DeckyMultiFrameGen on Steam Deck and Steam Machine: install guide

This Steam Deck guide walks you through installing DeckyMultiFrameGen, a new Decky Loader plugin that puts three of the best frame generation and upscaling tools in one place on the Steam Deck and the Steam Machine. Instead of juggling a separate plugin for each one, you pick which tool every game uses from a single panel in the Quick Access Menu.

I’ve been testing it on my Deck with games like Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s honestly the easiest way I’ve found to try different frame gen options per game. Here’s what you need, how to install it on Steam Deck and Steam Machine, and how to get it running in your games.

What DeckyMultiFrameGen does

Decky MultiFrameGen is a free, open-source plugin for Decky Loader that manages three backends for you:

• OptiScaler (from Decky Framegen): upscaling and frame generation for DirectX 12 games.
• HelixSR (from HelixSR Manager): DLSS-style upscaling on AMD GPUs, on its own or through OptiScaler.
• MAKO: frame generation, scaling and shaders as a Vulkan layer, so it works outside the game itself.

It detects the game you’re on (the one running, or the one open in your library), remembers which backend each game should use, and sets the launch options for you. Switching a game to another backend takes the previous one out and restores its launch options, and you can even combine them, such as OptiScaler plus MAKO, or OptiScaler plus HelixSR. It’s still in early development, and v0.8.10 was the latest release at the time of writing.

What you need before you start

• Decky Loader installed. This is a Decky plugin, so you need Decky Loader set up on your Steam Deck or Steam Machine first.
• Developer mode turned on in Decky. DeckyMultiFrameGen isn’t on the Decky store, so you install it through Decky’s developer options. Press the Quick Access button, open the Decky tab (the plug icon), tap the gear icon to open Decky’s settings, then under General switch on Developer mode. A new Developer section then appears in Decky’s settings.
• Lossless Scaling, if you want MAKO frame gen. MAKO’s frame generation runs on Lossless Scaling’s DLL, so you need to buy and install Lossless Scaling on Steam. You don’t need to run it, it just has to be installed. Without it, MAKO’s scaling and shaders still work, but games get no generated frames. OptiScaler and HelixSR don’t need it.

Steam Deck guide: installing DeckyMultiFrameGen

On Steam Deck, the quickest route is installing straight from the latest release URL, which is what the developer recommends:

1. Open the Quick Access Menu, go to Decky, and tap the gear icon for settings.
2. Open the Developer section (it only shows once Developer mode is on).
3. Under Third-Party Plugins, find Install Plugin from URL and enter the address below.
4. Tap Install, then accept Decky’s third-party plugin warning. Decky downloads and installs it for you.

https://github.com/MWGIH/DeckyMultiFrameGen/releases/latest/download/Decky-MultiFrameGen.zip

Once it’s done, Decky MultiFrameGen shows up in your Decky plugin list.

Installing on Steam Machine: try the URL first, then the ZIP

On Steam Machine, try the same Install Plugin from URL steps above first. If the install fails or nothing happens, fall back to the manual route, which is the one I’d lean on here:

1. Switch to Desktop Mode, open a browser and go to the DeckyMultiFrameGen Releases page on GitHub.
2. Under the latest release, open Assets and download Decky-MultiFrameGen.zip. It saves to your Downloads folder.
3. Return to Gaming Mode, open Decky’s settings and go to the Developer section.
4. Next to Install Plugin from ZIP File, select Browse, go to Downloads and pick Decky-MultiFrameGen.zip.
5. Accept the third-party plugin warning and Decky installs it.

Setting up your frame gen backends

Open Decky MultiFrameGen from the Quick Access Menu. At the top is the Backends section: switch on Show backends to see what’s installed, including anything set up earlier by the original plugins. From there you can install each tool:

• Install OptiScaler downloads Decky Framegen’s OptiScaler bundle.
• Install HelixSR downloads the official HelixSR release and runs its setup from inside the plugin, so there’s no need for Konsole.
• Install MAKO sets MAKO up, and the plugin offers Install MAKO Renderer if the renderer is missing.

There’s also a Check for updates button that updates the plugin itself through Decky’s installer, plus OptiScaler, MAKO and HelixSR.

Choosing a backend for each game

Below that is the Game section. Launch a game, or open its page in your library, and the plugin picks it up. If nothing is running, use Choose a game to pick one from the list. Then use the Use dropdown to choose Off, OptiScaler, HelixSR, MAKO, or one of the combinations.

• OptiScaler: pick a Proxy DLL (dxgi.dll is the default and the one to try first), then Patch this game. In the game, select DLSS to get FSR or XeSS, and press Insert to open OptiScaler’s menu. The plugin suggests binding Insert to a back button.
• HelixSR: choose the method (FSR drop-in or HelixSR Scaler) and install it for that game. The plugin tells you in the game’s panel when HelixSR can’t work there, for example Vulkan games or anti-cheat.
• MAKO: choosing it adds MAKO’s launcher to the game’s launch options, and Show MAKO settings opens its profiles, frame generation, scaling and shader controls.

If you want to see what this can do in a demanding game, my Cyberpunk 2077 v2.5 Steam Deck performance tests are a good place to start.

Troubleshooting

• Install from URL fails: use the ZIP method from the Steam Machine section instead.
• A game crashes or won’t load after patching with OptiScaler: unpatch it, pick the next proxy DLL and patch again, in this order: dxgi.dll, winmm.dll, version.dll, dbghelp.dll, winhttp.dll, wininet.dll. If OptiScaler’s menu never appears, try the next name too.
• Vulkan games: OptiScaler mainly targets DirectX 11 and 12, and HelixSR doesn’t support Vulkan, so MAKO is your best bet there, since it works outside the game.
• No generated frames with MAKO: check Lossless Scaling is installed. The plugin shows a warning with a button to open its store page if it isn’t.
• You also have MAKO Decky installed: keep only one of the two plugins enabled, as both manage the same MAKO Renderer.
• A game won’t start after switching backends: verify its files in Steam (Properties, Installed Files).
• Easy Anti-Cheat games: HelixSR’s FSR drop-in can be blocked, so use OptiScaler plus HelixSR instead.

Is DeckyMultiFrameGen worth installing?

If you like experimenting with frame generation on your Steam Deck or Steam Machine, I’d say absolutely. Having OptiScaler, HelixSR and MAKO in one place, with per-game choices and launch options handled for you, saves a lot of fiddling. If you’ve used LSFG-VK 2.0 or the DLSS Enabler plugin before, this feels like the natural next step. It’s still early days, so check for updates often and report any games you test on GitHub. That wraps up this Steam Deck guide, so give it a go and let me know how it runs on your setup.