During GDC at the AMD event, a LiquidSky employee stated that their gaming client that streams games to you will have a Linux client.
You can see the video here, at around 44 minutes the LiquidSky presenter talks about how it works and what platforms it will support and Linux is directly mentioned as being supported.
It's interesting, but to use such a service you will need a very good connection. It's a little like in-home streaming on Steam. You're essentially renting some time from their servers to do all of the rendering of the game, while you still do all the input and actual gaming.
I'm not personally too interested, but the whole idea behind it does have a lot of merit. People on low-spec devices having the ability to run top-end games. It's a nice idea, so hopefully it works well.
I've requested Beta access to one day get a report on it and when doing so, I needed to pick a server close to me. Thankfully, it seems they have servers spread across the world, so it's not like it will be streaming a game half-way across the world.
It seems their service will be powered by AMD's Vega GPUs and they will have a free account with adverts, if you don't want to pay monthly for it. It's currently in Beta, but it seems they are a little overwhelmed with requests (1.4 million they claim testing right now) so it might be some time before I can check it out.
I wouldn't be surprised if a service like this eventually becomes a big hit. We've seen music, film and TV streaming (all of which even I pay for) for a monthly payment on-demand, so why not gaming? You could argue "but then you don't own it", but then we go down the rabbit hole of - if you ever really own the software you buy and so on. That's an argument for another day I think.
Thanks for letting me know Michał. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
You can see the video here, at around 44 minutes the LiquidSky presenter talks about how it works and what platforms it will support and Linux is directly mentioned as being supported.
It's interesting, but to use such a service you will need a very good connection. It's a little like in-home streaming on Steam. You're essentially renting some time from their servers to do all of the rendering of the game, while you still do all the input and actual gaming.
I'm not personally too interested, but the whole idea behind it does have a lot of merit. People on low-spec devices having the ability to run top-end games. It's a nice idea, so hopefully it works well.
I've requested Beta access to one day get a report on it and when doing so, I needed to pick a server close to me. Thankfully, it seems they have servers spread across the world, so it's not like it will be streaming a game half-way across the world.
It seems their service will be powered by AMD's Vega GPUs and they will have a free account with adverts, if you don't want to pay monthly for it. It's currently in Beta, but it seems they are a little overwhelmed with requests (1.4 million they claim testing right now) so it might be some time before I can check it out.
I wouldn't be surprised if a service like this eventually becomes a big hit. We've seen music, film and TV streaming (all of which even I pay for) for a monthly payment on-demand, so why not gaming? You could argue "but then you don't own it", but then we go down the rabbit hole of - if you ever really own the software you buy and so on. That's an argument for another day I think.
Thanks for letting me know Michał. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
seems quite nice if you only use a low to mid range laptop/desktop and want access to high-end games on a high-end system.
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You know, that does sound attractive to me. If it performs well and I don't have to spend a €1000 on a new computer to play new games, I might just go for it.
It is basically a remote Windows computer (judging by the description, not a customer yet), so mixed feelings there. If they actually had a Linux machine, it would be a much easier choice for me.
It is basically a remote Windows computer (judging by the description, not a customer yet), so mixed feelings there. If they actually had a Linux machine, it would be a much easier choice for me.
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Things like this are awesome for Linux because it's theoretically platform agnostic and removes the need for WINE and DirectX on the client.
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People make noise about the input lag and video quality with in-home streaming. I wonder what kind of miracles they expect when it all happens over the Internet.
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Their Linux support is currently limited to claiming that it runs in Wine. Last I tried (a few weeks ago) that meant it didn't actually work in Wine, but worked decently in Wine Staging. So far, I'm not impressed, but I do wish that it becomes a proper, stable option for Linux users eventually.
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hardpenguin Feb 28, 2017
The idea is pretty cool, although I preferred the OnLive execution - a user-friendly client with tens of games ready to run on demand with a single click and an affordable subscription model (much like Netflix). I used it quite a lot since it ran seamlessly on Wine. It was an easy way to try games such as Assassin's Creed 2, Duke Nukem Forever, Saints Row 3, Borderlands on Linux. And it was 2011, before Steam for Linux was announced!
Sadly, the infrastructure turned out to be too expensive to maintain and they had huge financial problems, eventually got bought by Sony who used their cloud gaming tech in their own products.
For Liquidsky, you have to already own games on other platforms to run them - they "only" offer a powerful machine accessible from any place on the internet. Even though they are kind enough to offer Linux support, it does not look as much tempting to me :(
Sadly, the infrastructure turned out to be too expensive to maintain and they had huge financial problems, eventually got bought by Sony who used their cloud gaming tech in their own products.
For Liquidsky, you have to already own games on other platforms to run them - they "only" offer a powerful machine accessible from any place on the internet. Even though they are kind enough to offer Linux support, it does not look as much tempting to me :(
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I miss OnLive, I hope that this new option can replace my missing gaming piece.
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Quoting: CybolicTheir Linux support is currently limited to claiming that it runs in Wine...
