Valve Software Launches Linux Blog, Confirms Work On Steam Client for Linux 236
New submitter oakgrove writes "Valve Software confirmed today in a new blog devoted specifically to Steam on Linux (called Steam'd Penguins) that for more than a year, a Steam client has been in the works for Ubuntu Linux 12.04. 'We've made good progress this year and now have the Steam client running on Ubuntu with all major features available. We're still giving attention and effort to minor features but it's a good experience at the moment. In the near future, we will be setting up an internal beta focusing on the auto-update experience and compatibility testing.' The blog post also says that a working port of Left 4 Dead 2 is currently playable, and that their goal is to bring performance in line with the Windows version."
whatever (Score:5, Funny)
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Right now it's been so long that the Half-Life magic has gone for me. I don't doubt that eventually something will be released (either EP3 or a full-blown HL3), but life and other games kinda make it hard to care much for a classic series that hasn't been ended yet.
Re:whatever (Score:4, Funny)
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Why on earth did they put them in there?
Re:whatever (Score:5, Funny)
Great news! (Score:4, Interesting)
Either we are a very vocal bunch, or they see a real trend here. Either way this is great for us.
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Re:Great news! (Score:4, Insightful)
I think there's a better chance that the port to Linux of Steam will be used to crowdtest it so that they can eventually use it for their Steambox (i.e. PC like console running just Steam (on Linux)).
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I liked the word "port" in TFA, and now your post.
That means that it's really going to be ports, right, and not just wine?
Two sides to this coin (Score:5, Interesting)
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Could see another rise of preloaded linux PCs and laptops. "Kid going to school? This here computer is 80$ cheaper, comes with a full office suite and runs steam!"
Re:Two sides to this coin (Score:5, Funny)
they would never buy their kid a computer that runs off steam, too much fire hazard (parents are dumb, remember?)
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A third side (Score:3)
I use two commercial geophysical programs on linux via WINE for which the developers specificly test against WINE. A third uses dotnet but tests against mono. I know two of the vendors actually have fixed compatibility problems in their software that showed up when they tested it the compatibility layer.
Re:A third side (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Two sides to this coin (Score:4, Interesting)
As a result many linux users will still be identified as windows users (since wine will identify as windows XP)
The last Steam hardware survey I did detected the fact that I was running it under Wine, so they already know that users are doing that.
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Wine is really cool, but it's just no good for many demanding games. You'll probably have to turn down your graphics settings (and some settings won't even be available) and even then it'll run slower than the original game. And that makes it a no-go for many online games. I remember playing WoW on Wine, which was okay because it doesn't require optimal frame rates, but over the years I tried again and again to play Counter Strike Source (not really a game that requires much from your CPU/GPU these days) an
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> that's own developers have shown no interest in creating a linux port, as I imagine will be the case with many many of the games that are on steam currently.
True, on the other hand many of the indie games have Linux versions, so if they all suddenly show up on Steam (hopefully they will finally apply a filter that won't show games you can't install, like Windows games showing up on OSX) other might start feeling the heat, especially when Valve can show the sales figures for those games to the ones that
Re:Two sides to this coin (Score:4, Insightful)
Unlikely - the Mac port does not do so. Although they did use DOSBox for many old game rereleases - Doom, Wolfenstein, etc. all run in an embedded DOSBox when installed from Steam. So I guess Wine isn't entirely out of the question.
However, I still think it's a good thing - the Mac Steam port seemed to trigger off a small wave of other Mac game ports. The same could very well happen for Linux. And native ports are always better than emulating.
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Apple users have an expectation that everything "just works" - Linux users may be willing to have a 'beta/unsupported' feature, perhaps enabled via a command-line startup option for Steam.
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I thought it was up to the game developers themselves to bundle a working configuration for Wine (usually Codeweaver's CrossOver). This leaves them assured that the game works reasonably and they give some level of support. I know that Psychonauts for Mac Steam was a Crossover port before the Humble Indie Bundle 5 made it native.
If the rumours of a Steam console hold true, then I expect there to be a partnership with Valve and Crossover to convince game developers to get their back catalogue working in Wine
It's about time, too (Score:5, Interesting)
Valve have a golden opportunity here, in several ways:
1. Ubuntu is a first stepping stone. Once they have the Linux experience, they can target all kinds of Linux based platforms & set top boxes, as they become popular. It's just like UbuntuTV in a sense - It takes a stable operating system and tailors it to a niche market, adds the back-office sauce into the soup, and you suddenly have a serious iTunes/Netflix contender (technologically anyway).
