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How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By 1mHfoksd1Z, 11 April 2016 at 6:00 am UTC

To be honest, the Tux logo was a much better one that the SteamOS logo... i mean, we have an icon for Windows, one for Mac, so why not one for Linux too?
We see Steam logos everywhere on the Steam website... putting one in the supported platforms is very confusing...
I think they did it because they want it to be easier for newcomers who don't necessarily know anything about Linux or even that SteamOS is based on Linux... but it isn't...

In my opinion the "SteamPlay" label is not useful at all... maybe it should be replaced with a "Steam Machine" one that will be displayed on all titles that fully support Linux *and* controllers, and the Tux logo for every title that supports Linux. Basically we should have a logo for each OS, plus the "Steam Machine" label for the ones that work nicely with the Steam Machines (because yeah, SM users do have to know which one do and which don't)... pretty straightforward in my opinion.

It's a much better solution, IMO, than replacing Tux with the SteamOS logo which looks identical to Steam client's logo and most people don't know what it means.

EDIT: Oh, and if they do bring Tux back, they should make a new Tux icon, more minimalistic variation, because the old one was pretty ugly and inconsistent with the others.

Developer of Banished writes up his thoughts on Linux
By TacoDeBoss, 11 April 2016 at 5:37 am UTC

Oh no. That means in 2 years when Wayland is popular, we won't be playing this game..

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By ElectricPrism, 11 April 2016 at 2:42 am UTC

Quoting: KeyrockThe structure of MOBAs is such that no single player can carry a game all on their own.

You just let the cat out of the bag that you play League and not DOTA, your statement is true in League, but in DOTA I've seen a single player wipe out the enemy team many times.

This is actually one reason that League sucks because when you're a high level riot matchmaking pits 1-2 high levels and noobs against the same level team.

In DOTA, a single player who gets enough gold can avalanche really easily after executing several tp ganks well.

This is because of the many superior mechanics in DOTA, like the consequence of gold loss on death, Stuns and Knockups last much longer in DOTA and the Death Timer in DOTA keeps you dead much longer which is balanced with every hero being able to buyback from death once every so often.

Of course League would attract trashy troll players, 99% of the characters are as close to anime porn as you can get, of course teens and tweens are moody and toxic. With DOTA this is not nearly as big a issue.

Once again superior game mechanics suchas being able to mute other players, pause the game when you need to go use the toilet quickly.

The only animosity you'll find on DOTA is if you are below the age of 20 and have a headset on as DOTA players tend to have a higher median of about 30 years old and hate on teens to keep them away from their precious kid-free game.

This is no infomercial - if you play league please don't play DOTA. It's hard. You will suck for a while as you get used to new things like fog of war and turn rate mechanics, and the courier, etc... etc... etc..

I just find it funny to be on a Linux blog and see MOBA info generalised about a game that's Windows only. HoN errs more on the side of DOTA, if you want LOL on Linux try Strife on Steam by the same people who make HoN.

Quoting: ZeloxHmm well you seem to have the experience then. But I have to say there are rarly flamers now a days.

Y`all do know that in League of Legends they disabled All Chat right, so the communications by default are only from your team. Not to mention that players make lots of new accounts to take advantage of the bad matchmaking system and noob stomp the lower levels for fun right? Just checking. :\

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Zelox, 10 April 2016 at 11:51 pm UTC

Quoting: Keyrock
Quoting: ZeloxThe Leagues comunity are really great now adays. I rarly get in to a game with a flamer, and if I do just ignor it and report it.
And if u find that hard just mute it.

And sometimes there is trash talk just for the lols, you cant take its personaly or seriusly.
I think you should give it a go, mobas are really fun just be humble to other players and you are going to have alot of fun ^^.
Flamers are often kids who have been sipping on to mutch Fanta :P. Its the suger rush u know, and hormones.

Or maybe mobas just dont appeal to you.
I also think you have got the wrong first imperssion on mobas.
It's not a first impression, I've played plenty of them. And yes, LoL is less toxic than HoN and definitely less toxic than DotA 2 (though still definitely not as rosy as you make it out to be), and I think that stems from the game being significantly less complicated. I don't mean that as being necessarily a bad thing, LoL was specifically designed to be less complicated than DotA. As a player that's appreciated and I'm more likely to play LoL than DotA because it's a less complicated game and something I'm more likely to be able to handle. The flip side is that it makes the game less compelling for me to watch. I like watching DotA 2 because it's incredibly complicated and difficult. It may be the most complicated game ever made. Anyone can pick it up and play it, but to get good at it is daunting. Even the top level pros, I'm talking players on tier 1 teams, don't know all the interactions in the game. That makes it fun for me to watch but super stressful to play, whereas I find LoL less stressful to play but much less compelling to watch.


