With the Steam Deck upcoming, what do we think the chances are that Valve will reveal a new game to go along side it?
One thing that Valve didn't quite get right for Steam Machines was a new game (and a lack of games overall). It's not quite the same with the Valve Index, since it was a very different form of gaming and so they did put out Half-Life: Alyx to showcase what a big game would really be like with it (although it came later). So what about the Steam Deck?
Half-Life: Alyx has reinvigorated Valve with game development, and Valve did confirm previously that they had multiple games in development - the question is will we see an announcement this year? There's not all that long until the Steam Deck releases at the end of this year but like with the Valve Index it could come some months after. Valve have multiple teams doing different things too, so it's not like all the work going into the Steam Deck would take away from people involved with game development. The point is, Valve are once again a games company, not just a service company with the Steam store.
After playing through and completing Half-Life: Alyx myself live on our Twitch Channel, We're very keen to see what other games Valve can come up with, it proved they've still "got it" (unlike Artifact, which they gave up on). If they do, what shape would it take? What series would it be part of it, or would we see something entirely new?
This time around, it's not like they actually need to produce a new game. The Steam Deck hardware should speak for itself on what it's capable of based on what's been shown, along with Steam Play Proton enabling thousands of Windows-only games from Steam's back catalogue to run on SteamOS 3 (and the ~8,000 native Linux titles) they've definitely solved one of the biggest hurdles in doing new hardware but still - we can't help but want a new Valve game.
So there might be no actual need to make one but they might be a bit silly not to. At this point, it seems like it's already something of success. Everyone is talking about it and most people seem very excited by it both inside and outside of Linux circles. Reservations took down the Steam store, and even when it came back up there was so much traffic that their payment system for it went down and orders took a long time - so we know there's genuine interest. Should Valve capitalize on that? Absolutely.
What do we actually want from a new Valve game though? Left 4 Dead 3? Half-Life 3? Portal 3? A new Counter-Strike? Or something entirely different perhaps? They have a number of good titles there that are ripe for picking up once again and bringing them in an updated form to the desktop and the Steam Deck.
I think they would be a bit silly to do Left 4 Dead 3 right now, considering how Back 4 Blood is releasing in October with it being widely reported as a spiritual successor and Turtle Rock Studios are the original developer of Left 4 Dead. Half-Life: Alyx definitely put that series back into the spotlight, and with the incredible ending there's a lot they could do with it although it might be weird to carry that from VR into traditional gaming. Portal also has Portal Reloaded and Portal Stories: Mel for people who want more of that. Difficult to say what they would / should do. Doesn't stop us wanting more from Valve though.
What do you think: will Valve announce a new game late this year or early next year? Or perhaps it's still far away?
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: Liam DaweIf Valve is serious about Linux, I'd still propose charging like 5 % less Valve fee if the published game features a Linux build.
Yes. This. Right here. Whether it's a native build or some in-house quality assurance program for Proton, either way game studios could totally be encouraged to support Valve's own native platform by simply giving them a discount to do so. That would be huge.
Quoting: subIf Valve is serious about Linux, I'd still propose charging like 5 % less Valve fee if the published game features a Linux build.That wouldn't help.
Sure, it would encourage them to press the "build for Linux" button for some free money, which is more than many devs do, but it wouldn't encourage them to do any testing or provide any support. At all.
"But," you might say, "the discount should only apply to proper Linux versions, not those other ones," and suddenly Valve has to be a gatekeeper, creating lots of uncertainty for devs as to whether they'll have their funds withheld, and Valve are having to do (a lot) more work in exchange for less money.
Last edited by CatKiller on 22 July 2021 at 6:01 pm UTC
Comandante Ñoñardo Jul 22, 2021
Quoting: TeodosioI would like to see a new game from Valve, released on GNU/Linux only.
Timed exclusive, for to push the platform..
gradyvuckovic Jul 22, 2021
Turn on your Deck, login, and bam, get the game for free as a bonus.
Much like how Valve Index buyers received Half Life Alyx for free.
Quoting: CatKillerQuoting: subIf Valve is serious about Linux, I'd still propose charging like 5 % less Valve fee if the published game features a Linux build.That wouldn't help.
Sure, it would encourage them to press the "build for Linux" button for some free money, which is more than many devs do, but it wouldn't encourage them to do any testing or provide any support. At all.
