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Another Steam Client Beta is out, adds the ability to force Steam Play

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Valve are working fast to improve the Steam client this year, with another beta now available including an option that was highly requested.

Firstly, Steam Input gained support for the HORI Battle Pad and HORI Wireless Switch Pad. Additionally, Big Picture mode had two bugs fixed. The usual stuff there and nothing major, that is until you get to the Linux section of the beta changelog.

Users have been asking Valve pretty much since Steam Play arrived, to add a method to force a native game to use Steam Play instead. So now, if you've opted into the Steam beta client you will see this on the properties of a game (the bottom option):

Why is that so interesting and important? Well, honestly, some Linux ports get left behind for months and years and some really just aren't good. Additionally, some Linux games have multiplayer that's not cross-platform, this could also help with that. Not to downplay the effort a lot of developers put in, it's just how it is. The ability for users to control between the version from the developer and running it through Steam Play is a nice to have option.

Linux changes:

  • Added the ability to force-enable Steam Play in per-title properties, including for native games
  • Fixed incorrect scroll offset in the in-game overlay
  • Reworked global Steam Play enable settings to only override the Proton version used by unsupported games
  • Fixed a bug where the global Steam Play enable setting wouldn't prompt for a Steam client restart

See the announcement here.

While not noted, the Steam client now actually shows what version of Proton is used for each title. Here's Into the Breach for example:


I would have played more but fullscreen is broken for me and it's a whitelisted title…

One of the next big stages for Steam Play, will be actually showing it for whitelisted titles on store pages. I'm still very curious to see how Valve will be handling that. Valve might also want to update the Steam support page too, it's rather outdated.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Beta, Steam, Valve
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118 comments
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kuhpunkt Jan 18, 2019
[quote=Guest]
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: GuestStill not sure how this is any better than just firing up Steam itself through wine. I could already "force" a game to use wine that way. And choose various wine settings. And use an up-to-date wine. And it's not limited to Steam games.

But it's annoying to set up. One click solution is the key word. That's the way to attract people that have no idea how to setup Wine and whatnot.

Quoting: GuestSo is this all still just a convenience thing for some people? I don't see that personally. I'm otherwise confused by the sudden excitement and "now game xyz can be played" when it was already possible for quite some time.

Maybe it's just me seeing things a little differently.

If you can't see the convenience factor, you might want to get your eyes checked out :P

And there is a lot of sudden excitement, because things now just work, not just because of Proton, but because of all the building blocks that Valve encouraged, DXVK, FAudio etc, networking issues fixed etc...

Wow, that wasn't condescending at all. Maybe you need to learn how to use your computer better?

How is any of what I said/wrote condescending?

Quoting: GuestI don't find needing a beta version and manually going through options in Steam for each game to use an outdated wine. Against just logging in from one shortcut or another.

That's because at the moment it's just a beta - that doesn't even need you to go through options and all that stuff.

A) re-read your own words. About getting eyes checked. Then consider how you might be coming across.
B) game options must be accessed. See the article for that information.

A) There's a :P - meaning I'm teasing/joking.

B) Only for specific cases, WHICH IS STILL IN BETA

Quoting: GuestThen for future reference: teasing, joking, or poking a bit of fun, are not taken the same way by everyone. Obviously in this case. Let's agree to just forget about that all now?

How could you take it any other way when you saying that you don't see why XYZ has literally nothing to do with eyesight? That doesn't even make sense. It was a joke.

Quoting: GuestOk, still beta, but that doesn't change my original confusion: why the excitement over something that could already be done, and could be done for some time already? If I'm not clear, I honestly don't understand. By similar comparison, it's like people being excited that phone X can do something that all other phones could already do. I don't see what makes it so much more special now.
I suspect this is something that, like the craze of selfies, I'm not destined to understand.

People are excited for several reasons, which you seem to be confusing.

1) Proton is being pushed by Valve, the advancements being done in the past couple of months were huge.

2) Steam is a major platform, that tries to push Linux into mainstream.

3) It is simply much more comfortable to have one click solution, which is the case most of the times. You install Steam, download a game with one click and just press PLAY and the game starts. That is big.

Just because you could do something like this with more effort before doesn't mean it was the better way.
Leopard Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: kuhpunkt
Quoting: GuestStill not sure how this is any better than just firing up Steam itself through wine. I could already "force" a game to use wine that way. And choose various wine settings. And use an up-to-date wine. And it's not limited to Steam games.

But it's annoying to set up. One click solution is the key word. That's the way to attract people that have no idea how to setup Wine and whatnot.

Quoting: GuestSo is this all still just a convenience thing for some people? I don't see that personally. I'm otherwise confused by the sudden excitement and "now game xyz can be played" when it was already possible for quite some time.

Maybe it's just me seeing things a little differently.

If you can't see the convenience factor, you might want to get your eyes checked out :P

And there is a lot of sudden excitement, because things now just work, not just because of Proton, but because of all the building blocks that Valve encouraged, DXVK, FAudio etc, networking issues fixed etc...

Wow, that wasn't condescending at all. Maybe you need to learn how to use your computer better?

How is any of what I said/wrote condescending?

Quoting: GuestI don't find needing a beta version and manually going through options in Steam for each game to use an outdated wine. Against just logging in from one shortcut or another.

