Maybe I've just forgotten how bad it was before, but it seems worse for me or at least certainly not better.

Framerates are secondary to me, as long as they're stable and above 30fps then I just want the best visual experience possible, then if I can achieve that, getting higher framerates is a bonus (this is probably because I generally prefer playing "slower" games where framerates don't make as much of a difference).

I've noticed no considerable improvement in fps, but the game looks worse. Removing anti-aliasing makes the game look crap, I don't know why they've done this. I can't really feel immersed in something where there's jaggies everywhere. That and now I have a new problem where shadows disappear and appear right infront of me... So guess I still won't be playing this for a while.

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Despite all its flaws (and not being on Linux), I still think CitiesXL is a lot better than this game for numerous reasons and its still the best city building sim out there.

That said though, this has good potential. The structure is there, just needs to be fleshed out and made to feel like more of a city sim and less of an "urban sprawl simulator" of middle-class mundane-ness.

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Am I seeing wrong or is the screen 4:3?? Who makes screens like that anymore?

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I always thought they used a slightly modified version of OpenGL and a slightly modified BSD as the OS... Maybe I'm thinking of the PS3 or maybe I just made that up completely. Whoops!

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All the Vulkan stuff has been the best news to come out of GDC really. If they can get this out soon (before DirectX), redudce driver overhead and make it easier for developers then it's fantastic news for us.

Btw, does anyone know if this will work on PS4 instead of OpenGL or not? That's going to be a pretty big factor in its adoption.

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Quoting: GuestMuch more than fixing drivers, developers need to fix their code. The majority of the problems simply vanish then. When developers actually fix their code, it also makes it much easier for actual core driver issues to be detected and handled (as opposed to weird out-of-spec things the drivers have to detect and handle). That will come in time, as devs (be it game devs, or engine devs) get more experience with OpenGL (and Vulkan in future).

Sure, in time. But these need to be perfect by November. A bad launch will kill this almost instantly and all that working towards improving drivers and code will be for nothing.

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Quoting: EKRboiThe best looking one IMO is the iBuyPower SBX.

[...]

EDIT* I didn't even take into account the horrible Linux driver situation for the AMD GPUs either. Not looking too good!

The only one which I would consider getting and which has the sort of specs I would expect from a Steam Machine is this one:

Syber Steam Machine I
Price: $599
CPU: Intel® Core™ i3 4150
GPU: NVIDIA® Geforce® GTX 750Ti 2GB
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM HDD

... except $150 cheaper (and probably without the 1TB HDD, seems like overkill).

With the AMD cards it's really, really silly of them to even have them on sale for a machine which runs Linux. Either Valve need to slap them on the wrist and tell them to do a U-turn, or they need to put some SERIOUS pressure on AMD to get the drivers up to at least the same level as Windows. Damage control needed there.

I can just see these going on sale in November and all these people buying them and obviously having no knowledge of Linux and then finding that they're getting piss-poor performance from their card and that lots of their games don't even work because their drivers are so broken. Those people would install Windows in a heartbeat and never come back to Linux again.

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It's a shame the CyberPowerPC downgraded its graphics card and upped its price (unless the info on Steam is out of date). Up until now, that was the best one by a mile.

The only one worth getting and which is anywhere near a reasonable price now is the Alienware one and even then, the base model should have 8GB RAM instead of 4GB... This is all a bit underwhelming really, the third-party manufacturers don't seem to know what they're doing or what their target market is.

Valve should just take matters into their own hands and release their own Steam machines priced at ~ $400, $500 and $650, either making a loss per unit sold (like consoles do) or just a very small profit margin. If we're being really crazy, they should throw in copies of Portal 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and CS:GO. That would really grab the attention of console gamers.

EDit: UGH just reading some of the specs on this is really annoying me! Like the Gigabyte Brix (grand prize in stupidness for this one), which is priced at $600, has an i7 but with Intel graphics... What's the point in that??? It's just throwing away money on a load of CPU power which won't ever get any use. Why not an i3 or AMD FX with a decent graphics card considering it's a gaming PC? Seriously, I think anyone with half a brain could pick better components than some of these have.

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Yup, it's like some of these were put together by Master Race mongoloids who got a pretty nice setup then started adding i7 processors and SSDs. The price of a PS4 is $400, so that's the price that at least the 3 cheaper models (Alienware, iBuyPower and CyberPowerPC should aim for).

EDIT: It occurred to me that these manufacturers are alot smaller than Microsoft and Sony, so might not have as many Chinese Gulags at their disposal, hence the price.

We will, however, try to get our hands on at least that lower end iBUYPOWER unit to test with, and really see how it performs.

If you're going to do that, at least get the CyberPowerPC one which at least has an Nvidia GPU (probably a GTX 750). Or spend $20 more and get the Alienware one. Compared to these two, the iBuyPower machine seems like terrible value for money.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/03/cyberpowerpc-syber-steam-machines/ [External Link]

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Quoting: scotsman9999Just as I feared would happen eventually, on the sale page the icon for Linux is no longer Tux but the generic circled Steam logo. Does "Linux" still scare devs that Valve has to cover it up with 'SteamOS' now? I do worry that eventually this will turn into another Android situation where we don't get much of a benefit.

Yeah I spotted that too... A bit disappointed really.

Luckily though we're already benefiting a lot and will continue to benefit thanks to SteamOS (lots of games, new API, lots of supported game engines, etc.). It's just a shame that it won't be as beneficial as possible, but I would call those things pretty beneficial all in all.

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