"But," you might say, "the discount should only apply to proper Linux versions, not those other ones," and suddenly Valve has to be a gatekeeper, creating lots of uncertainty for devs as to whether they'll have their funds withheld, and Valve are having to do (a lot) more work for less money.
I see the potential issue. Yet, maybe the big publisher's don't want to get bad publicity if the build is crap right from the start or is not maintained properly like the Windows version.
The other challenge is their engine, as they've always been quite friendly with FOSS tech and standards such as OpenGL, their old games are on Linux because they've included an OpenGL renderer, though those only support Vulkan thanks to native DXVK integration, and it's likely they'd have used zink otherwise. I am not aware of the current vulkan status on their source 2 engine, which I thought would be released by now (can't wait for a new golden age of HD mods), but despite HL:A being of masterpiece of VR gameplay and being gorgeous as f, the engine still does load separate levels, there are no level streaming we've been seeing in pretty much any other open world AAA game these past 10 years.
So unless they've been planning and hiding for a long time, I don't expect much in the near future. Though I do trust them to always come full of surprises, for Steam and Valve to be what they are today, Gaben (and his teams) have always been the "man with plan".
(That's just my profane and humble opinion, feel free to correct me on that.)
Mohandevir Jul 22, 2021
https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-says-it-hasnt-found-a-game-steam-deck-cant-handle/
Should we take for granted that these tests have been done on SteamOS 3.0?
If so, what major breakthrough have they been able to achieve, with Proton, that they didn't share with us, yet? If not, what a major let down!
Last edited by Mohandevir on 22 July 2021 at 8:42 pm UTC
slaapliedje Jul 22, 2021
Quoting: CorbenNot sure if anyone has replied to this yet, as I haven't had time to read through all the pages... but anyone remember that Valve said they had 3 VR games in development... Alyx is just the first...Quoting: subWhich is kinda sad but I have a hard time with Alyx already. :/Aww, also when using teleport instead of locomotion?
I do have issues with locomotion myself, but I also learnt it depends on the game. Boneworks for example causes heavy motion sickness after 1.5h - 2h, and I have to sit down, stop playing and the sickness still lasts for quite a while.
I have no isses at all with teleport though, there I could play for hours and hours, without any issues.
But there is the VR mod for GTFO, where you also only have locomotion. And this is done so well, I can play the game for several hours without any issues.
This could either mean, I kinda got used to locomotion now (haven't touched Boneworks in a while though), or the way locomotion is implemented in GTFO VR is way better than in the other games I tried so far.
Back to topic though: Valve also has to release another VR game! *please*
Quoting: Liam DaweThat would not be an exclusive, because anybody can download a GNU distribution and install it, free of charge, spyware and other restrictions. It would not be "excluding" anyone.Quoting: TeodosioI would like to see a new game from Valve, released on GNU/Linux only.Exclusives are bad.
Quoting: elmapulunpopular opinion...
they should make their next game... linux exclusive.
otherwise people will keep seeing windows as capable of doing everything linux does, while they dont see linux as capable of doing everything windows do.
it need to be at least temporary exclusive.
It is an unpopular opinion - exclusives are generally horrible, and pretty much anti-Linux - we're the crowd that loves choice and freedom after all. But. BUT. It's extremely frustrating to have Sony (playstation), Microsoft (on their store, and with xboxxonexone, or whatever they're on these days), Nintendo (switch) and Epic... ALL push exclusives, but apparently Valve is meant to be above it all? Really?
I mean, Valve are the good guys, right? So therefore they're "not allowed" to push exclusives? Ever? Even a timed-exclusive?
A part of me actually wants them to play dirty - level the field. But then another part of me remembers when they made a single hat accessory for Team Fortress a Linux exclusive (you had to play TF2 under Linux to unlock it) and... wow. The anger, the vitriol, the sheer hatred over that. An unlockable hat. Jesus. I suspect it actually helped turn diehards away from Linux, rather than towards it.
I'm still torn though. So frustrating to see every other player use every dirty, anti-consumer trick in the book, but Valve are held to a higher standard.
Quoting: Liam DaweQuoting: TeodosioI would like to see a new game from Valve, released on GNU/Linux only.Exclusives are bad.
