Hopefully an update that will allow Dota 2 to continue working on Linux and the Steam Deck long into the future.
Back in September 2021, Valve announced some major technical changes were planned for the Dota 2 client. This included dropping OpenGL support, with Vulkan as the default amongst other adjustments. Part of their plan has now shipped, at least for Linux.
At the bottom of their latest blog post, they noted that "As part of our continuing efforts to move Dota's technology forward, we have upgraded the Linux client to use the container version of the Steam runtime. This ensures better compatibility across distributions and prepares for future improvements.".
What is the newer container version of the Steam runtime? This was actually announced back in November 2019, with the idea to better separate games from your system. It should mean better and continuing compatibility across many different Linux distributions, without dependency headaches. It's the same system that Steam Play Proton also uses.
Really, you shouldn't see much difference. If you didn't see issues before, you likely won't now. If you did have issues before, it's worth checking it out again.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: scaineSo is this the whole "Soldier", "Scout" thing that you sometimes see talk of? The "Steam Linux Runtime" that you occasionally see downloading? I just assumed it was a background process that Steam needed (as a client) to run.There are a few different versions of the runtime now yes, and Valve names them like Soldier, Scout, Heavy etc.
QuoteDota 2 client. This included dropping OpenGL supportWhile I am all for prioritizing support for new technologies (Vulkan, Wayland, Pipewire, Rust...) won't this decision leave out players who don't have a compatible card?
I don't play this game and I don't know if the game is already heavy enough to not run on older setups, but while their main competitor (league of legends) does the opposite (can run on weak computers and have non-english with voice localization) in order to embrace a bigger player base, drop OpenGL will exclude Linux players with non Vulkan hardware (which may not be many, but they probably exist)
for quite some time the UI for DOTA2 has been painfully laggy (ingame was fine). Now it's better.
Quoting: BielFPsQuoteDota 2 client. This included dropping OpenGL supportWhile I am all for prioritizing support for new technologies (Vulkan, Wayland, Pipewire, Rust...) won't this decision leave out players who don't have a compatible card?
I don't play this game and I don't know if the game is already heavy enough to not run on older setups, but while their main competitor (league of legends) does the opposite (can run on weak computers and have non-english with voice localization) in order to embrace a bigger player base, drop OpenGL will exclude Linux players with non Vulkan hardware (which may not be many, but they probably exist)
Not sure if you are trolling or not, a Nvidia GTX 970 that I had back in 2014 supports Vulkan.
Last edited by t3g on 31 January 2022 at 6:53 pm UTC
Quoting: t3gNot sure if you are trolling or not, a Nvidia GTX 970 that I had back in 2014 supports Vulkan.No "trolling" it's a legit commentary, I presume you probably live somewhere in North America / Europe so the scenery of someone using an Ivy Bridge notebook or something older than "Nvidia GTX 970" might sound absurd to you
Last edited by BielFPs on 31 January 2022 at 7:37 pm UTC
Quoting: t3gNot sure if you are trolling or not, a Nvidia GTX 970 that I had back in 2014 supports Vulkan.
Well, up until recently, I was considering removing the RX 560 in a secondary computer that I have and replacing it with an R7 270 that I have available.* If I did that, however, I would have to use kernel parameters to force the use of the amdgpu driver rather than the radeon driver to get any Vulkan support. I'm pretty sure that in some places there are people who would love to upgrade to an R7 270. I know there are people on old Intel hardware that doesn't support Vulkan. I don't know if there is any realistic hope of running Dota 2 acceptably on hardware that is that old/underpowered though.
*(This is no longer a consideration since I now have a Vega 56 card available for this machine.)
I hope that they soon use the containerization on CS to fix it.
hardpenguin Feb 1, 2022
QuoteIt's the same system that Steam Play Proton also uses.Oh wow, because of this my Dota 2 client shows "Runs with Steam Play" in the library now.
Quoting: hardpenguinGood catch. Yep, it's because Steam Play is the system for compatibility layers (Proton, Steam Runtime Container, Boxtron, Luxtorpeda etc).QuoteIt's the same system that Steam Play Proton also uses.Oh wow, because of this my Dota 2 client shows "Runs with Steam Play" in the library now.
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