Support us on Patreon
PayPalLatest Comments by Purple Library Guy
Microsoft is rumoured to be looking to buy Valve, EA and others
4 Feb 2018 at 9:49 am UTC Likes: 4
4 Feb 2018 at 9:49 am UTC Likes: 4
[quote=Whitewolfe80]
This doesn't mean Mr. Newell isn't motivated by money. But it does mean that Valve is run by personal motivations, not by the structural imperatives of the corporate form. It probably wouldn't be wise to trust Valve, in the same sense that it's not wise to trust an individual you don't know personally, and especially a rich one. But it's different from a corporation, where you shouldn't trust it in the sense that you know for certain it would betray you to make 2% interest on a penny.
Quoting: STiATValve is a corporationI'm not sure it actually is. At any rate not in the typical sense of a thing owned by shareholders, where the shares are sold on the open market. My understanding is that Valve is owned by Gabe and a few other Valve employees, with Gabe holding the biggest single chunk and maybe a majority. Something like that. This means that the management and ownership are basically the same, and therefore that the management does not in effect have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders to maximize profits, unless we're expecting Gabe to sue himself.
This doesn't mean Mr. Newell isn't motivated by money. But it does mean that Valve is run by personal motivations, not by the structural imperatives of the corporate form. It probably wouldn't be wise to trust Valve, in the same sense that it's not wise to trust an individual you don't know personally, and especially a rich one. But it's different from a corporation, where you shouldn't trust it in the sense that you know for certain it would betray you to make 2% interest on a penny.
Wine 3.1 is now available to kick off another development cycle
2 Feb 2018 at 11:44 pm UTC
2 Feb 2018 at 11:44 pm UTC
Quoting: WJMazepasGuys, it is normal to graphics on wine look different than on Windows? I tried GTA SA and it looked differentDefine "normal". If you mean, "Common and not unexpected" then yeah, it's normal. If you mean "That's how it's supposed to be", then no, probably it's not normal.
Martian city builder 'Surviving Mars' release date announced with a new trailer
2 Feb 2018 at 5:10 am UTC
2 Feb 2018 at 5:10 am UTC
Quoting: iniudanThe dust isn't the issue. Low atmospheric density, as you said. Apparently about 1% of ours. Kinetic energy is like mass times velocity squared, so a Martian wind has the energy of an Earth wind one tenth as fast. A 70 km/h Martian wind isn't going to generate any more force than a 7 km/h wind on Earth. And when there isn't actually a sandstorm on--forget it! The wind pressure will be negligible.Quoting: Purple Library GuyI still don't see how those wind thingies on Mars are going to generate noticeable power.Mars is very windy, it just take a lot of wind (like 70km/h) for the dust to raise from the ground due to low atmospheric density, but once it's off said ground, it stay in the air longer due to the lack of precipitation.
Martian city builder 'Surviving Mars' release date announced with a new trailer
1 Feb 2018 at 6:35 pm UTC
1 Feb 2018 at 6:35 pm UTC
I still don't see how those wind thingies on Mars are going to generate noticeable power.
BATTALION 1944 is not coming to Linux, despite showing a SteamOS icon and system requirements
1 Feb 2018 at 6:29 pm UTC Likes: 2
1 Feb 2018 at 6:29 pm UTC Likes: 2
I know nothing about r/linux_gaming or whatever jaycee's got a bug in their ear about, but I do agree with the basic point that a SteamOS icon and SteamOS requirements do not just magically appear on a page, they get put there by the game developers who should therefore bear some responsibility for doing it.
It's like, if I'm renting a house and someone vandalizes it and then the landlord never bothers to fix the damage. OK, the landlord (Valve) should be doing something. Nonetheless, the vandal (game developer) is not somehow blameless because of that. So I don't actually see why we should not be giving the BATTALION developers a hard time. Especially when you add in their totally crap communication. Maybe not an "OMG these people are evil" hard time, but certainly a "Get your bloody act together" hard time.
