Patreon Logo Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal Logo PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
Latest Comments by denyasis
Get a closer look at the Steam Deck's Trackpad and Gyroscopic controls
28 Jul 2021 at 12:28 am UTC

Quoting: no_information_here(I am a little concerned that Valve has hardware ADHD. The fact they can't get a 2nd gen controller out the door seems like they just don't have the right internal capacity for hardware.)
Yeahhhh, the rate at which they abandon hardware is alot.... They have what, one piece of hardware they still sell?

Quoting: grumpytoadI'm just glad they're calling it a PC, so we can finally put that mainstream mentality that a PC is a windows OS to bed.
Maybe I'm reading it weird, but from the context, I'm less certain they don't mean "PC is Windows" and thier understanding of proton is so poor they are confusing the basics.

Ryan Gordon and Ethan Lee on Proton and the Steam Deck
25 Jul 2021 at 8:41 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: CatKillerThe tech specs are here, and before it officially became the Soc in the Steam Deck it was codenamed Van Gogh.
Thanks for the link! I'm not sure how I missed that bit there.

Ryan Gordon and Ethan Lee on Proton and the Steam Deck
25 Jul 2021 at 12:04 am UTC Likes: 1

That's some good points. I totally agree it's more powerful than a switch.
I think 1280x800 is a good resolution to target for such a tiny screen.

It's a Shame Valve isn't more specific on the VPU and GPU, unless I missed something on the website. Then we'd have a way to compare possible performance.

Ryan Gordon and Ethan Lee on Proton and the Steam Deck
24 Jul 2021 at 4:27 am UTC

Quoting: GuestNone of that is a healthy thing.
I must say, I totally agree with you there. Although I must admit I am beginning to worry Valve thinks otherwise.

Quoting: caseinpointgiven that the Deck isn't very powerful when compared to the rest of the consoles - devs will have to port their games to be able to present a passable product to their customers.
Ya, know, this got me thinking, and yes I'm taking it a bit out of context. I remember reading an article about porting to the Switch and how difficult it can be. Part of the reason is that it is under-powered hardware compared to the other available platforms.

The Steam Deck is in the same boat, no? It's certainly not a Desktop, or even a laptop. I mean their web page showed them playing Factorio (I didn't recognize the others, sorry). Great game, but runs just fine on my 2014-5 laptop with integrated graphics.

So what's the target audience and game type? Indie titles? Older titles? Hobbyists? Kids?
I mean I don't think say, CyberPunk 2077 is gonna run on it. What about The Witcher 3, or Total War: What ever we're up to?

I kinda wonder if "porting to the Deck" is going to be a tough sell.

In the Switch article, its implied that the cost of porting was made up for by sales. Hopefully that's true for devs targeting the Deck hardware.

The System76 Launch Configurable Keyboard is tiny, sturdy and very slick
24 Jul 2021 at 3:15 am UTC

Quoting: Purple Library Guy
there's no light indicators for caps and num lock.
There's no numpad, so would there even be a num lock?
Or caps lock, from the look of it. Looks like a second ESC key (probably dual use than?)

I can't really thing of how often I use the numpad at home, but for some reason, I still want one.

Ryan Gordon and Ethan Lee on Proton and the Steam Deck
22 Jul 2021 at 4:50 pm UTC Likes: 1

Question...

I've been trying to follow the discussion and would like your opinions.
Are people here upset that proton is possibly reducing the number of native ports or are you more update that proton/wine is possibly creating a platform independent target for devs to aim at where the standard is Windows?

I'm no Dev or anything, so I know I'm over simplifying a bit. I was thinking of it being similar to Python or other languages where you target the language and an interpretor does the magic work for each specific OS. If you're developing in Godot or unity or any other multiplatform engine, isn't that kinda similar? There's some frame work that you rely on to do some of that heavy lifting at some point, right?

Only with wine/proton, that Target/standard is Windows.

I can kinda see Mr. Lee's point. Porting as an obstacle to be removed in the eyes valve and others.

Ryan Gordon and Ethan Lee on Proton and the Steam Deck
21 Jul 2021 at 2:55 pm UTC Likes: 4

I'm coming to the conclusion that proton is inevitable.

"Write once, run everywhere"

Kinda goes straight into that philosophy and if I've heard of that mantra, I'm sure every developer trained has as well.

I wouldn't call devs lazy for using proton. Is it really that different from hitting "export" in unity in terms of results? Both fit that mantra don't they.

I can see the ideal here, write one game and know that a runtime/framework/interpretor/layer takes care of the nitty gritty so the game runs on everything. The OS doesn't matter.

I think I'd still prefer native. It seems more... Stable? But I wonder if that'll always be there case?

RimWorld 1.3 and the Ideology DLC are officially out now
21 Jul 2021 at 1:53 pm UTC

Lol, I just started a new game last week.

Seriously though, this is probably the best city builder/management/strategy out there. Not sure what genre to call it.

Probably one of my favorites

Scalpers are already trying to make some quick cash with the Steam Deck
19 Jul 2021 at 4:59 pm UTC

Quoting: GuestYes indeed, and the timing seems pretty suspicious to me, considering Valve went totally Amd and x86.
Not really suspicious at all to me. Nvidia is in the process of trying to buy ARM and had been targeting ARM for development for some time.

If you're going to use ARM architecture in your products, b you kinda have to show that it'll work.

Getting all of that right is huge money, more than even a few million Steam Decks. I wouldn't be surprised if they took a polite pass on hardware development for Valve.

Sorry, back to the topic of scalpers.
That's lame.
Although, here, this community is a good enough place that if you didn't live in an approved country I sure you can arrange something with someone that does.
Kinda like a physical goods VPN, lol.

The classic Crusader: No Remorse is ready for testing in ScummVM
19 Jul 2021 at 4:35 pm UTC Likes: 2

They are still good. Played them in 2008 as a "test" of my sound card and amp during my switch to Linux. Best test ever. Prolly still have them on CD some where.

Things that didn't age well... The sound effects, particularly some of the machine guns.

I've always thought of SCUMM as for the adventure games. It makes me wonder what underlying engine Crusader used?