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Valve continues tweaking the new 'Proton Experimental' for Cyberpunk 2077

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With Cyberpunk 2077 being the hot new thing in gaming, Valve and CodeWeavers are trying to ensure it can run nicely through the Steam Play Proton compatibility layer since it doesn't support Linux directly.

Valve recently set up a new branch of Proton named "Proton Experimental" along with the release of Proton 5.13-4. It appears to be the version of Proton where Valve will be adding in fixes quicker, and more newer features. Yesterday, December 14, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentioned the newest updates to Proton Experimental implements the Spatial Audio sound API which should fix Cyberpunk 2077 world sounds. Additionally there's more CPU performance improvements, which should help Path of Exile too.

Currently though, NVIDIA still has issues with it crashing and sometimes entirely locking systems on Linux. I tried it myself today thanks to a gift from a reader and the experience for me on an NVIDIA 1080 wasn't great. Ensuring to set my CPU into performance mode with High game settings it gave 30FPS and below, Medium gave a total freeze on the loading screen but a good 10FPS increase to between 30-40FPS in game when it does work (a little higher in more confined spaces).

Safe to say, you need a really high-powered computer for it right now, especially on Linux and not NVIDIA. That will change over time of course as CDPR optimize the game, as Valve optimise Proton and when NVIDIA sort the driver situation out. Even so, incredible it was working so soon with Proton on Linux.

Here's all the current additions in Proton Experimental:

  • Beginnings of Wine architectural work to reduce CPU overhead and improve performance in scenarios related to input and windowing.
  • Memory allocator performance improvements.
  • Implemented the Spatial Audio sound API, fixing Cyberpunk 2077 world sounds.
  • Updated vkd3d-proton to 2.1, fixing Cyberpunk 2077 facial animations.
  • Improvements for non-US keyboard layouts.
  • All other changes from 5.13-4.

As always you can find Proton info on GitHub and on our dedicated page.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Anza Dec 15, 2020
Quoting: kokoko3k
Quoting: ArehandoroLet's be fair here, a finished product doesn't exist. Otherwise, updates would be something almost non-existing and rolling release wouldn't even exist.
Let's be fair here too, your reasoning seems fallacious to me:
Unfinished product and bugged product could be two different things.
By example, new content/better experience means updates.
And yes, bugfix means updates too, but updates does not necessarily means bugfix.

Quoting: ArehandoroThe bigger the project, and the combination of different hardware to be deployed on, the more chances there are to be a bumpy road.
This is not an excuse, it is just aggravating the guiltiness.
Of course what you say is true and a dev knows it better than you and me, so:
"the more chances", the more the time is needed to test it *BEFORE* release.

Ideally with every change, all the hardware combinations would be tested and game would be played from beginning all the way to the end. The problem is as you said time. Bigger games can't afford to delay the release for too long as unreleased game is not going to make any money (excluding things like early access and Kickstarter though).

Pretty much all the things can be done is to investing in test automation (gaming is not easiest place to apply that though and it can't tell if the game is fun), prioritizing what to test and how often and maybe hire some temporary workforce in order to be able to increase the testing effort when release gets closer.
Arehandoro Dec 15, 2020
Quoting: kokoko3k
Quoting: ArehandoroLet's be fair here, a finished product doesn't exist. Otherwise, updates would be something almost non-existing and rolling release wouldn't even exist.
Let's be fair here too, your reasoning seems fallacious to me:
Unfinished product and bugged product could be two different things.
By example, new content/better experience means updates.
And yes, bugfix means updates too, but updates does not necessarily means bugfix.

Quoting: ArehandoroThe bigger the project, and the combination of different hardware to be deployed on, the more chances there are to be a bumpy road.
This is not an excuse, it is just aggravating the guiltiness.
Of course what you say is true and a dev knows it better than you and me, so:
"the more chances", the more the time is needed to test it *BEFORE* release.

Less content and worse experience are also updates. And yes, bugfixes can break other stuff. Regression tests exist for a reason, and bugs can escape these tests. I can't even fathom how big the pipelines for games of this caliber must be.

