Tiny Tina's Wonderlands from Gearbox has now launched on Steam with its Epic Exclusive period now over and it's looking pretty good on Steam Deck and Linux desktops. Note: 2K sent over a key.
Curiously though, the game on desktop Linux at least won't play the videos with Proton 7 or Proton Experimental so you see a test-screen instead but they do work just fine on the Steam Deck. So for desktop Linux, you're going to need GE-Proton for now (guide here). Apart from that, it all seems to work just fine on Fedora Linux and Steam Deck.
However, one big missing feature for the Steam release are cloud saves. So you will not be able to sync characters easily from one system to another. This feels like a really big thing to miss now, especially with the Steam Deck gaining more popularity and just — backups in case your system fails.
A look at it across Steam Deck and Fedora:
Direct Link
For the Steam Deck, setting into into the Medium preset with FSR 2 set to Balanced and the screen locked to 40Hz seems to give a pretty good experience. There's the usual drops and slight stutter when it's loading something new but other than that it's fine. Meanwhile on desktop I've been testing the High preset with no noteworthy performance issues encountered there.
You can buy it on Humble Store and Steam.
Which I'd happily pay, except that they stuck Denuvo on it! Argh. Oh well. Still amazing to see you play it on the Deck.
Not this time.
Anything that uses Unreal engine, EOS and /or EAC, Denuvo or was an Epic Exclusive is a pass from me. With a lifetime boycott of the developer/studio and publisher to boot.
I felt that way too, but nearer to the beginning of the pandemic, I had time, needed a new game and the only thing I didn't have was will power. So I bought Borderlands 3. I had played all the previous Borderlands games for more bloody hours than a man should, but I was resisting Borderlands 3 because of Epic store exclusivity. I very much resent that.
I would not discount any game just because it uses Unreal Engine though. I have enjoyed many games based on Unreal 3. Epic isn't one of my favourite companies though... still mad about Unreal Tournament 3.
Unreal Engine 4 games tend to be sluggish and all tend to use that video API plugged in to directx for embedded video in game, and logos. I detest it.
Nay to anticheat/antitampering software for me though. I just play single player games, so I can avoid those titles.
The one most commonly requested by publishers is Denuvo Anti-Tamper. It has only one purpose, and that is to verify at certain points while the game is running, that the game's binary has not been modified. If implemented correctly (meaning: those checks are only being run when opening a menu, on the loading screen, etc.) it does not have any negative impact. Also, by itself, it's not a DRM. However it makes sure that DRM from some other source (usually Steam) has not been cracked by verifying executable file integrity.
The other Denuvo product is Anti-Cheat, which is a rootkit. This tool collects data on syscalls from games, and sends the data to the cloud for server-side processing. According to the developer it does not collect any data beyond the game/kernel interaction itself, so if that statement is to be trusted, the data collection is not worse than what could be done with in-game telemetry, just collected at a lower (harder to manipulate) level.
That said: I personally prefer DRM-free games, but don't have any big issues with Denuvo Anti-Tamper either (as long as it's used together with Steam DRM - other DRM providers that might or might not still exist tomorrow are a different story).
Anti-Cheat is something I avoid though, because the only thing that makes it not-spyware is that the developer promises that it isn't.
It's actually one of the last bastions of my idealism, the other that I don't buy Windows-only games at full price. Funnily enough, two of the games that I'd actually make an exception for (DeathLoop and Tiny Tina)... are encumbered with Denuvo!
It's okay. I can be patient. In the far future, both of these games will both a) have Denuvo removed and b) feature in a bargain-bucket bundle, and I can enjoy them then, for a pittance.
I have also used modified binaries that had Games for Windows Live patched out.
Also, back around 2008'ish, Mass Effect had one of those asshole copy protection trojans (SecuROM if I recall correctly). One fine day, SecuROM started causing Explorer file manager to crash if SecuROM had been initilialized. A binary "patch" (is it a crack if I'm not using it as such? :-) fixed that for me, it hexed out securom.
Another game I liked several years ago (well, two games), "The Chronicles of Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay/Assault on Dark Athena". That had Tages that needed patching out. I have a GoG version of that now that doesn't have anything like that, but unfortunately it does not run through translation.
Stunning graphics. I thought this was the Borderlands 2 DLC when it cropped up during the Summer Sale, so I passed it by, thinking I already owned it! It's a whole new game though - full price too.Graphics is the tip of the iceberg. The storytelling is amazing. The enemy diversity and AI is fantastic. You are missing out a lot.
Which I'd happily pay, except that they stuck Denuvo on it! Argh. Oh well. Still amazing to see you play it on the Deck.
Stunning graphics. I thought this was the Borderlands 2 DLC when it cropped up during the Summer Sale, so I passed it by, thinking I already owned it! It's a whole new game though - full price too.Graphics is the tip of the iceberg. The storytelling is amazing. The enemy diversity and AI is fantastic. You are missing out a lot.
Which I'd happily pay, except that they stuck Denuvo on it! Argh. Oh well. Still amazing to see you play it on the Deck.
Yeah, I'd love to play it. If they ever take out that anti-consumer bullshit, I'll be there in spades. Tina a great character.
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