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Verdun, The WWI First Person Shooter Has A UI Overhaul & A New Map
By , 26 May 2014 at 3:03 am UTC Likes: 1
Problem with a WWI first-person shooter is it would have to be either extremely unrealistic or very boring and depressing.
"Your mission: Charge the enemy lines"
You do. You die in no-man's-land.
Oh well, try again. You die in no-man's-land.
Lather, rinse, repeat. With some cheerful interludes of drowning in mud, trench foot etc.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By pd12, 26 May 2014 at 1:07 am UTC
Quoting: fedsoAccording to jaycee1980 from the Steam forum: "Actually, we've had plenty of help and feedback from Valve...". So it would seems Valve does consider eON a valid solution.
Valve would definitely help VP or CDPR with porting their game to Linux because they're pushing their SteamOS. If you bought a SteamBox, fired up Witcher 2 and instantly crashed, how crappy and damaging to Valve/SteamOS/Linux would that be?
That doesn't mean Valve endorses eON or the implementation of eON for The Witcher 2. Because ultimately CDPR had the power to chose to go with VP and eON.

With toolkit not being the culprit - yeah, VP could have had eON perfected and screwed up big time with their implementation with eON on Witcher 2, but you don't have their source code so you don't know if eON is perfect or not; they might cause the usage of high-resource OGL calls when low-resource ones would suffice. With the apparent fails of their previous Mac OS X ports, either their toolkit or their implementing devs aren't up to par, or both. So you can't say for certain it's not eON/the toolkit, especially without a test case of eON running perfectly on Linux (as pointed out by Liam).

Edit: The assumption here was that you knew many players had reported Witcher 2 working better in WINE than through the eON wrapper. http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/why-we-shouldnt-accept-bad-linux-ports.3765/page=6#r17675
GOL Cast: Fleeing From Elves in The Witcher 2
By , 26 May 2014 at 12:37 am UTC
It seems to be very graphics card dependent. On my GTX 580 it's only playable in the lowest stettings, and at some scenes I still have performance below 20 FPS. My CPU seems to idle, even though, one thread seems to take always 100 % of a core, which could be the issue as well.
Considering you do have a stronger graphics card and a smaller processor than I do, I guess it's a lot graphics card dependant.

Even though, it is enjoyable enough, even on low settings. Still 25 achievements to go :).
Dota2's tournament prize fund has hit nearly 7 million dollars
By pd12, 26 May 2014 at 12:36 am UTC
I play on Linux, and while it's gotten better than the WINE version, it's still buggy and lags at times (like when Spectre ulti's, anyone else on Linux get that?).
This means Valve has already earnt ~18 million from 2014 Compendiums alone ... go Valve =P

I suck at playing, but would rather play than watch (with anything, sport, games, etc.).
However, e-sports is fun to watch, just like sports, because you're watching the best players of their respective disciplines be it football or Dota 2. Tbh though, I think Tribes (1 and 2) is a lot more fun to watch than MOBAs like Dota. Those intense e-grabs and caps!
Check these intense skill footage:
View video on youtube.com
And teamwork:
View video on youtube.com

Edit: Now if CIG at Star Citizen uses this model for Arena Commander every year and there was a good team/player base ...
Verdun, The WWI First Person Shooter Has A UI Overhaul & A New Map
By , 26 May 2014 at 12:27 am UTC
<sigh> .. i want more single player games, sadly this one does not seem to feature a campaign. Though, the game looks amazing.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 26 May 2014 at 12:21 am UTC
Quoting: JestI think that bigger problem is bad PC ports of console games.
If game is bad port from console, it will run badly on all platforms.
I think this is problem that should be dealt with first.
Didn't dudes on Windows also cry about bad Witcher 2 performance?
Or is it even worse on Linux?

Thing is, that Steam is going to be a "console for PC", so we'll probably even see worse ports to linux ;-).
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 26 May 2014 at 12:18 am UTC Likes: 1
I will state it again: the toolkit does NOT matter.
The quality of the port DOES.

