Steam Deck equipment have gotten more and more widespread, however a designer is cooking up a method to rework the transportable system right into a PC steering wheel. Dubbed the Sol Wheel, the add-on goals to make the perfect racing video games even higher on Valve’s handheld, and it might prevent from shopping for the true deal.
Ethan Solodukhin – of Esol Designs – is the one behind the wheel, and whereas the perfect Steam Deck dock and SD playing cards are a helpful method to give some total pep to your transportable PC, the Sol Wheel looks as if it could possibly be excellent for racing sport lovers. At the moment heading into its second day of a 60-day marketing campaign, the attachable Steam Deck accent may be very a lot within the early phases of improvement, however it appears prefer it has potential.
A video on the Kickstarter web page reveals a render of the wheel and the way it’s more likely to work, with it attaching to the Deck after which being clamped to a desk. A clip uploaded to Reddit final month reveals a prototype for the Sol Wheel in motion, as Solodukhin steers his car in F1 2022, however the accent might most likely be used for different racing video games like Dust Rally, Forza Horizon 5, or Gran Turismo Sport.
In keeping with Esol Designs, the rationale behind the Sol Wheel is to supply a “cheaper different” to different steering wheel equipment, including that it will likely be “primarily” for the Steam Deck. This means the equipment could possibly be suitable with different units, however Ethan hasn’t stated which of them but. It’ll even be one nice house saver, contemplating how cumbersome different PC wheels are.
The Kickstarter web page says that the following step is so as to add a spring operate to the wheel, as an alternative of a rubberband one. There are additionally plans so as to add extra color and create some dashboard performance.
On the time of writing, the marketing campaign solely has two backers, however its creator is hoping to boost $10,000 USD (£8,671 GBP). Keep in mind, there’s all the time a threat when pledging to Kickstarter or any crowdfunded challenge as you’re supporting the challenge in precept and never shopping for a completed product, so maintain that in thoughts should you do again the Sol Wheel. There aren’t any ensures that builders will attain their finish purpose, and even launch a completed product (taking a look at you Star Citizen), however it does sound prefer it could possibly be a helpful Steam Deck accent.