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July Update
Liam Dawe Jul 29, 2021
This was first posted on our Patreon.

Steam Deck

- If you missed it, Valve formally announced the Steam Deck. Powered by SteamOS 3.0, with a KDE Plasma desktop mode. This is exciting, very, and we're hoping to continue being at the front of all of it, especially for the Linux side of things because it ships with a new SteamOS based on Arch Linux. We've setup a new dedicated Steam Deck article tag and we have some thoughts.

There's a but coming...but this is completely uncharted territory for us which is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Valve are now firmly and heavily leaning into Proton, telling developers basically "don't port to Linux". It puts us in a somewhat weird position. Still, silver lining is that it could also be a net benefit for us (with new readers) if we cover Steam Deck directly with games in addition to desktop Linux gaming - which we're hoping to do. However, it also means we will absolutely have to cover more games run through Proton, which we haven't really been doing. AA/AAA developers ignore us 99% of the time, so it could be costly and that's the most difficult thing, we've been blanked or simply told "nope" from most bigger teams and publishers.

Anyway, don't want to put a sour mood on it, we are genuinely excited. For me personally, I've wanted a device like this regardless. My office is often far too hot to sit in the evenings.

We've reached out to Valve. for a review unit, if not we'll place down a reservation anyway thanks to your help on funding GOL here on Patreon.

Let us know your feedback on how you (the people paying us!) would like us to evolve with all this. We are after all, here thanks to you!


Security

- As mentioned in the last monthly update, submitted articles had a potential for a XSS issue. Working with the CKEditor team we found the cause: the YouTube plugin. For some reason, the author of the plugin made it allow images and links with any tags inside, even though it doesn't ever use either *facepalm*. So I've manually removed those from the code and reported it to the plugin author.


Tag Feedback Needed

- We currently have a "Game Streaming" tag, but we're not sure if we should change it to "Cloud Gaming", which appears to be a more commonly used term. Let us know what you think about that. Should we change it?


Misc

- Somehow, a user ended up with no user groups attached to their account. We've made the GOL system more robust in case that ever happens to prevent the site just dying and spitting out SQL errors.

- For contributors, the article category tag box should no longer suggest what you already have listed when typing. Finally. Only took me like a year+ to implement.

- Turns out the links on users GOL profiles to their latest forum posts was always going to the last post in the topic, not the one from the user profile you're viewing and clicking on. Woops. Fixed.

- Marking all GOL notifications read is now smarter. It will mark those read that you've seen as of the time on that page load. That way, if a new one comes through and you're marking read, it won't mark it as read. No more missed notifications of quotes, likes and whatever.

- We added the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti and GeForce RTX 3080 Ti as options for your PC Info. Also adjusted the "HD 8570D" to have "Radeon" in the name as it's supposed to. Be sure to keep your PC info up to date!

- In addition to our Steam Curator where you can see what we suggest, we also have a special page up on itch.io now too. We're now up to 100 games on our itch page!

- Remember you can refresh your Patreon status on GOL any time on this page. As it turns out, sometimes it wouldn't work. After some furious hair pulling, it turns out Patreon expire API keys for no apparent reason (*claps*) so it's now hooked up to pull in new keys when that happens.
GustyGhost Jul 29, 2021
Regarding proton, I don't want to resort to "I told you so..." but

Quotetelling developers basically "don't port to Linux"

the logical conclusion of compromise and ceding ground is now being reached.
PublicNuisance Jul 29, 2021
Quoting: GustyGhostRegarding proton, I don't want to resort to "I told you so..." but

Quotetelling developers basically "don't port to Linux"

the logical conclusion of compromise and ceding ground is now being reached.

Agreed. I can only count on one hand the times I have seen developers work to make sure their game works with Proton but have many times more been told "why not just try Wine" when asking if they plan a Linux version.
CatKiller Jul 29, 2021
Regarding Cloud Gaming vs Game Streaming, it does disambiguate from things like Twitch.