Hmm well you seem to have the experience then. But I have to say there are rarly flamers now a days.
Or maybe Im just lucky. But Im also playing alot in premade teams, with players I know in IRL and players Iv meet in game.
And as u said before its a team game, and you are expected to fill a roll for your team. And if your not there for them some players tend to flame, but that rarly solves anything. Or calling someone out for feeding isnt helping at all, better to just ignor those players and report them.

And I dont know if Im on a very very low lvl in dota, I know its alot more complicated.
But I find the gameplay to slow, but maybe there i more stuff going on under the surface of the game.
I tend to stick with league just because its faster and more strate forward, if u know what I mean.
Or I guess its easyer to undstand.

My point is anyway, I dont find mobas to be so toxic.
But there are jerks out there I have to agree on that.

Quoting: KimyrielleIf you don't want to be a jerk, then don't be a jerk.

Im not saying its ok to be rude, or ok for someone to be rude just because its the internet or a game.
I agree with you on that totaly.
Be nice, flaming rarly never helps eather, it only makes stuff worse. And gives other a bad experince and a losing game :(.

How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By Saladien, 10 April 2016 at 11:13 pm UTC

If a game supports steamplay, then if you buy it for example on linux.
You can play it on mac, without repurchasing it. Or Windows for that matter. If these platforms are supported.

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Keyrock, 10 April 2016 at 10:56 pm UTC

Quoting: ZeloxThe Leagues comunity are really great now adays. I rarly get in to a game with a flamer, and if I do just ignor it and report it.
And if u find that hard just mute it.

And sometimes there is trash talk just for the lols, you cant take its personaly or seriusly.
I think you should give it a go, mobas are really fun just be humble to other players and you are going to have alot of fun ^^.
Flamers are often kids who have been sipping on to mutch Fanta :P. Its the suger rush u know, and hormones.

Or maybe mobas just dont appeal to you.
I also think you have got the wrong first imperssion on mobas.
It's not a first impression, I've played plenty of them. And yes, LoL is less toxic than HoN and definitely less toxic than DotA 2 (though still definitely not as rosy as you make it out to be), and I think that stems from the game being significantly less complicated. I don't mean that as being necessarily a bad thing, LoL was specifically designed to be less complicated than DotA. As a player that's appreciated and I'm more likely to play LoL than DotA because it's a less complicated game and something I'm more likely to be able to handle. The flip side is that it makes the game less compelling for me to watch. I like watching DotA 2 because it's incredibly complicated and difficult. It may be the most complicated game ever made. Anyone can pick it up and play it, but to get good at it is daunting. Even the top level pros, I'm talking players on tier 1 teams, don't know all the interactions in the game. That makes it fun for me to watch but super stressful to play, whereas I find LoL less stressful to play but much less compelling to watch.

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Kimyrielle, 10 April 2016 at 10:53 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Zelox
Quoting: KeyrockMOBAs are games that inherently lead to flaming and toxicity, it's built into the very nature of the game genre. The same things that make MOBAs so exciting and compelling to watch (I find MOBAs, more specifically DotA 2, far and away the most compelling eSports to watch), also make the games extremely stressful and make players prone to fits and outbursts. It's because it's a team game where 4 other players are depending on you to not **** up. The structure of MOBAs is such that no single player can carry a game all on their own (though a stellar individual performance can certainly help a team), but a single player making mistakes can absolutely sink their entire team.

The Leagues comunity are really great now adays. I rarly get in to a game with a flamer, and if I do just ignor it and report it.
And if u find that hard just mute it.

And sometimes there is trash talk just for the lols, you cant take its personaly or seriusly.
I think you should give it a go, mobas are really fun just be humble to other players and you are going to have alot of fun ^^.
Flamers are often kids who have been sipping on to mutch Fanta :P. Its the suger rush u know, and hormones.

Or maybe mobas just dont appeal to you.
I also think you have got the wrong first imperssion on mobas.