Btw, I'm not excusing a poor delivery/release. But I'm not demonizing the devs either. CDPR have been crunching them for long time, and the product managers, investors and high profile employees will have been pushing for this release knowing that the sales will be big anyway, and that they won't have to put up with early patches, user rage, etc
kokoko3k Dec 15, 2020
FWIW, i'm not pointing the finger to the developers alone, but to the entire ecosystem.
Wasn't early access an option?
TheSHEEEP Dec 15, 2020
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Quoting: kokoko3kFWIW, i'm not pointing the finger to the developers alone, but to the entire ecosystem.
Wasn't early access an option?
Do consoles even have early access?


Anyway, I'm sure they were going on the (probably correct) assumption that only a same-day full release on all platforms would get them the maximum amount of purchases & pre-orders.
Early access would quite probably lower the amount of people willing to pre-order or to purchase to begin with.

After all, no game could possibly do justice to the hype that was around Cyberpunk.
denyasis Dec 15, 2020
Quoting: GuestIt's almost sad, to see Valve stepping up with so much effort into something that's reportedly so buggy..

Money. They get a cut of every game sold right? Making it work better, specifically using Steam directly translates into more sales and more commission.

It also suppresses other stores' sales, after all if it works with Steam, why buy it elsewhere?

Going with the post above, you'd want to maximize sales during the peak release window and before the sales cycle begins.
TheRiddick Dec 16, 2020
Quoting: Guestthat's reportedly so buggy..

The games being forced to run on old generation consoles PS4 and XB1, those had 1.5-2.5TFLOP GPU's in them, CDPR would have been better off releasing a 8bit side scroller version for those consoles as a bit of a joke! LMAO
Phlebiac Dec 16, 2020
Quoting: ikirutogamemoderun %command% --launcher-skip

Seems like gamemode support is something they should add into Proton - unless there are some Windows games where it has undesirable side effects? I'm not saying gamemode should be required, but rather it should be automatically used when present, like Feral's games.
Frawo Dec 16, 2020
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Quoting: PhlebiacSeems like gamemode support is something they should add into Proton - unless there are some Windows games where it has undesirable side effects? I'm not saying gamemode should be required, but rather it should be automatically used when present, like Feral's games.

For me, gamemode did not run well with The Division... I couldn't find out why. And other games won't even launch in BPM mode with gamemode on.

Right now, I'm only using CPU performance governor as optimization.
Whitewolfe80 Dec 16, 2020
Glad to see valve adopting basically Glorious Eggroll Proton and is def the version I am going to be running in about two minutes. As for the game I played it 1600x900 medium 40 to 50 fps playable for me, and i refunded it not for the bugs it just really for me not that fun i went in thinking well i loved the witcher series pacing and story mixed with fun combat. After 1.45 minutes later when i finished the prologue i came out thinking, I am really not feeling it just not fun for me the combat is sluggish borderlands sluggish numbers pop off people despite the loot system telling me i had a high damage gun. No spoilers here but those that have played past the prologue well god bless you and i hope you like the rest of the game.
Caenth Dec 16, 2020
Quoting: EhvisThe main story is pretty good, but deviating from it is not. The RPG element is pretty much nothing and the whole open world is pretty much an empty backdrop. And that is a far cry from what cdpr promised it to be and no so easily rectified with a patch.

You are just quoting media, but this is utter bullshit imo. I now have 47hrs play time on the ticker. I'm not sure how far I'm into the main story, but it feels it still has quite some hours left. The game has ton of side missions who are really great also. Besides that my whole map is still filled with activities to do. NCCP alerts, gangs fights and other things. The higher level I get the more missions open up. I have been slacking a bit on these random open world things, but they are a choice you can pick up, not mandatory so.

The world is filled to the brim with cars and people walking the city. This depends on a graphic setting to control performance. If it is set low, yeah I expect the city to feel more empty. Performance wise the game runs like a charm on Ultra settings on a Ryzen 3700x and a 5700XT, 1440p. Installed the latest drivers.

Yes there are a few glitches, like chopsticks hovering in the air, food falling out of NPC hands, trash that suddenly moves in the air a bit. I got stuck in a wall once or twice. But I had no crashes so far. The game is very stable. All these glitches do nothing about the fun I have in this game. This is a excellent game! It's next-gen imo and like the Witcher 3, they set the bar high again on what an open world game should be.

I think the biggest problems that people have is that they want to play it on old hardware and software, be it an console or a PC. On top of that they expect it to run without any problems. It's not the game, but the 'gamers' who are the problem imo.
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