It's like, if I'm renting a house and someone vandalizes it and then the landlord never bothers to fix the damage. OK, the landlord (Valve) should be doing something. Nonetheless, the vandal (game developer) is not somehow blameless because of that. So I don't actually see why we should not be giving the BATTALION developers a hard time. Especially when you add in their totally crap communication. Maybe not an "OMG these people are evil" hard time, but certainly a "Get your bloody act together" hard time.
Hollow Knight: Gods & Glory, a third free content update has been announced
1 Feb 2018 at 6:13 pm UTC
1 Feb 2018 at 6:13 pm UTC
Well, you know what they say: No Gods, no Glory!
Microsoft is rumoured to be looking to buy Valve, EA and others
31 Jan 2018 at 9:41 pm UTC Likes: 1
Not that any of this is going to happen. I really don't see Gabe deciding to dump his career and his massive revenue stream (and for that matter, his superstar status in certain communities) for a lump sum.
31 Jan 2018 at 9:41 pm UTC Likes: 1
Quoting: PatolaAs Mohandevir said, such would be gradual. There's always ways to functionally make things unworkable without actually leaving your legal butt uncovered. And there's certainly no way to legally force MS to continue putting NEW Linux games on.Quoting: Mountain ManAnd is that really believable? Lots of Steam users already bought lots of games (me included) and have the legal right to continue using the platform on their OS and have the game updates. If they just shut it down, it would likely involve them in a whole amount of legal trouble, if not a downright scandal. Adding an OS to Steam is easy, stopping supporting it when you're already in legal ties with its users is not.Obviously if Microsoft somehow convinced Gabe and co to sell up, Linux gaming would change significantly..."Change significantly" is an understatement. It would cease to be. Microsoft would kill all support for Linux gaming and force all developers to support Windows exclusively.
Not that any of this is going to happen. I really don't see Gabe deciding to dump his career and his massive revenue stream (and for that matter, his superstar status in certain communities) for a lump sum.
Microsoft is rumoured to be looking to buy Valve, EA and others
31 Jan 2018 at 6:19 pm UTC Likes: 2
31 Jan 2018 at 6:19 pm UTC Likes: 2
Quoting: KimyrielleThe last thing this planet needs is more monopolies.This is way off topic and theoretical, but there can also be serious problems with meaningful competition. There was a group of economists in the 19th century called the "railway economists", now little known, who were grappling with the problem of why railways kept going bust. It turned out that the problem was that in a capital-intensive industry, because of debt service costs there is a gap between the price at which you make a profit from each customer and the price at which you break even overall.
I am generally curious when the world is going to realize that unregulated wild-west markets do not work, and the economy needs meaningful competition to function... *sigh*
Spoiler, click me
So, say you have two competing railways running passenger services between two cities. They have each borrowed $120 million for tracks, trains and whatnot. At 4% interest they owe 4.8 million a year, or $400,000 per month. They also have operating costs--fuel, maintenance, paying employees and such. This is also $400,000 per month, for a total of $800,000. But there are 20,000 passengers per month on average between the two cities. If the two railways split the passengers equally and charge $80/ticket, they break even at 10,000 passengers * $80 = $800,000.
But they don't want to break even, they want to make a profit--and they're competing. If one company could get more of the passengers it would make more money. Say company A drops its price to $70/ticket and most of the passengers switch to the cheaper option--it will get nearly $1.4 million per month. The actual cost per passenger is way below $70, so they totally make money dropping the price. But of course the other competitor will drop its prices to get business back, maybe even further--it can still make a bunch at $60/ticket if it can get all the passengers.
The railway economists concluded that such price wars go until the price charged to each customer is enough to barely make an operating profit--but not to service debt. At this point it's still better to carry passengers than to just stop; the revenue you'd lose by stopping operations is still more than the costs you'd eliminate. But you're losing money on debt service because of the sunk capital costs for all the equipment and eventually you go bankrupt. This in fact happened to a ton of railway lines in the 19th century and indeed seems to have been a problem for a lot of capital-intensive firms; eventually the likes of J.P. Morgan "solved" the problem by creating monopolies and trusts.
