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So You Want to Compete with Steam

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Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#191

Post by [deleted] »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #152
JohnStrange wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm changing my system soon and I can tell you that I'm very, very happy that most of my games are on Steam. I remember that manual installation from DVD used to take minutes to hours, and I just don't have the time for this any longer. Right now, my biggest nightmare are VST plugins. They are in fact the reason why I didn't upgrade my PC from an i7 920 for years. I estimate it will take me at least a week of full sp…

You need a pretty hefty net connection to download a complete library in a reasonable time. My computer is a little under powered so i look at lighter games, they're all over 6GB, some are 25GB ... there's at least 3 times I've gone to buy a game, following email offers, and thought it was just too large. I probably need to look into QoS again, but my ISP's router has it locked down.

[deleted]

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#192

Post by talmand »

JohnStrange wrote: post #115
dataflow wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really, Steam seems to be the closest thing Windows has to an application/package manager I don't understand this obsession with package managers. You guys really have less trouble with package managers than Windows installers? It was literally just 2-3 days ago I was trying to update Ubuntu and I couldn't, because of some stupid error (I don't remember exactly) along the lines of "libgl1-mesa-glx depends libglapi-…

I'm changing my system soon and I can tell you that I'm very, very happy that most of my games are on Steam. I remember that manual installation from DVD used to take minutes to hours, and I just don't have the time for this any longer. Right now, my biggest nightmare are VST plugins. They are in fact the reason why I didn't upgrade my PC from an i7 920 for years. I estimate it will take me at least a week of full sp…

A better option is to backup your games to an external drive and then restore to the new system.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#193

Post by mmjaa »

dataflow wrote: post #175
lmm wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apt/Synaptic got me into this broken state and couldn't get me out of it. I don't know what story you're reading, but it doesn't seem to be what I've been writing. There was nothing for me to ignore. The error wasn't something I ignored; it was the problem. No. Nothing was broken. The updates you had asked for were about to break something if you installed them. The error message was the package manager stopping yo…

> No. Nothing was broken. The updates you had asked for were about to break something if you installed them. The error message was the package manager stopping you from breaking your system. Uhm... two things. First: you see this screenshot? https://askubuntu.com/q/814380 Aside from the actual package names, the bottom part is the same kind of error I got. See how it says "You have held __broken___ packages" ? See ho…

Its not broken. The 'error' in the example you gave is: php comes in many flavours and your distro has (wisely) decided not to make this decision for you.

You have to decide which flavour of php you want to use and install the dependency manually, yourself.

This is a feature, not a bug.

Not knowing how to use package management and why you'd do things this way, does not mean that package management is broken. It means you don't know what you're doing.

Honestly: PEBCAK.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#194

Post by mmjaa »

mehrdadn wrote: post #141
Maken wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have run into this kind of package dependency lock-down sometimes when installing updated graphic drivers and build systems (usually from non-official repositories), and I have been able to solve it by reverting the problematic packages to older versions until I hit a well-formed dependency tree. I only hit a similar problem in Windows once, when it hung up installing a new C++ runtime, and since then I could neith…

Thanks! Yeah, this is a great follow-up to what I've been saying. Right, Windows isn't perfect either. What it does have going for it, though, is that on Windows there are comparatively very few external shared libraries -- in fact, the only ones I can think of are in fact the C, C++, .NET, and SQL runtimes. So, as you confirmed, it means application updates rarely break your system globally. (OS updates can still wr…

I'm guessing you don't know what "DLL hell" was.

>The part I find mind-boggling is that Linux users are obsessed with package mangers for the initial installations themselves, not merely updating.

Yes, because it keeps the system functional and operating and - if you use it properly - package management is a hellaciously great way to build a system.

> Do they really only ever want to install FOSS software blessed by their OS distro, and do they really think it makes sense for a system to break if they install anything unblessed? More power to them if they can live like that, but I can't.