Well, I lasted less than an hour in Leagues. I am used to the internet being a rough place but Leagues was extreme even by internet standards. I have never seen such an immature, rude and toxic "community" in my entire life and I have no desire to repeat that experience either. I am not sure what exactly causes MOBAs to attract entire armies of douchebags. The genre otherwise seems to be interesting. But I would really rip out my toe nails than spending one more minute with complete jerks like the ones I met in that game.
And make no mistake - there is no excuse for being a jerk online. "It's just a game" doesn't count and neither does "hormones". No matter what excuses are used, a person trash talking others is a moron, is a moron, is a moron. Period. Even the commonly used "It's the internet!" is just another expression for "I am actually a rude idiot and the Internet's anonymity finally gives me the opportunity to be my true self." It's laughable when these people try to indicate that they are actually nice in real life. The online world is just a part of real life, not a different reality. You can't be an asshole in one part and a nice person in the other. These people need to stop lying to themselves. If you don't want to be a jerk, then don't be a jerk.

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Zelox, 10 April 2016 at 9:56 pm UTC

Quoting: KeyrockMOBAs are games that inherently lead to flaming and toxicity, it's built into the very nature of the game genre. The same things that make MOBAs so exciting and compelling to watch (I find MOBAs, more specifically DotA 2, far and away the most compelling eSports to watch), also make the games extremely stressful and make players prone to fits and outbursts. It's because it's a team game where 4 other players are depending on you to not **** up. The structure of MOBAs is such that no single player can carry a game all on their own (though a stellar individual performance can certainly help a team), but a single player making mistakes can absolutely sink their entire team.

The Leagues comunity are really great now adays. I rarly get in to a game with a flamer, and if I do just ignor it and report it.
And if u find that hard just mute it.

And sometimes there is trash talk just for the lols, you cant take its personaly or seriusly.
I think you should give it a go, mobas are really fun just be humble to other players and you are going to have alot of fun ^^.
Flamers are often kids who have been sipping on to mutch Fanta :P. Its the suger rush u know, and hormones.

Or maybe mobas just dont appeal to you.
I also think you have got the wrong first imperssion on mobas.

Rocket League not due on SteamOS & Linux for another 6 to 8 weeks
By QUASAR, 10 April 2016 at 9:38 pm UTC

What happened to this game? any update?

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Keyrock, 10 April 2016 at 9:32 pm UTC

MOBAs are games that inherently lead to flaming and toxicity, it's built into the very nature of the game genre. The same things that make MOBAs so exciting and compelling to watch (I find MOBAs, more specifically DotA 2, far and away the most compelling eSports to watch), also make the games extremely stressful and make players prone to fits and outbursts. It's because it's a team game where 4 other players are depending on you to not **** up. The structure of MOBAs is such that no single player can carry a game all on their own (though a stellar individual performance can certainly help a team), but a single player making mistakes can absolutely sink their entire team.

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By dubigrasu, 10 April 2016 at 9:27 pm UTC

Quoting: DamonLinuxPLMy play, sorry for feed :D BTW. thanks for made benchmark and share video.
So you're the "Angry Penguin" ? :)

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Zelox, 10 April 2016 at 9:23 pm UTC Likes: 2

Whaatt does HoN work on linux :O?
I hade no idea! Im gonna have to try this.
Good to see Linux in the lead when it comes to perfomence aswell :).

Nvidia releases 364.16 Vulkan driver, improved Optimus support, improved multi-threaded scaling
By Zelox, 10 April 2016 at 9:21 pm UTC

Quoting: GuestThat's nice that you didn't have to stop X like the old NVIDIA installers used to require. Still you need to restart X or reboot anyway in order to use the newly installed driver of course, but still, that's waaaaaaaaaaay easier for Linux noobs than being forced to change ttys and forced to learn how to use the command line. A big step for Linux user friendliness, there!

I think a restart is needed in windows aswell. If u want the new drivers to work.
Otherwise I think you are still using the old driver.

But I dont mind a restart, like I said. If it works Im happy ^^

How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By jf33, 10 April 2016 at 9:11 pm UTC

QuoteSteam Play does not mean it supports Linux & SteamOS. Steam Play means you buy it once, and it will only work on the platforms that the game supports directly.
I still don't get it, sorry. Could you please explain to a non-Steam user* what Steam Play means? I mean, obviously a game can only run on the platforms that it supports (at least if you don't use things like wine). Where does Steam Play come in?

