The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[BlackAdderBG]

From one proprietary software to another lol

 

[thelegend]

Half Life >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Half Life 2
Half Life >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Halo Combat Evolved
PC vs Console Wars 2001

 

[Sentinel]

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/...ly-going-into-the-linux-kernel-to-help-gaming

Looks like the important futex2 work is finally going into the Linux Kernel to help gaming

After a long bumpy road with many revisions, it appears that the futex2 work sponsored by Valve is finally heading into the upstream Linux Kernel. Initially much larger, the work was slimmed down to get the main needed parts done and enabled before the rest can make it in.

So what is it? As developer André Almeida previously described it: "The use case of this syscall is to allow low level locking libraries to wait for multiple locks at the same time. This is specially useful for emulating Windows' WaitForMultipleObjects. A futex_waitv()-based solution has been used for some time at Proton's Wine (a compatibility layer to run Windows games on Linux). Compared to a solution that uses eventfd(), futex was able to reduce CPU utilization for games, and even increase frames per second for some games. This happens because eventfd doesn't scale very well for a huge number of read, write and poll calls compared to futex. Native game engines will benefit of this as well, given that this wait pattern is common for games.".

Speaking on Twitter, Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais said "It's amazing news that futex_waitv() seems to be on its way to the upstream kernel! Many thanks to the continued efforts of our partners at Collabora, CodeWeavers, and to the upstream community.".

Ideally then this will help Windows games in Proton on Linux run better. But that's not all!

Also interesting is the follow-up post from Griffais that mentions "Beyond Wine/Proton, we are also excited to bring those multi-threaded efficiency gains to Linux-native game engines and applications through some variant of the following primitive, pending more discussion with the glibc community:" with a link to some glibc work.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[seco]

Funny how HL fans couldn't refute the criticisms of their game in the first 10 pages of this thread.

 

[seco]

>kills non linear fps and dynamic storytelling
>unskippable cutscenes
>scripting and linear corridor level design
>realism
>lame weapons and ai
>no agency
>proto-cod
Why do you like it again?
Quake and Doom have better sandboxy gameplay and immersive sims better storytelling.

 

[thelegend]

Doom is a superior game than Half life. But it is itself a replica of wolf 3d.
Doom - Hell garbage wolf 3d - Hitler garbage
Quake 2 has more cutscenes than Half life. Half life takes control from the player only one time i remeber.
It took the concepts of doom and make it more explorable. it was nice to get help from security guards. Puzzles were better in Half life and you use the environment to solve it while Doom was only about combat.

 

[Tacgnol]

It always amuses me that there are some people on the Codex that blame Valve for killing the traditional FPS.

Valve did the set piece FPS well. It isn't their fault that others copied it badly.

Blame the bad imitators, not the originator.

 

[seco]

The problem is that set piece FPS is bad design.
It's objectively inferior to older shooters.
This is not arguable unless you want to defend decline.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

The problem is that set piece FPS is bad design.
It's objectively inferior to older shooters.
This is not arguable unless you want to defend decline.

Did you register just to shit on Half-Life? Because it certainly looks that way.

 

[ADL]

As far as I'm aware, this is the first controller to release capitalizing on Valve's win against SCUF's retarded backpaddle patent a couple months ago. Hopefully every controller five years from now resembles the Steam Controller's features. Thanks Valve.
https://www.8bitdo.com/pro2-wired-controller-for-xbox/

Spoiler

Steam Controller 2 fucking when

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Buddy of mine's got one of those 8bitdo SNES pads with joysticks and swears by it for emulation. Sounded nice but they are pretty pricey. Nothing to do with Valve but that company's name rang a bell.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Didn't know it was a thing.
From what people said NTF games are combining worst plagues - lootboxes, microtransactions (macro really) and pay2win.

https://www.howtogeek.com/761782/valve-now-bans-steam-games-using-blockchain-nft-or-crypto/

As of October 15, 2021, Valve lists “Applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs” as items you “shouldn’t publish on Steam” on an official support page for game developers.
This policy change came to light when SpacePirate Games, the developer of Age of Rust (a game that offers NFTs), tweeted that Valve would be kicking existing blockchain games off the Steam platform.
While it sounds like the developer has communicated with Valve regarding NFT-based games on Steam, it looks like Valve has made its decision.
“While I’m disappointed for Age of Rust being removed, the point is more to the fact that Blockchain games as [a] whole are going to be removed. This is [a] setback for all,” the company said in a follow-up tweet.

