Slightly amused by your pronunciation of Google "Stadia" - I had a look at a couple of official videos and the Google people are calling it "Stay-dia" not "Stad-ia" and I presume their pronunciation is the correct way. Meanwhile, when I was first exposed to "Linux", I pronounced it "Lyne-ucks" and not the correct way "Lin-ucks" but subsequently have used the correct way for 20 years.

Which leads me on to a few comments about Stadia:

Possible Positives for Linux -
- Encourages developers to use Vulkan and Linux-friendly libraries for producing Stadia-enabled titles.
- Not much extra work to jump from a working Stadia game to a working Linux game (particularly due to the first item).
- Even Windows-only games produced to support Stadia will favour Vulkan and Linux-friendly tech, so should work better on Proton and WINE.
- Increased popularity of Vulkan will encourage more studios to adopt it and more developers to learn it and use it.
- Actual Stadia games should run across any platform (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux) via Chrome browser, so we wouldn't be excluded from using it.
- Games played on Stadia shouldn't need anti-cheat measures on the local computer, because the game software is running remotely. (Good for Linux gamers willing to adopt Stadia.)
- Stadia games would be able to run on any platform, and as such Linux gamers would not be locked out from playing (Stadia) games like they are locked out of Windows games.
- There wouldn't be the Game Support issues of games released on Stadia being played on Linux, as compared with the support of Windows titles played on Proton.
- Potential for more Windows gamers to jump to Linux, because Stadia games would work on Linux fine, and so they are not losing out by adopting Linux (also similar to the effect of Proton tech on Steam).

Various Issues -
- Google will be using Stadia for data-mining of players, which is not good for anyone who is concerned with privacy.
- Stadia gaming will require high-speed, low-lag internet and so would not be available to substantial numbers of users.
- Although base Stadia isn't subscription-based, the premium offering is, and this is leading gaming into a rental model (good for publishers), rather than an ownership model (good for customers).
- The customer will no longer own the game files.

Possible Negatives for Linux -
- Game exclusivity might prevent game availability outside of the Stadia play-system.
- It looks like Stadia games will not be available for download and will only be available for online play.
- In the future, there is potential that games could be released exclusively on Stadia (for reasons beneficial to developers/publishers) and not available for download at other vendors.
- Google's Stadia APIs could be detrimental to Linux game release owing to the extra work in making versions of the game with those APIs turned off or replaced.
- Stadia would be taking games away from vendors who do support Linux native titles (e.g. Steam, Itch, GOG, Humble) weakening their market position.

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I'm a regular subscriber. Generally I decide to "Pause A Month" on approx 23rd of the month, if I am not happy with the early reveal games. That way, I don't get inadvertently charged for a month I didn't want. I paused the last two months, because the early reveals were Windows titles that didn't appeal to me.

However, this new month - Moonlighter and Hellblade - early reveals - I can certainly have a bit of that.

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Just saying that I've always found native Dying Light to run decently well. Maybe it is your choices of processor, graphics, drivers, or Linux distribution which contributed to your poor experience. But the fact that I did not have a poor experience is my current position on this subject. On which note, 60 FPS on native Linux or 120 FPS on Proton - I'd still play the native one. 10 FPS on native and 100 FPS on Proton - sure, I'd jump to Proton.

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A little question for those who have played through the whole thing: I have finished the main campaign in the main game, but have never even looked at The Following. If I start The Following, does it begin you as a brand new player (with no skills, no equipment) and you play it from scratch, or does it just follow on from your main game with same skills / equipment stocked up?

I think I'd prefer it if it was a completely separate entity where you have to build up again, and you can play it completely separately from the main game. Can anyone let me know, thanks?

[Meanwhile, I did play the main game on an older system than the one I have now, and I feel that performance is fine on the native Linux without needing to resort to Proton. In fact, I'd only like to resort to Proton if the game being played is really bad on native.]

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Got it working (eventually). I had problems using innoextract to remove the game files from the GOG installer. My innoextract version is 1.7 so should be suitably up-to-date, but it just failed with errors on each of the GOG DOOM titles I own. As a test, I chose 3 other small games (at random) from my GOG collection and they worked fine (e.g. Evoland).

I resorted to using the FREEDOOM1.WAD from Doom Remake 4 instead. Can't say I'm happy to have my game files locked behind a proprietary installer. Sure, I can boot Windows or launch WINE to get the files, but I don't want to do that, especially any dependence on Windows.

