Quoting: DerpFoxExclusives are always bad.

We can't make a fuss about interoperability. And things not coming to Linux all the time. And as the same time cheer up when some important project like this one is exclusive to Linux because the devs "don't care". It's the exact same attitude a lot of Windows game-dev are giving us. I truly believe we are better than that.

I have to agree. As much as I kinda get a smile seeing "Linux Exclusive" and a developer saying they "don't care" about Windows, this would just anger the "other side", potentially driving developers in the Windows camp away from even giving Linux a thought. I get that the developer for this project is Linux focused, and that's fine, but that's more of a reason for them to open source the project and get more developers in on it! If he doesn't want to worry about Windows (or even Mac for that matter), then another dev would, and the whole project could potentially just speed on ahead.

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Quoting: Beamboom

Quoting: Liam Dawe

Quoting: BeamboomThat begs the question, why?

Due to it being streaming, it's super sensitive to anything especially anything that might cause a bit more input lag.

Not to be a nitpicker but just to be totally clear: Do we know this, as in that it is confirmed, or is this an assumption/possible explanation?

I mean, it's great if it's true, don't get me wrong, I just find it a bit hard to understand. The additional input lag on server side, with the powers to handle that additional overhead, should by my logic be barely possible to even measure?

Honestly, if you feel so adamant that there are games running on a runtime translation layer (Proton/Wine) on Stadia, look one up! Email the question to Google/Stadia directly or even a few of the developers who've ported their games to Stadia. If the feels are there for you that we don't know that there aren't any games on Stadia running through Proton (etc)... find one and sooth those feelings.

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Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: ObsidianBlkI'm excited by this device and am very tempted to put that $5 for the option to buy one! I'm opposed to pre-ordering, they're not asking for the full bank up front, so, if, as the months go by, warning signs start cropping up, I haven't wasted much money at all.

It's a deposit. If you buy it, the deposit gets taken off the price and, if you don't buy it, the deposit gets refunded. Back to the initial payment method if the refund is within 30 days, or into your Steam wallet if it's later than 30 days.

Yes... I think I worded that part poorly. I was trying to convey that I don't like pre-ordering, but Valves method is so much better than the usual "pay in full now" method used by virtually everyone else these days. I highly respect Valve for going this route. I even think it shows they have far more faith in their product that those companies that want all your money now.

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I'm excited by this device and am very tempted to put that $5 for the option to buy one! I'm opposed to pre-ordering, they're not asking for the full bank up front, so, if, as the months go by, warning signs start cropping up, I haven't wasted much money at all.

I am curious what people think on this, though...
XBox, Playstation, and Switch are targeted platforms. When a gamer buys one of these consoles, they don't have to worry that a new graphics card will suddenly make their console obsolete. This tends to happen in the PC gaming world. You buy your new computer with the latest tech and six months later, your tech is a generation out of date and the newest games can't quite run at ultra settings anymore.

The Steam Deck is more of a PC than a console and the games for it *are* PC games, not console games, so... even assuming Valve gets Proton all of the bells and whistles to handle otherwise non-linux-native 3A titles, how long would that last? A couple years?

Then there's the possibility a game could be "patched" right out of the Steam Deck. You have a game that runs great on the Steam Deck, then, one day, the developers release an "HD" patch to the game that suddenly brings the game just outside of the Steam Decks ability to play comfortably. This doesn't happen in console space. A game made for Switch, even if updated, is still a Switch game and will run on that system.

This might not be an issue at all... IDK. It was just something I was thinking about and wondering if this worries anyone or not. Not like we can upgrade the graphics card of a Steam Deck.

Just a random though I had.
Still find the Steam Deck very exciting! I'm probably going to get one!

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I'm going to play devils advocate here...
I honestly do not see anything wrong with Humble wanting to get some money from their bundles. I'm sure they're doing quite well outside the bundles, as they're still alive. That said, even if Humble was an actual non-profit (which, as far as I can tell, they are not) it's still expected the organization gets paid.

I still like some of their (non-game) bundles. I especially like the (game-dev oriented) art and audio bundles they often have.

I'm not claiming they're a perfect company or that they're even totally above board in all their decisions... but, they're no worse than GOG, Steam, or Epic, and wanting some kind of compensation from their bundles isn't an obscene ask.