Nah it's "ok" as long as it runs on Cygwin or something like it XD
Like it's "ok" if Windows games run on Wine/Proton.
Quoting: scaineQuoting: elmapulunpopular opinion...
they should make their next game... linux exclusive.
otherwise people will keep seeing windows as capable of doing everything linux does, while they dont see linux as capable of doing everything windows do.
it need to be at least temporary exclusive.
It is an unpopular opinion - exclusives are generally horrible, and pretty much anti-Linux - we're the crowd that loves choice and freedom after all. But. BUT. It's extremely frustrating to have Sony (playstation), Microsoft (on their store, and with xboxxonexone, or whatever they're on these days), Nintendo (switch) and Epic... ALL push exclusives, but apparently Valve is meant to be above it all? Really?
I mean, Valve are the good guys, right? So therefore they're "not allowed" to push exclusives? Ever? Even a timed-exclusive?
A part of me actually wants them to play dirty - level the field. But then another part of me remembers when they made a single hat accessory for Team Fortress a Linux exclusive (you had to play TF2 under Linux to unlock it) and... wow. The anger, the vitriol, the sheer hatred over that. An unlockable hat. Jesus. I suspect it actually helped turn diehards away from Linux, rather than towards it.
I'm still torn though. So frustrating to see every other player use every dirty, anti-consumer trick in the book, but Valve are held to a higher standard.
I totally agree with this. It would be great to see Linux exclusives (or, for most people, "Steam Deck exclusives"), but it would also be something bad as in for freedom and choice. I'm torn too.
Last edited by Jozua on 22 July 2021 at 11:41 pm UTC
a linux only game would be funny, but valve is too open
slaapliedje Jul 23, 2021
Quoting: JozuaQuoting: scaineQuoting: elmapulunpopular opinion...
they should make their next game... linux exclusive.
otherwise people will keep seeing windows as capable of doing everything linux does, while they dont see linux as capable of doing everything windows do.
it need to be at least temporary exclusive.
It is an unpopular opinion - exclusives are generally horrible, and pretty much anti-Linux - we're the crowd that loves choice and freedom after all. But. BUT. It's extremely frustrating to have Sony (playstation), Microsoft (on their store, and with xboxxonexone, or whatever they're on these days), Nintendo (switch) and Epic... ALL push exclusives, but apparently Valve is meant to be above it all? Really?
I mean, Valve are the good guys, right? So therefore they're "not allowed" to push exclusives? Ever? Even a timed-exclusive?
A part of me actually wants them to play dirty - level the field. But then another part of me remembers when they made a single hat accessory for Team Fortress a Linux exclusive (you had to play TF2 under Linux to unlock it) and... wow. The anger, the vitriol, the sheer hatred over that. An unlockable hat. Jesus. I suspect it actually helped turn diehards away from Linux, rather than towards it.
I'm still torn though. So frustrating to see every other player use every dirty, anti-consumer trick in the book, but Valve are held to a higher standard.
I totally agree with this. It would be great to see Linux exclusives (or, for most people, "Steam Deck exclusives"), but it would also be something bad as in for freedom and choice. I'm torn too.
Funny thing is, if the Atari VCS manages to get any exclusive games, they would be Linux exclusive (as it's pretty easy to copy one of the games from it and slap it onto a Linux desktop and play it).
furaxhornyx Jul 23, 2021
Quoting: TeodosioQuoting: Liam DaweThat would not be an exclusive, because anybody can download a GNU distribution and install it, free of charge, spyware and other restrictions. It would not be "excluding" anyone.Quoting: TeodosioI would like to see a new game from Valve, released on GNU/Linux only.Exclusives are bad.
*: anybody with a computer (and the knowledge to setup a dual-boot, which is not a given for a lot of people)
But I see what you mean
Quoting: CatKillerSure, it would encourage them to press the "build for Linux" button for some free money, which is more than many devs do, but it wouldn't encourage them to do any testing or provide any support. At all.
Sure, but as users we can request refunds and leave bad reviews. Most devs don't want a bad reputation (which is one reason some of them don't bother to get their feet wet).
Quoting: a0kamiThe other challenge is their engine, as they've always been quite friendly with FOSS tech and standards such as OpenGL, their old games are on Linux because they've included an OpenGL renderer
As I understand it, they used a Direct3D wrapper called ToGL:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/ToGL
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