2. I believe game producers are going to see this as a blessing: Valve becoming the major conduit through which serious games flow into the Linux world, paving the road for those producers into user's desktops, while providing billing, game discovery, content distribution, and community tools. Nobody else is doing this at the moment with Linux, except for Canonical who have created their own "App Store" application (which by the way is pretty good!). So imaging Canonical's "App store" on steroids, for games! Once enough games are built for Linux, why would anyone use Microsoft Windows for gaming?
3. When you are first to capture a market, you become the dominant player. The longer you're the dominant player, the more difficult it becomes to unseat you from your throne.
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Relating to your point #3. There have been two studios who have had a market on the three major OS (Windows, OS X, Linux) who have left. This is id Software (Rage is Windows only) and Epic (still no Linux client for Unreal Tournament 3). When Valve finishes porting the Source engine, they will have the engine with most reach and since they are also delivering the distribution network, they will probably be on the throne for a very long time.
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The Linux market is at least a few million of generally above average intelligence and income users as proved by the Humble Bundle stats.
The Linux market is not the Linux gamers (Score:3)
The Linux market is at least a few million of generally above average intelligence and income users as proved by the Humble Bundle stats.
The Linux game market is not the number of Linux gamers. Many Linux gamers are dual booting or running WINE, they are already buyers of the games on Steam. The Linux game market is really those gamers who refuse to dual boot or run WINE. That is a group far smaller than you suggest. The current Steam customers don't really count since the Linux version would simply cannibalize sales of the Windows version and generate no new revenue for the developer. Replacing a Windows sale with a Linux sale does not pay
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How about the Linux users that are not currently customers of Steam, but would be if there was a Linux client?
For example, I buy games only if I know there is good Wine support, also I am not a Steam customer. If there were a Linux client, I would think to be a customer, because then I could buy Games with have Linux support.
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The Linux game market is really those gamers who refuse to dual boot or run WINE. That is a group far smaller than you suggest. The current Steam customers don't really count since the Linux version would simply cannibalize sales of the Windows version and generate no new revenue for the developer.
It's not that binary. For "important" games that I wanted badly and was willing to dual boot or deal with WINE for, yes I was a Steam customer. But I'd probably make more casual or impulse purchases if I knew okay this is tested and supported and will work with no hassle under Linux, like say their deal of the day or weekend sales. But sure yes, quite a few purchases would be pure cannibalization.
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The "above intelligence" part is probably what scares big companies off.
Yeah, I am a smug, elitist prick. Sue me.
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And pretty close to the last - once it works there it's just a matter of grafting whichever bit of Ubuntu it works with onto whatever linux distro you want. DLL hell was an Microsoft only problem which has probably even vanished there now.
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Once it works on Ubuntu, it will be very easy to port it to any other Linux distro.
Yep, just statically compile, throw the whole thing in /opt, put an icon in /usr/share/icons and a .desktop file in /usr/share/applications and call it a day. It should be fairly trivial to port to all of the major Linux distros and most of the minor ones.
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Give up on the outdated reactionary shit (Score:3)
Aren't they big enough and conservative enough for you?
Gold and Lead... (Score:5, Insightful)
Apple hasn't exactly been shy about the fact that The App Store is exciting and mandatory on iDevices, and exciting-and-optional-for-now on OSX.
Microsoft hasn't exactly been shy about copying Apple in these matters(and while their 'games for windows live' initiative is risible, their xbox work shows that they are to be treated with caution).
Valve has a comparatively well regarded distribution mechanism; but they face the potential of being squeezed by platform vendors who want to own the store.
Now, as long as Redmond wants their $20-$100 bucks a box to make sure that Win32 and device drivers are working, and Apple wants their somewhat larger slice to provide the full package, Valve has a pretty limited incentive to try to upset that arrangement. Neither business is easy, and only the dominant player stands to make any serious money.
However, now the platform guys want to own both the platform and the store. That can't be good for the independent shopkeeper, now can it?
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Should have ported TF2 first (Score:3)
With the most popular game TF2, and it being free, I would think they would have wanted that one out the door first. Then DOTA2 as the next most popular.
TF2 brings in the numbers, new people can get in at no cost. Left 4 dead is a bit Niche (and a bit has been at this point).
Either way, get some more games involved and I will no longer need to boot into windows, and that makes me very very happy. I would rather dual boot Linux/LinuxGaming if I want to keep a pure open environment.
