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Observer [Steam, Official Site], the cyberpunk horror game from Aspyr Media and Bloober Team is now available on Linux. Strap in and become a neural detective! Also, it's 15% off on Steam!

Features:

  • Observe and Report - You are Dan Lazarski, an elite neural detective known as an Observer, and part of a corporate-funded police unit whose purpose is to hack and invade suspects’ minds. In this future, anything you think, feel, or remember can be used against you in a court of law.
  • A Dark Dystopia - The year is 2084. If you somehow survived the Nanophage, odds are you were killed in the War. Those who live have turned to drugs, VR, neural implants— anything to distract themselves from this new reality. But they can’t hide from you.
  • Interactive Insanity - As you hack into the unstable minds of criminals and victims to look for clues, you will relive their darkest fears, forcing you to question your own reality -- and your sanity.
  • A New Horror from the Creators of Layers of Fear - The largest and most frightening world yet from Bloober Team! Lose yourself -- and your sanity -- in the dark dystopia that is 2084. >observer_ is a horror experience meant for mature audiences. What you see will disturb you.

System requirements

I was hoping for the launch to have better news to report about it supporting AMD GPUs on Linux, but prepare yourself. I spoke with Aspyr Media, who confirmed to me the team has "currently no plans to support AMD at this time for Observer".

So for now, you're only supported using an Nvidia GPU and that might not change in future. It's possible it may work, but I do not have AMD hardware to report on. Here's the rest of the requirements:

  • Operating System: Ubuntu 16.04, 17.04, SteamOS 2.0
  • Processor: Intel Core i3 / AMD A8-6700
  • Processor Speed: Intel (3.4 GHz), AMD (3.1 GHz)
  • Memory: 8 GB
  • Hard Drive Space: 10 GB
  • Video Card (NVIDIA): GeForce GT 680
  • VRAM: 2 GB

I shall be livestreaming the game in less than an hour - follow us live on Twitch to get in on the fun. Someone pass me my spare pants, I'm going to need them. Note: My key was provided by Aspyr Media directly.

I've given it a very brief test before I begin the livestream and it does seem to work fine on High settings with my i7 5960x and 980ti, although it's not a solid 60FPS.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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48 comments
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STiAT Oct 25, 2017
Looks like a nice game.
I'll wait for a sale and buy it, to try if it's working properly with my AMD card (I'm on mesa 17.2.3 atm).

And no, I didn't buy the wrong graphics card, still have a GTX1050 in the shelve, I just don't use it ;-).
Arehandoro Oct 25, 2017
Not too keen in shitting my pants with scary games but this one does look cool... Maybe I get it once is released on GOG :)
Beamboom Oct 25, 2017
It may well be that Bloober Team did everything in house and Aspyr is just the publisher on this one.

Very good point.
DamonLinuxPL Oct 25, 2017
It may well be that Bloober Team did everything in house and Aspyr is just the publisher on this one.

Very good point.

Look like this is true. Just look at Steam store. All previous Aspyr ports have marked two developers - one for Windows version and second Aspyr for LInux/Mac. But now with Observer as developer we have only Bloober Team and Aspyr only as publisher. Thats why I think about inouse port.
Jan Oct 25, 2017
German Linux gaming site Holarse is claiming Observer for Linux (and Mac) won‘t come to GOG at all! This would mean the only DRM-free version is for Windows users only. Oh, the irony.
jens Oct 25, 2017
  • Supporter
You mean those graphic cards that have a working open source driver right ?

Yes, exactly these ones ;)

Don't get me wrong. It is really cool that AMD is getting into shape on Linux and it would be cool if Nvidia would move slightly into that direction too. But please just don't get angry or mad or complain that not everybody is jumping right now on that still experimental combination. It is perfectly fine that developers choose to support a stable stack only and one must not demand from them to do a lot of upstream work too. Time will heal. If you are an early adopter, very brave and cool, but expect that things are unsupported.

PS: Thinking about this, I don't like the headline of this thread at all. Of course it is fine to mention that support is limited for nvidia, but doing this that prominently in the headline immediately sets a specific tone :S:. Anyway, my gratitude to Aspyr/Bloober Team!


Last edited by jens on 25 October 2017 at 6:48 pm UTC
Shmerl Oct 25, 2017
German Linux gaming site Holarse is claiming Observer for Linux (and Mac) won‘t come to GOG at all! This would mean the only DRM-free version is for Windows users only. Oh, the irony.

Can you link to the source please?
Jan Oct 25, 2017
German Linux gaming site Holarse is claiming Observer for Linux (and Mac) won‘t come to GOG at all! This would mean the only DRM-free version is for Windows users only. Oh, the irony.

Can you link to the source please?

https://www.holarse-linuxgaming.de/news/aspyr_ver%C3%B6ffentlicht_heute_die_linux_version_des_cyber_punk_horror_titels_observer

They asked Aspyr. Answer: Observer Linux is Steam only. WTF?!?
Shmerl Oct 25, 2017
https://www.holarse-linuxgaming.de/news/aspyr_ver%C3%B6ffentlicht_heute_die_linux_version_des_cyber_punk_horror_titels_observer

They asked Aspyr. Answer: Observer Linux is Steam only. WTF?!?

That's just stupid:

The game is now released and at Steam for download with almost 8 GB ready. Unfortunately the game needs a steam connection when entering the menu. As Aspyr told us on demand, the Linux version will not be available at GOG, although the game is available there for Windows and OS X.