That's not good enough at all. By that logic Microsoft Office supports Linux. Unless they actually put some effort into it, I will not be putting money into their pockets.
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No problem. Happy to help:)
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I do have a Liquidsky account and tested a bit the client. Their current Wine installer is a bit iffy though, so I installed the client manually. It does work very well except for the lag. The cloud computer for the moment is using Nvidia cards.
I still have few credits/hours left but I gave up until a closer server comes up.
Not sure what to say, I'm curious about the free (adverts based) option but it looks like they backing up a little. It was initially supposed to be up to three hours/day but now they cut it to only two hours.
I still have few credits/hours left but I gave up until a closer server comes up.
Not sure what to say, I'm curious about the free (adverts based) option but it looks like they backing up a little. It was initially supposed to be up to three hours/day but now they cut it to only two hours.
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This is actually pretty interesting to me. If the price is $9.99 a month for unlimited, that could give my current computer some serious longevity past its use by date, but for cheaper than the price of the cpu upgrade i was planning. Pricing isnt really clear though...
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I've seen a few services like this come up over the years and it doesn't look like anything really caught on and managed to stay alive. I saw a new one on Kickstarter a few months back. I also remember playing a Tomb Raider game on Square's Core Online for free with ads every 20 minutes or so. It wasn't ideal, but if you can't afford games and don't want to steal them, I figured it was a pretty cool service. Even today, if I could play any PC game for say 10$ a month and practically never have to upgrade my computer again nor buy games separately (LiquidSky doesn't do the latter), it would be worth considering. But you do need a competitive price point and a very reliable service to offset the disadvantages (can't play without an Internet connection, can't play if the server is down, you'll always have at least some lag by design, it's unlikely anyone could provide every game on the market, prime time would probably be difficult for the servers...).
If you're a frugal gamer like me who doesn't play that many games, buys them on sale and waits years to play "hot new games" because you only upgrade your PC every 5 years or more, it's hard to compete on the pricing angle in the long run (for 120$ a year, I could just as well save up for PC parts instead). The only real benefits would be the ability to play games at release and access to non-Linux games.
I'll admit that the way LiquidSky are handling this is interesting, though. Allowing you to control your remote PC and install/run almost whatever you want on it definitely makes it more compelling. You could even use it as a render farm of sorts if you're a movie maker on a budget. With that much freedom, though, I wonder how they'll handle virus-riddled machines. I'd be more interested if you could choose the OS your SkyPC runs on and if you could rent them sporadically without losing your data every time you go on hiatus.
If you're a frugal gamer like me who doesn't play that many games, buys them on sale and waits years to play "hot new games" because you only upgrade your PC every 5 years or more, it's hard to compete on the pricing angle in the long run (for 120$ a year, I could just as well save up for PC parts instead). The only real benefits would be the ability to play games at release and access to non-Linux games.
I'll admit that the way LiquidSky are handling this is interesting, though. Allowing you to control your remote PC and install/run almost whatever you want on it definitely makes it more compelling. You could even use it as a render farm of sorts if you're a movie maker on a budget. With that much freedom, though, I wonder how they'll handle virus-riddled machines. I'd be more interested if you could choose the OS your SkyPC runs on and if you could rent them sporadically without losing your data every time you go on hiatus.
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Quoting: chancho_zombieIt looks really promising . How does it work? The videos I saw will let you use a full fledged windows 10, and then you have to login into steam? It's like a virtualbox on the cloud?Pretty much, except it's more powerful than a virtualized PC since it doesn't run on a fraction of your actual computer's power, but rather it's an independent computer that's better than your own. You're not limited to Steam either, you can install and run anything that's Windows-compatible and compliant with their terms (no torrenting, for example, so you can't use it as a seedbox). Basically you're renting a gaming PC and controlling it remotely.
Last edited by Salvatos on 1 March 2017 at 1:53 am UTC
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Quoting: chancho_zombieYes you can choose your OS, you can choose Ubuntu ( it's still being implemented)Now that's pretty interesting. If I look at my own situation, that means I could buy Mad Max (counted as a Linux sale) wherever I want (suppose I want to buy directly from Feral to support them), play it on a Linux computer with a month's subscription, and be done with it. Whereas right now I can't play it on my specs and would have to wait a few years until I upgrade my GPU. And several years down the line the game would still be in my Steam account and I could replay it on my newer PC whenever I want. That's really not so bad. Kind of like buying a console game and renting the console for a weekend every so often until you can afford to buy it.
look https://youtu.be/sVLL0XLASbM?t=2m14s
I understand the fact that it could actually harm linux gaming. But on the other side if it runs virtualized ubuntu boxes it could potentially bring some new users into linux. Remember there are some people that don't even know how to burn a dvd image or to copy a usb image, having linux in just a few clicks is sort of convenient.