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They are the same engine, with the difference being that TF2 also has some extra complicated netcode bolted on to handle the large team games. In fact Valve tends to forward-port their previous games to the newest engine, which is currently represented by L4D2/Portal2. So get L4D2 working first. Then bolt on the extra bits the Portal games need. That gets you just about the entire Source Engine back catalog along with most of the 3rd party Source games. Then get the netcode (that has to interact with large
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Personally, I think they're playing with L4D2 because it's more stable. TF2 is getting content updates every few weeks, while L4D2 is still new but relatively stable. Maybe just for the sensitive stage where they want to make sure it works just fine (with an acceptable framerate, which is probably the hard part) they want a game that doesn't push new hats to the client every other week. On
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Valve literally can't afford to do anything that might disrupt the TF2 and DOTA2 communities. If a bug in the Linux client caused x-number of games with Windows users to drop they would have a major problem. Not to mention the anti-cheet being by far their most important feature and is genuinely much harder on Linux.
By using an old title with limited potential they are simply managing risk. If they can get it to work then TF2 and DOTA2 will be their highest priorities.
Thank you Valve (Score:5, Interesting)
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Thank you for giving me dream that one day I can get rid of all the windows installs in my house.
You need to get out more.
He even wants to get rid of all the windows in his house, he must be losing his mind.
Not really, it's just to make the entire place like one giant basement.
About time (Score:2)
My prediction (Score:5, Interesting)
I believe that Valve is thinking about what it would take to get into the console business and Linux could be the key. I think this is the proof of concept stage- get the Steam client and a couple of games running on Linux. Evaluate how much work it takes and evaluate the game performance on Linux.
If they can come up with a way to port games cleanly and inexpensively, then suddenly Steam in the living room is a no-brainer. Commodity hardware in a nice case with bluetooth accessories. Rev the hardware every two years instead of every 7 or 8 years and make sure that new games are playable on older consoles by automatically reducing game settings.
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It does? If so, that's actually a much more likely prediction I think.
Can you connect the dots though? I know Android is a VM typically running on top of a stripped down Linux, but that's about it as far as the two are connected, no?
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They do have a "10 foot" interface on the way as well... so I don't think it's too hard to imagine that Valve wants to be on your TV. If they can do it with Linux, they can avoid licensing costs from sticking with a Windows Kernel.
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The binary blob drivers, atleast the nvidia ones tend to outperform their windows counterparts by a small margin.
The open amd drivers are coming along, and outperform their closed counterparts in some areas, despite not having complete documentation.
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Especially since you can play them off against each other, only one of them is going to end up selling cards for use in a Steam Box (no way of knowing how many box that might be globally), and for people who want to build their own linux systems which might run the steam software, they are more likely to choose the manufacturer used in the steam box because they
It's finally time to build a linux gaming machine (Score:2)
I occasionally consider building a gaming machine but never follow through because I would have to choose between running windows or having very few supported games. If this actually happens I will be a happy man.
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I just rebuilt my "game computer" and was trying to think of a name for it. Since Steam was the only application I'd be installing on Windows 7... "SteamBox" was all I could think of. ;)
Note to Valve Folks (Score:4, Interesting)
If there are any Valve folks reading this -- just a couple of notes, questions, etc ...
1) Please fix the site so that mac games will only recommend mac games. The same goes for the upcoming linux section. It kind of sucks to click on a recommended game only to find it's window's only.
2) When are you guys going to answer Facebook Connect? Seriously, it'd be killer to integrate our mobile game apps into steam to either replace game center or to add to it.
3) steam console ... Ouya sounds great but steam would be divine :) How about a steam branded android device?
And hey, if you guys need to html++, give me a call ;) Or, maybe a discount :)
Keep up the great work!
Re:Note to Valve Folks (Score:4, Interesting)
Go ahead and go over to the valve linux blog and email them from there. They really seem interested in getting input.
http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/steamd-penguins/ [valvesoftware.com]
The mail address is in the text and on the sidebar on the right.
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I'm not trying to troll here.... (Score:2)
But is it seriously a wise move to target Linux for games? Considering the segment of the market that actually runs Linux, and in particular, the even smaller segment of the market that runs LInux on the desktop, is it worth any game studio's time to really support it?