That's because at the moment it's just a beta - that doesn't even need you to go through options and all that stuff.

A) re-read your own words. About getting eyes checked. Then consider how you might be coming across.
B) game options must be accessed. See the article for that information.

A) There's a :P - meaning I'm teasing/joking.

B) Only for specific cases, WHICH IS STILL IN BETA

Then for future reference: teasing, joking, or poking a bit of fun, are not taken the same way by everyone. Obviously in this case. Let's agree to just forget about that all now?

Ok, still beta, but that doesn't change my original confusion: why the excitement over something that could already be done, and could be done for some time already? If I'm not clear, I honestly don't understand. By similar comparison, it's like people being excited that phone X can do something that all other phones could already do. I don't see what makes it so much more special now.
I suspect this is something that, like the craze of selfies, I'm not destined to understand.

Mirv , i think you're mixing up things.

Being able to do it with available tools already , doesn't mean any user can do it or deal with it.

In fact SteamPlay just puts Wine , DXVK , Faudio into the same pot and service it to users.

It serves users an actual cake , not this.



It is a really convenient way for both Windows newcomers and existing Linux users to do be able to use all that stuff within native client , via clicks on GUI.
Eike Jan 18, 2019
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Quoting: GuestOk, still beta, but that doesn't change my original confusion: why the excitement over something that could already be done, and could be done for some time already? If I'm not clear, I honestly don't understand.

While I got more concerns than being excited about Proton (and neither use WINE nor Proton for gaming), Proton..
* is easier to use,
* makes games count as Linux sale and
* offers Valve's support for the whitelisted games.
wvstolzing Jan 18, 2019
... I'm really curious how Deus Ex MD performs under dxvk; but the 60gb download is too daunting ... and upon checking, I see that I don't even have enough free space, haha.
Eike Jan 18, 2019
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Quoting: Patola...having said all that (from a mobile phone), my steam beta updated twice today but hasn't shown me the option to force steam play on the titles. :( Anyone else has that problem?

I guess you already tried to turn it off and back on again?
Leopard Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: Patola
Quoting: GuestStill not sure how this is any better than just firing up Steam itself through wine. I could already "force" a game to use wine that way. And choose various wine settings. And use an up-to-date wine. And it's not limited to Steam games.

So is this all still just a convenience thing for some people? I don't see that personally. I'm otherwise confused by the sudden excitement and "now game xyz can be played" when it was already possible for quite some time.

Maybe it's just me seeing things a little differently.
Sorry, but from my point of view, you're just being stubborn and refusing to accept facts. Aside from the people who already lectured you with the obligatory cake analogy, steam is a platform from where you launch many games. And being an oldschool wine user, having installed my fair share of games on winesteam, each on its own wineprefix because different settings and dlls are required, I should say that it's a pain in the ass, because you also have to manage a multitude of different steam installations. I still keep two 64-bit and one 32-bit steamwine installations due exactly to that reason, since there is a couple of games that work in wine but not in proton. Also, the steam client is not compatible with WindowsXP anymore, and so I can't choose it in winecfg because steam will refuse to run, but I can do it with proton for the games that need it. And proton is more easily configurable with the environment variables in the launch options.

And the best thing is, since it's a semi-officially supported software from Steam, people are finally giving the deserved attention to wine. I know people which have been using Linux for more than a decade but had never even installed wine before proton, and finally it convinced them to try. Also, I sometimes give support to newbies in a telegram group, and it gets so much easier to help people when using steam play/proton as compared to wine...

It is not a convenience. It's not a small gap. It's a giant abyss that Valve enabled us linux users to cross.

...having said all that (from a mobile phone), my steam beta updated twice today but hasn't shown me the option to force steam play on the titles. :( Anyone else has that problem?

Library - Right click to any game - Properties
x_wing Jan 18, 2019
The main problem with this feature would be that Linux users become lazy with natives (for instances, there is a workaround in order to get working Dying Light and Dead Island Definitive -- you can find it on GoL forums). Every games sometimes need a little workaround in order to make get native version working, so I hope people deplete options of making natives work before switching to the Windows version.
kuhpunkt Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: Guest...and you know who you are, trying to pass an insult off as a joke is silly. Please drop it.

I didn't insult you. You just didn't get an obvious joke. It's not hard to understand.

And you are the one insulting others now. Great job!
jardon Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: PatolaSorry, but from my point of view, you're just being stubborn and refusing to accept facts.

Ya he's literally asking a question and just ignoring the answers hes getting just to reask. At this point I think he's just stroking his own ego by trying to make us look dumb for not wanting to deal with wine.

But tbh people that use wine for steam games (the exception being games that dont work in proton) are only hurting linux gaming. Use proton. Count in sales. We cant sit here and complain about not having number on Linux when we ourselves arent contributing to the numbers.

Disclaimer: If you use GOG or whatever the above statements dont apply to you.
lod Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: GuestHope I can use proton for Rocket League to finally get workshop maps working. Performance might be better too. Rocket League's Linux performance is pretty poor compared to Windows sadly.

Rocket Leagues's wine performance is even poorer. Some of the workshop maps run at 20'ish FPS (RX580)
RL still uses DX9 (UE3)...
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