Here are the latest results from the monthly GOL survey. These results are from the survey filled out this month in relation to March.
Sadly a drop in responses this month, I am still bordering on doing this less frequently to prevent people burning out on it.
Still as healthy as ever, but who really doubted this coming from a Linux gaming website?
Still quite a large amount of people using Wine and it's not surprising. Wine really is an amazing bit of software and I do enjoy seeing it mature as time goes on.
I am still personally clinging onto my Windows partitions, mainly for testing performance of games and the odd big title I can't part ways with (don't hurt me!). I personally haven't needed to boot into Windows to play games for months—thanks mainly to XCOM 2.
People like to argue that Ubuntu isn't the most popular distribution around, but no one can ever back it up. While this lumps together debian based distributions, I imagine the picture wouldn't be too different if Ubuntu was by itself. What I may do in future, is have Debian by itself since offshoots like Ubuntu aren't really the same, not sure on that really. It wouldn't make sense to split up the smaller distributions, but the ones more likely to be used could be fun to split up to see some more accurate statistics.
Really good to see such a healthy amount of people using 64bit, there's really little reason to continue using 32bit unless your hardware really is that old.
I am very excited to see what happens to this graph after the release of the new AMD processors. I'm hoping AMD manage to become competitive again at the mid-high end so more people will be likely to buy them, especially if the price is good.
Considering the price of a semi-decent racing wheel, I'm really not surprised it's as low as it is. Something really for full driving enthusiasts I guess.
Again, this is something that isn't at all surprising. Screens that are only 1080p are dirt cheap, and 4K screens really haven't hit that sweet spot for price point. Not only that, but 4K gaming on Linux really isn't all that great. Not just gaming, but many applications still don't scale well, or scale at all (like Steam).
This one is weird, the amount of people using Steam seems to have dropped. I was thinking it was originally a blip, but the trend has continued. A lower drop than before though.
This isn't surprising at all, given that a lot of people that visit GOL are quite Linux-savvy most of us already have beefy gaming computers, or like me, built their own Steam Machine.
Many thanks once again to Feds for doing the graphs, and thank you to all who participate in the survey. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Sadly a drop in responses this month, I am still bordering on doing this less frequently to prevent people burning out on it.
Still as healthy as ever, but who really doubted this coming from a Linux gaming website?
Still quite a large amount of people using Wine and it's not surprising. Wine really is an amazing bit of software and I do enjoy seeing it mature as time goes on.
I am still personally clinging onto my Windows partitions, mainly for testing performance of games and the odd big title I can't part ways with (don't hurt me!). I personally haven't needed to boot into Windows to play games for months—thanks mainly to XCOM 2.
People like to argue that Ubuntu isn't the most popular distribution around, but no one can ever back it up. While this lumps together debian based distributions, I imagine the picture wouldn't be too different if Ubuntu was by itself. What I may do in future, is have Debian by itself since offshoots like Ubuntu aren't really the same, not sure on that really. It wouldn't make sense to split up the smaller distributions, but the ones more likely to be used could be fun to split up to see some more accurate statistics.
Really good to see such a healthy amount of people using 64bit, there's really little reason to continue using 32bit unless your hardware really is that old.
I am very excited to see what happens to this graph after the release of the new AMD processors. I'm hoping AMD manage to become competitive again at the mid-high end so more people will be likely to buy them, especially if the price is good.
Considering the price of a semi-decent racing wheel, I'm really not surprised it's as low as it is. Something really for full driving enthusiasts I guess.
Again, this is something that isn't at all surprising. Screens that are only 1080p are dirt cheap, and 4K screens really haven't hit that sweet spot for price point. Not only that, but 4K gaming on Linux really isn't all that great. Not just gaming, but many applications still don't scale well, or scale at all (like Steam).
This one is weird, the amount of people using Steam seems to have dropped. I was thinking it was originally a blip, but the trend has continued. A lower drop than before though.