For what it's worth... I run Linux on my main computer at home, and I really like using it, but I also do have a separate computer that runs Windows which I use for games, and I'd imagine that pretty much anyone who is a gamer is probably
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I think you saw some of the answers already in the posts above yours:
A steam console in the works, independent of OS.
A get in early on the inevitable uptake of linux in embedded devices and home desktops
The humble bundles have indicated that Linux users want games, and are willing to pay for them on thier platform of choice. 75,000 (roughly) people bought the last Linux humble bundle, getting your platform which delivers ads daily, in front of those users too?
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It would never make sense for Steam to support Linux at the expense of Windows. The thing is, they are trying to support Linux *as well as* Windows and Mac. That means that the 20 million Linux desktops out there might be incremental profit for already-developed games (assuming the support costs of the Linux port are not too high - but Valve has a lot of cash so that is not really a concern. So they can use this opportunity to create their own space in the market, inexpensive Linux-based gaming consoles).
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To start with the gamer/non-gamer distinction is something they want to 'fix'. We don't have filmer/non-filmer, or much tv/non-tv anymore why shouldn't Valve target everyone?
Secondly Microsoft is a very significant competitor. Both as a game studio but much more importantly with XBox/Windows Live. You can dismiss it as emotional if you want, but few successful companies have left their entire fate in the hands of a competitor.
Thirdly they they need to look to the future. They are already far behind on phone
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If your windows box exists only to play games, then replacing it with a linux box thats also capable of playing games would save you money, you could buy a couple more games or a hardware upgrade with the cost of windows...
There are quite a few people in a similar boat, they have windows solely for gaming and would happily get rid of it if they were able to play their games under linux... The fact that people are willing to make effort to get games running with wine shows that there is at least some demand
I need something explained (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not trying to troll here, so don't take this the wrong way.
From my experience, a lot of Linux users hate Microsoft because of their dominance in operating systems. It has resulted in a lot of software only being available for Windows and not Linux, hardware manufacturers only putting out drivers (decent or otherwise) for Windows and not Linux, and so on. People hate Microsoft due to their effective monopoly in the software industry (now getting less effective, but still)
Once Steam is released for Linux, it's going to be the focal point for virtually all games on Linux just like Steam is on Windows. Sure there are exceptions (GOG, Origin, developers selling directly and so on), but by and large Valve will have an effective monopoly as the primary source of games for most PC gamers.
Since Steam also uses account-based DRM, your games are linked to a single point of failure. A clerical error, a PayPal/credit card dispute, anything that may or may not be your fault occurs, and you may find yourself locked out of your account either temporarily or permanently. If this happens, you can't play your games.
Linux users traditionally are geeks, and hence know the dangers of relying on a single vendor, a single point of failure. They'd know not to put all your eggs in one basket because otherwise, you don't have control. I'm no Richard Stallman but I'm honestly scared about the fact that everyone appears to be happy giving control out of their hands and to a third-party... EVEN LINUX USERS!
Are people so desperate for games that they don't care about the fact that revocation of your purchases is technically possible due to Steam's DRM? I need someone to post something insightful because I'm going out of my fucking mind with worry that the traditionally anti-DRM crowd here is giving me mixed signals when it comes to Valve. At this point I'm almost ready to give up gaming and do something else if everyone's basically agreed that DRM cannot be stopped.
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My understanding of Steam, which since I'm a Linux user comes from posts from earlier threads (e.g. [slashdot.org]), is that you don't have to launch Steam to play the games (though that's the easy way), and there's nothing stopping a game from having lan play. In fact, Valve's games usually include both lan play and the ability to host your own servers. So, yes, they can revoke your account and block you from their servers and stop you from buying new games, but they can never stop you from playing the ones you own. I
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I've read gman003's posts before - he doesn't say anything bad about Steam, ever. He's very much the definition of a fanboy, so only take his words with a grain of salt.
Virtually Steam game has their .exe modified so that they reference a file called steam_api.dll (located in the game's directory). This API provides a wrapper for the game to communicate with Steam, whether it's for achievements or supporting Steam cloud functionality, whatever. It also provides authentication through the Steam client. In ot
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From my experience, a lot of Linux users hate Microsoft because of their dominance in operating systems. It has resulted in a lot of software only being available for Windows and not Linux, hardware manufacturers only putting out drivers (decent or otherwise) for Windows and not Linux, and so on. People hate Microsoft due to their effective monopoly in the software industry (now getting less effective, but still)
The problem with Microsoft is not their monopoly, it's how they defend that monopoly, they've been actively killing competition.
