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Valve are continuing their polishing effort to make the Steam Client work better, with a load of work from the recent Beta releases now out for everyone.

This Steam Client update includes an updated version of their embedded Chromium build, it adds in a Big Picture Mode library filter for local multiplayer games, multiple changes to Steam Input including a new "Controller Connected" notification (which can be turned off), the ability to blacklist individual DirectInput and Xinput devices in the controller settings menu, improvements to in-home streaming, Vulkan pipeline dumping and collection if Shader Pre-Caching is enabled and more.

As I understand it, the Vulkan part above is so the shader cache for a Vulkan game can be uploaded to Steam and shared, so we would hopefully see less stuttering which would be a big improvement.

For Linux specifically, these issues were fixed and improved:

  • Fixed more instances of 0-byte downloads and missing Proton or data files for Steam Play titles
  • Added Steam Play configuration settings in Big Picture Mode
  • Fixed an issue where the mouse cursor would be invisible in the Steam Overlay when playing games through Steam Play
  • Fixed an issue where the Steam Client wouldn’t automatically update or download Proton before launching games through Steam Play
  • Fixed additional cursor and mouse grabbing issues with the overlay on Steam Play games.
  • Improve support for Steam Library on NTFS mounts

See the release notes here.

Nice to see a bunch of Steam Play fixes make it in, the experience is really coming along now which has enabled me to enjoy Deep Rock Galactic greatly.

What would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam, Valve
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26 comments
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purplehyenathing Apr 18, 2019
This is great! I had these issues and it's brilliant to finally see them fixed!
hagabaka Apr 18, 2019
Quoting: DamonLinuxPL
Quoting: WorMzyI wonder if this update pushes out the updated steam web helper shared objects which break the webhelper on non-debian systems...

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/6156
https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/1848072002764995823/
https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/62095

Related only to Arch based packing. Should be fixed by package maintainer in Arch but from what I see valve trying to fix it despite the fact that it is not their plot.

From what I understand, the way one of Steam's scripts is written makes it impossible for the distro maintainer to fix this. Arch maintainers offered a simple fix, but the Steam developers would not accept it because they don't want to appear to endorse the "native runtime" approach.
AciD Apr 18, 2019
Quoting: scaine
QuoteWhat would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?

I doubt it'll ever happen, but it would nice if Steam could be wrapped with proper window decorations. I use right-click on menu-bar to lower windows (send them to the back) and of course, since Steam uses it's own decorations, that doesn't work. Small issue, but annoying.

In the mean time, you can use Alt+F3 under kde to access the window properties/actions, even without any 'proper window decorations'.
Yep, KDE is just great in all those small details ;)
Skylead Apr 18, 2019
QuoteWhat would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?

I'd love to see them support friend streaming in the linux client. I like being able to have people drop in and check out the games I'm playing.
Philadelphus Apr 19, 2019
Quoting: Skylead
QuoteWhat would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?

I'd love to see them support friend streaming in the linux client. I like being able to have people drop in and check out the games I'm playing.
I was just going to say this! :) One of my good but, er, less tech-savvy Windows friends keeps forgetting that I can watch him play but not the other way around and I have to keep telling him "No, sorry, still can't stream for you to watch." I saw they had some improvements to game streaming in this update, so maybe there's hope?

Maybe I should just try streaming on YouTube one of these days in the meantime. :S:
hagabaka Apr 19, 2019
QuoteWhat would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?
I would like the ability to go without the Steam Client. Steam should provide an API so that users can authorize third-party programs to view, install, and launch games. That could include Ubuntu Software Center, KDE Discover, Lutris, PlayOnLinux etc. The Steam runtime and Steam Play should be available as separate packages for people who want to use them, even for non-Steam games.


Last edited by hagabaka on 19 April 2019 at 1:29 am UTC
Phlebiac Apr 19, 2019
Quoting: AciDIn the mean time, you can use Alt+F3 under kde to access the window properties/actions, even without any 'proper window decorations'.

Many windowing systems (including GNOME) use Alt+Space for that.
Massinissa Apr 19, 2019
Quoting: BielFPs
Quoting: Eike
QuoteWhat would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?

Tagging, tagging and tagging.

I cannot possibly be the only one who want to use these multidimensionally, like
* played through / given up / unplayed / give a second chance
* gift / advertising gift
* genre
* co-op / couch co-op / solo / online competetive
* ...

Separate games through personal categories would be great too, Like FPS, Native games, etc.

You already can do that.
Eike Apr 19, 2019
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Quoting: Massinissa
Quoting: BielFPs
Quoting: EikeI cannot possibly be the only one who want to use these multidimensionally, like
* played through / given up / unplayed / give a second chance
* gift / advertising gift
* genre
* co-op / couch co-op / solo / online competetive
* ...

Separate games through personal categories would be great too, Like FPS, Native games, etc.

You already can do that.

How do I categorize by genre and play state and then display all RPGs I didn't yet play?


Last edited by Eike on 19 April 2019 at 2:52 pm UTC
elmapul Apr 19, 2019
"What would you like to see improved next in the Steam Client?"
updates to the oficial list of games white listed by valve.
it may seem something small, but the protonDB database isnt realiable, some people rate the game as platinum without knowing about all the features that the game have in order to be able to test it and make sure everything is working, so some "platinum" or "gold" ratings are false positives.
example: guilty gear dont have any videos on proton (neither the intro, nor the extras nor anything else that the game may have, looks like the issue is that the codec for then is WMV, but that is an issue that valve can easily fix asking devs to convert the videos and distribute alongside the game (or convert then selfs asking permission to redistribute it)
another issue is features like hair works that may not work on linux, but the game be rated platinum regardless.


Last edited by elmapul on 19 April 2019 at 4:53 pm UTC
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