A new and quite interesting Steam Client Beta is out, nice Linux fixes and Vulkan shader downloading
Valve put out a brand new Steam Client Beta yesterday and it sounds like a pretty good one, with Linux issues getting some more attention.
Firstly though, they've re-named In-Home Streaming to Steam Remote Play, since the Steam client can now stream games to any other client both inside and outside your home. Additionally, your paired Steam Link devices will now show up in the Remote Play settings and you can remove all paired Steam Link devices.
The next interesting bit is for Vulkan, as Valve have re-worked their shader system so it's capable of downloading and pre-compiling the whole collection of Vulkan pipelines for games. So we will now see shader data downloads in Steam and pre-compiling will be enabled in a "future Beta build". This is exciting, hopefully when this is fully enabled, it will make Vulkan games super smooth for both native and Steam Play.
The Linux client also saw some nice attention, with a fix included for Steam randomly crashing when launching games, something I saw every week. They also fixed a bug that recently gained some renewed attention, where you couldn't copy/move files bigger than 2GB. They've improved the Steam Client's responsivness to networking changes, a fix is included for Risk of Rain and other GameMaker titles due to a libcurl issue. Valve also added the ability to remove old Proton versions by "aliasing them to more recent ones" and they added support for "developers and Valve testing specifying default Proton configuration options for games even if they're not yet white-listed".
For those who had trouble with games like Forager, Chronicon and The Swords of Ditto do give this new beta a try and see if they now run for you. They're all GameMaker titles that had the noted issue above, so hopefully the experience is now better.
Lastly, there's a few Steam Input changes and the Steam Overlay also had a few fixes.
Full changelog can be found here.
Ps. Valve also sent word early this morning that the Steam Link application is now available for iOS and Apple TV users.
Edit: Hmm, now Steam completely freezes every 2–4 shaders it downloads for some reason. :S: Oh well, guess I'll just have to keep killing and restarting it.
Last edited by Philadelphus on 16 May 2019 at 9:37 am UTC
they added support for "developers and Valve testing specifying default Proton configuration options for games even if they're not yet white-listed".They gave developers tools for their games have better Steamplay support, very nice, I hope this will sensitize developers who do not plan to develop their game for Linux to make it more Linux-friendly.
Steam In-Home Streaming is experimentally available outside the home, and is now known as Steam Remote Play.So If I correctly understood, we don't need Steam Link for remote gaming?
Is this new feature a next step towards a full network gaming solution as Google Strada or Playstation now?
We will now download official Steam Input configurations during game installation for Steam Input users. This should fix the issue where Steam Input games would need to be run once before controllers worked in offline modeI'm using more and more my Steam Controller instead of my x360: more comfortable, more keys to program, config bank available online for games...I'm thinking to buy a second one when my friend play with me.
Last edited by legluondunet on 16 May 2019 at 9:32 am UTC
I use monitor built-in-speakers so unless I destroy my finger pressing the volume down button 100 times to turn mute the audio, and then 100 times again to turn it back to max, which I never expected to have to do, I can't do anything about it.Usually monitors with speakers have a headphone jack, which automatically mutes the speakers when in use. That might be an easier workaround until the bug gets fixed.
Hopefully they will fix the audio bug when streaming. I can hear the audio on both the server and the client - which sucks. I have to close the door each time I want to use it, so I can't hear the sound from the PC. I use monitor built-in-speakers so unless I destroy my finger pressing the volume down button 100 times to turn mute the audio, and then 100 times again to turn it back to max, which I never expected to have to do, I can't do anything about it. Turning the volume down normally through GNOME will turn the volume on the receiver also.
No mute function at the monitor?
"developers and Valve testing specifying default Proton configuration options for games even if they're not yet white-listed"
It would be really nice if those Japanese companies starts to use this, so they could see the bad side of insist in using Microsoft proprietary codecs in their games.
Hopefully they will fix the audio bug when streaming. I can hear the audio on both the server and the client - which sucks. I have to close the door each time I want to use it, so I can't hear the sound from the PC. I use monitor built-in-speakers so unless I destroy my finger pressing the volume down button 100 times to turn mute the audio, and then 100 times again to turn it back to max, which I never expected to have to do, I can't do anything about it. Turning the volume down normally through GNOME will turn the volume on the receiver also.
Can you turn off your monitor? My speakers are connected to mine and that's what I do. It works. The important thing is that something must be connected in one of your GPU's video output. After that, if it's on or off, doesn't matter. I even tested with an HDMI dummy plug (6$) and it works too.
For those that don't know what is an HDMI dummy plug:
https://www.amazon.com/Headless-Display-Emulator-Generation-Single/dp/B07FB8GJ1Z/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=dummy+hdmi&qid=1558011247&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
Last edited by Mohandevir on 16 May 2019 at 7:25 pm UTC
was still laggy, but im very happy they are trying to solve the Stutters
and cant wait for D9VK to work with Proton
Great update. Interesting seeing yesterday lots of games that I did not know used Vulkan getting the shaders pre-downloaded (Vampyr, Shenmue I/II for example)
Possibly because DXVK uses Vulkan, not the original game. I assume anyway.
Yep, Vampyr in particular does not use Vulkan natively.
I use monitor built-in-speakers so unless I destroy my finger pressing the volume down button 100 times to turn mute the audio, and then 100 times again to turn it back to max, which I never expected to have to do, I can't do anything about it. Turning the volume down normally through GNOME will turn the volume on the receiver also.
Turn the monitor off?
.(snip) Although I would feel bad leaving my computer on just for that. Maybe that will finally convince me to install Folding@home and run it in my absence.
you turn your computer off????? o_O
They finally did remote play? Awesome. I'll finally be able to run games on computers that don't have a dedicated GPU and without having to download them first when I visit family for a few days. Although I would feel bad leaving my computer on just for that. Maybe that will finally convince me to install Folding@home and run it in my absence.
There is always Wake-On-Lan
I don't see why I should let it just waste electricity when I'm not using it..(snip) Although I would feel bad leaving my computer on just for that. Maybe that will finally convince me to install Folding@home and run it in my absence.
you turn your computer off????? o_O
There is always Wake-On-LanInteresting, but I can't see myself setting this all up. Thanks for pointing it out, though.
.(snip) Although I would feel bad leaving my computer on just for that. Maybe that will finally convince me to install Folding@home and run it in my absence.
you turn your computer off????? o_O
To have it not running through for days without good reason, I figure.
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