Since Steam also uses account-based DRM, your games are linked to a single point of failure. A clerical error, a PayPal/credit card dispute, anything that may or may not be your fault occurs, and you may find yourself locked out of your account either temporarily or permanently. If this happens, you can't play your games.
Yes and No. Not Valve decides if the games use DRM, the developers do (or publisher). Games which do not have DRM on them can be played without Steam with no problem, even games with DRM might be played without Steam with no problem. The assumption that you're only able to play the games if you're logged into Ste
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Just want to address a few of your comments:
As I told someone else, there are very few games I've tried which work without Steam. DOSBox games like the classic
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Skyrim or Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Portal 1/2? Not a chance. Note I'm also not referring to any extra 3rd-party DRM, just the base Steam DRM.
As far as I could figure out, those games are using Steamworks. Which is a DRM system delivered by Steam and Valve, but which is optional for the developers/publishers. So we're back at their mercy.
I have read people's complains on the Steam forums whereby there was an issue when paying through PayPal, for whatever reason PayPal wouldn't transfer funds to Valve even though the transaction was completed in Steam (completely PP's fault mind you, but it happens), and so the account is locked for reasons of fraud or some such BS. If you're good with Steam support it might be a temporary lock while they try to ascertain what happened, but it's still a lock.
I was not aware of such problems...though, now that I think about it, it sounds logical that accounts get suspended when such problems arouse. But I'm also very confident that you can resolve those situations with Support and PayPal. St
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BTW - I read something interesting which I thought was worth sharing. Someone else made the point that they were concerned with Steam for the exact same reasons that I am, but decided to stick with it anyway.
His view was that we have progressed to a state where you don't "own" anything anymore when it comes to software/media, it's all licensed. Now technically you've been buying a license for every piece of software, movie, music and whatnot anyway, it's just that the ability to revoke the license has never
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Nah, I'm not like that. I've been feeling like this for a few years ago. It's just that since Steam is going to be on the three main platforms now, there's no escaping it and games are going to be tailored for it. People will get USED to being reliant on a third-party for their games and not owning the software. By then it'll be too late - we won't have independent executable anymore because everyone's gotten
Awesome (Score:3)
Just awesome. As the Humbe Linux Bundle have shown there is big potential in the Linux desktop market for games. Many games are already working just fine in Wine. As you can see in the WineHQ[1] there are 3333 Platinum, 2878 Gold and 2468 Silver rated applications and games (Platinum and Gold means they are working out-of-the-box with Wine).
But I do hope you are going to contribute to the Wine project. What would be just beyond awesome if your client would be open source. There is no reason to not make your client open source anyway, since it will work only with your service. But to have your client open source would bring you many advantages.
Like free bug fixing from the open source community; Free translations to different languages, like Chinese, Thai, German, Spanish. Free porting to different Linux distributions like Fedora, OpenSuse, Debian. You would have so many more potential customers if Linux users could just go to their package manager and install your client from the official repositories.
Thank you for the port and for the courage to take the opportunity.
[1] http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&sTitle=Browse%20Applications&sOrderBy=appName&bAscending=true [winehq.org]
Wine (Score:3)
It'd be *awesome* if they officially supported Wine too for many games for which they won't bother making an actual Linux version.
Just Ubuntu? (Score:2)
This reminds me that the Amazon mp3 downloader still doesn't work in 64-bit Linux distributions. Given that running the amz file though clamz on the command line downloads the mp3 f
Re:wow! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:wow! (Score:5, Insightful)
Man, it is hard to make some people happy. Here's one of the more successful game companies trying to make a serious effort to bring better games to Linux, and after 8 comments, there are 6 complaints about it.
Better they should do like Sony and just say "Fuck you, no Linux"? Or like Microsoft who tries to make with the lip service while trying to stab OSS in the back?
I mean, there might be some really evil intent behind Valve working on bringing Steam to Linux, but maybe a "wait and see" attitude might be called for at least until they give some indication of trying to screw Linux users over.
It could also signal to a lot more game developers that people who use Linux would be interested in some good games.
How can you be mad at a company that's selling great games from last year for like $5 or $10? Especially right behind EA announcing that they're going to charge $70 for Battlefield?
Part of being a discerning customer is being able to tell who's trying to kiss you and who's trying to bugger you.
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Man, it is hard to make some people happy. Here's one of the more successful game companies trying to make a serious effort to bring better games to Linux, and after 8 comments, there are 6 complaints about it.
