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Latest Comments by g000h
The fantastic 2D action-RPG "Chronicon" had more huge updates and gamepads might now work on Linux
1 July 2019 at 11:45 am UTC

Watched a couple of the game videos and I don't find it especially appealing, as it has too much visual dazzle for my liking. I find there is a tendency for modern games to put more and more dazzling/distracting visual effects into their content. It's okay up to a point, but once it goes beyond that point I feel that it detracts from the game play and becomes unappealing due to the eye-strain and headaches that it induces.

Your weekend look at what good stuff is currently on sale
1 July 2019 at 11:25 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: PatolaThat's weird, this thread of Steam sales does not have many suggestion posts, even after the weekend. Very different from previous sales, what's going on?

It's an interesting question. Answering from my own perspective, I have already accumulated so many games in my Steam, GOG, itch.io collections, that my propensity to buy more titles has lessened. I should aim to play and finish more of the ones I already own.

Another influencing factor for me is that a game needs to really appeal to me *and* be a good price to fuel my urge to make an immediate purchase. For me, there aren't many instances of this appearing in the recent Steam Sale. I keep a very close eye on titles that appeal to me and the discounts are practically all at the same level as they usually reach. I'd only tend to make purchase recommendations if the purchase was a really juicy one (i.e. appeal and/or level of discount).

Buying games at a good price means that I can buy more of them, and as such support more Linux developers. I'm not keen to recommend Windows-only titles that work on Proton, as I feel that native Linux titles deserve our support much more.

Another factor that comes to mind is it feels that there has been a bit of a slow-down over recent years in terms of Linux titles being released by developers who previously made an effort in the direction of Linux. For me, I am severely disappointed by the studios who produced FTL (now Into The Breach), Dungeon Warfare (now Dungeon Warfare II), Shadow Warrior (now Shadow Warrior 2), Space Run (now Space Run Galaxy), M.E. Shadow of Mordor (now M.E. Shadow of War), The Witcher 2 (now TW3), and the long waits for Linux ports of titles expected to eventually come to Linux (Are they really coming?).

On the other side of the coin there have been some fantastic new titles popping up, and they've garnered my suppoort, but I already own them so won't appear in my recommendations for the latest Steam Sale (e.g. Slay The Spire, Dicey Dungeons on itch, 7 Days To Die, The Long Dark). My most anticipated Linux game coming up soon is Serious Sam 4. Another title I'm exceptionally keen on is Dying Light 2 (but is it going to get a Linux release?)

I think game developers also have the problem that more and more titles are released and available to purchase nowadays, and there is a massive dilution effect. For native Linux developers, Proton is assisting that dilution even further. Linux gamers have so much choice over what titles they can buy, but have self-imposed financial constraints so won't increase their total spend on the game market. I'd like to know the stats of percentage purchases native Linux versus Proton for Linux gamers and that would indicate the sort of dilution effect caused by Proton. (I bought 1 Proton title and 1 native Linux title in the Steam Sale, and 2 Linux titles outside the Steam Sale over the past few days.)


EDIT: Actually just spotted a native Linux title that I'd recommend due to appeal and discount in the Steam Sale: Strafe: Millennium Edition at 75% off.

Your weekend look at what good stuff is currently on sale
29 June 2019 at 5:04 pm UTC

I picked up Deep Sky Derelicts (Steam key) for 75% discount on Gamebillet. Overall, I see typical discounts on Steam during this Summer Sale, i.e. There aren't that many really juicy deals.

The survival game 'SCUM' seems to still be coming to Linux, no date yet though
25 June 2019 at 10:06 am UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: CybercalypsoHi all. This is my first time here.

I would like to play this game on Linux, but because I can't play certain games on Linux I have to keep using windows 10. It would be nice to be able to ditch windows fully and just use Linux. I really hope this does come to Linux. Here's hoping.

Hi there. Back in 2018, Valve released Proton as part of the Steam Client software. Proton uses WINE technology to play Windows games on Linux computers. Ever since then, Proton has been seeing improvements and greater numbers of Windows games are reported working.

The GOL Article about it.

I have been playing SCUM on Linux using Proton technology (Proton is also called Steam Play).

The community has put together a website where you can look up a specific game title, and see if it is reported to work okay using Proton or not: ProtonDB website

There are plenty of native Linux games, but this gives Linux gamers access to most Windows titles too.

EDIT: Fixed the ProtonDB website link.

Open-world space arcade-action game "Underspace" is on Kickstarter with a Linux demo
25 June 2019 at 3:48 am UTC

I like their hand-crafted star system, as it makes exploration and progression more meaningful and engaging. At the same time though, hand-crafted systems could run out of things to do, although assuming one has played 10s of hours and has only seen 10% of the entire system, there is plenty more scope. If you've played 10 hours and seen 90% of the system, not so good.

The survival game 'SCUM' seems to still be coming to Linux, no date yet though
24 June 2019 at 1:53 pm UTC

Looking forward to this one on Linux, not least of which because I took the leap early and have played it a bit on Proton.

Valve looking to drop support for Ubuntu 19.10 and up due to Canonical's 32bit decision (updated)
22 June 2019 at 10:04 am UTC Likes: 3

My, how events have escalated (and somewhat predicted by me in my earlier comment on the other post). Well, I hope that Ubuntu management back-pedal their decision after this community backlash.

If they don't, then I have a proposal regarding Debian, SteamOS and those type of things:

Most of the reasons that new people jumped on Ubuntu was ease of installation and newer software than regular Debian. However, if you use Debian 'testing' as a basis for an up-to-date and beginner-friendly Linux, and work on a clean, easy-to-use installer but retain all of the usual Debian software and package management behind the scenes.

I guess Mint Linux is a bit like that, but Mint seems to strike out a bit and do their own thing. I'm talking about staying very true to the Debian back-end (basically, identical to Debian) but just put user-friendly installer front-end and more-sensible default config onto it. I'd possibly call it Debian: Gamer's Edition or Debian: Beginner's Edition or just rename it completely, but ensure it is Debian under the hood.

--

I hope this damage to the Linux ecosystem can be averted, by sensible decisions and good communication, from this point onwards.

What deals Linux fans should look out for this weekend
21 June 2019 at 6:32 pm UTC

I wonder how many game publishers are currently putting their titles on the historical lowest discount, just prior to the Steam Summer Sale (starts on 25th June) so that they snag gamers' limited funds early (rather than be "just one of the crowd").

Sweet survival base-builder 'MewnBase' has another update out, continues looking fun
21 June 2019 at 9:11 am UTC

Funny how they use pixelated fonts but the rest of the game is not pixelated. Saying that, it looks okay regardless.