This isn't surprising at all, given that a lot of people that visit GOL are quite Linux-savvy most of us already have beefy gaming computers, or like me, built their own Steam Machine.
Many thanks once again to Feds for doing the graphs, and thank you to all who participate in the survey. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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20 comments
This one is weird, the amount of people using Steam seems to have dropped. I was thinking it was originally a blip, but the trend has continued. A lower drop than before though.Because you added a new option: "Didn't buy any". Drop for Steam occured exactly at this specific month and for a similar amount .
I suppose people ticked Steam thinking if they bought any game, it would have been on steam. Most people buy their games on steam anyway.
1 Likes, Who?
I thought about that, but it just doesn't add up. There would be no need to tick Steam if you didn't buy any, even before that option came in as all questions are optional.This one is weird, the amount of people using Steam seems to have dropped. I was thinking it was originally a blip, but the trend has continued. A lower drop than before though.Because you added a new option: "Didn't buy any". Drop for Steam occured exactly at this specific month and for a similar amount .
I suppose people ticked Steam thinking if they bought any game, it would have been on steam. Most people buy their games on steam anyway.
We will see how it goes with time.
You may be right though of course, but you may be wrong, only time will really tell.
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OLucasZanella Apr 23, 2016
I thought about that, but it just doesn't add up. There would be no need to tick Steam if you didn't buy any, even before that option came in as all questions are optional.This one is weird, the amount of people using Steam seems to have dropped. I was thinking it was originally a blip, but the trend has continued. A lower drop than before though.Because you added a new option: "Didn't buy any". Drop for Steam occured exactly at this specific month and for a similar amount .
I suppose people ticked Steam thinking if they bought any game, it would have been on steam. Most people buy their games on steam anyway.
We will see how it goes with time.
You may be right though of course, but you may be wrong, only time will really tell.
An easy solution would be changing it to "Which of these retailers do you usually buy games from?"
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Not sure if you should split Debian tbh. It would break the continuity of the graph, but that might not be too important. I suppose a dev would want to know which platform to focus on? When the Debian-group is split up, Arch might come out on top and that would be kinda misleading.
At the same time, you've got me curious now. Maybe as a unique question or something?
At the same time, you've got me curious now. Maybe as a unique question or something?
2 Likes, Who?
@Liam
Yeah, it's only an explanation I see as plausible, and I think better than a sudden drop for an unknown reason.
And like you, I also find it weird to tick something if not needed, but well you know... it's a survey! you must tick something ffs!! :D
Last edited by Nel on 23 April 2016 at 11:00 pm UTC
Yeah, it's only an explanation I see as plausible, and I think better than a sudden drop for an unknown reason.
And like you, I also find it weird to tick something if not needed, but well you know... it's a survey! you must tick something ffs!! :D
Last edited by Nel on 23 April 2016 at 11:00 pm UTC
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Not sure if you should split Debian tbh. It would break the continuity of the graph, but that might not be too important. I suppose a dev would want to know which platform to focus on? When the Debian-group is split up, Arch might come out on top and that would be kinda misleading.I agree about not splitting them up, but it would be interesting to see an additional graph in the lines of "Which Debian-based distro are you using" with Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, SteamOS and "other Debian derivatives" as options. Well, anything that works on an Ubuntu LTS is pretty much guaranteed to work on Mint, but not necessarily on Debian or SteamOS. Maybe there could be another one for Arch and its derivatives, but this might be of more interest to users than developers. It's pretty hard to explicitly target a rolling release distro after all.
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Maybe as a unique question or something?
Could make it so that an additional question spawns depending on your choice for the previous question, e.g User selected Debian based distro -> Question spawns asking which Debian based distro you use. Or, User selected Arch based distro -> Question spawns asking which Arch based distro you use.
Considering the price of a semi-decent racing wheel, I'm really not surprised it's as low as it is. Something really for full driving enthusiasts I guess.
