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Valve are pushing out updates rather often to the Steam client lately, with the fourth this month now out.

On top of removing Steam Play options for Mac and Windows, along with a Steam Input bug fix we also saw these updated to the Steam Play integration on Linux:

  • Fixed an issue with invalid Steam Play tool selections if user had previously opted in to enable Steam Play for all titles. (Note: this will cause a one-time reset of all Steam Play global and per-app selections to the default state).
  • Added the ability to force Steam Play compatibility tools for non-Steam game shortcuts

Nice to see the ability added for shortcuts, for games from other sources you add into Steam. Could be pretty handy.

Note: Apparently there's an issue where it can remove your Steam Play games and redownload them. A fix is to set Steam to use Steam Play for all titles and restart the client as soon as possible after updating. You can also try it in offline mode, to prevent any downloads. 

See the announcement here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Proton, Beta, Valve
21 Likes
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35 comments
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Emazza Jan 19, 2019
I've been hit by the issue of continuous re-downloading.

MHWorld kept re-downloading again and again - I've now tried to uninstall and reinstall.
Thankfully I'm on a 1 GBps - again, for this to fully work had to disable IPv6 and enable only IPv4 (another bug/issue with latest steam release - but this may be due to ISP problems?)

Not the smoothest beta released :)
dpanter Jan 19, 2019
READ THIS QUOTE PPL
Fellow Linux users:

Watch out, you might lose gamedata if you've had set to use Proton for all games and/or use Proton for native games! Steam is currently re downloading a lot of games for me and other people report the same.

When you start steam after the update, all Proton specific settings are set to default and by that it will delete all Windows games and redownload the Linux files of native games you set to use with proton.

To reduce the amount of lost data, when you start the client after the update, go straight to the Steam settings > Steam Play and enable Proton for all titles and restart the client. The faster you can do that, the less data steam is able to delete.

After the restart you also need to go to the native games you use with Proton and set them to use Proton again, also restart Steam after that.
(Emphasis mine)

Oh wow, that's pretty brutal. :O


Last edited by dpanter on 19 January 2019 at 11:22 am UTC
Naib Jan 19, 2019
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well 70gig of redownload has started :( my 10M line is being pushed but it is what it is· As long as these are few and far between.
dpanter Jan 19, 2019
I've been hit by the issue of continuous re-downloading.
I couldn't switch from native to Proton with Dying Light, it just kept re-downloading again and again. I had to uninstall the game and clear download cache (Steam menu/Settings/Downloads) before it could be installed properly.
Liam Dawe Jan 19, 2019
This is what a beta is for though remember, here be dragons.
eldaking Jan 19, 2019
Added the ability to force Steam Play compatibility tools for non-Steam game shortcuts

Again I am pleased - I would say pleasantly surprised, but it is not that surprising by now - by Steam making it easier for people to play non-Steam games. :)
Skiski Jan 19, 2019
I've reanabled steam-play for all games after this beta and now, Steam wants to re-download most of my "windows" games. Is there a way to avoid that? Because they are still on my HDD. And that's a lot of Go!
Kristian Jan 19, 2019
Added the ability to force Steam Play compatibility tools for non-Steam game shortcuts

Again I am pleased - I would say pleasantly surprised, but it is not that surprising by now - by Steam making it easier for people to play non-Steam games. :)

Valve is basically the most benevolent DRM provider out there. If it wasn't for the DRM I suppose only Free Software only people would have anything to complain about at all. If GOG adopted Valve's attitude about everything else(while keeping their DRM free stance) or Valve adopted GOG's DRM free stance(While still keeping all their work on Linux, Proton, DXVK etc) it would be the best possible combination.


Last edited by Kristian on 19 January 2019 at 12:10 pm UTC
dpanter Jan 19, 2019
I've reanabled steam-play for all games after this beta and now, Steam wants to re-download most of my "windows" games. Is there a way to avoid that? Because they are still on my HDD. And that's a lot of Go!
Same here, but when I had checked all the settings again and allowed the updates to run, they just completed instantly (similar to the old 0-byte ones) so nothing new was actually downloaded.
WorMzy Jan 19, 2019
I think it's borked the steam servers, I have a load of pending downloads, but nothing's actually downloading because "content servers unreachable". :(
walther von stolzing Jan 19, 2019
I've reanabled steam-play for all games after this beta and now, Steam wants to re-download most of my "windows" games. Is there a way to avoid that? Because they are still on my HDD. And that's a lot of Go!
Same here, but when I had checked all the settings again and allowed the updates to run, they just completed instantly (similar to the old 0-byte ones) so nothing new was actually downloaded.

After yesterday's client beta update, I got several 0 byte downloads -- but after today's update, it's trying to download the windows-only titles all over again. I *have* restored all my settings.
Schattenspiegel Jan 19, 2019
Easiest way to avoid redownload is:
1. download the update - do not restart steam!
2. switch to offlinemode - will restart steam
3. redo the steamplay settings the way they were before the update
4. restart in online mode again


Last edited by Schattenspiegel on 19 January 2019 at 12:49 pm UTC
Skiski Jan 19, 2019
I've reanabled steam-play for all games after this beta and now, Steam wants to re-download most of my "windows" games. Is there a way to avoid that? Because they are still on my HDD. And that's a lot of Go!
Same here, but when I had checked all the settings again and allowed the updates to run, they just completed instantly (similar to the old 0-byte ones) so nothing new was actually downloaded.

I've got some of my games that have been deleted, like Red faction guerrilla remarstered (30Go) or Street fighter 30th anniversary (5Go). For the other games it's just a few 100Mo to download. Pfeww!!! With games like Doom or GTAV, it could have been a lot worse.
ProfessorKaos64 Jan 19, 2019
I am eagerly awaiting the ability to manage the feature and version in the BPM settings.
hardpenguin Jan 19, 2019
Added the ability to force Steam Play compatibility tools for non-Steam game shortcuts
Ok, now this is a killer feature for me. I have numerous Lutris or PlayOnLinux shortcuts for non-Steam Wine games that I run from Steam interface.
pb Jan 19, 2019
Well, this update broke this new feature on SteamOS for me. Move or Die (which has been broken on SteamOS for a few months now) worked with SteamPlay yesterday but doesn't start today. :-(
Skiski Jan 19, 2019
I had to close my session and log back again (in fact I even rebooted my computer) because after the update I couldn't run the games with steam play. But now, it's working great as before.
Leopard Jan 19, 2019
Well, this update broke this new feature on SteamOS for me. Move or Die (which has been broken on SteamOS for a few months now) worked with SteamPlay yesterday but doesn't start today. :-(

You have to enable SteamPlay again.
kuhpunkt Jan 19, 2019
I think it's borked the steam servers, I have a load of pending downloads, but nothing's actually downloading because "content servers unreachable". :(

Enable ipv6?
HadBabits Jan 19, 2019
It just straight up wiped a lot of my games; I check the game folder and it's empty :C Fucking weak, man. I just turned off the beta, now I'm too scared to switch it back on.
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