Steam Deck equipment have gotten more and more frequent, however a designer is cooking up a strategy to rework the transportable system right into a PC steering wheel. Dubbed the Sol Wheel, the add-on goals to make the very best racing video games even higher on Valve’s handheld, and it may prevent from shopping for the true deal.
Ethan Solodukhin – of Esol Designs – is the one behind the wheel, and whereas the very best Steam Deck dock and SD playing cards are a useful strategy to give some total pep to your transportable PC, the Sol Wheel looks like it may very well be excellent for racing recreation fanatics. At the moment heading into its second day of a 60-day marketing campaign, the attachable Steam Deck accent could be very a lot within the early levels of improvement, but it surely seems prefer it has potential.
A video on the Kickstarter web page exhibits 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 exhibits a prototype for the Sol Wheel in motion, as Solodukhin steers his automobile in F1 2022, however the accent may in all probability be used for different racing video games like Dust Rally, Forza Horizon 5, or Gran Turismo Sport.
Based on Esol Designs, the rationale behind the Sol Wheel is to supply a “cheaper various” to different steering wheel equipment, including that will probably be “primarily” for the Steam Deck. This suggests the package may very well be suitable with different units, however Ethan hasn’t mentioned 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 subsequent 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 lift $10,000 USD (£8,671 GBP). Bear in mind, there’s all the time a threat when pledging to Kickstarter or any crowdfunded venture as you’re supporting the venture in precept and never shopping for a completed product, so maintain that in thoughts in the event you do again the Sol Wheel. There are not any ensures that builders will attain their finish objective, and even launch a completed product (taking a look at you Star Citizen), but it surely does sound prefer it may very well be a helpful Steam Deck accent.