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Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

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Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#161

Post by crazypython »

ebegnwgnen wrote: post #50
Kees_Veel wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The games I mean. I guess I'm in the wrong topic here, but if you play those games, you implicitly have to trust their secret code on your network. User account and all. Obviously most here have done that a long time ago and don't even give it a second thought. This is normal in these times of Windows and Facebooks, but I still care.

I believe Valve is working on Flatpak sandboxing for games. If this happen that would be one more reason to game on Linux instead of Windows. It's not as good as open source but let's be real, you'll never get AAA open source games. Games don't need to access personal data (such as contact, phone number, photos, files, private messages, etc.) so with strong sandboxing I guess it could be a okay solution privacy-wise

> It's not as good as open source but let's be real, you'll never get AAA open source games.

Free software philosophy (the "F" in "FOSS") allows the art and data files (levels) of a game to be proprietary, while keeping the code open-source. Sell the game itself, code comes for free.

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/funding-art-vs-funding-softwa...

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#162

Post by scottlamb »

mminer237 wrote: post #147
MrFoof wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't address the core issue, but... IIRC, the folders that contain a Steam UserIDs save game data are named after the game's Steam AppID. You can look them up here ( https://steamdb.info/apps/ ). I admit it's certainly not a solution to the discoverability problem when navigating a filesystem, as there are over 100,000 AppIDs and growing at this point.

They are. I always just google the game and copy it out of the store URL: https://store.steampowered.com/app/573100/Battlefleet_Gothic_Armada_2/ ¯¯¯¯¯¯

These are exposed to the Linux filesystem, right? Can you just add a symlink?

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#163

Post by ebegnwgnen »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #57
ebegnwgnen wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe Valve is working on Flatpak sandboxing for games. If this happen that would be one more reason to game on Linux instead of Windows. It's not as good as open source but let's be real, you'll never get AAA open source games. Games don't need to access personal data (such as contact, phone number, photos, files, private messages, etc.) so with strong sandboxing I guess it could be a okay solution privacy-wise

To the best of my knowledge Valve's container system has no relation to Flatpak.

I think it does :

https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/issues/3797

"Recent versions of Steam can optionally put each game in its own container, using a Flatpak-derived tool named pressure-vessel."

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#164

Post by fuu_dev »

lukeschlather wrote: post #85
Barrin92 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

also from several game devs I've talked to, not only is the market share negligible, the bug reports aren't. Common sentiment was that Linux was ~1% of their sales but a third of complaints.

This probably reflects the character of Linux users more than Linux. To really unpack that you need to properly categorize the complaints: (Linux platform bug, Cross-platform bug, User error.) If 50% of the bugs are real cross-platform issues, then ditching Linux saves a lot less than you think (and you're potentially losing some high-quality free QA.)

you should read this: https://twitter.com/bgolus/status/1080213166116597760

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#165

Post by away_throw »

sandworm101 wrote: post #106
k__ wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How good does this work with things like Oculus Quest, SteamVR, etc.? Are there any performance implications?

I own a valve index. I use it only on linux (mint) via proton. I can say that it does work. There are quirks. don't expect it to be seemless. For instance, more than half the time I start SteamVR but have to then "restart" the headset. Once it is working it is working. Not all VR games support linux but many do, probably a higher proportion than amongst non-VR games. VR games tend to come from smaller developers who…

The restarting issue also occurs for me on Windows 10. Although, it usually occurs 80% of the time rather than half for me. I suspect it might be due to me plugging in power to the headset after starting the system, but I've seen it occur without doing that as well, so I am unsure.

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#166

Post by ascagnel_ »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #86
kevincox wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup. Valve is putting serious effort into Proton and there are a number of reasons I can think of including Valve loves Linux, Valve thinks that the Linux market is/can be profitable, Valve wants to keep its non-Windows options available if only to threaten Microsoft. However a next generation of Steam machines definitely seems like it would be present on that list.

I think a streaming service with a Linux backend is more likely than another Steam machine push. One of the biggest problems with Stadia and the like is that you have to buy another copy of the game whereas Steam already knows what you own and will let you play it locally.

Strictly speaking, Stadia is "a streaming service with a Linux backend", but I think Steam could do it better than how Google's gone about it. The issue would be that Valve would need to renegotiate it's distribution deals to include streaming rights in addition to providing user downloads, and many publishers would drag their feet on allowing that, based on how publishers made noise and opted out of nVidia's Windows-based offering.

But a service that offers my Steam library via cloud streaming would be a very tempting offering.

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#167

Post by throwaway3699 »

shultays wrote: post #126
ben-schaaf wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering the complete lack of attention TF2 gets from valve I wouldn't consider it a fair reflection of VAC's effectiveness. It had been infested for ages before a media outcry about the bigoted chat spam finally spurred valve into action, yet all they did was ban f2p accounts from using chat.

I don't play CS that much but afaik aimbots are there as well. I know that it has manual reports/user review systems so I imagine VAC is not effective as an automated tool

Counter-Strike has a bunch of anti-cheat systems, but they solve different problems (VAC, Overwatch, Prime Matchmaking, and VACNet). These systems all work together and I'd say it's pretty effective. TF2 could do with the same.

But my original point is that you don't need Kernel based spyware to do anti-cheat.

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#168

Post by ad404b8a372f2b9 »

WorkLobster wrote: post #136
ad404b8a372f2b9 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is still no functional VR media player for linux, none of the Windows ones work with Proton and the official SteamVR Media Player has no linux release.

I use Whirligig, which works with a minor fix documented on ProtonDB.

Whirligig does not work for me with the recommended fix.

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#169

Post by Corazoor »

sandworm101 wrote: post #113
Corazoor wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never viewd it that way, but you are absolutely right about the danger. On the other hand I have now seen multiple games where the developers were implementing wine specific bugfixes. I think it goes both ways: Showing willingness to support at least proton/wine will also net you some additional sold copies. And being unfriendly towards linux users is probably more bad PR nowadays than it used to be.

Showing support for linux is great, but what about DRM? What happens when the desire to prevent piracy of the windows client means attaching software that will never in a million years run on linux? DRM is why linux users have basically given up on ever getting access to games from the largest developers.

I have personal experience with that problem. Recently I had to install a secondary windows boot just to play W40K Battlefleet Gothic Armada in drm-protected COOP!

But DRM is a problem in and of itself. Something which linux gamers can't even change by refraining from buying, with their mighty ~1% market share.

Also, the companies who rely that heavily on drm are not really in the business of providing native linux clients either. So proton can hardly be a hindrance for adoption here...

Re: Valve's Proton Has Enabled 7000 Windows Games on Linux

#170

Post by Zhyl »

rhn_mk1 wrote: post #128
Zhyl wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Did none of those 7000 games work on Wine already? Not on Steam, and not without user time investment. Steam Play (which uses Proton) allows the Steam client to only show games that are known to run well on Linux, automatically installs and configures a Wine prefix for them and then launches them _as if they were native Linux games_. No mess, no fuss. If I were to put Linux with Steam Play enabled in from of a Windo…

I would agree if the article was saying "7000 games enabled in Steam", but it's not: > we are very close to 7000 Windows games confirmed to be working out of the box with Proton on Linux. A better point of comparison for the actual claim would be Wine-launcher or CrossOver or some other Wine wrapper. As it is, the base for comparison used is "nothing worked before"

Given that this news provider reports quite frequently on Proton, I can understand that they assumed their readership would know what they meant. I will concede that the wording is pretty loose objectively.
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