Regarding future directions, I'd quite like to see GOL leaning into being a resource for native game dev. The already narrow niche for wanting a Windows game to be run on Linux enough to pay for it, but not enough to do it myself has been mostly eaten by Proton, but that in itself was largely a stopgap. Having Linux as a standard build target for all games would be healthy for game devs, and obviously beneficial to us as Linux gamers. Testimonials and advice from successful multiplatform developers, driving improvements in multiplatform engines and tooling, that kind of thing. Even those parts of the audience who are just here for the games are likely to appreciate the benefits of working collaboratively or tinkering, what with it being GOL. Plus I do love me some tech talk and interviews.
Liam Dawe Jul 30, 2021
Quoting: CatKillerI'd quite like to see GOL leaning into being a resource for native game dev
Would need people to volunteer their time on that, not my area of expertise at all. I will continue the interviews though, and we do have more coming up I need to sort out :)

Right now we're fine, funding is fine and traffic is fine - no worries there for now, just thinking on what steps to take in the Proton and Steam Deck era. There's clearly space for covering games run on Proton and the Steam Deck directly, as I don't think people will suddenly move to IGN for desktop Linux stuff.
CatKiller Jul 30, 2021
Quoting: Liam DaweWould need people to volunteer their time on that, not my area of expertise at all.
Sure. I was thinking that you already have contacts in the game dev community, so you could encourage them to use GOL as a watering hole to chat about their experiences. Broadly like the Gamasutra blogs, but for Linux game dev rather than marketing. A focal point for devs to help each other. That kind of thing.

Quoting: Liam DaweThere's clearly space for covering games run on Proton and the Steam Deck directly, as I don't think people will suddenly move to IGN for desktop Linux stuff.

You've been doing sterling work correcting the Internet from the manglings of Windows-focused journalists.

Last edited by CatKiller on 30 July 2021 at 7:40 am UTC
Liam Dawe Jul 30, 2021
Quoting: CatKillerSure. I was thinking that you already have contacts in the game dev community, so you could encourage them to use GOL as a watering hole to chat about their experiences. Broadly like the Gamasutra blogs, but for Linux game dev rather than marketing. A focal point for devs to help each other. That kind of thing.
I have thought about such a thing for some time, just need to figure out how to actually get developers to pay attention.
CatKiller Jul 30, 2021
Quoting: Liam DaweI have thought about such a thing for some time, just need to figure out how to actually get developers to pay attention.
I suspect (and hope, of course) that if such a thing exists, even if it's small at first, that game devs will start to search it out themselves. A single place that signals, "we can help you," will be a welcome thing when they're struggling with uncertainty.
furaxhornyx Jul 30, 2021
Quoting: CatKillerRegarding Cloud Gaming vs Game Streaming, it does disambiguate from things like Twitch.

I'll second that, especially as a non-native english speaker, Cloud Gaming is more specific.
(In fact, the first time I read Game Streaming, I thought GOL was going to cover things like OBS / Twitch...)
Mezron Jul 30, 2021
Cloud gaming is a perfect tag.
whizse Jul 30, 2021
If you had the time and resources to write reviews for AAA games, I would certainly read them and I'm sure they would be great. But it's not something I'm missing from, or expect from GoL.

What I love is the diversity of the coverage and articles. Native or non-native, FLOSS games, emulators, driver and hardware news, the interviews, the Wine puns. No one does it better. That's why I keep coming back here.

So essentially, to keep me happy, keep doing what you do now! :)

Also, while the Gabe Boy certainly have grabbed everyone's attention I think and hope, (thope?*) that we're on the brink of a new adventure. There seems to be a trend towards game development being done with FLOSS tools like Godot (and hopefully O3DE). And maybe, just maybe, more developers (hello Ron Gilbert!) will jump ship and do their actual development on Linux. That's when the interesting stuff starts to happen! I'm sure you would do an excellent job of covering that.

* There's probably a long unpronounceable German word perfectly suited to express this sentiment.
denyasis Jul 31, 2021
Quoting: furaxhornyxI'll second that, especially as a non-native english speaker, Cloud Gaming is more specific.
(In fact, the first time I read Game Streaming, I thought GOL was going to cover things like OBS / Twitch...

Agreed. As a native English speaking person, I too thought instantly of GOL's Twitch streams as opposed to cloud streaming, which is much more specific.

Quoting: whizseIf you had the time and resources to write reviews for AAA games, I would certainly read them and I'm sure they would be great. But it's not something I'm missing from, or expect from GoL

I think any of us can submit an article, right? Most people here write well and have insightful things to say. I would enjoy reading your all's opinions.


Last bit.. thanks for such a nice place to congregate here. I enjoy a place online where everyone isn't loading thier mind

Last edited by denyasis on 31 July 2021 at 1:31 am UTC
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