Apparently now a Quality of Life Update means adding a launcher to existing games and breaking them, if you're 2K that is.
Just recently BioShock Remastered 1 & 2, plus BioShock Infinite all had this "Quality of Life Update". Expecting some sort of bug-fix and polishing that the name implies, it was nothing of the sort. Instead, the patch notes for all three simply state:
This week's update features various quality-of-life improvements, including:
- Account linking option added in-game
- The addition of a new Launcher which includes a Store to purchase new content
For BioShock Infinite I can confirm the update breaks launching the older Native Linux port from Virtual Programming. Not great for those of you sticking to Native versions and paid for that.
Looking over various reports, many people are mentioning that the launcher update has broken all three for them on Steam Deck. Confusing though, as testing all three across desktop Linux and Steam Deck and all three worked out of the box for me with Proton 7.0-4 and no other changes and I wasn't even shown a launcher on Steam Deck. All good, until I tried running them again on desktop and sometimes the launcher just doesn't show up so they don't run. Frustrating.
You can see my video guide on how to switch between Proton versions or a Native Linux build if it exists.
Infinite was noted to be Unsupported on Steam Deck anyway, but forcing Proton 7 makes it work in my testing.
As for BioShock Remastered 1 & 2, neither of them had a Native Linux version so players on desktop Linux and Steam Deck were using Proton. The problem here is that both had been through Deck Verified with the first being "Playable" and the second being "Verified".
Thankfully, the community has stepped in to provide multiple workarounds for these games if the launcher has broken them for you. If you add these as a launch option (under Properties for each game) it should work for all titles across desktop Linux and Steam Deck to skip the launcher and I've tested them personally working:
BioShock Remastered 1:
bash -c 'exec "${@/2KLauncher\/LauncherPatcher.exe/Build\/Final\/BioshockHD.exe}"' -- %command% -nointro
BioShock Remastered 2:
bash -c 'exec "${@/2KLauncher\/LauncherPatcher.exe/Build\/Final\/Bioshock2HD.exe}"' -- %command% -nointro
BioShock Infinite:
bash -c 'exec "${@/2KLauncher\/LauncherPatcher.exe/Binaries\/Win32\/BioShockInfinite.exe}"' -- %command% -nointro
There's been a lot of unhappy gamers on Windows too, so 2K have a bit of a storm brewing with all three titles getting negative reviews on Steam. Hopefully they will learn from this. It's just another reminder of the problem with launchers and publishers just stuffing them into games with no real benefit to users.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
First an update came that lost my saves (Bioshock Remastered). So I reconnected those (had to find them buried in userdata, local steam cloud saves) and continued my play through. They changed the location of the local saves.
Then this one comes along and the launcher b0rks my games. I was able to get it going again by deleting 2KLauncher/LauncherPatcher.exe and symlinking it to ../Build/Final/BioshockHD.exe to bypass it.
However, that left me cold. What happens when they come and change my game again, and Steam forces it on me. It left me with a "Not Linked" icon on my menu screen (I don't have a "2K account" to link and I don't bloody want one) and a creepy "Connecting" splash (what are they connecting to?) that wasn't there before.
This caused me to go to GoG and repurchase these games (and that's three times now for the first two) yet again. Now I have standalone, DRM free, versions of these games, divorced from all dictatorial game clients, set up in Lutris. I have the installers for these games backed up, and they will never change.
wit_as_a_riddle Sep 9, 2022
Quoting: scaineQuoting: wit_as_a_riddleQuoting: scaineI've never once, ever, in over 1100 games, experienced a launcher which improved a game experience.
Minecraft has a useful launcher. That's the only one I know of though. Funny how people make even better ones to replace the one useful launcher I know of.
I'll give you that. One game. And even then, a launcher that's only actually necessary because the core game design is so poor that you have to juggle versions for mods. So even then, while I agree it's a useful launcher, it's only useful because it's absolutely necessary and I'd STILL prefer that it didn't exist!
