An option for secondary device would be rather nice, specifically if it's not limited to Steam Deck. Device-specific fields could be duplicated (Device 1 RAM, Device 1 CPU, Device 2 RAM, Device 2 CPU, etc).

As for special treatment for the Steam Deck (and potential future variations or other linux-based handhelds), why not create "Device 1 Preset"/"Device 2 Preset" dropdowns that would populate the device-specific fields with known info?

The preset field wouldn't need to be saved - just provide a quick way to fill out device info. That way if someone mods their steam deck to have slightly different specs, that can potentially be conveyed as well.

That would also support a future scenario where someone might have "Steam Deck 2" as primary and "Steam Deck" as secondary.

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Quoting: x_wingTime to add a captcha before every match I guess...

Or, more reasonably, detect "super human" input on the server side. Specifically: multiple sequential frame-perfect joystick toggles and button presses - things that would be impossible for humans to do due to how perfect/fast the inputs are. Tapping boost every frame at 60fps isn't humanly possible with a normal input device.

Or something along those lines. I'd expect that they were able to identify unique patterns, which allowed them to ban all the bot accounts. They should be able to detect those server-side and not risk breaking the client for the rest of us.

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As someone with more than 3400 hours in this game (and well over a grand in in-game purchases), I really hope they don't break it on Linux. Of all the various games that family and friends have preferences for, this is the game that everyone (from my 60-yr-old dad, to my kid sister) has enjoyed since shortly after its release.

Just to describe how much my elderly dad plays this: not only is he currently at tier ~155 in the Rocket Pass (as of yesterday), he also uses Bakkesmod for training, tracking his mmr, and saving replays. He plays daily, whether or not I'm available to join him, and even tunes in to official RLCS (more than I do, in fact).

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For anyone thinking MS aren't all that bad and have "turned over a new leaf" with all their "MS Loves Linux" BS, even now they are spreading lies about the competition under the guise of "guides".

For example: they are targeting Steam Deck users with "guides" stating:

Since modding games on the Stream Deck is not as safe as on the PC, you need to back up the game you want to mod before installing mods. Otherwise, there will be a risk that necessary game files will get corrupted, and you will not be able to play the game anymore.

(that "guide" is the top result on bing for "mod games steam deck" and hosted on msn.
url: https: //www.msn .com/en-us/news/technology/how-to-mod-games-on-steam-deck/ar-AAZzDCX
TL/DR: not worth reading - they just tell you to use the steam workshop or nexus)

Not only are they straight-up telling people that Linux is somehow more susceptible to file corruption than windows (blatantly false - their garbage ntfs doesn't even support per-file checksums, while the most common filesystems on linux do - not to mention snapshots on the likes of btrfs, zfs, etc), they intentionally avoid mentioning Valve's file-integrity-check or any possible resolution for that supposed threat.

I hope they are blocked from more acquisitions of popular game studios. The more games available on multiple platforms (as opposed to being made into xbox/gamepass exclusives), the better.

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Quoting: BrandonGiesingObviously everyone is different but for me personally, out of the like 10+ phones, 4+ tablets, smartwatches, ereaders, portable consoles, etc. I've had since I've been alive, never once dropped a device or had a super scratched up/cracked screen and I'm not even trying to be super careful about it (I toss my phone onto my bed, not explicitly trying to be super gentle sitting it down on my desk so it sometimes slams down a bit too hard, watches have bumped into multiple doorframes, etc.)

That's fair. The most error-prone situations for my devices are when I'm traveling, or when animals or small kids are involved (that's how my phone got spiked into a sidewalk - a friend's dog wrapped the leash around my legs causing me to fall backwards while I was talking on it). Not everyone has to worry about those things.

Quoting: BrandonGiesingSo personally, I've never used a case or screen protector but at the same time, I understand some people need them so a product like this still does make sense to have even if it is kinda dumb sounding to have a dock for your dock when you could've just bought a dock that actually fits larger cases in the first place.

Link to larger dock that fits it? Every dock I've seen has been made for the vanilla Steam Deck without a case (heck, the original Jsaux dock came out even before there were any cases on the market).

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Quoting: KohlyKohlI stopped buying cases years ago and all I've done is save money.

