Can I buy another copy of ED+Odyssey from Steam and play using an existing Frontier account/existing CMDR?

[Mugur]

I bought a Steam Deck for my son (I was one of the lucky ones that got his in March) and the easiest way to play ED with a Steam Deck is having the game on Steam (forget the official unsupported state of the game for Steam Deck, the game is working great, including Odyssey, if you launch it through the launcher using touch screen and change the screen to borderless immediately).

My son though has the game bought directly from Frontier Store and a veteran CMDR with billions in cash, ships, engineering, etc. The question is: can I buy a new copy of the game through Steam and login using his existing Frontier account, in order to access his current CMDR? The other option would be to use something like Lutris etc, and install the game using the Desktop mode of Steam Deck (much more complicated, especially since we're on holiday and I don't have a keyboard with me). I would prefer to pay for another copy of the game on Steam and skip the manual installation/configuration.

Please tell me it's possible to access his current CMDR this way...

 

[Factabulous]

yes, using the standard way to export a steam key - if the CMDR is old enough (pre 2019 or something - check the support site)

 

[Mugur]

yes, using the standard way to export a steam key - if the CMDR is old enough (pre 2019 or something - check the support site)

Yes, his PC CMDR is from about 2017. So I can simply export a Steam key from his Frontier account, use it in Steam and bingo! he will have ED Horizons + Odyssey in Steam with his old CMDR? I thought that the "partner keys" cover only ED + Horizons, not Odyssey?

How about using in the future his "normal" Frontier game currently installed on his PC? Will he be able to still use it like before, or he will be able to launch the game from Steam only from now on? Since ED Steam will only be used on his Steam Deck, I want to be sure that the current ED Frontier installation will still work afterwards.

 

[Factabulous]

Yes, his PC CMDR is from about 2017. So I can simply export a Steam key from his Frontier account, use it in Steam and bingo! he will have ED Horizons + Odyssey in Steam with his old CMDR? I thought that the "partner keys" cover only ED + Horizons, not Odyssey?

You need to buy Odyssey on the Steam acct once you have added the base key to steam. Well, you could buy Odyssey first, but that would be less sensible

How about using in the future his "normal" Frontier game currently installed on his PC? Will he be able to still use it like before, or he will be able to launch the game from Steam only from now on? Since ED Steam will only be used on his Steam Deck, I want to be sure that the current ED Frontier installation will still work afterwards.

Yes, you can still use the fdev launcher, and it will have Odyssey too.

 

[Para Handy]

Surely the Steam-launched launcher will also have the Odyssey option since that is already part of the Frontier Account? i.e. I wouldn't have thought that you would need to buy Odyssey again, it make no odds to Steam, it just links to your frontierstore validated account.

 

[Para Handy]

Yes, his PC CMDR is from about 2017. So I can simply export a Steam key from his Frontier account, use it in Steam and bingo! he will have ED Horizons + Odyssey in Steam with his old CMDR? I thought that the "partner keys" cover only ED + Horizons, not Odyssey?

How about using in the future his "normal" Frontier game currently installed on his PC? Will he be able to still use it like before, or he will be able to launch the game from Steam only from now on? Since ED Steam will only be used on his Steam Deck, I want to be sure that the current ED Frontier installation will still work afterwards.

You need to buy Odyssey on the Steam acct once you have added the base key to steam. Well, you could buy Odyssey first, but that would be less sensible


Yes, you can still use the fdev launcher, and it will have Odyssey too.

Surely the Steam-launched launcher will also have the Odyssey option since that is already part of the Frontier Account? i.e. I wouldn't have thought that you would need to buy Odyssey again, it make no odds to Steam, it just links to your frontierstore validated account.

OKAY - I just checked and I am right - no need to buy another Odyssey.

I Installed Elite Dangerous ( a pre 2019 account - an LEP one ) in Steam on a laptop - it didn't see Odyssey as DLC - but on starting the launcher - there was the option to install Odyssey - doing that now.

EDIT - can confirm Odyssey launched and worked OK after that (very long) download...

 

[MickyG1982]

Wait a minute, playing ED, including Odyssey, with a Steam deck? That works, even "just fine"? That's hard to believe, sorry. I'm almost sure I've misunderstood something here.

Remember that the steam deck, having a smaller screen, has no need to have everything turned up to 11 to make it look good, contrary to the beliefs of owners that have high end rigs with massive 4k screens / VR. Steam deck can get away with more modest settings meaning less demand on the cpu & gpu, hence decent performance.

 

[Mugur]

Wait a minute, playing ED, including Odyssey, with a Steam deck? That works, even "just fine"? That's hard to believe, sorry. I'm almost sure I've misunderstood something here.

Yes, there are several videos on youtube showing exactly this: ED working (apparently good enough) on the Steam Deck, including Odyssey. Worst case scenario is something like 30fps on foot in bases (some reported ~40fps in stations and much better in space - settings on High or Medium). There are some fiddling with the graphics settings, like borderless instead of full screen (unplayable with fullscreen because of flickering) or using CAS with zero sharpening for better readability, etc.). Someone reported that gyro is working also.

I will test this later today, if the kid remembers his FD account password or want to reset it (he's away on a walk now - we are on Easter holiday in some small mountain town). I would've used mine, but is HIS Steam Deck with his Steam account.

 

[Mugur]

AAAAAAAAAND it's working!!! Thank you all for advices. I didn't have to buy anything on Steam, I just used the key from FD for the base game (not the one for Horizons) on Steam: I downloaded through Steam the game and I end up with the launcher with base + Horizons installed and also the option to install Odyssey from launcher, which I did (it took over 2h, but you have to take into account the internet speed of the villa, which is good but not great (I used a LAN to USB A card with a USB A to C adapter and an Ethernet cable in order to speed up things).

I played only Odyssey for a bit. The game defaulted to a mix of high and ultra settings with 720p resolution. I change the resolution to the native one (1280x800) and played a bit with the settings. I ended with a mix of medium, high and ultra for now which gave like 45 fps in station and 55 fps in space (I limited to 60hz from game and I also had the Deck limiter to 60 (cannot disable it for now, you have to be on the beta channel to have the disable button...). No flicker at all, but I still changed from fullscreen to borderless, like I saw on a youtube channel. The native controller (I used the option with gyro from Steam) is like an Xbox controller somehow (we also have an Xbox ED account). The default gyro is setup as free view and it's very nice.

All in all it's definitely playable, but you must have good eyes (I hope that the Deck 2 will have at least 8", not 7" screen).