My friends and I have been playing A20 Experimental on a dedicated server. There are a lot of improvements and a few issues.

Dynamic rendering is a decent improvement and visuals are a lot better in my opinion but performance and framerate have suffered.

We've disabled Feral Sense and Blood Moon/Horde Nights. Zombie difficulty is ramped up in my opinion. Tier 1 feels about like it always has but by Tier 3 quests it gets brutal. Ferals, Screamers, and Radiated zombies have shown up much earlier. Animals feel about the same with bears and cougars being challenging.

I didn't experiment with new weapons. I went with my favorite stealth build using crossbows and bows with brawling and supressed 9mm pistor as my backups. Using a 9mm pistol on POIs is sometimes a must on T3 and higher. Stealth feels really good still, but takes a little more care and effort.

Building isn't something I've explored a lot [edit: I've built a lot of bases before A20, but not in A20 yet], but I will say the new shapes are welcome. I'm not sure how I feel about the material consolidation for block building, but overall I think I like it.

My job in the group is cooking and I'll probably put points into mining eventually. Cooking is mostly the same, but farming got a huge nerf. I've been buying a lot of potatoes, mushrooms, and blueberries from vendors. The farmer in our group finally got to 3 points in "Living Off the Land" and so we'll start trying to grow more of our own veggies.

The robot companion is cool, but has some pathing issues and sometimes gets stuck in doorways.

Overall the difficulty feels ramped up a bit and there is a lot more requirements for crafting which feels a little grindy. The headlight mod for vehicles is awesome. It's like actually having headlamps. We haven't tried any mods so no comment there. It's a good update and better than I anticipated.

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Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: NezchanIf you're concerned about violent content, one character describes a very nasty scene that I imagine could be pretty upsetting. They also laugh about another person's physical pain

Spoiler, click me

including an eye injury from broken glass

. Just to be aware.

Thanks for the heads-up.

So the impression that I'm getting is that there's nothing that's suddenly upsetting (and I know to be looking out for that scene - for the unspoilered bit mostly), and it should be OK to play through together when he's about 7, with conversations about whatever potentially upsetting thing might be coming up later before they happen.

For context, he loved The Martian (with sufficient reassurance that things would actually turn out OK), he likes to watch Operation Ouch, and we're both aware of the subject matter of the game. I just want to make sure that we're both prepared for things happening and that he'll be able to put them into the right context.

I wouldn't say there are dramatic sudden instances of sadness, but so far some of the narratives are fraught with some degree of tragedy and remorse.

Spoiler, click me

For example, a couple of the spirits are relatives of Stella and they relate to past regrets, struggles, and sadness. There is dialogue discussing hurt relationships, failed father figures, and some kind of deep things. There is also a hope in those discussions and so far it seems as though part of the adventure is healing some of those and learning how to move forward. The Dragon is a something your farm for materials, but is also a narrative character that has threatened one of the spirits in the past and destroyed their father. You don't relive that, but they do refer to it in the narrative and dialogue.

If you and your child enjoy light platforming with a sweet story then Sable [External Link] is one I would recommend checking out. It is the coming of age story about a young woman going on a journey. The game is set in a far future science fiction setting. Sable is going through a rite of passage called a "gliding" where she takes her hoverbike on a journey through deserts, ancient ruins, and the remnants of crashed space ships from another civilization and time. The game is cel-shaded stylized art with a beautiful soundtrack. It's very chill and low key so might not be challenging enough, but the puzzles and collection tasks are fun. It's a bit buggy in places, but nothing too terribly annoying in my opinion. According to Proton DB it is rated "gold".

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I'm not sure Valve or Google showed Amazon much or anything as they've been doing Linux on AWS far longer than Valve has. If anything I think Amazon has learnt lessons from Google on how not to run a streaming service and also their experience with running Twitch has also likely been educational for them.

If you're a Prime subscriber, in the US at least, you get a couple free games every month, plus a bunch of additional goodies for games you might already own. Most of those freebies are for F2P mobas, BRs, and MMORPGs of some sort, but still there is a lot of swag being thrown around in promos. I fully expect this aspect to be integrated into Luna. If not it would be a colossal misstep by the Luna team.

Regarding Valve, I'm not sure why people would think they would choose Google over AWS or Azure because both of those dwarf Google services by a large margin. Maybe Valve would setup their own infrastructure? Despite AWS being a little expensive it is also highly reliable and pervasive. The ability to replicate servers across regions is huge. I doubt they would chose Azure as Gabe is known for hating on Microsoft. The question I have is why would they choose Google over AWS?

Personally, I like the Xbox GamePass approach which allows you to install titles locally or stream them to your devices under the premium subscription. This approach is a huge bandwidth saver. I think Sony PlayStation is also moving this route in their rumored consolidation of PS Now with PS Plus.

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Quoting: CatKillerI'm still waiting on my little one being old enough so that we can play through this together. I'm thinking maybe 7? If anyone that's played it has insight for guidance, that would be appreciated.

I'm playing through it casually. Overall, I like it.

