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Portal 2 from Valve gets a big update with Vulkan support from DXVK

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Portal 2, the classic first-person puzzle game from Valve available on Steam, just had a huge upgrade come out of nowhere along with Vulkan API support powered by the DXVK project.

To stop any rumours: no, this is not Source 2 or anything of the sort. Portal 2 by default uses Direct3D 9 on Windows and OpenGL on Linux. For the Linux version, original Source engine games like this used a translation layer called ToGL to translate D3D9 to OpenGL.

With this update it now includes a special native build of DXVK along with some extra dedicated Source tweaks, which allows you to run Portal 2 with "-vulkan" as a launch option to switch it over to Vulkan. It might give you better performance depending on your setup, although the OpenGL build already performed quite well overall.

That's not all though, there's a lot more included in this update. For the Linux version it's especially great, as there's a few very specific fixes done for us including: it actually has an icon now, a Linux startup crash was solved, they fixed a credits corruption on Linux, a few intro videos weren't playing on Linux, BEEMod should work better on Linux and the game should no longer appear in the top left corner of the screen for some Linux players.

Apart from that, here's what else has changed:

Improvements:
  - Improved compile time for Perpetual Training Initiative puzzles.
  - Improved advanced video settings descriptions.
  - Made the game Hi-DPI aware.
  - Smarter default video settings.
  - Improved resolution of player avatars throughout the game.
  - Players can now be invited to play co-op on controller.
  - Button text contrast and padding has been improved when using a controller.
  - Implemented a 360° Spin action.
  - The portalgun is now correctly affected by dynamic lights (projected textures) in the scene.
  - Improved client-side prediction for coop play.
  - Added the ability for workshop levels to pack particles into their map with a particles/map_manifest.txt
  - Misc. rendering optimizations.
  - Removed the "Trading Coming Soon" button.
Bug Fixes:
  - Fixed a crash in the PeTI if you placed a light strip above a laser catcher on the floor and linked it to a fizzler.
  - Fixed the fizzler not playing the retract animation when turned off in new PeTI maps.
  - Fixed being able to copy 'uncopyable' items in the PeTI leading to invalid/broken levels.
  - Fixed some items in PeTI not maintaining their portalability state when expanding the chamber boundaries.
  - Fixed a crash if PeTI avatars could not be retrieved.
  - Fixed Cave Johnson's lines not progressing when playing queued workshop levels.
  - Fixed a memory leak that could occur when changing levels.
  - Fixed a bug where you could no longer ping/taunt via mouse/keyboard if you have ever used a controller.
  - Fixed the ping menu being visible when quick pinging on controller.
  - Fixed the game instructor not respecting input types for respective players in split-screen mode.
  - Fixed rumble not being respected for respective players in split-screen mode.
  - Fixed the wrong avatar being used if playing coop after playing a workshop level.
  - Fixed the OnFiredPortal2 output not firing.
  - Fixed some text being duplicated on the screen multiple times.

You can buy and play Portal 2 on Steam.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Puzzle, Steam, Update, Vulkan | Apps: Portal 2
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22 comments
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Julius Feb 19, 2021
Quoting: 3zekiel
Quoting: JuliusMaybe the Stadia servers only support Vulkan and the recent announcement of Google signifies some sort of deal being struck with Valve? *pure speculation*

That would be golden, like geforce now, but on Linux with valve catalogue, one of the best combinations for us.

Well, this could go various ways... *June 2021* Google announces acquiring a majority stake in Valve Software (as founder Gabe Newell retires in New Zeeland with his new found billions). Steam to be integrated with Stadia, Android support coming through Playstore... *you heard it here first kids* :p
no_information_here Feb 19, 2021
Quoting: Julius*June 2021* Google announces acquiring a majority stake in Valve Software (as founder Gabe Newell retires in New Zeeland with his new found billions).

That would be terrible. The next announcement would be:

*August 2023* Google announces they are shutting down the Steam game platform and instead moving the Valve team into a new Google subsidiary writing messaging apps.


Last edited by no_information_here on 19 February 2021 at 6:06 pm UTC
Julius Feb 19, 2021
Quoting: no_information_here
Quoting: Julius*June 2021* Google announces acquiring a majority stake in Valve Software (as founder Gabe Newell retires in New Zeeland with his new found billions).

That would be terrible. The next announcement would be:

*August 2023* Google announces they are shutting down the Steam game platform and instead moving the Valve team into a new Google subsidiary writing messaging apps.

That was my point. I guess I should have put /s
CatKiller Feb 19, 2021
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The trick would be putting Valve in charge of Google's product cancellation team; Valve Time would cure them of their ADHD.

They also wouldn't be able to cancel any project with a 3 in the name.


Last edited by CatKiller on 19 February 2021 at 7:23 pm UTC
DefaultX-od Feb 19, 2021
I have just tried vulkan and opengl, most of the time they were close to each other, but opengl several times fell to 80fps while vulkan was always above 100fps
1xok Feb 19, 2021
Valve's Vulkan implementation for Portal2 brings about 10% to 20% more performance on my Linux laptop. However, I have only tested briefly and only one scene. The lighting seems too bright and I have the feeling that OpenGL runs smoother despite less FPS (only a subjective impression).

Hardware: i7-7820HQ (GPU: HD 630)
OS: Xubuntu 20.4

This is a very welcome addition and I hope Valve continues to work on it.
Philadelphus Feb 20, 2021
I'm trying to figure out what the "intro videos to act 2 and 3" that weren't playing are. I've played through the game several time (including on Windows, which I was still using when it released), though not for a few years and I can't remember any particular videos around those points. Anyone know what that's referring to?
denyasis Feb 20, 2021
I image the benefit of this would be to have a working example of "drop-in" support for a port, albeit an old one.

Coupled with Proton libs, its not far fetched to see a Valve maintained, Steam only, linux "wrapper" for your game to get extra Linux sales. Make the barrier low enough and there's not really a reason for a dev not to "push the linux button". If the barrier to wrap a game is stupidly low, Valve could even charge extra for it.

We can argue wether or not a wine/DXVK wrapper around a game is a "real" port or not. But in the end, it will run on linux, and that's what most people really want.
denyasis Feb 20, 2021
I only played it recently a few years ago. It's actually quite fun. I never realized how many pop culture references it spawned until I played the series.
TheRiddick Feb 20, 2021
This is one of those games that could do with a full VR update, one that lets you manipulate objects with your hands.
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