Nowadays I think this problem has been visible for some time in the airline business, with airlines repeatedly going under or amalgamating into bigger and bigger companies for survival.
But they don't want to break even, they want to make a profit--and they're competing. If one company could get more of the passengers it would make more money. Say company A drops its price to $70/ticket and most of the passengers switch to the cheaper option--it will get nearly $1.4 million per month. The actual cost per passenger is way below $70, so they totally make money dropping the price. But of course the other competitor will drop its prices to get business back, maybe even further--it can still make a bunch at $60/ticket if it can get all the passengers.
The railway economists concluded that such price wars go until the price charged to each customer is enough to barely make an operating profit--but not to service debt. At this point it's still better to carry passengers than to just stop; the revenue you'd lose by stopping operations is still more than the costs you'd eliminate. But you're losing money on debt service because of the sunk capital costs for all the equipment and eventually you go bankrupt. This in fact happened to a ton of railway lines in the 19th century and indeed seems to have been a problem for a lot of capital-intensive firms; eventually the likes of J.P. Morgan "solved" the problem by creating monopolies and trusts.
Nowadays I think this problem has been visible for some time in the airline business, with airlines repeatedly going under or amalgamating into bigger and bigger companies for survival.
Don't Sink, a sandbox adventure pirate RPG now has Linux support
31 Jan 2018 at 5:34 pm UTC
31 Jan 2018 at 5:34 pm UTC
Quoting: SebastianNigroFair enough.Quoting: razing32Sounds interesting.It has persistent saving but no permadeath. You just get returned to the last island you were on. So you lose at most, a few minutes of progress.
Hope it isn't built with permadeath , or they at least make it optional.Quoting: SebastianNigroIf you play the game for yourself and experience some of the late-game combat, you'll understand why the minimum specs are what they are.
Quoting: Purple Library GuyYou need to put some of that stuff in the trailer. Nobody goes and buys a game about piracy on the high seas because they were impressed with the squeaky-clean shops in the towns.Unfortunately since the game is in early access the current trailer reflects how the game looked/played on day one release. Once again manpower is a huge limitation. I can produce another trailer but it would require another 6-8 hours which is an entire work day. We plan to update the trailer soon but for now we aren't entirely focused on sales as much as we are on the game's development. We want to further improve the game for now and when we feel it is ready for a bigger audience we will absolutely create a new trailer.
At worst right now you are purchasing a game that runs better, has more than 6x the content, supports Linux, and has some improved features when compared to the current trailer.
Don't Sink, a sandbox adventure pirate RPG now has Linux support
30 Jan 2018 at 4:44 pm UTC
You need to put some of that stuff in the trailer. Nobody goes and buys a game about piracy on the high seas because they were impressed with the squeaky-clean shops in the towns.
30 Jan 2018 at 4:44 pm UTC
Quoting: SebastianNigroIf you play the game for yourself and experience some of the late-game combat, you'll understand why the minimum specs are what they are.Thanks for stopping by.
You need to put some of that stuff in the trailer. Nobody goes and buys a game about piracy on the high seas because they were impressed with the squeaky-clean shops in the towns.
- Linux smashes past 5% on the Steam Survey for the first time
- Wine 11.6 is an exciting release to make modding Windows games on Linux simpler
- NVIDIA announce a preview of "DRM Per-Plane Color Pipeline API" support on Linux (good for HDR)
- DOOM Eternal is now available on GOG
- Chiaki-ng the open-source PlayStation Remote Play app gets better streaming quality and stability
- > See more over 30 days here
How to setup OpenMW for modern Morrowind on Linux / SteamOS and Steam Deck
How to install Hollow Knight: Silksong mods on Linux, SteamOS and Steam Deck- Lutris alternatives
- Caldathras - The Great Android lockdown of 2026.
- Salvatos - Away all of next week
- scaine - What Multiplayer Shooters are yall playing?
- Strigi - New Desktop Screenshot Thread
- Hamish - See more posts