* Never bought a single game on Steam, but got some as a present.

Be part of a 'Kick Ass Commandos' team in this Steam Early Access frenetic top down shooter
By Linas, 10 April 2016 at 9:05 pm UTC

I saw it some time ago, and was considering purchasing it. Did not, because it's not finished yet. And quite frankly I have lots to play, so I can easily wait for it to mature. Good times. :)

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By GustyGhost, 10 April 2016 at 9:02 pm UTC Likes: 2

QuoteShame the community in that game is utterly terrible

It's hard to be upset at this fact once you realize this is just human nature in a high-investment, high-risk environment. The people who play MOBA games are as "toxic" as any other but the difference is that MOBA game design fans the flames much more intensely.

Oh, and the fact that these games skew to a younger demographic certainly doesn't help either.

How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By Eike, 10 April 2016 at 8:54 pm UTC

Quoting: Mountain ManI thought the Tux icon was perfect, but I understand that Valve has a vested interest in pushing their own branded Linux distro, and I don't have a problem with that. However, they really need to brand their OS with something more distinctive than the generic Steam logo. Something like this:


I like these,
but I like even more Valve betting it's Corporate Identity on LinSteamOS!

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Kallestofeles, 10 April 2016 at 8:15 pm UTC Likes: 4

Imo HoN has been always developed with OpenGL in mind, so no wonder. Sad to see that, though this is a great example of well developed game, most of the games that get ported to linux still suck performance-wise.
Ok, "suck" might be a bit harsh, but when you max your games out and get 30-50% performance degration on linux, it's still bad-as-balls.

Lets hope that more developers learn from this and if not optimize their ports, then at least start new projects with OpenGL/Vulkan in mind for better performance for us all. Why would someone even think about DX API when the other options are cross-platform and can out-perform the first when enough care is given? Sure, it might be a hell-of-a-more difficult, but taking on such challenge first will give the devs better life in the long run imo.

Ok, enough about this rant. Hope I didn't hit someone's nerves with it... if I did - I apologise! :P

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By DamonLinuxPL, 10 April 2016 at 8:11 pm UTC Likes: 5

My play, sorry for feed :D BTW. thanks for made benchmark and share video.

This Heroes of Newerth benchmark video shows SteamOS as the clear winner
By Saladien, 10 April 2016 at 7:40 pm UTC Likes: 2

Wow great :), i thought that Arma 3 was just a one hit wonder. But this is rly glorious.

Enemy Starfighter, the seriously cool looking space shooter is no longer coming to Linux
By TheRiddick, 10 April 2016 at 7:07 pm UTC

Well there is Limit Theory, that might make it to Linux and is basically this. Thought I think the developer has had some mental issues lately (probably common for people with VERY high IQ's like him).

Consortium: The Tower looks incredible, promising day-1 support and needs funding (updated)
By stesen, 10 April 2016 at 7:04 pm UTC Likes: 1

Everyone currently in-engine is on Windows. That'll change once we get the full team together/everyone doing more. I'm on a triple-booted MacBook, and one of our other programmers also uses a Mac. We'll also be getting test machines to fill in any gaps and of course Linux is pretty low-effort to install and use on most computers these days (Arch and company notwithstanding, of course).

As I said above, regular testing will be a part of our development cycle from the start with The Tower. We learned the hard way with the first game that our type of game especially needs heavy testing.

As for editors, Windows and OSX can only be compiled for from their native editors. Linux can be either cross-compiled for from Windows or compiled to from the native editor (the cross-compiler was provided originally because the engine's Linux support happened before the editor's, though both are now supported).

Generally, since UE4 project files are cross-platform portable (save for anything custom-compiled outside of the engine, of course), we'll likely find each developer using the editor on whichever platform they happen to be running, with occasional ventures onto other platforms when platform-specific work/debugging is required. Builds themselves will most likely be automated.

How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By ElectricPrism, 10 April 2016 at 6:59 pm UTC Likes: 1

I think Linux users generally tend to be towards the top of the chart when it comes to being smart.

That said, I think most Linux users using Steam are aware of SteamOS and associate the SteamOS icon with Linux fairly quickly.

I actually prefer that it stay the way it is as it would be more proper to use distribution logos like Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, OpenSUSE, etc... (than a Tux icon as Linux is a kernel and comes in many shapes and sizes similar to how PC means Linux, Mac, Windows, FreeBSD, etc...)

