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[analog_future]

(Sunshine/Moonlight is a PC game streaming solution)


I've been playing around with various methods of game streaming/remote play for many years at this point. From trying to use the PS Vita to remote play my PS3 games, to Xbox Game Streaming, to Steam Link, to xCloud, to Playstation Plus streaming... all solutions managed to be a let-down in one way or another. Whether it be latency, lack of stability, poor image quality, limited game library, lack of proper controls, etc.. etc.. there was also something holding these solutions back from being something I can use daily.


Sunshine/Moonlight has changed that.


Image quality is truly near-native, latency is as low as I've ever experienced with a streaming experience, and the customization options are endless. You can control bitrate, encoder, HDR, resolution, framerate, input method, etc.. etc.. And because you're streaming from your PC, you have full access to virtually anything. Playing Switch games at 4k/60 streaming from my PC over to my iPad Mini 6/Kishi Ultra combo is a bit of an incredibly pleasant mindfuck.


And when I say the image is near-native, I mean it.


Here's Red Dead Redemption at 4k/60 native on my PC:

Here's Red Dead Redemption at 4k/60, downsampled to my iPad Mini 6's resolution, screenshotted from the Moonlight app on the iPad:

Also want to note that I do have a very "high end" streaming setup, as not everyone is going to have an iPad Mini 6 and a Razer Kishi Ultra to play with:

But even with a large phone and a controller clip, or a G Cloud, or a Backbone controller, or whatever, Sunshine/Moonlight is the way to go. Makes owning a Steam Deck redundant to me, as this is a far preferable way to play IMO.

 

[Dacvak]

I’ve been meaning to set up sunshine/moonlight again, especially since these XR glasses I have started natively supporting it. It’s always been a great way to stream from PC. Maybe I’ll finally set it up again today.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

I do the same for PS game streaming : 12.4 inch tablet + Dualsense controller via ps remote play app or PsPlay one which lets you configure streaming quality/ bitrate amongst other things.

Moonlight sounds cool but I don't Game on PC, I have an RTX 3050Ti laptop but I haven't bought a single game on it ( dont even know how it will be able to run games) so I also started grabbing all my indies on the ps5

 

[tusharngf]

any lag?

 

[analog_future]

any lag?

Any streaming solution will have some kind of added latency, but this is the most minimal I've experienced.

 

[analog_future]

I do the same for PS game streaming : 12.4 inch tablet + Dualsense controller via ps remote play app or PsPlay one which lets you configure streaming quality/ bitrate amongst other things.

Moonlight sounds cool but I don't Game on PC, I have an RTX 3050Ti laptop but I haven't bought a single game on it ( dont even know how it will be able to run games) so I also started grabbing all my indies on the ps5

With your tablet/DualSense combo, do you just keep the tablet on a desk/table or something while you play?

 

[JimboJones]

Been using it with my steamdeck, better than steams implementation, have my PC set up to wake on lan. It's pretty handy though I prefer playing on local hardware most of the time it's still useful to have.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Yeah it's neat. Used it to play some games on a hacked Switch before I got my hands on a Deck.

Pretty nice IQ and couldn't notice any kind of input lag, the experience was great overall.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

With your tablet/DualSense combo, do you just keep the tablet on a desk/table or something while you play?

I sit on my couch with my legs extended on my ottoman with the tablet resting on my legs.
It's the only comfortable position without having the dualsense blocking my view

It's kind of a ball ache though since you can't sit comfortably in any other position without getting a neck strain or seeing jack and shit on the screen due to your hands/joypad combo.

This is why the PS portal is actually a good idea since you can hold it whichever way you like , shame about the god damn 59.94Hz stutter then which brings the whole experience down...Fucking Sony man,this handheld had one thing to do only and yet, it falls short due to the typical Sony short sightedness...
Cheers

 

[Dorfdad]

I’ve been meaning to set up sunshine/moonlight again, especially since these XR glasses I have started natively supporting it. It’s always been a great way to stream from PC. Maybe I’ll finally set it up again today.

What glasses and how is the motion stabilization??

 

[Dacvak]

What glasses and how is the motion stabilization??

I’m using the Viture One XR glasses. They’re not VR, though. More like just a screen for your eyes. They’re really nice.

 

[poppabk]

Ive mainly used it on my phone or a Firetv connected to a 1080p TV, but I started using it recently on my laptop to play on my main computer. It's kinda surreal.

 

[TheStam]

Finally got this working and this is my biggest next gen moment since getting the Steam Deck.

I've tried to set it up before, but due to an awful router I couldn't get it to play nice, always lagging even at a low bitrate. I just got a new router (nothing fancy, but wifi 6 at least) and suddenly I am able to max out every single game, it's like a dream come true. And I can hardly notice any lag or artifacting at all, it feels like it's running native.