I've been wanting to get a racing wheel for a while now but I've been holding it off until the Formula 1 Linux release (which looks like it will be coming quite soon, as Feral have updated it's position on their release radar). Any suggestions as to which racing wheels work well with Linux. I'm keen for a mid to high range wheel.
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I've been wanting to get a racing wheel for a while now but I've been holding it off until the Formula 1 Linux release (which looks like it will be coming quite soon, as Feral have updated it's position on their release radar). Any suggestions as to which racing wheels work well with Linux. I'm keen for a mid to high range wheel.I've been lusting after one of the better Logitech wheels for what seems like half my life, but they've always seemed a bit too expensive for an occasional desktop racer like me. It's not like I can't play and enjoy driving games with my joypad. I'd love a good wheel but I don't think It'll fit in my budget any time soon.
To answer your question, I don't know if any of the wheels have full support out of the box, but there are third party tools for Logitech wheels at least (LTWheelConf which enable features like 900 degree rotation. So be prepared to fiddle with your system if you want it all now. Many of them have most of their features working OOTB on modern kernels though.
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I've been wanting to get a racing wheel for a while now but I've been holding it off until the Formula 1 Linux release (which looks like it will be coming quite soon, as Feral have updated it's position on their release radar). Any suggestions as to which racing wheels work well with Linux. I'm keen for a mid to high range wheel.I've been lusting after one of the better Logitech wheels for what seems like half my life, but they've always seemed a bit too expensive for an occasional desktop racer like me. It's not like I can't play and enjoy driving games with my joypad. I'd love a good wheel but I don't think It'll fit in my budget any time soon.
To answer your question, I don't know if any of the wheels have full support out of the box, but there are third party tools for Logitech wheels at least (LTWheelConf which enable features like 900 degree rotation. So be prepared to fiddle with your system if you want it all now. Many of them have most of their features working OOTB on modern kernels though.
Thanks, I'll see which Logitech wheels are in my price range when Feral releases F1 for Linux. I use Arch Linux on most of my machines, so I'm very used to fiddling with things to get them working :)
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I am actually kind of surprised by the amount of people with gamepads, but then I already knew that I was the odd one out for having barely ever used a console in my life, and pretty much never using one as a kid.
For me gaming has always been a keyboard and mouse affair.
Last edited by Hamish on 25 April 2016 at 5:55 am UTC
For me gaming has always been a keyboard and mouse affair.
Last edited by Hamish on 25 April 2016 at 5:55 am UTC
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Thing is, gamepads are awesome for certain kinds of games (anything TPP basically). I would have also probably not known it had I not wanted to play FFIX so badly back in 2001 I got a PS1.
Interestingly, I don't rate the Steam controller very highly, but yesterday I finally fixed my home network so Steam Link finally works properly and to celebrate played through Firewatch using home streaming and the Steam controller. It was great. It's not a TPP though. ;-)
Interestingly, I don't rate the Steam controller very highly, but yesterday I finally fixed my home network so Steam Link finally works properly and to celebrate played through Firewatch using home streaming and the Steam controller. It was great. It's not a TPP though. ;-)
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I am actually kind of surprised by the amount of people with gamepads, but then I already knew that I was the odd one out for having barely ever used a console in my life, and pretty much never using one as a kid.I've never owned a console, but some games are simply much more enjoyable with a controller or some sort. I remember the first driving game I had on the Amiga with real 3d graphics and analog control (the title eludes me), and driving with the mouse was doable but unwieldy as heck. And now that I do pretty much all my gaming on the sofa, using a mouse and a keyboard is simply uncomfortable. Of course there are entire genres of games that I'd prefer playing with a keyboard and mouse as well. (A steam controller might bridge the gap somewhat. I hope I'll have the opportunity try one at some point.)
For me gaming has always been a keyboard and mouse affair.
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I am actually kind of surprised by the amount of people with gamepads, but then I already knew that I was the odd one out for having barely ever used a console in my life, and pretty much never using one as a kid.
For me gaming has always been a keyboard and mouse affair.
