Sharing my humour - Alternative article title:

Scummy software publisher who pioneered customer-unfriendly subscription-only rental software tries to improve public image by donating a miniscule amount into an open source project, that they might be doing for a self-serving, ulterior motive.

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Quoting: peta77P.S. I really hope this thing will become very popular. That would at least motivate developers to take care of how their stuff runs inside proton. And I think it will, because one good thing about steam is: you get a huge variety of games from a big amount of developers and they're lots cheaper than those exclusives in other (console) stores.

Actually, as much as every little step forwards is positive (i.e. a better Proton experience) I'd hope that this device encourages developers to actually release their Linux binaries for their games. Quite often, it is just a case of Ticking the Box in Unity (or Unreal Engine) and you have your Linux binaries ready to go.

Most medium-sized games development companies will have access to the Steam Deck in-house for QA testing, and probably find the native compiled version runs better than the Proton version (More FPS on Steam Deck = More desirable gaming experience).

Small steps are good, but big steps are better.

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Quoting: dubigrasuI hope they'll put up also a polished installer for the new SteamOS 3.0.

I can easily imagine that many will just strip SteamOS out of it and install Windows, but at the same time others might be impressed with SteamOS and tempted to install on their PC.
The old SteamOS installer was OK-ish, but could've been more polished and friendly.

Your comment got me thinking - With the latest debacle of Windows 11 having Microsoft insisting on TPM, Intel 8th Gen, and similar requirements that don't gel with desktop PCs older than 2 years:

If SteamOS 3 is great as a desktop/gaming OS on x86 platforms, then maybe people running Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 10 will switch to SteamOS rather than struggle with Windows 11. Time for Microsoft to drop all those requirements, haha.

Also, interesting that this release (of Steam Deck running SteamOS 3) coincides quite closely with Windows 11's end-of-year final release.

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Excellent article - Not only does it demonstrate very good critical thinking, but also it is very balanced.

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I'm waiting for Microsoft to offer Valve a free Windows licence for each Steam Deck, or even better - Pay Valve to put Windows onto the device. I'm just jesting, but if this thing skyrockets, I wouldn't put it past Microsoft.

Hmm... or Google, for that matter.

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Woah. This looks like it is right up my alley. As a Slay The Spire and FTL fan, I can see that this game borrows game-play concepts from each of those, and the combination is going to make it a 'familiar-feeling' but also 'distinctly-different' overall experience.

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I've given this a reasonable try, and even watched a video or two for tips. I like the idea behind it, but I'm finding it doesn't control well, and it is balanced much too hard for solo enjoyment. The day-night cycle transitions before you've had chance to get anything done. Even on "Easy" setting, it is set too hard. As a survival-type game it is much more of a scramble than strategic gameplay, and the hordes that appear must be killed before you can get on and do anything else.

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I've played the demo and been sucked in. They did a great job making it atmospheric and immersive.

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And may it continue for at least another 12 years ;)

All the best!

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Here are some of the games I've played recently:

Nuclear Throne: This is a really excellent twin-stick shooter, *best* played with a gamepad. But I'm not a big fan of gamepads, so I instantly put myself at a major disadvantage by playing it with keyboard and mouse. In the past week, I finally unlocked the Steroids character - I'm still a long way from completing the game, but gradually getting closer. The game is frustratingly hard (with K+M) but I just can't help coming back for another punishing serving.

Prodeus: This game is due to come to Linux (once it is out of Early Access). It is a retro-styled Doom/Quake FPS. I absolutely adored it during the beta playtest. Bought it a week ago (20% Humble Choice discount, before pausing HC) and installed it immediately (via Proton) - only 1.2GB drive space. I've played through a few levels so far, and loving it.

7 Days To Die: At this point I've put about 2.5k hours into this game, and it is a big favourite of mine. Regularly, I watch a number of Youtubers playing this game, and feel that despite their immense hours of playing, they always set the game *way* too easy for their videos. The game is a sandbox survival experience - You surviving in a zombie apocalypse in a destructible, buildable environment.

Here are my latest Game Difficulty Settings that I'm using to play 7 Days To Die - I call this the Ultimate Nightmare Challenge:

- Zombies set to run at Nightmare Speed all the time (the maximum).
- Zombies set to Insane Toughness (the maximum).
- Loot Abundance set to 25 percent (the minimum). [THIS SETTING MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!]
- Random Generated World (you don't know where you are).
- Concurrent Zombies during Horde Night: 64 (the maximum). [As each zombie is 'killed' another one spawns to replace it.]
- The rest of the settings on defaults (e.g. Air drops don't display on map, Horde Night every 7 days, regular experience gain, etc).
- Playing it Permadeath, i.e. only one life, and if you die that's it with your game (no resurrecting).
- Not using any game exploits to 'cheese' the horde.

With this U.N. challenge you need to play very efficiently and make very careful choices, as well as doing so while dealing with extremely fast, extremely hard-to-kill, and extremely hard-hitting zombies. Running out of food is very easy, not having enough medical help, having practically no good weapons/armour, finding practically no ammo in loot. All these difficulties compound with one another, it is easy enough playing with one of these things put on hardest value, but when you put them all on hardest, then it really is a struggle particularly during the first week of play - In my opinion the first week of the game is the best bit. WOULD LOVE TO SEE A YOUTUBER PLAYING 7 DAYS WITH *THESE* SETTINGS !!! (UNLIKELY!)

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