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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 Valve might also want to update the Steam support page too, it's rather outdated.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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MagicMyth Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: somebody1121I tried tomb raider 2013 and it's much faster than native. In the mountain village a get now 60 fps with vsync enable, on native it's 22-24 fps because of one core with 100% utilization. I also tried Deus Ex MKD but doesn't start.

BAH you beat me to it! Currently still downloading the Windows version myself to compare (backed up the native). The mountain village/shanty town area seems to be massively CPU bound. To the point that increasing my CPU from 3.8GHz to 3.85GHz gained me an extra 3-6 frames in that area keeping just above 30. I've tested the same system with a R9 285, R9 390 and now a RX 580 and all perform identical in that particular area. Clearly hitting some translation bottle neck that requires raw CPU performance to get over the hump which is why my friends i7 6700K greatly outperforms my Ryzen in that specific use case. In the past I ended up playing the game on an old laptop i7-3520K with an external R9 270X running the Windows which ran maxed settings at a solid 60fps. Not hateing on Feral here as it was one of their earliest ports and I think it used Openg GL 3.3 rather than 4 which probably made getting a good DX11 translation even harder. I really wish they would go back and apply some of there obviously improved techniques to the game. I'd happily pay them another few quid for an updated port. I wouldn't be surprised if that bottleneck at the shanty town was not even challenging for them now.

Anyway I'll report back to confirm if the Proton running version works out better.
jardon Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: jardon
Quoting: GuestThat mirv guy was told to get his eyes checked for not agreeing. I didn't see it as a joke and asked it to be dropped. It was not.

No, I'm being told my opinion is wrong, without being told why. I suspected a case of "because Valve", and planted a few words to check....and it seems that way in some cases.
But not others. There have been a couple replies of normality, some reasons I hadn't considered. Might I highlight them?

Do you not see the hypocrisy in that? I'm not going to say that others havent reacted poorly. I'm not gonna argue that others arent in the wrong too. But let me just play out the scenario for you.

mirv: why not use wine?
others: **reasons**
mir: why not use wine?
others: **reasons**
mir: why not use wine?
others: why are you being like this?? (plus some less than favorable responses)
mir: why are you saying im wrong?

Arent you pretty much saying that others opinions are wrong by ignoring their points? People have said plenty of times that it being built in to steam is easier for them and for many many people. I, like many others, hate touching wine. Good for you in that you mastered it. Your responses (or lack thereof) clearly aren't encouraging civil discussions.

Everyone (including myself), lets take a step back and try to learn and become better members of the community to try to mitigate further encounters like this.

Sorry, but I didn't see many giving actual reasons. Some gave "reasons" of something that was already possible, in my experience, which was why I asked: why be excited when it could already be done? TheDaftRick pointed out much I hadn't thought of, and liamdawe had a couple things too.
I've not mastered wine. Vanilla, latest release, and sometimes I try git. I would like to know why I'm ok with it (technically speaking), while others might not be - or maybe they're getting something extra from "Proton" that I'm not seeing. Which are the main reasons why I ask.

i think that in most cases (and in mine specifically) its just a hassle. most people come from windows or mac and just want to click and install things. and while ive been using linux for quite a while, sometimes having to learn all new systems just to use simple programs is just exhausting. there are times where im totally down for putting in the effort to learn something new and tinker, but even i just feel like having everything just work sometimes. while you may have streamlined youre setup and configurations for wine, most of us havent and would have to invest a significant amount of time to get to where you are.

That being said. Thanks for responding to TheDaftRick. I know we can all be a pain to deal with sometimes. I've gotten in my fair share of arguments with some of the people here. Lets all keep working on respecting each other and putting our pride aside. Cheers mate
MagicMyth Jan 18, 2019
Tomb Raider 2013 definitely runs much better using Proton. I wacked the settings up to ultimate and went straight to the mountain village. Was getting over 60fps in the same area I got half that on OpenGL. DXVK's magic is damn impressive.

Also worth noting. When switching over to the Windows version Steam only downloaded an extra 570MB instead of the several gigs a fresh install is. So it seems Steam might be intelligent enough to re-use the parts of the content that are identical between versions.

I do feel a little dirty running the Windows version when a good (effort) native one is available :D
Eike Jan 18, 2019
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Quoting: Guest
Quoting: EikeI'm just sitting next to a PC tower at work, and I don't think I'm the only one.
I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you should install some games on that thing. :P

Thanks, I'm happy with it.
... but yes, some games for the time after work(*) would be nice!

(*) It's a shame that the English language doesn't have a decent word for the German "Feierabend". "Feierabend" ("Feier" being celebration/party and "Abend" the evening time) has a connotation of finally, work is done and we can do what we want. (Probably the opposite of what we Germans are know for. :D )
Liam Dawe Jan 18, 2019
I will have an article out today with some comparisons and thoughts, might help settle some arguments...
Eike Jan 18, 2019
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Quoting: GuestSorry, but I didn't see many giving actual reasons. Some gave "reasons" of something that was already possible, in my experience, which was why I asked: why be excited when it could already be done? TheDaftRick pointed out much I hadn't thought of, and liamdawe had a couple things too.

As I'm wondering if you seen it, I'll repost mine:

Quoting: EikeWhile 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
Quoting: somebody1121I also tried Deus Ex MKD but doesn't start.

Could it be trying to start in dx12 mode?
obscurenforeign Jan 18, 2019
I don't really feel like messing with a beta right now, can anyone tell me if Saints Row: the Third works on Steam Play? I tried on Wine before but it wouldn't start, apparently because of problems with the DRM. (I didn't feel like trying to crack it.)
Eike Jan 18, 2019
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Quoting: Guest
Quoting: Eike(*) It's a shame that the English language doesn't have a decent word for the German "Feierabend". "Feierabend" ("Feier" being celebration/party and "Abend" the evening time) has a connotation of finally, work is done and we can do what we want. (Probably the opposite of what we Germans are know for. :D )

Happy Hour?

Doesn't that have a heavy connotation of booze? :)
Imants Jan 18, 2019
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: Eike
Quoting: GuestSorry, but I didn't see many giving actual reasons. Some gave "reasons" of something that was already possible, in my experience, which was why I asked: why be excited when it could already be done? TheDaftRick pointed out much I hadn't thought of, and liamdawe had a couple things too.

As I'm wondering if you seen it, I'll repost mine:

Quoting: EikeWhile 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.

Those particulars got lost in the text. Takes me time on this phone to reply too.

While I might debate easier to use (just my opinion), and I do wonder how big of an impact the other points make, they are indeed worth considering.
If Valve refund for a whitelisted game not working, or what they do if a game stops working, remains to be seen - especially if there's a native version that's not playable, or only barely functional by comparison. Too early to tell. But, indeed, something to consider beyond just technically running a game via wine.

Do not forget that many people (including me) just hate wine as brand it self. And I can totally relate with that. Because when I hear word wine I shrug and remember all those times when I tried to fiddle with it and nothing worked at all and I just gave up. Now my experience with proton was much more better and it is not associated in my mind with something bad. That is why hearing abount new wine version I feel nothing but hearing about proton updates I feel joy.
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