I had disregarded a lot of games for the Steam Deck due to performance such as BG3, Alan Wake 2, Returnal (Perfect game handheld), Hogwarts, Cyberpunk now suddenly everything is possible. Mind blown. As it's lower resolution I can run settings that my main rig monitor (3440x1440) can't even do with a 4080. Like downscaled 1920x1200 completely maxed out Cyberpunk with DLAA, path tracing and ray reconstruction. Just delicious overkill handheld gaming even if I can't reach locked 90 in some of them but it's quite close. Need to get the 5090 for that, lol or change the rez / settings.

Downscaled 1920 x 1200 looks crazy sharp on such a small screen. Love the fact that Moonlight works with HDR as well now although you seem to lose a bit of color at this point. Shame RTX HDR doesn't seem to be working, but maybe one day. Only time I feel like I had trouble with these settings is if there's a lot happening on screen, specifically moving leaves and such in Hogwarts where I had to turn down the bitrate a bit, but I have been running it at 150 mbps mostly just because I couldn't notice any downside so figured why not. I'm not sure of other settings like of frame pacing and v-sync in Moonlight is better on or off, I suppose it introduces lag. Or if AV1 or HEVC is the better codec. And how I best optimize frame times, I guess the server hz should match the max hz of the client, which I'm a bit afraid of messing around with..

Either way I do 95% of my Steam Deck gaming at home so I guess I will simply stream almost everything outside of Indies from now on. The battery just lasts forever. It feels like cheating.

 

[analog_future]

Finally got this working and this is my biggest next gen moment since getting the Steam Deck.

I've tried to set it up before, but due to an awful router I couldn't get it to play nice, always lagging even at a low bitrate. I just got a new router (nothing fancy, but wifi 6 at least) and suddenly I am able to max out every single game, it's like a dream come true. And I can hardly notice any lag or artifacting at all, it feels like it's running native.

I had disregarded a lot of games for the Steam Deck due to performance such as BG3, Alan Wake 2, Returnal (Perfect game handheld), Hogwarts, Cyberpunk now suddenly everything is possible. Mind blown. As it's lower resolution I can run settings that my main rig monitor (3440x1440) can't even do with a 4080. Like downscaled 1920x1200 completely maxed out Cyberpunk with DLAA, path tracing and ray reconstruction. Just delicious overkill handheld gaming even if I can't reach locked 90 in some of them but it's quite close. Need to get the 5090 for that, lol or change the rez / settings.

Downscaled 1920 x 1200 looks crazy sharp on such a small screen. Love the fact that Moonlight works with HDR as well now although you seem to lose a bit of color at this point. Shame RTX HDR doesn't seem to be working, but maybe one day. Only time I feel like I had trouble with these settings is if there's a lot happening on screen, specifically moving leaves and such in Hogwarts where I had to turn down the bitrate a bit, but I have been running it at 150 mbps mostly just because I couldn't notice any downside so figured why not. I'm not sure of other settings like of frame pacing and v-sync in Moonlight is better on or off, I suppose it introduces lag. Or if AV1 or HEVC is the better codec. And how I best optimize frame times, I guess the server hz should match the max hz of the client, which I'm a bit afraid of messing around with..

Either way I do 95% of my Steam Deck gaming at home so I guess I will simply stream almost everything outside of Indies from now on. The battery just lasts forever. It feels like cheating.

I really think the Moonlight/game streaming solution isn't getting enough talk compared to native handhelds like Steam Deck/ROG Ally/etc..


I'd much rather play games maxed out at 4k downsampled, 60fps (or even 120fps if you have the right streaming hardware) than the sub-1080p, low settings, 30fps experiences that most of these native handhelds are providing with modern AAA games. AND you're getting exponentially better battery life with streaming.


Of course, it all depends on your needs. If you need a handheld that you want to use while you commute every day, Moonlight probably isn't going to work. But for people like you and me, where you're usually playing at home? In-home streaming is 100% the way to go IMO.

 

[Exentryk]

Using it right now in bed. It's awesome for sure, and I prefer it over Steam streaming because I get access to the whole pc, along with screen recording features, controller macro software, etc.

 

[TheStam]

I really think the Moonlight/game streaming solution isn't getting enough talk compared to native handhelds like Steam Deck/ROG Ally/etc..


I'd much rather play games maxed out at 4k downsampled, 60fps (or even 120fps if you have the right streaming hardware) than the sub-1080p, low settings, 30fps experiences that most of these native handhelds are providing with modern AAA games. AND you're getting exponentially better battery life with streaming.


Of course, it all depends on your needs. If you need a handheld that you want to use while you commute every day, Moonlight probably isn't going to work. But for people like you and me, where you're usually playing at home? In-home streaming is 100% the way to go IMO.

I feel the same. It's curious that it's not talked about more. I mostly see it mentioned in Steam Deck related places online. When I got the Steam Deck I was amazed at the handheld performance, but this is a gigantic leap forward if you have a decent to good PC.