Perhaps the most successful game of all time has poor design? Sure, you can make an argument for that, but I'm not going to buy it lol. Also, being able to switch versions is a feature not a bug.
Quoting: wit_as_a_riddleQuoting: scaineQuoting: wit_as_a_riddleQuoting: scaineI've never once, ever, in over 1100 games, experienced a launcher which improved a game experience.
Minecraft has a useful launcher. That's the only one I know of though. Funny how people make even better ones to replace the one useful launcher I know of.
I'll give you that. One game. And even then, a launcher that's only actually necessary because the core game design is so poor that you have to juggle versions for mods. So even then, while I agree it's a useful launcher, it's only useful because it's absolutely necessary and I'd STILL prefer that it didn't exist!
Perhaps the most successful game of all time has poor design? Sure, you can make an argument for that, but I'm not going to buy it lol. Also, being able to switch versions is a feature not a bug.
The game has great design. The engine, the implementation... the bit that get you playing? It's a (well documented) mess. And if it wasn't, there would be absolutely no reason to switch versions. Like, you know, every other game out there that just uses one mod-able version which works for all use cases.
Last edited by scaine on 9 September 2022 at 2:12 pm UTC
slaapliedje Sep 10, 2022
Quoting: GroganHowever, that left me cold. What happens when they come and change my game again, and Steam forces it on me. It left me with a "Not Linked" icon on my menu screen (I don't have a "2K account" to link and I don't bloody want one) and a creepy "Connecting" splash (what are they connecting to?) that wasn't there before.This! This right here is why I keep thinking I should just pack it in and spend my time playing Amiga or DOS or Atari games...
One more launcher, one more account they want you to make... why? So they can have an email address? So they can have names? What is the purpose? So they can sell you more shit? It is like going to a store to purchase something then being annoyed by people standing inside trying to sell you other things from a different store. Just stop this garbage! Launchers alone seem like lazy programming. Just try to detect hardware, set up some safe defaults and let the user set the settings. Most launchers don't even have that usage and are just there to get you to login or advertise unrelated crap!
They also break play time, as I can't count how many times I have opened a game, played, quit and forgot the launcher was running in the background. (Looking at you, Star Trek Online)
Quoting: slaapliedjeOne more launcher, one more account they want you to make... why? So they can have an email address? So they can have names? What is the purpose? So they can sell you more shit? It is like going to a store to purchase something then being annoyed by people standing inside trying to sell you other things from a different store.
I actually had this once. The collectors in a drug store had to ask everybody if they want to buy a chocolate bar, too.
(Guess which drug store franchise didn't exist many more years.)
Last edited by Eike on 11 September 2022 at 8:00 pm UTC
Comandante Ñoñardo Sep 12, 2022
Quoting: slaapliedjeThis! This right here is why I keep thinking I should just pack it in and spend my time playing Amiga or DOS or Atari games...Emulation is the backbone of my Linux gaming partly for this reason - though, to be fair, most things that use launchers and want me to sign up for unwanted accounts don't generally overlap with my gaming tastes anyway.
Last edited by Pengling on 13 September 2022 at 12:24 am UTC
slaapliedje Sep 13, 2022
Quoting: PenglingI do enjoy wondering around giant open maps and kicking random people off of ledges like in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I don't know why, but I just enjoy watching the physics of enemies falling to their doom. The Jedi Knight games are another that is just fantastic in this way. Flinging storm troopers off ledges and to their doom.Quoting: slaapliedjeThis! This right here is why I keep thinking I should just pack it in and spend my time playing Amiga or DOS or Atari games...Emulation is the backbone of my Linux gaming partly for this reason - though, to be fair, most things that use launchers and want me to sign up for unwanted accounts don't generally overlap with my gaming tastes anyway.
Granted, it also made me giggle to play Black and White and pick up the little villagers and toss them about. Maybe I should seek therapy. Haha
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