DeckyXMB

A Decky Loader plugin that replaces the Steam Deck home screen with a PS3-style XrossMediaBar.

Category bar: Users · Settings · Screenshots · Soundtracks · Video · Game · Network · Friends.

Install on the Steam Machine / Steam Deck

1. Install Decky Loader. In Decky settings → General, turn on Developer mode.
2. Copy DeckyXMB-x.y.z.zip to the Deck, then go to Decky → Developer → Install Plugin from ZIP.

Turning off "Use XMB as Home" or uninstalling the plugin brings Steam's normal home back right away. If a Steam update breaks something, the plugin falls back to Steam's home.

PS3 themes, packages and .rap files are not included. Use your own.

Previews

Recorded on a Steam Machine.

Games Moving through the Game column, each game's art and background fading in	Profile and friends Your own profile card, then a friend's
Custom themes Installing a PS3 theme and applying it	Theme colour Changing the Original theme's wave colour
Trophies A game's trophies, PS3-style	Screenshots Screenshots by game, in a picture grid

Features

• Themes
  • The Original theme's animated wave changes colour with the month and dims at night.
  • Installs Official/Unofficial PS3 themes (.p3t, or the theme inside a PS3 .pkg), including dynamic themes with animated 3D backgrounds, drawn with WebGL and directed by the theme's own script.
  • Licence-locked themes are unlocked with their .rap.
  • A theme's icons replace the XMB's own, and its background can be dimmed or drawn at a lower resolution to save power.
  • The PS3's own sound effects (cursor, select, back, error, trophies) replace Steam's UI sounds, in the XMB and the rest of Big Picture. A theme's own sound effects (cursor, select, back, options menu, questions) replace those, where it has them.
• Game
  • Folders for All Games, Favorites, Locally Installed Games and your Steam collections, each one switched on or off with △.
  • Below the folders: your recently played games.
  • The selected game's art fades in behind the menu, like PS3 game backgrounds.
  • Starting a game plays the PS3's start-up: the menu zooms away and the game starts behind the XMB's background; once it's ready, the screen goes black but for the wave's sparkles, which spread towards you and fade, and the game is shown. Steam's launching page is never seen.
  • ✕ on a game starts it; △ opens its options: Play, Trophies, Game Details, Move to Video and More Options (Steam's own menu). What ✕ does can be changed in the Quick Access panel.
• Video: an empty column for the "games" you choose. Move a game here with Move to Video, and back with Move to Game. Such as YouTube/Plex.
• Trophies
  • Steam achievements shown as PS3 trophies. Rarity sets the grade: under 10% of players is gold, under 35% silver, otherwise bronze. Earning everything unlocks platinum.
  • Trophy Collection (under Network) lists every game's trophies in the XMB, or on a full trophy page. It opens on the game you played last.
  • Group Content: a game's trophies split by the DLC they came with (base game first, then each DLC with its own progress), from Steam Hunters. Turn it on or off with △ on a game's trophies.
  • Non-Steam games show their RetroAchievements trophies with Emuchievements: games it can't match are matched by name, through the account you've signed in to Emuchievements with.
• Screenshots: the ones on the Deck and the ones uploaded to your Steam profile, by game, in a picture grid.
• Soundtracks: the Steam soundtracks you own, with their track lists; downloaded tracks play right in the XMB.
• Friends
  • In the PS3 list style: avatar, presence and what they're playing. The selected friend gets the large card with their game art.
  • Your own entry at the top, with your level, latest trophies and colour.
• Settings: the PS3's settings, made with Steam's own:
  • System Update; Theme; Date and Time; Display; Sound; Controller; Bluetooth; Network.
  • Controller Symbols sets the button symbols shown throughout Steam: DualShock 3, DualShock 2 or Steam's own (CSSLoader Icon Replacers will work).
• Game music on hover: with ThemeDeck, resting on a game plays its ThemeDeck track. It plays on while a game starts, fading out as the game comes on.
• Power items (Suspend, Restart, Switch to Desktop, Turn Off) ask first, as the PS3 does.

Controls

Steam Deck	PS3	Action
D-pad ◀ ▶		Switch category (in a folder, ◀ goes back)
D-pad ▲ ▼		Move through items
L1 / R1		Jump 6 items up / down
A	✕	Open the item. On a game: its options (or Play, or its page: set in Quick Access)
B	○	Back
Y or ≡	△	Options for the selected item

Settings are in Quick Access (…) → DeckyXMB, and inside the XMB under Settings.

Build

npm install
npm run build      # → dist/index.js
npm run package    # → release/DeckyXMB-<version>.zip
npm run preview    # browser preview with a fake library at http://localhost:5178

In the preview the arrow keys are the D-pad. Enter = ✕, Esc = ○, Y = △, X = □, Q/E = L1/R1.

Credits

Made by InsaneCallum. If you enjoy it, you can support me on Patreon.

The DualShock controller symbols come from Button Prompts Galore (ZeusOfTheCrows and InsaneCallum, CC0).

DLC trophy groups come from the Steam Hunters API, found through BossSloth's SteamHunter plugin.

The home-route patch, Steam store access and native menu lookup are adapted from Spindeck (BSD-3-Clause). See NOTICE.

Note

AI Generated Content Disclosure Heavy AI usage was used to allow this project to be possible. Any project's made by myself will have an AI disclosure if it has been used.