Hey everyone, just wanted to share something I thought may be interesting for a few of you. If you don’t know, SteamGridDB is a wonderful site that hosts custom game assets. You can search for basically any game and you’ll most likely find some cool posters and banners (some even animated) that you can import into Steam to make your library look a little more snazzy.
This works for non steam games as well. There are a couple ways to import. One being just downloading the image file you want from SteamGridDB and moving it into your grid folder or directly adding it through steam. (The grid folder holds all your custom artwork). The second way is by pressing one button and letting a program (SGDBoop) do it for you. It’s pretty simple, so I’ll lay down a rough guide on how to do it directly from your Deck.
- Go into Desktop Mode. (Hold down the Power button and select Desktop Mode)
- Open up the Software Center located on the taskbar and search for SGDBoop and install it. I have a bluetooth keyboard that I use to type, but if you don’t, hold down the Steam Button + X to bring up the on screen keyboard.
- After you install it, press Launch. It might not show anything for you after you press Launch, but that’s fine. It should be all set.
- Open firefox on your Deck and go to steamgriddb.com. At the top of the page, click the SGDBoop Icon.
- Scroll down to Step 2 and Enable the Boop.
- Now when you go onto the site and search for a game, you’ll notice when you scroll over a poster or banner that there will be a small blue button and another small blue button with a plus. (The blue button with a plus is for non steam games.) Find some poster or banner that you like, click the blue button and that is pretty much it. You can open steam in desktop mode to check if everything worked. You may have to exit steam first, then start it again to see the changes. Boot back into gaming mode and enjoy.
The rest here is just some extra notes you might find useful. Yes, this works with imported non steam games from emulators. For instance, I have Persona 3 FES that I imported as a non steam game through EmuDeck. I searched on SteamGridDB for the game, found some artwork that I liked, then clicked the blue botton with the plus. A window then popped up and told me to choose the corresponding game. Very easy.
A quick warning. Using too many animated covers may make your Home Screen in gaming mode lag a bit. However, it shouldn’t be too bad. Just don’t go crazy with it. Maybe only add animated ones for your favorite games. I have over 1000 games on steam and a lot of animated covers, which works well on my Desktop, but won’t on the Deck. But, if it becomes unbearable, simply just go back to steamgriddb, find a non animated poster or banner and click the blue button. That artwork will override the one you currently have equipped. Or, you can simply in desktop mode go to your grid folder and delete whatever artwork you’d like. It’ll all be there. To find this folder you’ll have to open the File Manager. Click the Home Button on the left pane. Enable Hidden Files and Folders by clicking the 3 horizontal lines at the top right and then clicking the correct option. Your grid folder will be located in .steam/steam/userdata/YourID(The folder with the numbers)/config/grid.
Last note. If you already have some custom artwork on a Steam client you have on another PC. You can just copy the contents in the grid folder from that PC to the grid folder on your Deck. Everything should work fine.