The low spoiler version is that you're ferrying spirits to their final destination via your boat. The boat is a home base you can build on and upgrade. There is a light crafting aspect where the protagonist refines materials (wood, ore, thread, and so on) and cooks food for their passengers.

The more challenging bits are the actual crafting interfaces which are action puzzlers. For example, the forge must have the bellows pumped to maintain heat in a range. The more advanced the metal the harder it is to keep it dial in. Weaving and cutting planks from wood have similarly challenging pieces. The wood is by far the hardest for me as the goal is to track a dotted line with the cursor. Most of the harvesting is very simple.

There is also a challenging platforming aspect to game play when collecting some of the rarer and more advanced materials and also when trying to reach some locations. As Stella (and her cat Daffodil which can be played couch coop) advances she can collect more skills to navigate the world (jump higher and so on).

There is a serious theme in the background concerning death and moving on. I feel it is treated well with respect without laying on the common social burdens of fear and loathing. There are some slightly spooky moments where some spirits confront darkness, but these aren't prevalent and are mostly a mechanic to collect a material. The artwork is highly stylized and beautiful in my opinion. There is an elegant whimsical feeling to the world with a fitting soundtrack.

Additionally Stella must manage her passengers. They will want fed and some are quite picky about their diets. They all need hugs periodically and have their own narratives to share with Stella.

My main complaint or criticism would like with some of the action mechanics and controls. I find them frustrating sometimes and feel they could be tighter and more refined. Also, while your goals are clearly laid out in modal window you can bring up, there is very little direction to completing them. It's easy to start wandering around wondering how and where to collect the next item or progress your passenger's storylines.

I play Spiritfarer through GamePass so I haven't bought it, but I highly recommend checking it out if you enjoy that sort of game play. Overall it's quite casual and generally relaxing with moments of intensity and mayhem. Also, I play with a controller for this title.

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Quoting: ObsidianBlkHere's the funny part, to me...
By merely making this statement, Ubisoft is admitting they're seeing potential that a lot of gamers could be buying the Steam Deck. The stupid part is, I'm betting a vast majority of gamers that get Steam Deck are not going to be Linux users, and, therefore, may have no idea that BattleEye isn't enabled for Linux/Proton and, by extension, Steam Deck. The average gamer may not even equate the two. You'll get a bunch of people buying the awesome looking Steam Deck "console" and be utterly flummoxed when their BattleEye-using Ubisoft game won't run at all because Ubisoft basically only asked Linux users (those paying the closest bit of attention) to post in their forums.

In the end, it's going to look like, to Ubisoft, that virtually none of their player base wants this game on the Steam Deck while the reality is, the vast majority of players that'd be playing on the Steam Deck won't even realize BattleEye and Proton are an issue they need to care about at the moment.

So, I'm not sure of Ubisofts game here. Is their intention to hurt the Steam Deck (and/or Valve) by explicitly setting up something that's going to make the demand seem low... or are they just stupid?

That said, it's all academic to me. I won't knowingly touch Ubisoft or Activision with a 50 foot pole at this time, so...

Ubisoft hasn't released FarCry 6 or any of their recent titles on Steam at all. They have released some DLC for UNO and For Honor, but not a base title. Their last Steam release was October 2020. Maybe they're in a disagreement over Valve's fees and policiies?

Maybe they're just trying to push gamers to their own platform. They do have enough name recognition to do so. They haven't released any of their games on Microsoft Game Pass or sell them in the Windows Store so it isn't just Valve they're giving the cold shoulder. They do still heavily promote their presence on Xbox and PlayStation. I find their marketing and business tactics puzzling lately.

I think they might have a deal with Epic, Stadia and/or Amazon Luna, so maybe that's why they're not making much noise about the Steam Deck as it's a direct competitor to those platforms.

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Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: randylYou know what's silly? The 1 - 2% asking for any game support or accommodation at all, while feeling entirely entitled to being treated equally.

Of course they should be treated equally. Are games companies charging Linux users 94% less than Windows users? Or Mac users 90% less than Windows users? And the idea that minority groups should be treated worse because they're a minority is... like... really bad.

Okay, let's not conflate choices in tech platforms with bona fide minority demographics and coopt those social struggles. This issue is not even in the same realm and it is incredibly disingenuous to imply such. This demand for equal treatment is a business case not a social marginalization case. And we're also talking about entertainment software not life critical systems. These are first world problems we're dealing with.

A small minority of desktop tech platform users desire a business to spend money and time on them as the other 98% who are footing the bill. This isn't social justice, it's business.

These companies are selling a product on supported platforms and that is it, just like all other commercial software or services. What these businesses like Ubisoft are asking is that this small Linux gaming minority to make a case that doing business with them will make sense. They want to know the revenue and success will outweigh the risks and costs. Linux Land is a very fluid and variable platform. Windows, Xbox, iOS, PlayStation, and Switch are stable, predictable, and fairly slow to change while providing fairly decent legacy support. Linux doesn't have an OS face (distro) that is a default that offers those features. It makes developing for the Linux desktop a lot less attractive and certain than those other platforms.