I bought an otterbox case for my LG G3 back in Sept of 2014 for $50. That phone has survived drops, getting spiked into the sidewalk (once), getting stuff put on it, and being in the pocket of my cargo shorts every day since. Upon taking it out of the case, it still looks practically new after 8 years (granted, it's gone through 4 batteries and one main board replacement, but the outside, screen, speaker, camera, etc never had to be replaced).

Compare that with the experience of a colleague who also got the same phone at the same time, but did not bother to get a case. He broke it "beyond repair" within the first week when it slipped out of his pocket and fell to the cement 5 ft below, landing on a pebble screen-down. He was subsequently provided one of the flip phones the company still had lying around.

Maybe you're just way more careful than I am, but IMHO, a case definitely prolongs the life of a device while mitigating the need to unnecessarily spend money to replace susceptible parts (and reduces e-waste in the process). Heck, a screen protector alone costs, what, a few bucks? You can swap that protector out with a new one after some notable wear for the screen to look and function like brand-new again without having to replace the whole screen.

Having spent top-dollar for the steam deck, I want this thing to last a *long* time. I've already had a cat gremlin nudge it off my desk while it was docked (she tried to squeeze between it and the monitor...it is now behind the monitor instead of in front). Thankfully I already had a cheap rubber case from amazon (while docked) and the screen protector from dbrand. Absolutely going to get this little gadget now so I can use the full killswitch case while docked (not to mention that it'll be less hassle than switching cases when docked or un-docked).

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That's a shame. I never used it myself, as I stick to games I can run directly on Linux, but stadia has definitely been a help when easing the transition from windows to linux when the game they wanted wasn't playable directly on linux.

Specifically crap games like destiny 2 that they just can't live without because their friends play it. IMHO they need new friends, but that's a hard sell to anyone who tries to have a social life.

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Having just attended the "town hall" on their discord server, it seems very much like they essentially want to take what they've learned from the original splitgate game, and remake it in the latest game engine, while making changes they couldn't make to the original game. Also, from the FAQ:

We can’t reveal much about our next game, but we are taking this opportunity to build something better than the original Splitgate. And that means characters, weapons, and the progression system are all going to evolve.

Honestly, this is probably the best choice they could have made. Players will have access to both the original game / styles / mechanics, while also having access to a new game where those things have changed to better match what they want to make. If they just made those kinds of changes to the original game, they would undoubtedly alienate loyal players who preferred things the "old" way.

It also sounds like it's going to be a good while before they have anything ready. They were not ready to discuss any specific gameplay features/modes/styles aside from that it will be a "shooter with portals". They also, unsurprisingly, weren't ready to say what platforms would be supported. Hopefully they continue to support Linux / Steam Deck like they have.

In the meantime, I'm still hoping they fix the CPU/GPU usage bug on Linux and Steam Deck for the current game. If you go into a string of matches, it's fine, but as soon as you go out to the main menu, the CPU usage increases substantially (for me, CPU goes from 14% to 28%). Every subsequent time you go from a match back to the main menu, it jumps up (by 14% for me). It's like the menu scene is duplicated each time. I've confirmed that behavior on both my gaming tower (i7-3770 + gtx 970), and steam deck (bug report was already submitted some weeks ago on both steam discussions [External Link] and "officially" through their discord form).

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The GTA5 issue mitigation is just adding PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1 and PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 for that game out of the box. Weird that the latest game update now requires that, but it performs practically the same now as it did before it needed those, so definitely still playable.

That workaround fixed it for me on intel+nvidia.

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The "How your content violated the policy" is pretty telling:

Content that shows viewers how to gain unauthorized free access to audio content, audiovisual content, full video games, software or streaming services that normally require payment is not allowed. This policy applies to videos, video descriptions, comments, live streams, and any other YouTube product or feature. Keep in mind that this list is not comprehensive.

Somehow the algorithm marked the video basically as piracy (or explaining how to pirate video games / software).

It would be interesting to know exactly what in the video caused it to do that. That's one of the rare videos Liam posts that doesn't include gameplay footage, only changelogs of steam os.

If I had to guess, it may have been the mention of a software version that isn't currently available yet (steam os 3.4 beta update). The algorithm may have mistook the intent of the video as being how to get it early and/or leaked or somesuch.

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