Why can't Aspyr make a GOG release? Needing Steam connection is just bunk. Windows version doesn't need it somehow.


Last edited by Shmerl on 25 October 2017 at 5:39 pm UTC
Jan Oct 25, 2017
The Mac version is also not available on GOG.

What’s the problem, Aspyr? Layers of Fear was a DRM-free multiplatform release.
jens Oct 25, 2017
  • Supporter
Might need some ini file tweaks for it.
Do you happen to know the settings for a correct aspect ratio for a resolution of 3440x1440 too? I can select that resolution in the settings, but that results in black boarders on the sides.
Otherwise the games runs perfectly fine.


Last edited by jens on 25 October 2017 at 6:43 pm UTC
Tiedemann Oct 25, 2017
However as soon as I open the first door in the apartment complex, the screen goes black. If I stay just inside the door and look out I can see the courtyard thingy where the birds are, but as soon as I edge through the door the whole screen goes black as if there's zero lighting :<

Steam "Family View"
slaapliedje Oct 26, 2017
Not too keen in shitting my pants with scary games but this one does look cool... Maybe I get it once is released on GOG :)

WARNING: Must play while constipated! Or keep squeegee nearby.


Last edited by slaapliedje on 26 October 2017 at 3:30 am UTC
Pompesdesky Oct 26, 2017
You mean those graphic cards that have a working open source driver right ?

Yes, exactly these ones ;)

Don't get me wrong. It is really cool that AMD is getting into shape on Linux and it would be cool if Nvidia would move slightly into that direction too. But please just don't get angry or mad or complain that not everybody is jumping right now on that still experimental combination. It is perfectly fine that developers choose to support a stable stack only and one must not demand from them to do a lot of upstream work too. Time will heal. If you are an early adopter, very brave and cool, but expect that things are unsupported.

PS: Thinking about this, I don't like the headline of this thread at all. Of course it is fine to mention that support is limited for nvidia, but doing this that prominently in the headline immediately sets a specific tone :S:. Anyway, my gratitude to Aspyr/Bloober Team!

I'm not personnaly angry or mad or complain about the game not working fine with my graphics card manufacturer, I'll just be skipping it until it works or forever for that matter.

I was just answering your "trollish" comment implying that Nvidia is the best and only option for Linux users. If I had to buy a graphics card again now I would make exactly the same choice. I'd rather get an AMD card for which AMD shows support to the Linux community with their open source efforts, rather than buy a card from Nvidia who has a negative position on that subject (not to mention customer abuse with their pricing, all of their proprietary s***t such as G-Sync et al, meant to enclose players with proprietary stuff).
Arehandoro Oct 26, 2017
Not too keen in shitting my pants with scary games but this one does look cool... Maybe I get it once is released on GOG :)

WARNING: Must play while constipated! Or keep squeegee nearby.

Hahahaha is it that scary? Should I get a defibrillator as well? I'm easily startled...
Shmerl Oct 26, 2017
I can confirm that on AMD it works until you want to open the first door and then it goes all black (as described before). You can even go back and the "lights" go on again.

Did anyone fix this or know the reason?

What Mesa version?
Shmerl Oct 26, 2017
Mesa 17.2, Ubuntu 17.10

I assume that's already using llvm 5.0? Then it must be some other bug, than one affecting UE4 in Everspace for example.
jens Oct 26, 2017
  • Supporter
I'm not personnaly angry or mad or complain about the game not working fine with my graphics card manufacturer, I'll just be skipping it until it works or forever for that matter.
Perfectly cool.

I was just answering your "trollish" comment implying that Nvidia is the best and only option for Linux users.
This is not what I said or implied to say. What I said was: _If_ you are angry or complaining that this game is unsupported on your graphic card, _then_ it seems you bought the wrong card. Please note the difference.

PS: Don't you think that there is a lot of complaining and anger between the lines in a lot of comments in both threads about this title?
slaapliedje Oct 26, 2017
Not too keen in shitting my pants with scary games but this one does look cool... Maybe I get it once is released on GOG :)

WARNING: Must play while constipated! Or keep squeegee nearby.

Hahahaha is it that scary? Should I get a defibrillator as well? I'm easily startled...

I'm not sure, I haven't had time to play it yet. Wanted to last night, but had overflow work that needed to be done, and then of course had to re-program a PLCC chip that I made a bad decision on and flashed with useless firmware, bricking my Atari 130XE. You know, priorities.

This looks like it'd be pants-ruining in VR.
Pompesdesky Oct 27, 2017
This is not what I said or implied to say. What I said was: _If_ you are angry or complaining that this game is unsupported on your graphic card, _then_ it seems you bought the wrong card. Please note the difference.

Still is an ambiguous wording ^^

PS: Don't you think that there is a lot of complaining and anger between the lines in a lot of comments in both threads about this title?

I can understand that people feel frustrated about not being able to play a game they might like to play. We already have a first "segragation" whith games not available for "our" OS, then when the game is available for said OS and it's only available for those with hardware X or Z there can be complaints. While some will patiently wait and buy the game if/when it works on AMD cards (which is quite probable) others will make a loud statement that they will never buy it. Same with these saying they will never buy from Humble again because they've been bought by evil although nothing changed so far. There are pragmatics and revolutionaries, to each his own :D
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