Steam VR will use Vulkan on Linux, demo shown off on Linux, new Vive controller being made

Whoa, that controller looks sweet. Damnit, I have too many stinking controllers! What would be nice is some mods to the Steam Controller to get tracking on it for those few games that still play best with a game pad. At least then you won't put the HMD on, then fumble around looking for the controller.

It feels pretty natural in Elite: Dangerous with my Saitek X52 Pro set up in front of me, but it could do with some tracking / centering too. On the other hand of that, Elite needs to be ported to Vulkan / Linux....

Seems the "waiting on vulkan" speculation regards Linux and VR is true.



Good stuff

Great job to Valve again! They sure know what kind of power the open-source holds... and they did not break their promise to Linux, I think that they just ran into so many problems with OpenGL for graphics and also ports that they became quiet and postponed their Linux hype for better times. We will now just wait for Vulkan to stabilize and hopefully they will from now on provide us with more Vulkan ports from DX12 and other games :) They have already proven with Dota 2 that Vulkan is really worthy opponent to closed DX12 and if it's really that easy to port games from DX12 to Vulkan I guess that Linux gaming will improve even more in years to come :)

At SIGGRAPH 2016, Khronos mentioned that they were working on "Direct Screen Access" for the next version of Vulkan. That's a rather important feature for VR since it reduces latency to the display, improves the user experience and navigates around the mess of display servers and compositors we have under Linux.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3101843/software-games/vulkan-next-will-bring-better-support-for-vr-and-multiple-gpus.html

A bunch of Vulkan shaders landed in SteamVR a week ago and the vrcompositor is no longer cooperating with my current setup so something significant changed along with it.
https://steamdb.info/depot/250824/history/


Last edited by SketchStick on 12 Oct 2016 at 7:10 pm UTC

Post updated with more info.

Does this mean that any games with windows and Linux versions that support vive on windows will now also support it on Linux?

Does this mean that any games with windows and Linux versions that support vive on windows will now also support it on Linux?

Well, if the game already supports Linux then the answer is likely yes. As SteamVR is supposed to handle the input and all that for the developers. Don't quote me on that though, I'm new to all this VR stuff.

Does this mean that any games with windows and Linux versions that support vive on windows will now also support it on Linux?

Not sure about that. It might support Linux on monitor and only Windows in VR.

Yes, they just have to rebuild the game with the vr libraries and vulkan. If it's build on unity or unreal, will be pretty easy. But unity with vulkan is just experimental. It will take a while.

Yes, they just have to rebuild the game with the vr libraries and vulkan. If it's build on unity or unreal, will be pretty easy. But unity with vulkan is just experimental. It will take a while.

Ah yeah good point, didn't even think about that. Since SteamVR will use Vulkan, of course all developers will need to publish new Linux builds.

Most games use Unity and Unreal, it should be a simple export and the Unity plugin is supported by Valve themselves.
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/32647

Yes, they just have to rebuild the game with the vr libraries and vulkan. If it's build on unity or unreal, will be pretty easy. But unity with vulkan is just experimental. It will take a while.

As far as I'm aware the VR-Compositor is the only part that needs Vulkan for direct screen access, games can still use OpenGL to submit frames for the chaperone, distortion and display.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr/wiki/IVRCompositor_Overview

Most games use Unity and Unreal, it should be a simple export and the Unity plugin is supported by Valve themselves.
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/32647

Yes, they just have to rebuild the game with the vr libraries and vulkan. If it's build on unity or unreal, will be pretty easy. But unity with vulkan is just experimental. It will take a while.

As far as I'm aware the VR-Compositor is the only part that needs Vulkan for direct screen access, games can still use OpenGL to submit frames for the chaperone, distortion and display.
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr/wiki/IVRCompositor_Overview

oh, maybe you are right. I don't have enough info about it atm. I just saw a screenshot and guessing :D

Valve was obviously waiting on Vulkan for pushing the entire SteamOS ecosystem, not just the VR part, which is understandable.

Valve was obviously waiting on Vulkan for pushing the entire SteamOS ecosystem, not just the VR part, which is understandable.

I really hope that this is the case and that things will start growing again for the SteamOS and ultimately we will benefit much from that! :D

Valve was obviously waiting on Vulkan for pushing the entire SteamOS ecosystem, not just the VR part, which is understandable.

I really hope that this is the case and that things will start growing again for the SteamOS and ultimately we will benefit much from that! :D

It's a avalanche, the deathball has already started to roll downhill and it's just gonna pickup speed and get bigger.

Gaming on a PC is the logical future as the OS is flexible, it's also logical that gaming will gravitate toward a platform where publishers don't have to jump through hoops in a walled garden controlled by control freaks who hold all the keys and can bully any % cut they want out of 3rd party sales.

Valve may control SteamOS, but on Linux -- publishers are truly free of any one entity controlling and ruining everything.

All controllers use common technology, I played Rocket League on Linux on my PS4 controller via bluetooth this week and it was sweet, XBONE, X360, PS3 Controller, Wii Pro Controller and more all work on SteamOS.

Expecting Steam Machines to be a overnight home-run is a fantasy created by Linux Advocates excited about Games on Linux taking off.

High Expectations Precede Disappointment.

Valve's approach to K/Oing PS4, XBONE, Wii is to gradually make their offering more appealing than their competitors - and touting 2500 games + Something like 600-1100 in the works, superior GL with Vulkan, etc... will win out in the long run.

AMDGPU and MESA also achieving a high level of maturity at this time will also make games more stable and steam machine costs drop as the new Polaris APU lowers costs.

