Reddit seems to be buzzing with information from SteamDB (full credit to them for finding it) showing indications that Valve might be adding support for compatibility tools to enable you to play games on operating systems they weren't designed for, like Wine.
I won't copy all of it, but a few interesting bits do certainly stick out like the string named "Steam_Settings_Compat_Info" where the description reads "Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems.".
There's also "Steam_Settings_Compat_Advanced_Info" which reads as "You may select a compatibility tool to use with games that have not been tested or verified to work on this platform. This may not work as expected, and can cause issues with your games, including crashes and breaking save games."
Valve do also have a Valve Compatibility Manifests and Valve Compatibility Manifests for Beta Testing set of packages that show up on SteamDB.
That certainly sounds like something Wine related, perhaps with a sprinkle of something like DXVK, don't you think? However, it could even just be DOSBox, a Valve-sponsored tool or anything—we simply don't know enough at this point.
Having the ability to use tools like Wine from within the native Linux Steam client, is actually something that has been requested for a long time by quite a number of people. It could certainly make using Wine less of a hassle for Steam games. If so, it might even give developers a better idea of how many people are on different operating systems if it showed up in their statistics when someone's using such a feature.
It might even be quite a smart business move for Valve, as it might push more people to buy games that have a decent enough rating through one of these compatibility tools.
It could all end up being nothing, so take it with your usual pinch of salt. Even if it does end up being a real feature, it could be quite a long way off too. I'm only posting it because I personally found it quite interesting, I'm pretty sceptical about it for a number of reasons, but doesn't stop it being somewhat exciting too.
What are your thoughts?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
My another idea is that Valve could start their own porting division using Wine+DXVK, like Virtual Programming do with their library. They might even do it "for free" because they already get their share from each sale, so they only need a developer's permission. The main point is these ports would be supported, i.e. tested and QA'd. Not just a button to install Wine and overrides automatically. This might be a good way to bring Bethesda and Ubisoft's games to Linux among others. For now those comments suggest the compat tool is a not reviewed feature and may or may not work for the particular user. I think this is going to change in, say, 2019.
Quoting: liamdaweQuoting: EhvisIt's a start. And Valve has always supported Mac, so it makes sense for them to try and fix an upcoming problem for a lot of games in their store. If it is this, then they're probably looking at including something for OpenGL -> Metal, which should be a lot easier than to try and support Windows on Mac/Linux. As you have found out yourself, things are a lot more erratic in that department and it would currently be a support nightmare.Think about what you're saying though. If they are going that route, they can't just hook up a tool to convert OpenGL to Metal, it would still need something like Wine to handle literally everything else the game would be doing ;)
But who knows. They may have much bigger plans indeed.
Why? Only OpenGL will be deprecated. The rest of the MacOS API will remain in tact. It would be just like dropping DXVK into Windows to make games run over Vulkan while the rest remains native.
Quoting: LiotheThis is something I've been expecting (although not so soon).
I do hope it's true
Oh good another reason for developers not to bother with linux as i said on wine and dxvk and am sure purpleguy and sheri will bitch at me for this but see this is what i was talking about valve has given up on courting devs to linux now its hey dont worry about it wine port that shit. I dont care what you say it fucking matters.
Quoting: EhvisRead the info again, they key point about it was "other operating systems". That doesn't sound like simply making OpenGL go to Metal.Quoting: liamdaweQuoting: EhvisIt's a start. And Valve has always supported Mac, so it makes sense for them to try and fix an upcoming problem for a lot of games in their store. If it is this, then they're probably looking at including something for OpenGL -> Metal, which should be a lot easier than to try and support Windows on Mac/Linux. As you have found out yourself, things are a lot more erratic in that department and it would currently be a support nightmare.Think about what you're saying though. If they are going that route, they can't just hook up a tool to convert OpenGL to Metal, it would still need something like Wine to handle literally everything else the game would be doing ;)
But who knows. They may have much bigger plans indeed.
Why? Only OpenGL will be deprecated. The rest of the MacOS API will remain in tact. It would be just like dropping DXVK into Windows to make games run over Vulkan while the rest remains native.
Quoting: GuestOh please no. Please don't let this happen Valve. We don't need more people playing Windows games. Wine is the worst what ever happened to Linux gaming. We need the opposite, Wine users should be banned or disadvantaged somehow. DXVK development is something that should stop immediately. R.I.P. Linux.
I don t think banning people using wine is the answer. People want to play games and they don't want to have to use windows. I would prefer people stick to native but people wont i am guilty of it in the past too I want to play it its never coming to linux because its a bethesda title so wine is the only option.
Quoting: liamdaweQuoting: EhvisRead the info again, they key point about it was "other operating systems". That doesn't sound like simply making OpenGL go to Metal.Quoting: liamdaweQuoting: EhvisIt's a start. And Valve has always supported Mac, so it makes sense for them to try and fix an upcoming problem for a lot of games in their store. If it is this, then they're probably looking at including something for OpenGL -> Metal, which should be a lot easier than to try and support Windows on Mac/Linux. As you have found out yourself, things are a lot more erratic in that department and it would currently be a support nightmare.Think about what you're saying though. If they are going that route, they can't just hook up a tool to convert OpenGL to Metal, it would still need something like Wine to handle literally everything else the game would be doing ;)
But who knows. They may have much bigger plans indeed.
Why? Only OpenGL will be deprecated. The rest of the MacOS API will remain in tact. It would be just like dropping DXVK into Windows to make games run over Vulkan while the rest remains native.
What it sounds like as has been hinted at the developer of dxvk refuses to take donations or setup patreon guess if these rumours pan out we've found who has been funding dxvk also looks like Steam is positioning itself to have a hybrid version of lutris integrated to steam and apparently called Steam Play.
Last edited by evergreen on 15 August 2018 at 10:23 am UTC
I totally dislike to point this out, but FFS, some of you here could use a bit of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punctuation It can't be that hard.
Just saying...
Last edited by dubigrasu on 15 August 2018 at 10:27 am UTC
My only concern would be that some devs may get lazy with their Linux support and eventually just tell users to use Wine and other compatibility tools.
Quoting: liamdaweRead the info again, they key point about it was "other operating systems". That doesn't sound like simply making OpenGL go to Metal.
If you'd take it literally, yes. But since this is all unofficial, I choose to read that with a certain flexibility and take the "simplest" option for now. However, I am always ready to be surprised.
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