 

[Morgoth]

"You could just play games for fun and enjoyment"

What is this heresy? Games must be competitive and feel like work all the time! Mining. Looting. Racing against the time. Work work work! Yes!

 

[Sentinel]

BattlEye anti-cheat confirms Steam Deck support


By Andy Chalk 21 days ago

BattlEye, which is used in games including Destiny 2 and PUBG, said today that it will run on Proton on Valve's handheld.

(Image credit: Bungie)

Epic Games announced yesterday that Easy Anti-Cheat now has native support for Linux and MacOS, and also works with Wine and Proton, the compatibility layers used to run Windows programs on Linux. The practical effect is that any game using Easy Anti-Cheat, like Apex Legends, Day by Daylight, and Halo, should run just fine on the Steam Deck at launch.

Not to be outdone, BattlEye announced today that it too will run on Steam Deck software out of the gate.

BattlEye has provided native Linux and Mac support for a long time and we can announce that we will also support the upcoming Steam Deck (Proton). This will be done on an opt-in basis with game developers choosing whether they want to allow it or not.

This is important. as we explained in August, anti-cheat software for many online games has struggled with Proton, and if the anti-cheat doesn't run then neither will any game that relies on it. BattlEye compatibility opens the door to a number of very popular online games on the Steam Deck, including Ark: Survival Evolved, Arma 3, Destiny 2, Fortnite, PUBG, Rainbow Six Siege, and Survarium.

I'm not entirely clear what being "done on an opt-in basis" means—I mean, I know what "opt-in basis" means, I just don't understand why a developer would not want their game to support BattlEye and thus not run on Steam Deck. I've emailed Battleeye for clarification.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I have a feeling the NFT thing might have more to do with cryptocurrency taxes.

 

[ADL]

Has there ever been a decent argument for the blockchain meme in video games? I don't really understand blockchain so I'll reserve judgement but NFTs are cancerous garbage for retards.

Good news Epicbros

 

[Clockwork Knight]

https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-crypto-gaming/
The decentralized bit with the forking possibilities could be interesting, but I don't know how much of that is viable right now because the target public has to care about both cryptocurrency and videogames. I think Valve doesn't want the bother when they already have their own magic internet money system. Epic is interested though, they likely see it as an opporunity to offer something Steam doesn't.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/15/22728425/valve-steam-blockchain-nft-crypto-ban-games-age-of-rust

Steam is one of the most well-known PC game stores, but it’s not the only one. While Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney has said that the company isn’t interested in touching NFTs, that policy doesn’t seem to apply to games in its store: Epic told The Verge that it’s “open” to the idea of games that use NFTs or cryptocurrencies in an email on Friday.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Seems like more cryptoshekel gobbledygook that will end up making one person rich(and it ain't you.)
A big difference between this and say, selling game skins, is that in the former the transactions are tied directly to the developer who could pull the rug out at any moment. Doesn't seem like a position you'd want to be in as a person who may carry some liability(depending on jurisdiction for sure.)

The thing is, I don't really see the benefit of the blockchain buzzword. Exactly what is it accomplishing that couldn't be accomplished otherwise?
If you want to argue the user somehow "owns" a virtual item via NFT you have to remember it's still tied directly to the developer's game. Without the game, it is useless, and it can still be taken away from you at any time by the developer modifying the game. The same scenario that would allow a virtual item to be transferred via NFT could be equally represented without a big data hyperloop blockchain.

Am I missing something?

 

[ADL]

I can see the appeal of an open ledger in theory but when you consider the fact that anything that would need this sort of user-based entitlement would be reliant on closed-source servers, who gives a shit?

 

[Sentinel]

Has there ever been a decent argument for the blockchain meme in video games? I don't really understand blockchain so I'll reserve judgement but NFTs are cancerous garbage for retards.

Good news Epicbros

 

[HeroMarine]

 

[pakoito]

For the non-technical people you can replace "blockchain" with "slow database".

 

[Dexter]

They've since implemented this in the Live Client version, but for some reason have hidden it behind various sub-menus, I stumbled upon it by accident:

If you want to get there: View --> Settings --> Downloads and click "Steam Library Folders" at the top to open this view.

 

[ADL]

That library management feature is a fucking godsend for someone like me that has eight drives and is constantly moving shit around between NAS and local storage. Every client needs something like it.