As for the other part of your comment, a free ad-based virtual system does sound like it could be a convenient testing environment for a lot of things. One-click install and three hours to try out Ubuntu for the first time? Cool! A fast system where you can test unstable builds and wipe it in minutes if everything crashes and burns? Could be nice. Free access to a Windows system for those times Wine just won't cut it and there's no alternative? Better than paying a license to Microsoft and dual-booting, I say.
I don't see myself subscribing full-time, but there's potential here. I'll keep them in the back of my mind.
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"That's an argument for another day I think."
there are tons of discussions that we need to do today.
for example, why an company will port their games to linux if they can just stream it?
on the other hand, why wouldnt people use linux if they can stream any app they miss from windows?
this will benefit linux or windows on the long run?
ping/input delay, distance from the services, this article was quite weak, you should open the discussion on this topics.
there are tons of discussions that we need to do today.
for example, why an company will port their games to linux if they can just stream it?
on the other hand, why wouldnt people use linux if they can stream any app they miss from windows?
this will benefit linux or windows on the long run?
ping/input delay, distance from the services, this article was quite weak, you should open the discussion on this topics.
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"I've seen a few services like this come up over the years and it doesn't look like anything really caught on and managed to stay alive."
gaikai and onlive where purchased by sony.
sony is using their tech to stream ps3 games to ps4 and windows.
gaikai and onlive where purchased by sony.
sony is using their tech to stream ps3 games to ps4 and windows.
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Overall, I might be interested if I lived in South Korea and had a blazing fast connection.
As to who it's good for . . . well, I suspect in the medium term the trend towards software disappearing into the cloud, with stuff like this or things being browser-based, probably is good for Linux the OS (although perhaps not for Free Software more generally). Basically, it's a trend towards making the local OS unimportant. If any OS will in effect run everything, then what do you base your choice of operating system on? User friendliness at this point is mainly a matter of style; all the OSes can do it. So what's left?
Well, Linux won't phone home and tell Microsoft, Apple or the NSA all your pr0n watching habits. That's the only firm differentiator I can think of if everyone can run all the software: Lack of a Big Brother.
As to who it's good for . . . well, I suspect in the medium term the trend towards software disappearing into the cloud, with stuff like this or things being browser-based, probably is good for Linux the OS (although perhaps not for Free Software more generally). Basically, it's a trend towards making the local OS unimportant. If any OS will in effect run everything, then what do you base your choice of operating system on? User friendliness at this point is mainly a matter of style; all the OSes can do it. So what's left?
Well, Linux won't phone home and tell Microsoft, Apple or the NSA all your pr0n watching habits. That's the only firm differentiator I can think of if everyone can run all the software: Lack of a Big Brother.
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Quoting: Purple Library GuyOverall, I might be interested if I lived in South Korea and had a blazing fast connection.
As to who it's good for . . . well, I suspect in the medium term the trend towards software disappearing into the cloud, with stuff like this or things being browser-based, probably is good for Linux the OS (although perhaps not for Free Software more generally). Basically, it's a trend towards making the local OS unimportant. If any OS will in effect run everything, then what do you base your choice of operating system on? User friendliness at this point is mainly a matter of style; all the OSes can do it. So what's left?
Well, Linux won't phone home and tell Microsoft, Apple or the NSA all your pr0n watching habits. That's the only firm differentiator I can think of if everyone can run all the software: Lack of a Big Brother.
facebook does bigbrother on the content you see on it and outside of it (if the page has an social plugin)
so?
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I've been using LiquidSky on Linux and paying for it, both on my Chromebooks via Linux (!!) and via my Mint-on-Steam-Machine rig. It's basically a Wine wrapper to the PC client, but I've found it to be wonderful. I have fast in home internet (90-135 Mbps) and it's been butter smooth playing titles at 1080p at full details with no discernible lag.
Being as devoted to Linux gaming as I am, what do I use it for? Space sim titles, which just really don't exist on Linux. Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, Empire of the Dying Sun (totally underappreciated, BTW), and Angels Fall First. None have Linux versions or run (yet) via Wine.
I think this is really the future of gaming, and I think it's great for Linux. It removes the need for super pricey gaming hardware and zillions of drivers and compatibilities. It doesn't matter what % of platforms we are. Just developers aiming for a Windows backbone that can be streamed by everyone. Use the DE you want. Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac... Doesn't matter.
I'm a big fan.
Last edited by iiari on 1 March 2017 at 6:23 am UTC
Being as devoted to Linux gaming as I am, what do I use it for? Space sim titles, which just really don't exist on Linux. Elite Dangerous, Star Citizen, Empire of the Dying Sun (totally underappreciated, BTW), and Angels Fall First. None have Linux versions or run (yet) via Wine.
I think this is really the future of gaming, and I think it's great for Linux. It removes the need for super pricey gaming hardware and zillions of drivers and compatibilities. It doesn't matter what % of platforms we are. Just developers aiming for a Windows backbone that can be streamed by everyone. Use the DE you want. Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Windows, Linux, Mac... Doesn't matter.
I'm a big fan.
Last edited by iiari on 1 March 2017 at 6:23 am UTC
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