However, having a myriad of kinds of Linux logos would be silly and turn off developers rather quickly. So 1 Commercial Linux spearheading the conversion to me seems like excellent business logic to me to say to developers - hey just support this 1 Linux and it'll most likely run on the other 200 Linux distributions.

How annoying would it be to see a OpenSUSE or Arch logo only to find that the game only runs on Debian or Ubuntu. Obviously Linux distrubtions are more alike now in 2016 than in the past but I think that's a fair scenario.

The dumb masses don't even know that Android is Linux, or Mercedes or a billion other things they use every day - efforts to educate them about how cool we are will most certainly fail as they are defective.

Developer of Banished writes up his thoughts on Linux
By vlademir1, 10 April 2016 at 6:43 pm UTC

Quoting: KimyrielleAnd why would one want to use a commercial code editor when we have tons of awesome open source ones? oO

It is commercial open source actually. Not free in the FOSS nor Free Software sense so far as I know, and certainly not free beer style free but you do get source with the product when you buy it as I understand it. It's main selling point seems to be in terms of it's ability to run identically across all supported platforms without a lot of setup work and directly importing VS projects and the like.

Enemy Starfighter, the seriously cool looking space shooter is no longer coming to Linux
By aristorias, 10 April 2016 at 6:36 pm UTC

Quoting: omer666So Occulus' decisions led the dev to ignore our OS more easily.

In the case of a game mainly directed towards VR, I can understand this point of view, even more so if it was not founded by Linux gamers in the first place.

At the same time, in this case I am not really interested in this game either. When a new technology is the game's main interest it always look more like a demo, and you end up with a great concept with very few content to realise it's potential.

Facebook is not the middle of the universe.
Even before oculus release a us senator wanted facebook to tell what data it is CONSTANTLY SUBMITTING.

And as side-note: HTV VIVE by VALVE is already released, will have linux support soon and is a drop in replacement for oculus.
It even does work with enemystarfighter already.

This is not about VR or enemystarfighter being VR focused this is about the dev just does not want to spent time on non-windows systems.

jesus christ. . . i really hoped this would replace FTL on my most favorite games ever list. :( :(

Consortium: The Tower looks incredible, promising day-1 support and needs funding (updated)
By Beamboom, 10 April 2016 at 5:28 pm UTC Likes: 1

Stesen,
Do you guys use the UE editors also on Linux/Mac when developing the project? I do get the impression you don't, from what you say here. And if so, I'd strongly suggest you compile and test the project regularly.

The case sensitive filesystem detail was only meant as a rather exotic example of the the more dismal moments we have to put ut with from developers who just compile it for Linux after clearly having only QA'd it on Windows. The various faulty releases for Linux so far have in common that the issues were of incredibly mundane character. We talk about issues that should have been discovered very, very early on had any QA been done at all.

More common - far too common - are the issues with mouse handling for example. Or handling of international keyboards, screen resolutions, multiple screens, or game controller issues (for those who are supposed to support that). Things that just needs to be tested and handled properly. Things that do differ between the platforms (seeing how the issues are not there in the Windows versions).

Your development cycle is obviously none of my business, but I just wanted to use this opportunity to point this out now that the dialogue was here.
I wish you the best of luck - I look forward to keep an eye on the progress with this one. The video sure look promising!

Enemy Starfighter, the seriously cool looking space shooter is no longer coming to Linux
By omer666, 10 April 2016 at 5:14 pm UTC Likes: 1

So Occulus' decisions led the dev to ignore our OS more easily.

In the case of a game mainly directed towards VR, I can understand this point of view, even more so if it was not founded by Linux gamers in the first place.

At the same time, in this case I am not really interested in this game either. When a new technology is the game's main interest it always look more like a demo, and you end up with a great concept with very few content to realise it's potential.

Developer of Banished writes up his thoughts on Linux
By soulsource, 10 April 2016 at 5:12 pm UTC

"Installing the graphics drivers..." That sounds bad, such as fglrx bad...

How to tell what Steam games work on Linux & SteamOS, steamplay does not mean Linux support
By Liam Dawe, 10 April 2016 at 5:12 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: nifkerthey should only add this Steamplay icon if the game supports all platforms steam supports.
No, that's not what Steam Play is for, as already explained.