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Latest Comments by Liam Dawe
Planet Nomads has left Early Access and feels like a big missed opportunity
3 May 2019 at 4:48 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: gurvI strongly disagree about recommending NMS instead of Planet Nomads.

Having played both, I can tell you Planet Nomads is way more interesting than NMS.
NMS gets dull very quickly because every planet and every solar system feels so generic (the exactly identical space station interior doesn't really help with that).
I will respectfully disagree strongly. I won't get into a long debate about it but this is an incredibly inferior product when compared with NMS which continues to evolve with huge updates. NMS has incredibly different planets, I've never not even once visited a planet that was the same in it. Planet Nomads is the same every time and it's an unpolished mess.

Considering how they just pushed this out the door, I think they're aware of how far they strayed from the vision and made a lacklustre game.

Quoting: Dunc
Performance in the Linux version is also not good, at all! With model quality, shadow quality, texture quality all to low and basically everything else on low or turned off, it struggles badly to even remain at 40FPS often dipping well below.
I recently started a new game. In the tutorial, the framerate dropped to around one frame per second at some points. A couple of years ago, I had no trouble at all running it on an older graphics card and CPU, with less memory. It's simply not ready for release.

Even in its current state though, with some optimization it would be decent enough. Not a “must play”, but interesting if it's the sort of thing you like. Maybe it didn't live up to the crowdfunding hype (and I can understand backers' frustration at that), but performance issues aside it's not a bad game. I've had a lot of fun with it. But right now... no. It shouldn't be leaving Early Access in this state.
Down to one FPS?! Holy cow and I thought it performed badly on my end.

Pandemic Express - Zombie Escape is out and works with Steam Play, it's also very weird (updated)
3 May 2019 at 1:09 pm UTC

Quoting: Geppeto35review on steam and elsewhere are not that fine. Strange. Seems fun. Cannot change keys it seems? True Liam?
Currently no you can't, they have a roadmap up that sounds good though. Not a finished game remember :)

Planet Nomads has left Early Access and feels like a big missed opportunity
3 May 2019 at 12:33 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: RoosterIt is much cheaper than No Man's Sky and it is Linux native so I would still consider buying it instead of NMS if it wasn't for the technical issues.

It can't be that much worse then NMS at release right? RIGHT?
Cheaper...for a reason. Native sure but that doesn't make anything good. Even without technical issues, it's just a shell.

NMS really wasn't as bad as people claim at release.

Despite the high price, the initial batch of Valve Index headsets have sold out on pre-orders
3 May 2019 at 9:36 am UTC Likes: 8

Quoting: einherjarTBH, that is some kind of "none-information".
If we do not have an idea, how much was in stock, it does not say anything...

That is like, "I think my PC will cost 1000"
Regardless of the details there: An expensive new bit of hardware that supports Linux from day one selling out, is actually very good to know. It shows Valve are obviously onto something, people have been waiting for a seriously good VR HMD even if it's pricey.

Pandemic Express - Zombie Escape is out and works with Steam Play, it's also very weird (updated)
3 May 2019 at 7:50 am UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: TheBardLinux sales are very important to show developers who did make the effort to target Linux (natively or via Steam Play) that it's worth it. The best example of that may be porting companies like Feral, Aspyr or VP. Those companies (developers, publishers and porting houses targeting Linux) support Linux Gaming.
Sorry but no. It's extremely rare for a Linux version to actually be worth it. That is the reality we face and it's the same story developers themselves tell me all the time. Linux is done as it's either made easier due to tools or out of love.

As for Feral, Aspyr and VP: We cover every single release they do, including 99% of patches and DLC. It's not like we suddenly ignore them and will never.

Even VP, their last two ports were just plain bad but I still personally purchased MXGP3 (a reader donated Gravel) and covered them even though there was no press copy. I do my part but I am not and never will be a native only zealot.

Quoting: TheBardIt is basically the same think as buying a product with a warranty or without. Even if the product is the same, the services are very different as without a warranty: you can only rely on luck!
I do agree a bit there and it's a point I myself raised before. As always, i just give people the news and the decision is down to them.