It's a matter of time.

Now I'll transition to bitch about the Steam Controller and how I just realized this week that the Joystick and 4 Buttons were an afterthough -- if I hold the thing pretending that those don't exist it's much more comfortable.

Steam Controller looks like a headcrab strapped on top of a Xbox Controller with big O eyes.

I've been on a controller quest trying every controller I can, PS4, PS3, X360, XBONE, Logitech, Steelseries, Afterglow hoping to find 4 controllers for my Steam Machine, It'll probably be X360 or PS4 if they don't announce Steam Controller v2 during Steam Dev Days this week.

I really want there to be a Steam Controller V2, the current iteration seems like it REALLY needs to be tuned IMO, also - I had the dongle in my laptop in a backpack and because it sticks out so far it nearly broke the USB port getting moved around in my backpad, a smaller Steam Dongle would be nice too, and that UBS mount accessory built into every controller.

Also - why haven't I seen controller mods, and 3d Printed Shells for alternative colors available on eBay, and so on? Stickers for Controller Skins is pretty pathetic. Also get rid of that D Pad imprint, it should have been raised up instead of sunk in or left out completely.


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 13 Oct 2016 at 1:59 am UTC

[quote=ElectricPrism][quote=MaCroX95]

Steam Controller looks like a headcrab strapped on top of a Xbox Controller with big O eyes.

I've been on a controller quest trying every controller I can, PS4, PS3, X360, XBONE, Logitech, Steelseries, Afterglow hoping to find 4 controllers for my Steam Machine, It'll probably be X360 or PS4 if they don't announce Steam Controller v2 during Steam Dev Days this week.

I really want there to be a Steam Controller V2, the current iteration seems like it REALLY needs to be tuned IMO, also - I had the dongle in my laptop in a backpack and because it sticks out so far it nearly broke the USB port getting moved around in my backpad, a smaller Steam Dongle would be nice too, and that UBS mount accessory built into every controller.

Also - why haven't I seen controller mods, and 3d Printed Shells for alternative colors available on eBay, and so on? Stickers for Controller Skins is pretty pathetic. Also get rid of that D Pad imprint, it should have been raised up instead of sunk in or left out completely.

Nah.
The Steam controller is magnificent, the best and most versatile controller on the market.

Is it the best controller for all games?
Of course not, no controller is, but it is easily the controller that is the best for the most games and good/passable for a huge number of others.

It plays first person games better than any controller, it plays huge amounts of mouse based games that can't be played with other controllers, and it's everything from passable to fantastic on games that require a gamepad.

Did I forget that it is also the most configurable controller ever, letting you fix unfitting or bad control schemes easily? No more joy2key or similar.

I agree that a v2 would be great though, the only thing that can beat the steam controller is an updated version of itself.

Steam Controller reviews tend to focus on unboxing and early impressions. Many people discard it after a few hours of trying to use it like a PS4/Xbox controller. Check out this in-depth review - though if you have the controller, you might want to skip the description of the hardware:

View video on youtube.com

Considering VR requirements, Valve going directly to Vulkan and skipping OpenGL entirely makes sense. This also enables them to do same thing on Windows without much pain for developers. It seems Valve just ignore outside world again and do their own thing, building their platform fundamentally and properly. You won't such attitude in many companies these days.

Valve was obviously waiting on Vulkan for pushing the entire SteamOS ecosystem, not just the VR part, which is understandable.

Coupled with the upcoming new chipsets from AMD I'm thinking we'll soon start seeing new Steam Machines bundled with Vives as a living room VR solution.

It's a avalanche, the deathball has already started to roll downhill and it's just gonna pickup speed and get bigger.

Gaming on a PC is the logical future as the OS is flexible, it's also logical that gaming will gravitate toward a platform where publishers don't have to jump through hoops in a walled garden controlled by control freaks who hold all the keys and can bully any % cut they want out of 3rd party sales.

Valve may control SteamOS, but on Linux -- publishers are truly free of any one entity controlling and ruining everything.

All controllers use common technology, I played Rocket League on Linux on my PS4 controller via bluetooth this week and it was sweet, XBONE, X360, PS3 Controller, Wii Pro Controller and more all work on SteamOS.

Expecting Steam Machines to be a overnight home-run is a fantasy created by Linux Advocates excited about Games on Linux taking off.

High Expectations Precede Disappointment.

Valve's approach to K/Oing PS4, XBONE, Wii is to gradually make their offering more appealing than their competitors - and touting 2500 games + Something like 600-1100 in the works, superior GL with Vulkan, etc... will win out in the long run.

AMDGPU and MESA also achieving a high level of maturity at this time will also make games more stable and steam machine costs drop as the new Polaris APU lowers costs.

It's a matter of time.

Yeah I really hope that this is the case. Valve has "used" linux to show MS not to try playing their exclusive games and closing things even down and proven them that Valve & Steam as well as free gaming can survive just fine without MS's blessing which is very important. If they know that they don't have the ultimate power over developers, gaming and Valve they cannot even think about closing things down to their stupid Windows store which they would have probably done already if Valve didn't start the revolution back in 2013 MS would have gone a lot further by now, at least that's my opinion. But right now they are in the fight for survival over users of Windows because people openly hate Windows 10 for many reasons and gaming is becoming more of a reality on Linux... Vulkan which competes directly to DX12 and Open VR that competes with proprietary counterparts on Windows... Microsoft has been losing their huge edge they had with Windows 7 in last few years and as you say if the snowballing effect continues it might even get a huge lead over DX12 and closed proprietary ****.