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Quoting: Beamboom

Quoting: ObsidianBlkIt's actually no more or less difficult to pirate a game with or without the binary. Technically, just having any part the game is piracy, so, as far as distribution of files, it's six of one, half dozen of another whether it includes the binary or not. After all, the binary is useless without the assets and the assets are just interesting pictures and audio without the binary.

You missed the point of my post. You're now talking about the legalities. My comment was a response on the claim that "it only leads to more sales". Why would they take these actions if that was the *only* thinkable consequence?

It's much easier to just pirate asset files than cracking executable binaries to build a pirated copy of a game. That goes without saying. If one just bundled the (stolen) assets with this new alternative engine, that's a shortcut to piracy.

And like I said in the post you quote, I don't think they bother with this because of this particular game as it's so old (and practically free anyways). They just need to fight these initiatives because this might be a problem if it is done on newer titles with a higher market value (and a working DRM).

My apologize if I misunderstood your original post.

To the question, then, of "Why would they take these actions if that was the *only* thinkable consequence?"... My jaded side says it's some corporate admins that think something to the effect of "Why do we want players buying our old game for $10, when we can funnel them to playing GTA-V for $30... plus, more importantly, all of that potential in-game-purchases monies!"

While you'd think *any* money would be worth it... why settle for *any* money when you could force customers to a product that could take *all* the money!

Now... I'm not fully up on the details to the current GTA3 projects, so I'm not sure about their methods of reverse engineering. It's possible that Take-Two didn't really care, one way or the other (hence, they didn't follow through on the counter claims), but given this slight legal loophole, decided to issue a DMCA in order to "scare" otherwise uninformed gamers away from getting the cheaper GTA games to use them on this new engine which runs better, and, instead, settle on the buying the newest GTA (again, with all of that sweet, sweet in-game-purchase potential!)

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Quoting: Beamboom

No assets are included, which means to use the projects people need to actually buy a copy of the original game.

Just a thought, but won't this make piracy easier, and that's why they fight it? Sharing just the asset files in illegal ways should logically be way easier than to share the entire game w/implemented copyright protection.

I mean, not for THIS particular game, but in precedence in regards to future cases.
If they start allowing this practise they should logically then also have to allow a reverse engineered much more recent game with a working or tricky copyright protection.

It's actually no more or less difficult to pirate a game with or without the binary. Technically, just having any part the game is piracy, so, as far as distribution of files, it's six of one, half dozen of another whether it includes the binary or not. After all, the binary is useless without the assets and the assets are just interesting pictures and audio without the binary.

If you bought the game, then, you're free and clear to do anything you want with the binary and assets... as long as it's just for YOU! You can't distribute any derivative work you've done with those assets or binary data. That doesn't mean you can't create your own assets for the game (mods) and distribute them, as they are completely original works.

Now... projects like OpenMW and OpenXCom and the like are perfectly legal because they are building the engine from the ground up by sussing out how the assets are used and how the underlying mechanics worked (game mechanics are not copyrightable, only how those mechanics were exactly implemented). They are, arguably, writing their own game engine. It's an engine that does things very similar to how the original games work, but it is it's own thing and, therefore, legal. The fact that it's intended to be used with the original games assets doesn't make this new engine illegal. You are still required to buy the original game to get access to the assets. Or, of course, you can create all original assets for this new engine, if you'd like, lol.

Hope that all made sense.

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Quoting: CatKiller

Quoting: ObsidianBlkhobbiest

A mild nitpick, because this really annoys me whenever I see it. That word would mean that you were "the most hobby." The word you're looking for is "hobbyist" - someone who participates in a hobby.

Fair enough

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Honestly, if the device is no more than $399, can play most of my current Steam library, supports HDMI out, 3rd party controllers over bluetooth, AND I can easily install games that aren't on Steam (I'm a hobbiest game developer and it would be awesome to put some of my own small games on the system to show off to people)... yeah... I'd get the system!

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About two weeks ago I started playing Witcher 3 (Proton). I played the base game on PS4, but I never actually played the DLCs. Since I had it on GOG (I think they gave it away for free one day, so I nabbed it), I decided to play on my PC. I know I can play the DLCs directly, but for me, that doesn't feel right, so a full playthrough it is! LOL! Just finished the Bloody Barron's full quest line... soooo... like... maybe 1/3 of the (base) game?

I've also been lining up my next outings (that I probably won't get to for months) such as Subnautica and Subnautica: Below Zero (both Proton) as well as Delta-V: Rings of Saturn (Native) (Sorry, don't know how to make the proper delta symbol on my keyboard).

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