Its your system, manage it how you like. But the default of 'safety and stability first' in a package manager is a feature, not a bug. Don't blame the tool if you don't know how to use it properly - its clear that you simply do not know how to use package management to your benefit. This doesn't mean package management is of no benefit; it means your basis of operating/administering the system is flawed. I would suggest this is due to your attitude more than anything else; its certainly not for technical reasons.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#195

Post by Yizahi »

dataflow wrote: post #105
krapp wrote: post #16

Really, Steam seems to be the closest thing Windows has to an application/package manager[0]. It's almost kind of a shame that it's more or less entirely for games and game development software - something like it with sourceforge/github integration or an API for general purpose Windows installers would be nice. [0]notwithstanding whatever Windows 10 might have, because I still refuse to touch that, but it's probably…

> Really, Steam seems to be the closest thing Windows has to an application/package manager I don't understand this obsession with package managers. You guys really have less trouble with package managers than Windows installers? It was literally just 2-3 days ago I was trying to update Ubuntu and I couldn't, because of some stupid error (I don't remember exactly) along the lines of "libgl1-mesa-glx depends libglapi-…

I remember running in circles trying to install one app on Debian and getting "hey, you need libtrpc, error", ok, apt-get it, "hey, now I need libc6 for libtrpc, error", ok, apt-get it too, "hey, your libc6 already present, what do you want from me, error". Of course each error was 5 lines long. I was doing lots of tries and asked on SE too but in the end it didn't work. And it couldn't even tell me all dependencies together, only on separate tries for each package. So much for glorified protection and usability.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#196

Post by Yizahi »

talmand wrote: post #189
lmm wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> First: you see this screenshot? https://askubuntu.com/q/814380 Aside from the actual package names, the bottom part is the same kind of error I got. I actually don't, imgur is blocked where I work. But I know the error you're talking about. > Yeah, I interpret that to mean I had broken packages. After updating. Not before. Yeah the error reporting is bad, which is where the whole unix philosophy of small cooperatin…

I'm really enjoying this thread where it seems the complainer is saying they clicked a button provided by the system that resulted in breaking the system and the defenders are saying the complainer not only clicked the button wrong but didn't understand how to click the button correctly. Therefore, the complainer should have realized they are too stupid to understand how to click such an advanced button correctly and…

In the separate thread they may later complain about Linux not making it to the desktops of regular users.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#197

Post by FussyZeus »

PetahNZ wrote: post #26
Morizero wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My girlfriend uses it for the Sims. On at least 3 occasions it's taken over an hour to get the game running due to Origin issues. It's truly garbage.

I kinda like the Origin Access model though. Subscribe for $5 per month, get access to a library of games.

I dunno, not a huge fan of those. I'd rather spend $60 on a game I actually want (or likely a lot less via Steam) than just get a ton of games I don't even play.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#198

Post by FussyZeus »

ndh2 wrote: post #99
wernercd wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really though... other than perhaps Blizzard... is there any secondary store worth looking into? Outside of Windows/Android/iStore... There's nothing worth switching. I've passed up on purchasing games (IE: Mass Effect 3) because it's tied to a shitty NotSteam...

Same here, I won't buy Titanfall as long as it requires Origin.

Don't wanna be that guy, but you really should. It's quite awesome and you don't need to deal with Origin hardly at all, just let it run in the background and it's 99% fine.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#199

Post by watwut »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #155
watwut wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best thing about GOG is that I am actually able to find interesting games I did not knew they exist before there. Discovery on steam is atrocious.

Discovery seems good on Steam to me - shows games your 'friends' have and are playing, search by tags/keywords, stream of game suggestions you can work through, easy to browse library ... what's it need extra IYO?

I would prefer games I might like instead of those my 'friends' (virtually non existent on steam and those who are having different preferences) have.

I am mostly unable to find puzzle games that are not rpgs nor adventures. No matter what I do I see same most popular games I don't happen to be interested in.

Re: So You Want to Compete with Steam

#200

Post by earenndil »

dvt wrote: post #57
earenndil wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If an indie game that gets crazily popular is on both your own store and steam, everyone will buy it on steam because they have no incentive to buy it from your store.

Have you read (3)? Contracts would stipulate to only distribute through your platform.

If it's only distributed through your platform then their game won't become crazily popular.
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