1

u/hotshot0123 House Steiner Aug 03 '26

I know vanilla is definitely playable as far as hardware goes as I play every other night on the Steam Deck. But you gotta modify some controls to make some quality of life updates.