The Valve and Steam Platform Discussion Thread

[DalekFlay]

Never had Fallout New Vegas crash even after 200 hours of game time.

 

[Daemongar]

CS was decline compared to what came before, TFC.

TFC was decline compared to what came before, TF

 

[hiver]

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/04/valve-joins-linux-steam-machine-gaming

By joining the foundation, Valve will be able to feed the improvements it makes to Linux for the Steam Machine back into the main body of code, and also more directly benefit from the network of developers which work on Linux itself. "Through these efforts we hope to contribute tools for developers building new experiences on Linux, compel hardware manufacturers to prioritize support for Linux, and ultimately deliver an elegant and open platform for Linux users," says Mike Sartain, a key member of the Linux team at Valve.

-
plus the Mantle from AMD - and its fucking goodbye to fucking windows.

 

[RK47]

How can I not foresee this?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Funny, steam's version of Wizardry 8 seems to have substituted the link to my disc version that I had inserted into my steam library (via the "add non-steam game" function)

 

[Cassidy]

If Valve manages to slowly bury Microsoft's monopoly on Desktop PCs, I'll have to simultaneously like and hate Valve as long as they don't try to create their own monopoly by developing a proprietary OS or distro based on Linux and making all their games incompatible with the open-source Linux Kernels and softwares on purpose. If that happens, then I can continue only hating Valve, then twice more, for the DRM crap and being a dual monopoly.

Time will tell.

 

[Metro]

MANTLE!

 

[tuluse]

 

[IDtenT]

I'll never understand the hardon for Linux.

 

[tuluse]

I'll never understand the hardon for Linux.

When you get tired of getting fucked by stupid Microsoft decisions you start to want an OS you have some control over.

Unless you mean you're fan of BSD.

 

[DalekFlay]

When you get tired of getting fucked by stupid Microsoft decisions you start to want an OS you have some control over.

Unless you mean you're fan of BSD.

I haven't had a BSD since XP, and rarely even then.

Linux and SteamOS are great backups to have should Windows ever go super bad, sure. What are the chances of that actually happening though? Most people see a built in store as the end of days for Windows, but unless their entire business platform falls apart they're not going to turn it into iOS.

They're quite capable of being retarded though, so we shall see.

 

[tuluse]

I mean this kind of BSD. Not blue screens of death

 

[IDtenT]

I am a fan of BSD for licensing purposes and utterly hate Linux for the same reason. However, Windows still performs the best for me.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

If Valve manages to slowly bury Microsoft's monopoly on Desktop PCs, I'll have to simultaneously like and hate Valve as long as they don't try to create their own monopoly by developing a proprietary OS or distro based on Linux and making all their games incompatible with the open-source Linux Kernels and softwares on purpose. If that happens, then I can continue only hating Valve, then twice more, for the DRM crap and being a dual monopoly.

Time will tell.

Eh, GPL forbids them from developing a closed source Linux kernel fork, so that's off the table. They would've chosen BSD if they wanted to keep that as an option in the future anyway. A "proprietary" distro (in the vein of where Ubuntu seems to be heading) is possible, but I doubt it. Valve, of all the players in this industry, seems like the only one that actually doesn't want to be Apple. They'll probably be content outsourcing as much work as possible to their clients, and continuing to operate with low overhead and high profitability.

Honestly, I expect Steam OS to not do very much at all out of the box aside from playing games, and the emergence of an "OS Workshop", where you'll be able to install user-submitted modifications. Want your Steambox to play Matroska files? Here's a mod that downloads all the libraries and integrates the player into the Steam BPM UI.

 

[Morgoth]

Valve and their penguin friends can try do their Linux thing with games, but they'll never manage to replace Windows as the most widely used general-purpose OS. Too much manhours and money of have been invested by industries to build up their portfolio running on Windows. It entails such a huge ecosystem and it won't simply go away because Valve wants it.

There's only one company that could make that happen and that is Microsoft itself.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

There's only one company that could make that happen and that is Microsoft itself.

Well, they're at least trying (Vista and W8).

 

[Zewp]

Valve and their penguin friends can try do their Linux thing with games, but they'll never manage to replace Windows as the most widely used general-purpose OS. Too much manhours and money of have been invested by industries to build up their portfolio running on Windows. It entails such a huge ecosystem and it won't simply go away because Valve wants it.

There's only one company that could make that happen and that is Microsoft itself.

I doubt they'll even come close to replacing Windows and I doubt that's their aim either. As long as they break the hold Microsoft has on the PC gaming market, I'll be content. I've been stuck using Microsoft's shitty OSes for way too long.

 

[Gurkog]

Most organizations I have encountered are avoiding w8 like the plague... M$ sure hates making money.

 

[DalekFlay]

Most organizations I have encountered are avoiding w8 like the plague... M$ sure hates making money.

It's Balmer's "all in one" strategy that is failing, and he's leaving soon. Wouldn't be surprised if the next guy puts a large emphasis on returning Windows to a dedicated OS for desktops and office PCs and separating their product line by target market, which is how it should be done if you're not a complete tool like Balmer is.

 

[Konjad]

Linux and SteamOS are great backups to have should Windows ever go super bad, sure. What are the chances of that actually happening though?

Windows 8.

 

[Kane]

Most organizations I have encountered are avoiding w8 like the plague... M$ sure hates making money.

It's Balmer's "all in one" strategy that is failing, and he's leaving soon. Wouldn't be surprised if the next guy puts a large emphasis on returning Windows to a dedicated OS for desktops and office PCs and separating their product line by target market, which is how it should be done if you're not a complete tool like Balmer is.

Windows new direction is emphasis on hardware, not software.

 

[DalekFlay]

Windows 8.

Oh come now. The metro thing is annoying and there are some other issues but it's far from that bad.

What I mean by super bad is if it ever goes locked down, closed platform, whatever term you want to use for "won't run shit not approved by Microsoft."

 

[Spectacle]

Windows 8.

Oh come now. The metro thing is annoying and there are some other issues but it's far from that bad.

It's not that bad but it's not that good either. When Joe-Bob Gamer installs steamOS on his gaming PC to check it out and discovers it is more convenient to use than windows 8, he might continue to boot in steamOS as long as he can play all his games.

 

[DalekFlay]

It's not that bad but it's not that good either. When Joe-Bob Gamer installs steamOS on his gaming PC to check it out and discovers it is more convenient to use than windows 8, he might continue to boot in steamOS as long as he can play all his games.

Which he won't be able to, because Linux support percentages are nowhere near that impressive.

Like I said I'm fine with it becoming a nice backup, but I don't see it replacing Windows unless Microsoft does something a lot worse than Win8 down the line. Even then it would still likely be a dual-boot situation with an older Windows version, unless you never play older stuff at all.

 

[toro]

Most organizations I have encountered are avoiding w8 like the plague... M$ sure hates making money.

But they use W7.