You can be pretty sure all eight were from Microsoft and Apple trolls.
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Pretty sure that they were linux trolls.
Oh yeah, right, like the guy who said "we don't want shit like that in the linux land!".
Re:Linux Virus Launch Disguised as DRM via Steam! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Linux Virus Launch Disguised as DRM via Steam! (Score:5, Insightful)
I think he's just concerned (legitimately) that once Steam appears on Linux, sure more games might come out, but they'll likely take the easy road and be distributed only on Steam rather than being also available in a non-DRM form.
Having said that, with the exception of some indie games, most new games these days require mandatory Steam usage anyway, so Steam appearing on Linux hasn't made anything WORSE so much as allowing options for those people who don't mind perpetually renting software. As always if you don't agree with the ToS of Steam (like I clearly don't), then you either stick with the games you've got, buy from places like GOG or move onto another hobby.
Re:Linux Virus Launch Disguised as DRM via Steam! (Score:5, Informative)
DRM is not a requirement of being on Steam. Many games are DRM free on steam for both Windows and OSX. If you dig through the file directory to find the executable for the games instead of using Steam as a launcher most games will launch without steam running. Alternatively if you find the steam launcher convenient you can add non-steam games to the Steam app.
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True, but those are vast exceptions. The games you're talking about are mostly the games which run via DOSBox (e.g. the classic Doom games). Games without DRM on Steam are extremely few. Even simply games like VVVVVV - you try running the .exe directly, see how far that gets you.
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Why would anyone want to play doom in dosbox, when there are modern ports of the doom engine available?
Re:Linux Virus Launch Disguised as DRM via Steam! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's probably due to the fact that in order for Valve to sell the old Doom games so that they can work on modern versions of Windows, going with DOSBox means it would provide the most authentic, classic Doom experience available. It would mean they can use the official ID produced DOS binaries without having to deal with third-party source ports. Allows them to adhere to all the licenses I guess.
Of course, once you've bought the game you can then break out the Doomsday Engine (like I use) with 3D models and texture packs and go nuts like that. But that's up to the purchaser; Valve shouldn't really make that decision automatically.
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Even simply games like VVVVVV - you try running the .exe directly, see how far that gets you.
Quite far if you got it in a Humble Bundle.
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Precisely, that's my point. Humble bundle version? Works fine. Steam version (even if you use the Humble bundle key to acquire it in Steam)? Nada.
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Each and every one of the Humble Indie Bundle titles are DRM free if they're officially the Bundle versions- including those obtainable via Steam as the bundle. The HIB bunch are pretty Adamant about that detail. I should know. I was one of the devs in the HIB #2 bundle.
Steam provides DRM services, yes. Most commercial games will opt to do DRM out of the flawed notion that you "need" it. But it's not a requirement for a game being on Steam to have it.
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Stop calling me a fucking liar, alright? I even said "mostly" because I sure as hell don't know all of them off the top of my head, just those I got through Steam and have checked.
Seriously, some people think that if you're not 100% dead on your post you must be lying. Why the fuck would I lie? I WANT to use Steam if only DRM wasn't present in most (not all) of the games!
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Really? Last I heard, DRM was a mandatory requirement of being on Steam, resulting in some games shipping with a copy of the DosBox or ScummVM binary inside a Steam DRM wrapper - even though it did nothing to protect the game itself from copying and was questionable from a GPL licensing perspective, they still had to do it if they wanted to sell via Steam
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I'm sure we could, but what does that have to do with this story? Nothing Valve releases is going to be Open Source.
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Technically the Source engine already has an OpenGL renderer since they ported those games (and Steam) to OSX .
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Why do you think they would make a software renderer for Source?
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Ummm...If you have Steam installed already, go into the Library and select the 'Tools' listing. You'll find dedicated server software, available for free, to download and run for several dozen (3 or 4 dozen last I remember seeing) games available on Steam.
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Appreciate your right to an anonymous moan about Steam, but have you really had a lot of experience of how things used to be?
In the past I remember many horrible experiences while attempting to install games from a handful of CDs or from 2 or 3 DVDs released by a publisher who had their own idea of how complicated and needlessly annoying the process should be, and then the hassle of finding and inserting the DVD to be allowed to start up a game, every time I wanted to play it.
All I know is a lot of problems
Re: (Score:2)
I remember how things used to be...
On consoles, insert disc, play game.
On the Amiga, insert disk, play game.
Install game, no longer require original media to play.