A third of Valve now working on VR, still no Linux support

How does VR work with people who have to wear glasses?

How does VR work with people who have to wear glasses?

yes

I would like to have the opportunity to run a vive on linux, but to be honest I too think that VR is a hype for many years to come.

Like with 3D (television), VR comes up every few years/decades and I still don't see technology anywhere near to be usable by the broad masses.

And let's face it: without the masses, no money, without money no show... simply as that in a capitalistic world.

Im afraid you are wrong. You clearly havent try them yet.

This is the first generation that is good... and the second generation can only be even more awesome... I can understand 1/3 of valve working on apps for this... (probably hl3 to be honest.. With this it can be up to the hype)

And I say im afraid because this quit the focus on linux... :(

I suppose those of us who don't care about virtual reality can look on the bright side: 2/3 of Valve is still working on things that aren't VR! :P

But its VR!!! Your actually INSIDE a VIRTUAL WORLD!! That is some science fiction shit! In a few years we will all be in the Matrix!

The Matrix? Well shit I'm out.

I installed windows 7 just for the vive... and to be able to develop for the vive... :(

Ive been windows free for almost 10 years

Sorry guys... but vr is too exciting for me... :(

I just bought a second computer for it, to avoid touching my main rig...

If you hadn't already dropped the cash I would have recommended doing a VGA passthrough on an exclusive GPU and using Windows As A Service aka Redhat Virtual Machine manager style.

Throw in a dedicated SSD and a second monitor and you can have all the VR you want on Linux in the now.

I think it's a bit fair that a developer get and use windows for work reasons, the love of Linux will draw you back. Hopefully by then Valve will have released their Linux drivers.

I tried using a Windows Gaming Slave and I have to say for some reason it disappointed me greatly, maybe all the games I used to play just are boring now and not relevant to me.


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 21 Jun 2016 at 8:38 pm UTC

In my opinion this is extremely troubling. Valve is dedicating that much labor to the Vive and they can't be bothered with Linux support? This coming from the company that touted Linux as the future of gaming...

It's hard to see this as anything but Valve silently shelving Steam for Linux. My best guess is the Vive is Valve's plan B to keep people logging into Steam in the eventuality that something like UWP does gain traction.

They are just throwing what they can at the wall to see what sticks as a competitive advantage. Since the Steam Machines didn't stick, on to VR.

Oh well. Can't wait for this hype to die down. After all, there is no way an $800 peripheral is going to be anything more than a niche item. I don't care how unique / awe-inspiring the experience is.

Disappointing. It's nice that Linux is getting PS Vita-level life support from indies, but when big name games go silent on support, confirmed ports getting delay after delay, and now Valve is pulling the same crap? Is the writing on the wall?

In my opinion this is extremely troubling. Valve is dedicating that much labor to the Vive and they can't be bothered with Linux support?

You're a "glass is half-empty" type of thinker, aren't you?

Another way to look at it is that by dedicating so many resources to VR, it will allow them to bring it to Linux even faster.

I don't give a d**n - who cares about VR?

I feel a new meme coming on.

I don't give a d**n - who cares about green eggs and ham!

You're a "glass is half-empty" type of thinker, aren't you?

Another way to look at it is that by dedicating so many resources to VR, it will allow them to bring it to Linux even faster.

I use Linux as a gaming OS. I think describing me as anything but hopelessly optimistic would be a misnomer.

Maybe I was a little too doom and gloom in my last post. I simply think between all the valve games being ported and Vulkan involvement, Valve seemed super invested in steamos/linux and now that focus looks to be shifted.

I guess I'd rather steamos get that amount of attention over the vive and that's probably an extremely unrealistic expectation to have.

Either way I don't want to derail the thread!

Another great thing about all these companies working on VR: reduced input lag, weather you like VR or not, this is good.

Third of valve? 33.3333333333333333333333333333...%?
i see to much 3's, and that number become strange from a company that hate number 3. Is it a hidden message? it means... HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!

Btw, those that talking bad about vr without testing, really, test it somehow. In just 30 seconds you will see it's the future of gaming, there is no way back anymore.


Last edited by bubexel on 22 Jun 2016 at 11:17 am UTC

I wonder how many developers valve has working on steamOS? 2?

It's a shame Valve won't at least try to get VR support via the Vive into SteamOS. Windows was already a much better platform for games and this unfortunately makes it even more appealing.

That means that full team of 1 dev is working on Linux support, great stuff!

And VR is Windows only because it is very demanding on hardware and with 15-20% performance penalty of so called "ports" Linux is no deal.

VR needs performance hardware side (good drivers) and software side (optimized games) which lack in Linux; just hype more emulated, traslated, wraped etc. ports and VR on Linux will never happen. Same situation with Steambox, how ignorant can you be, consoles are "bestbuy", best performance and visual quality for buck, SteamOS and bad ports are performance penalty + "bestbuy" GPU has shitty driver together makes Steambox "worstbuy".

And now all VR tools, libs, debugers etc. are developed for Windows primary/only and no one will have initiative to develop stuff on Linux; same with game engines, same with shitty buggy 32bit Steam client pack together with soon to be outdated steamruntime.