Sons of the Forest: Best settings, how to run it on Steam Deck

 

Sons of the Forest is out now and has already sold millions of copies on Steam, so it's only natural that some are wondering how it runs on Steam Deck. Let's talk about the ideal game to try lying on a sofa, rather than sitting at a desk. But there are problems, which become apparent as soon as you start playing.

For everything you need to know about running Sons of the Forest on Steam Deck, and how to get it running properly, check out the instructions below. Just keep in mind that it won't be easy to get it going decently, at least until the game gets some patches.

DOES SONS OF THE FOREST WORK ON STEAM DECK? 

Yes, Sons of the Forest works and runs on Steam Deck, with a few caveats. Performance is currently not smooth with any configuration you try and there are also crash issues. But we will go into more detail in the following lines.

CryoUtilities for Steam Decks

CryoUtilities is a very useful toolset for Steam Deck that also fixes a RAM-related crash issue in Sons of the Forest. Follow these instructions to install it:

• go to the Install section of the CryoUtilities GitHub page
• in the Steam Deck web browser, click on “Download this link” and save the link as a file
• open the file using the Steam Deck file browser and CryoUtilities will start installing

That's all you need to do to get it going for now.

The best settings on Steam Deck

Now is the time to start the game. First, the settings to use on Steam Deck. Since the title struggles to work on it before we even shoot it properly, expect some sacrifices to be made.

• Frame rate limit: 30
• Refresh rate: 60
• Allow Tearing: Yes
• Half Rate Shading: Yes
• TDP Limit: Disabled
• Manual GPU Clock: Disabled
• Scaling filter: FSR
• FSR: 5

Yes, we're aiming for 30fps and it's unlikely we'll hit it, although thanks to another bug, the Steam overlay seems to confirm it. In the in-game settings, choose the Ultra Low preset, with the following tweaks:

• Texture Resolution: Maximum
• Dynamic resolution: TAAU
• Dynamic Resolution Target: 30
• Screen Space Reflection: Disabled

Since memory storage on the GPU isn't an issue in Sons of the Forest, you can use full-resolution textures here as well. With all these settings changes, the game is pretty blurry, but it's about as stable as you can afford on Steam Deck with EarlyAccess.32361 release.

Related Pages:

• Sons of the Forest: Find and charge stun guns - Game Guide
• Sons of the Forest Find pistol and pistol attachment - Game Guide
• Co-op in Sons of the Forest - how to play with friends, how to create a server, what features are available in multiplayer mode
• Sons of the Forest, where to find the Rope and the Rope Rifle
• How to befriend the Three-Legged Girl (Virginia) in Sons of the Forest and make her a companion
• Sons of the Forest - technical problem solving
• Walkthrough Sons of the Forest - in what order to inspect the dungeons, how to find all beacons, key cards and golden armor
• Weapon guide in Sons of the Forest - where to find and how to make a spear, bow, pistol, axe, shocker, shotgun, chainsaw and katana
• Sons of the Forest: Build a tent, sleep and save - Game Guide
• How to find a shovel and dig a grave in Sons of the Forest - where to find scuba gear and a rope launcher
• How to use Kelvin (satellite) in Sons of the Forest
• Sons of the Forest beginner's guide - how to use inventory, where to find food, water, first aid kits, printer and other tips
• How to build a shelter and save progress in Sons of the Forest
• Sons of the Forest: where to find the shovel