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I'm fairly surprised by the low Linux statistic. In fact I feel it is so low, I suspect that something is off (i.e. There has been a calculation error or human error somewhere in the chain. Maybe not including results from other stores?)

Personally, I own Cultist Simulator (in my Steam account) and have played it on Linux. It has featured quite regularly on GOL getting Linux exposure. It was in a Humble Monthly, which should have attracted all sorts of buyers, including Linux ones. Also, it is DRM-Free on GOG which would attract Linux players who (a) don't favour Steam, and (b) are dead-set against DRM.

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I guess a good title for Feral to port, under the circumstances. However, if there is a high proportion of Chinese players, and they are playing mainly on Windows then that wouldn't be good for Feral.

Personally I have a massive backlog of RTS games (including previous Feral titles) which I haven't even touched yet, and it isn't a genre that really grabs me. I'm holding off making a purchase for now.

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Just to be clear, I am a massive fan of 7D2D. I very much appreciate all the hard work and on-going improvements that the game has received. Checking my Steam account, I've put in over 450 hours of play. I've played Alpha 15, 16, 17, but not the very latest incremental update.

I'm keen on realistic survival gaming, so although zombies shouldn't be able to easily break down walls, at the same time the average human can't carry a massive inventory of building frames and materials (and build a house within a game-day). Some liberties taken and given. I've got no problem with the crafting, the skills system, the game world, the building mechanics - They're all fantastic. I rate 7D2D amongst the very top of games I like to play.

I'm mostly just unhappy with the Default Settings and how they deal with Zombie Spawning. I feel that maybe the buildings should have set quantities of zombies, and this shouldn't go up just because you're playing the game well and increasing your player level. The fact is, they go up, but not at a reasonable rate (like say, doubling the number of zombies). More like 20 times the difficulty compared to the start of the game. It isn't just number of zombies. We're talking stronger, more dangerous, faster zombies, even zombies that regenerate when wounded!

I feel like I need to quit my 100+ game-day session, and start fresh with a zero-level character, just so I can get back to exploring buildings again. I had a friend at work who gave 7D2D a try, a year or two ago (alpha 15,16), but couldn't get his head around the survival and was dying lots immediately, and after about 5 hours gave up. Alpha 15 and 16 were easier than Alpha 17 - This guy is a proper gamer (The sort of person who completes Dark Souls) - and he gave up on that easier version of 7D2D game.

Okay, okay - The settings can be tweaked by the player. I am resisting changing them for now. But eventually I might do so. Also, I need to load up the latest incremental release and have a good session on it.

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I haven't tried the latest changes in 7D2D yet, but my recent time playing it (a couple of months ago) and I'm somewhat unhappy with the Default settings (most likely the same now). I've spent lots of time with the game in the past, both before the Zombie A.I. path-finding changes and after them. I did find the path-finding used to be more realistic, but then the developers changed it to stop people from building "over-powered" bases where the horde zombies couldn't get to you.

Here are my issues with the Default settings:

The game starts off at a reasonable level, but then the number and strength of zombies encountered during exploration goes up at a horrendous rate, assuming you are playing well. (I'm a veteran at this game and know exactly what I'm doing when I'm playing.)

One aspect of the game is exploration, but once you have gone past the first few game-weeks of survival, then exploration becomes lethal (due to ever increasing toughness of zombies encountered) so I find I am unable to explore any more for fear of being killed. (This is survival after all, if you're role-playing it properly.)

So the game becomes a grind instead. You can't go into buildings, looking for juicy loot. You just stick to the outdoor areas and grind for components and resources. I find the hunt for nitrate for crafting gunpowder, needed for ammo is also annoying.

I'd rather be able to explore and get further along the skills tree, before the game becomes ridiculously hard - And that is the Default Setting, and I'm a veteran player. One farmhouse containing 4 Cops, 10 Irradiated Zombies, 10 Ferals, 5 Zombie Dogs, and 20 regular zombies - The sort of thing I'm talking about. You start the game and the same farmhouse has 4 regular zombies in it.

Leading me on to this: Yes, it is good that the developers have left in a load of controls so you can tweak the experience to your liking.

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Picked it up as well, and played for a few hours so far. Before purchasing, I had watched a youtube video showing how the game is played and was drawn in by that. It's a decent game and I'll be playing more of it. In fact I might just launch a session now ;)

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