Control Ultimate Edition – How to Get HDR on the Steam Deck OLED

November 28, 2023 Jan Bonkoski 1

This is a guide on how to get HDR working in this game on the Steam Deck OLED.

Guide to Get HDR on the Steam Deck OLED

Introduction

Getting HDR in this game is relatively easy and works great.

But it’s not supported out of the box.

You have to download an unofficial patch for the game and copy its files over the existing game files.

This patch was made by a former developer of the game.

This guide will provide you with both quick instructions as well as detailed step-by-step instructions.

Either way, it should only take you a few minutes!

Quick Instructions [Experienced Steam Deck Users]

  1. Switch to Desktop Mode
  2. Go to this page
  3. Download “Control HDR v1.5 (Steam).7z”
  4. Overwrite the files in the Control main folder with the files from this patch
  5. Play the game in DirectX 12

Step-By-Step Instructions

Go to Desktop Mode

  1. Click the “STEAM” button on your Steam Deck.
  2. Scroll down to “Power” and select “Switch to Desktop”.
  3. How to navigate in Desktop Mode:
  • right track pad moves the mouse cursor
  • right trigger is left-click
  • left trigger is right-click

“STEAM” + “X” at the time time brings up or takes down the onscreen keyboard

Get a web browser

  1. Click the blue shopping bag at the bottom to open “Discover”
  2. Click on “Firefox” to download a web browser.
  3. When Firefox is installed, open it by clicking its logo in the task bar.

Download the HDR Patch

  1. In Firefox, click on the address bar.
  2. Search for “remedy Control hdr patch”.
  3. Click on the top result, called “CONTROL – HDR+ULTRAWIDE+DLSS+RT Patch” or manually go to this address.
  4. Click “Download this file”
  5. Download “Control HDR v1.5 (Steam).7z”

Cut the downloaded patch file

  1. When the download has finished, Click the Downloads symbol next to the browser’s address bar.
  2. click the folder icon next to the file name to open the location of that file
  3. The file browser will now open the “Downloads” folder where you can see the file “Control HDR v1.5 (Steam).7z”.
    Right-click on it and select “Cut”.

Locate the Control game files

  1. Double-click the “Steam” icon on the Desktop.
  2. Go to “Library”
  3. Right-click on “Control Ultimate Edition” in your games list on the left
  4. Select “Manage -> Browse local Files”
  5. A folder with the game files for Control opens.

Paste the downloaded patch

  1. Right click on an empty space within this folder. Select “Paste One File”
  2. Now the downloaded file “Control HDR v1.5 (Steam).7z” is in this folder too.

Extract the patch files and overwrite the existing ones

Right-click the patch file and select “Extract -> Extract archive here”

  1. In the pop-up, tick the box “Apply to All” and then click “Overwrite”

Delete the patch file – it’s no longer needed

  1. When it’s done overwriting the files, right click on “Control HDR v1.5 (Steam).7z” again and select “Move To Trash”
  2. Inside this file browser, click on “Trash” in the list on the left
  3. Click the “Empty Trash” button at the top and confirm.

Return to Gaming Mode

  1. Minimize all windows and double click the Desktop icon “Return To Gaming Mode”

Launch Control in DirectX 12 (always)

  1. Whenever you boot up the game, select “DirectX 12” to access HDR.

Confirm HDR is activated in the game settings

  1. In Control, go to “Options -> Display” and check if the “HDR” box is ticked.

It should be. If not, tick it yourself.

All done! You can enjoy the stunning HDR graphics.

You can confirm that HDR is working by pressing the (. . .) button on the Steam Deck.

If you go to the cog-wheel menu, you should see an “HDR” logo next to the brightness slider.

Jan Bonkoski
About Jan Bonkoski 953 Articles
Jan Bakowski aka Lazy Dice, was always interested in gaming and writing. His love of gaming began with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64) back in 1998. He’s been making game guides since 2012. Sharing his gaming experience with other players has become not only his hobby but also his job. In his free time, he plays on Steam Deck.
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1 Comment

  1. I don’t know what i’m doing wrong here.

    Thanks for making this guide, you’ve been the only place i’ve found online with the steps I followed. I was worried that perhaps the DLSS implementation or something was causing the HDR to break on the OLED since the mod is intended for Windows. and you know the steam deck is running linux pretending to windows with the proton stuff. anyways:

    I downloaded that mod from the original website, put the 7z on myDeck and overwrote the files as explained on that website for windows. However when I run the game I have the options show up but they are greyed out and impossible to select. So I was kind of hoping for some help. I figured I might “verify” the game files today and retry with the zip file I kept in the documents folder. I don’t know.

    I’ll leave another comment if the verification and reinstallation works.

    Appreciate any help if anyone has run into the same issue. I’m attempting to do this on one of the BOE displays not the samsung as I got the LE 1TB.

    Reply

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