I'm on the same boat, but I now bought a Xbox 360 controller for my wife to play Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - and an additional Steam Controller due to curiosity and to have a gamepad for this game as well. I used the controller for Grid Autosport as well, and tried the SC on some games, but that's it. Still using mouse and keyboard for almost anything.
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c0degunner Apr 25, 2016
In regards to doing the survey less frequently. I think a bi-monthly (as in once every two months) would be better while at the same time still offering up-to-date stats. IMO ;)
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wintermute Apr 25, 2016
You may be right though of course, but you may be wrong, only time will really tell.
You could get some more evidence by looking at how many people didn't tick anything for that question in the months before the "Didn't buy any" option was added. If that was close to 17% then you could be sure not many people selected Steam just to select something.
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Thing is, gamepads are awesome for certain kinds of games (anything TPP basically).I don't doubt that different control methods hold certain advantages when it comes to handling different kinds of game genres, but for much the same reasons I have almost never used a gamepad I have almost never played the kinds of games that were suited for it.
And now that I do pretty much all my gaming on the sofa, using a mouse and a keyboard is simply uncomfortable.Again, I have never really done the whole couch gaming thing either.
Given that we are on a PC gaming focused website, I would have thought that the amount of people who grew up with and still mostly play PC focused games, which at least were typically designed around the mouse and keyboard, would be higher. So it would have had a bigger effect on the culture.
Granted, tuubi does make a good point that analog controllers were an almost automatic component of some home computer systems such as the Amiga, and of course one of the strengths of the PC is that it can support both kinds of input methods. But I am still kind of surprised.
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Given that we are on a PC gaming focused website, I would have thought that the amount of people who grew up with and still mostly play PC focused games, which at least were typically designed around the mouse and keyboard, would be higher. So it would have had a bigger effect on the culture.Being one of those people, I don't think that's it. I've been gaming on computers since the mid-eighties, and I don't see myself ever owning a console or even running SteamOS, mostly due to a perceived loss of (practical) freedom and flexibility. Still I've found in the last couple of years that I very much enjoy gaming with my controller, lounging on my sofa.
I don't believe this is a betrayal of my culture in any sense of the word. Perhaps this is about different personalities; Maybe you're just conservative by nature (as opposed to politically, which is not relevant). Not that I'm much of a trend chaser either, thus far refusing to own a smart phone and having no interest in stuff like VR. Heck, even social networks and online gaming barely exist as far as I'm concerned, but I'm not much of an extrovert, so there's that.
Also, as you implied, PC games were designed around the mouse and keyboard, but I am not sure this is still true outside a few obvious genres. Maybe even game designers are increasingly of a generation that grew up holding a gamepad.
Last edited by tuubi on 25 April 2016 at 6:26 pm UTC
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wintermute Apr 26, 2016
I would have thought that the amount of people who grew up with and still mostly play PC focused games ... would be higher.
I grew up with VIC-20s, C64s and Amigas, most action games used a joystick. I've still not really gotten the hang of d-pads let alone these little analogue stick things despite owning a Megadrive, a PS1 and an N64, but despite that I generally find a controller easier for any sort of platform game, driving games or isometric adventures.
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Kuduzkehpan Apr 26, 2016
steamOS and Wine and rest of other Linux distros should be considered as Linux.
And Valve have to work on surveying on SteamOs Steamboxes and Linux clients immidiately. When i was in windows i was bored to cancel surveys in a month. but in linux now im missing that surveys. So keep up the work. peeps.
And Valve have to work on surveying on SteamOs Steamboxes and Linux clients immidiately. When i was in windows i was bored to cancel surveys in a month. but in linux now im missing that surveys. So keep up the work. peeps.
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I don't believe this is a betrayal of my culture in any sense of the word.Just to make this perfectly clear, this is not a judgement thing. No betrayals are necessary.
I generally find a controller easier for any sort of platform game, driving games or isometric adventures.Depends on the platformer. I grew up playing Apogee platformers which were optimized for the keyboard. Can't imagine playing them with a gamepad.
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