Alpha Protocol is one of the most uneven games I’ve played. On one hand it’s an interesting RPG, on the other it’s an underdeveloped action game full of poor design choices. However, it has plenty of atmosphere and provides hours of solid gameplay. Unfortunately, it was removed from distribution a few years ago, but if you have it in your Steam library it’s worth checking out on Steam Deck.
However, it will not come without problems. How to fix Alpha Protocol on Steam Deck?
There is a similar problem with graphical errors in Deadpool – check it out.
Let’s start with the guide!
1. Install Alpha Protocol like any other game. Start it up. You will see a broken launcher. Using mouse emulation (default: hold down the Steam button and control cursor with the right touchpad, confirm with R2) select the first option. The game will launch. Using the emulated mouse, go to Options, then Controls. Enable the Xbox 360 Controller. Alpha Protocol runs at a very stable 60FPS and should select the highest graphics settings by default. If you want to change something then do it now. Exit the game.
When you hover the cursor over the fields, they will fix themselves.
2. When you are ready turn off the game and go to Desktop mode. Start the file manager “Dolphin”. Make sure it shows the hidden files.
3. On the left side of the Dolphin find “Home”. Next go to: /home/deck/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata/34010/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Alpha Protocol/APGame/Config/
You should see a lot of files with the .ini extension. Find ApEngine.ini and open it.
4. Using the search function found in the Edit tab (or go to 1051 line in file), type (the default shortcut for running the on-screen keyboard is Steam+X) MotionBlur=true. Change it to MotionBlur=false. Save the file.
5. Close the saved file. Do not set this read only! It will crash the game on first cutscene (and maybe later). Just go to the next step.
6. Now you can go back to Game Mode and launch the game – everything should work fine now.
In the game options menu you can find Motion Blur settings, but disabling it did not fix the graphical errors. Only disabling it in the .ini file fixed the game.
In the prologue, you can modify your character's appearance for the first time. The character does not render after the modification is applied. A moment later, in the first apartment, you can modify your avatar's looks again and everything works fine. Strange bug.
Alpha Protocol Gameplay on Steam Deck with fixed graphic