By all means ignore their request if it doesn't sit right with you, but I think that will just end up with them declining to participate. The question they're asking is "Why should we support this?". So ask yourself that and try and give them an answer they don't want to refuse. That's all I'm really saying. Be more inviting and accommodating and try working with these companies if you want to do business with them.

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Plasma does need to be simpler by default. However, I disagree that it doesn't need "dumbed down". It should and needs to be simplified and advanced options should have to be enabled by the user. Users who don't want to tweak and fiddle with their settings shouldn't even see those advanced options. I think saying that Elementary and Gnome are for "those users" is absolutely the wrong mindset if they want to be the mainstream option like Windows or Mac OS. They don't need to remove all those options, just hide them all until advanced settings are enabled and provide sane defaults and simple customization options (like Windows and Mac OS do).

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Quoting: Guest

Quoting: Liam Dawe

Quoting: GuestIt's an email to Battleye to turn it on. Unless they're really going to "actively" support it, which I question, why all the theater? Just send the damn email.

There's quite a few reasons actually.

For starters, enabling it would require sign-off by different people in the company. This would also need thorough testing, to ensure they're actually happy with the protection it provides. Mechanically simple for them to enable by asking, sure, but big online games have a lot to think about when enabling a new platform.

Asking for people to post in a forum to show support is simply silly. Look at the numbers and the fact that Valve's money did all the porting work for them. I get them not wanting to support us because we're small and it was too much work, but at this point, asking for forum posts is nothing short of pathetic.

You know what's silly? The 1 - 2% asking for any game support or accommodation at all, while feeling entirely entitled to being treated equally. Why is it so much for a company to ask for a little show of public support from their user base? Linux gamers are asking this company to spend time and money on something that most likely will be a financial loss. There is a risk involved with taking this sort of support on and some people could be on the hook for the decision. The safest way out here is for them to just ignore the anti-cheat support request. The question Linux gamers should be asking themselves is why should Ubisoft support the platform and what can they do to encourage them? If it were me and this were important I would start a positive social media campaign, get messages on their forum, and on Twitter, Facebook, Hacker News, Reddit, and other social news/discussion platforms and make our collective voice loud in a friendly way.

Linux Land needs to be a lot less hostile and a lot more welcoming and embracing of change and acceptance if they want to see the adoption it's long been asking for. The buzz around Linux adoption through Proton and the Steam Deck is an opportunity that may not come again for a while and it would be a shame for it to be wasted. If Linux gamers and users keep up their hostile attitude people probably aren't going to adopt the platform and a backlash could occur instead.

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Why would a user want to disable VAAPI? I've always assumed it was just another desired performance option. I'm familiar with getting it setup on Fedora, and a couple other distros, but not really anything beyond that. I know programs like VLC and some games use it, but beyond that not much.

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Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: F.Ultra

Quoting: GuestAlso, who actually ignores warning messages and proceeds regardless?

People wanting to prove a point. The less cynical answer: "Windows people that are conditioned to ignore things like UAC and just click next->next->next regardless".

Linus strikes me as being in that sweet spot where he knows a lot about computer tech stuff in general, which makes him confident, but doesn't actually know enough about Linux to justify his confidence in that specific setting. So he can confidently make a big mistake. If it was me, I don't have a ton of knowledge, so I don't have the confidence, but I do know enough to know that screwing up on the command line on Linux can have big results. So I wouldn't have done what he did.

To be fair, in his case not having Steam would be almost as serious as not having a desktop--the main point of him having a desktop was to play games on Steam, so if the desktop won't let him install Steam it's kind of pointless. And it was a fresh install with no personal files on the hard drive, 'cause he'd switched to a brand new one--the "hardware guy" approach to security. So risking things going wrong was a small penalty, and potentially getting Steam by running that risk was a big reward. So where for most people, installing one package would be way less important than the chance of screwing up their system, he could be like "Sure, why not?"

Great summary PLB. LTT (Linus Tech Tips) started out with a big focus on hardware with an audience who were home PC builders and PC Master Race builders. He used to do a lot of reviews on different hardware components and provide tech tips for builders. For example he has a really interesting episode where he compares thermal paste application methods and compounds to see if there is a big difference.

The saddest part of that video to me is when his partner (who used Mint) pre-apologized to the Linux community for potentially offending them for any missteps he might take and how he was worried about "Linux Chads" berating him for it. I mean that's just sad and unfortunately a lot of comments in this thread completely reinforce his fear.

In my opinion, if Linux gamers (and Linux users in general) really want greater adoption, then the community needs to be a lot kinder, understanding, and more welcoming. Digging into tribalism, distro slagging, using denigrating terms to describe "windows users", and reinforcing an "us vs them" team mentality is not going to win hearts and minds. If someone is overly harsh and beats a puppy, it will turn on them and always fear them. Is that really the environment and direction we want to take? Is that how the community in general wants to be perceived?

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