And as announced before, if you don't want to see such Steam Play news feel free to add the Steam Play tag to your list of barred tags under Content Preferences on the UserCP.

Do remember we're a news site. What could be a popular game, able to play day-1 on Linux is news, simple as that.

Facepunch Studios have given an update on the future of Rust for Linux, issues with "third parties"
2 May 2019 at 9:58 pm UTC Likes: 7

Quoting: PatolaWe're doomed... Linux gaming will die. :'(
We're not, we're really not. Let's not go down that road. Out of all the games we have plus Steam Play, how many have removed Linux support? An absolutely tiny fraction compared to the overall amount.

Pandemic Express - Zombie Escape is out and works with Steam Play, it's also very weird (updated)
2 May 2019 at 9:16 pm UTC Likes: 6

I feel like a broken record at this point answering this question:

Quoting: TheBardI also love what you do Liam but i don't get why you regularly promote Windows only games on GamingOnLinux?
Steam Play blurs the lines between everything. It is gaming done on Linux, arguing that is silly.

I think part of the confusion is this:
Quoting: TheBardOnce again, if the devs make the effort to guarantee Steam Play support, and count Steam Play as Linux sales, then i'm fine with it. It does not seem to be the case here.
Every single game purchased, be it a native game or Steam Play and then played on Linux is a Linux sale. You are supporting Linux gaming by doing it.

Valve confirmed this on day-1 of Steam Play being released, as I noted in the original article.

Our market share is still small, there are lots of unknown Linux native games that deserve attention
Across the time Steam Play has been around (6-7 months), I've only written about approximately 10 games done in Steam Play and some of those were about the developer removing Linux support. Out of around one thousand articles,that's not much for people to really get bothered about.

Quoting: TheBardSteam Play does not provide any guarantee a game will stay playable
The exact same can be said for native games. Look at the Rust news, The Banner Saga, Human: Fall Flat, Phoenix Point, Heroes of Newerth and so on. There's a number that removed Linux support and just because a game is native, does not mean it will continue to work. How many times have I written about a game being updated and then broken on Linux? Too many times, in reality Steam Play is no different in this regard.

CS:GO Danger Zone "Sirocco" major update released with new map, items, respawns, perks and more to come
2 May 2019 at 6:03 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: GuestIn regards to the loot boxes, I doubt that would ever happen. You can actually just go buy what you want if you want to in the market place. That's what I did. I'm pretty cheap when it comes to digital "extras" so I didn't spend much. I bought skins for most of the weapons aside from the ones that are just insanely priced like the knife, AWP, etc. I spent about $5.00 and bought skins for almost everything.
You know, I often forget there's those Steam marketplaces. The thing is, more and more people and countries governments are turning on loot boxes so Valve will have to do something eventually. They already disabled them for the Netherlands and Belgium.

A look over the ProtonDB reports for April 2019, now over forty thousand reports logged
2 May 2019 at 1:20 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: F.Ultra
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoAnd, at the same time, Linux has lost 1% of market share in the Steam Hardware Survey of April.
It went from 0.82 to 0.81, that's 0.01% comparatively not 1%. Like Valve themselves confirmed before, Linux is growing.
Well going from 0.82% to 0.81% is a decline by 1.22%, then we are probably growing as you say since the Survey does not count every single user as well as the total pool is growing so even a 1% decline can be an increase in actual users.
I know what you're saying but my point was more about saying 1% difference, to a lot of people might be quite alarming when our total market share before was only 0.82%. I'm just trying to make it crystal clear :)

A look over the ProtonDB reports for April 2019, now over forty thousand reports logged
2 May 2019 at 11:42 am UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoAnd, at the same time, Linux has lost 1% of market share in the Steam Hardware Survey of April.
It went from 0.82 to 0.81, that's 0.01% comparatively not 1%. Like Valve themselves confirmed before, Linux is growing.