I've still yet to try out DXVK, mainly as I only usually play native Linux games, very rarely ever touch Wine.

I only got around to trying it out this evening, thanks to the AUR package (which was updated just half an hour later ^_^ ), and it turns out I only have one Windows-exclusive DX11 game: Fire in the Flood, which Humble gave away for free the other day (and I hadn't even played yet, so I'm not sure if it's any better with DXVK or not). The next most recent, graphically-intensive, game I have installed in WINE is Far Cry 2, and that's D3D9, from - yikes! - ten years ago.

Oh, well. At least I know it's there if I need it.

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Quoting: JanneI spent waay too many hours on Uridium on the C64. Looks a little dated but still plays really well.

Yeah, this is where us old-timers feel really old. I remember reading the development diaries of Paradroid and Uridium in Zzap! 64. More than 30 years ago. :O It might have been the first time that kind of thing had ever been done for major commercial games.

Now, if we could get a modern remake of Paradroid...

FreedroidRPG started as a Paradroid remake, but turned into something else. “Freedroid Classic” is still available, but I don't know how much development is put into it these days. In fact, I don't know much about it at all, to be honest.

Genetic Species [External Link] was a sort of 3D mashup of Paradroid and Alien Breed on the Amiga in the late '90s. It was one of the best-looking first-person games native to that system, but it needed a pretty beefy machine (a stock A1200 or A500 won't cut it), and even it is twenty years old this year. It's long overdue a remake itself.

Quoting: mcphailThere's already been a remake of Paradroid for superior machines: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quazatron [External Link] .

:)

Heheh! :) Quazatron is actually a better game: after the takeover minigame, you can choose which parts to install. It adds a strategic element that was missing in Paradroid. (Edit: And, as the Wikipedia page - which I've only just read - points out, you can push robots off the edge of levels, or they can push you. Definitely the superior game, although even as a Spectrum fan, I'll admit the animation isn't as smooth. I've also just got around to watching the trailer for Hyper Sentinel; it doesn't look so much like a modern remake as just the original game... if it had been written by Jeff Minter instead of Andy Braybrook. This is not a bad thing. :) )

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Quoting: Vash63I'm not lowering settings for a Source 1 engine game on a GTX 1080.

It doesn't help anyway. My system's not quite as beefy as yours, but it still gives me that OOM error on the very lowest settings.

Quoting: slaapliedjeI kept wondering what Xen was, when I see it I think of this; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagicWB [External Link]

Oh, don't! You'll set me reminiscing again. :)

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Sadly though, they seem to have broken the Linux version! They're aware of this and they're looking into a fix, hopefully it won't be too long.

Well, I'm glad it's not just me. I really don't want to be too harsh on the guys; I know it's a fan-made labour of love, but this is getting to be so frustrating. I have less than three hours on the game, and most of that is the same bit of Anomalous Materials over and over again in the hope that it won't crash this time.

(Edit: Not worth a new comment, but it just occurred to me. This is what goes through my head when considering what game to play of an evening: “Maybe Black Mesa... that was a joke, ha ha, fat chance”. I'm not sure that's quite what Johnathan Coulton had in mind...)

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: DuncThat's a ridiculous circular argument that wouldn't last five minutes in court

Anti-circumvention laws themselves are really unconstitutional, so in normal court it would have fallen apart. But we are talking about the current messed up system and undemocratic policy making [External Link] attached to it. Courts are known to abuse such kind of laws [External Link]. So instead of whitewashing DRM practices with demagoguery, avoid those who use it.

Well, not being in the US, I'll bow to your superior knowledge of the DCMA. But if it really does what you say it does, it's spectacularly bad law (mind you, I think it is anyway; copyright should be a civil matter, not criminal). Or your judges are a bunch of idiots. There is no way the legendary “reasonable person” could possibly imagine that the client alone is a “measure” that must be “circumvented” in order to copy games. And I'll say it again: if that's ever held to be the case, actual, cryptographic, DRM will become a complete waste of time. (As if it wasn't already, but you see what I mean.)

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Oof. It ain't cheap, is it? Although I suppose a decent gaming PC in a handheld form factor was never going to be. Dammit, the mid-range one is clearly superior to my desktop rig (and even the low-end one is arguable, given the CPU, despite its lack of RAM).

I'd love one, even if it turns out to be a failure, but the bank account says no.

(Edit: definite articles matter.)

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: DuncNothing. You copied some files. There are no “measures”.

Accessing the files outside the client can be viewed as circumventing in this case. You don't buy files through Steam, so it can be viewed that you aren't supposed to access them. But again, I'm not really interested in debating this topic since it changes nothing. You still can't legally back things up in DRM-free fashion. Ergo, Steam is not DRM-free.

That's a ridiculous circular argument that wouldn't last five minutes in court. You're basically saying that the client is DRM simply because it exists, not because it contains any actual anti-copying measures. And you failed to address my second point: if that's the case, why did Valve go to the trouble and expense of adding a cryptographic DRM API to Steam in addition to the client?

Don't misunderstand me; I appreciate your concerns about the TOS, share them to some extent, and I agree that this would probably be a publisher's line were a case to be brought, but it's a pretty weak argument. If such a case were to succeed, it would cause havoc in the industry. Mind you, on the upside, real DRM would be dead in the water. Who would need it?

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Quoting: ShmerlThe client itself can be viewed as an installation "measure", and skirting its use can be viewed as "circumventing" it.

Okay, let's say you're in court on a DMCA charge. The prosecution alleges that you circumvented measures intended to prevent copying and redistribution. What, exactly, did you have to do that you wouldn't have done with any other file anywhere else on your computer? Nothing. You copied some files. There are no “measures”.

Which is why the actual Steamworks DRM exists. If Valve thought that argument would hold any water at all, why did they go to the bother and expense of creating a cryptographic DRM system for Steam?

Edit: I actually managed to spell DMCA wrong. :S:

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: DuncOkay, but as others have pointed out above, all vendors have Terms of Service.

Yes, and it's important what those terms are.

Indeed it is, but not in the context of this argument. Your original comment claimed that the Steam client is DRM, not that Steam's Terms of Service are harsh. I actually agree that they are, and that making copies of DRM-free Steam games is a legal grey area compared to games bought from the likes of GoG. But we're not arguing about rights; we're arguing about the management of rights. If a developer decides not to include Steamworks DRM, the client doesn't enforce the TOS - i.e., manage rights - in any way.

It's similar to downloading old '80s games from the internet. Few (if any) jurisdictions recognise the concept of “abandonware” in law; every game ever sold is still, legally, under copyright. You have no right to download them. But it's practically possible, since they aren't encumbered by DRM. You're (arguably) breaking the law, but you can do it. Same with Steam. Copying Steam games that don't use Steamworks DRM may or may not break the TOS, but it's possible. If the client itself was DRM, it simply wouldn't be.

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: DuncWell, it isn't. It's required for initial download, not reinstallation. End of discussion.

I trust their TOS more than your assumptions. So the discussion ends pretty much when you try to say it's OK to violate their TOS when using their games.

Okay, but as others have pointed out above, all vendors have Terms of Service. The point at issue here is whether the Steam client, per se, is DRM; whether it's used to manage those Terms. It isn't. You're moving the goalposts.

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