In the case of eON, they have a set of functions wrapping the D3D API, making OGL calls out of it. The question is, how TW2 / CDPR engine uses the D3D API, since there are several ways to do it (especially considering shaders / lightning), and not every implementation in OGL will give you the same performance depending on the implementation chosen in D3D. That's what was obviously missed out in some parts. You can see that perfectly well in Vergen in the inn, there you can clearly see the performance drop by the lightning.

This is about the same as an engine ported badly. Nothing more or less. It's nice they did and tried, even if the result is unpleasent. This is to judge like a bad engine port, it's not about choosing eON, since they DID change their code to work for TW2. They did not change enough for pleasent performance though.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 26 May 2014 at 12:08 am UTC Likes: 1
No worries folks. =) As a platform proliferates and matures there is this almost 'self correcting' element to its software. As titles multiply in numbers as well as quality, it is not unusual for a developer to feel embarrassed and release new compilations, re-masters, and outright remakes.

As proof that this is already happening on Linux (which is ridiculous as it took Windows 10 years to hit saturation) many of you are already seeing games with 'like this title' or 'like that title' descriptions. This usually starts an in-feeding process that always leads to improvement or replacement.

My advice to everyone is; sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. =)
BTW. If gamers are incensed enough, never underestimate their ability to take advantage of parody law to the fullest (hence improvement or replacement). lol

Just please don't interfere socially, vote with your dollars. The system works this I can promise you.
Dota2's tournament prize fund has hit nearly 7 million dollars
By , 25 May 2014 at 10:45 pm UTC
I watch some of the qualifier matches and for sure I'll watch whole event in July. Dota 2 is the best game ever (I have about 2200 hours spent in it) and if it wasn't available on linux I would still use my previous os (now using linux mint, dota works perfectly here).
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition Released For SteamOS Linux
By Shmerl, 25 May 2014 at 10:08 pm UTC
By the way, those who want to import saves from the Witcher 1 (which brings some items as well as carries over your choices from the first game affecting some things in the second), they need to be placed in:

$HOME/.local/cdprojektred/witcher2/GameDocuments/The Witcher/saves
Dota2's tournament prize fund has hit nearly 7 million dollars
By , 25 May 2014 at 9:44 pm UTC Likes: 1
meh dota 2... TF2 is much better xD
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 9:35 pm UTC
Quoting: Jestis it even worse on Linux?

Yes it is.
Verdun, The WWI First Person Shooter Has A UI Overhaul & A New Map
By , 25 May 2014 at 9:32 pm UTC
this game looks pretty damn awesome though have to pickup a copy!
Mojang's Card Battle Game Scrolls Has New Hope For Linux
By Liam Dawe, 25 May 2014 at 9:23 pm UTC
Sadly it doesn't work in Wine so as usual that's not an option, the launcher works, but once in-game the buttons on the menu-bar do nothing. Links in to why I always say Wine isn't a solution, it's just a pain.
Mojang's Card Battle Game Scrolls Has New Hope For Linux
By Ivancillo, 25 May 2014 at 9:22 pm UTC
The other day I purchased "Cards City Nights" in a sale on Humble Store.

Looks a bit naive because the graphics and the characters (Ittle Dew).

But the card game itself is addictive.



As for this "Scrolls", I'll stay tuned for more news.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 8:59 pm UTC
Whilst I agree with the article. I don't necessarily believe that such emphasis should be put on porting old games, as long as they work with good performance, a wrapper should suffice. As far as newer games and going forward, wrappers are unacceptable. Newer games should be made with cross platform in mind. If they aren't, then we don't want them. But say if i wanted to play red faction 2 (random example from my steam library), it would be good to have it work with a wine wrapper so I don't have to run steam in WINE (I always get the stupid survey when i do this).
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 8:56 pm UTC Likes: 1
I think that bigger problem is bad PC ports of console games.
If game is bad port from console, it will run badly on all platforms.
I think this is problem that should be dealt with first.
Didn't dudes on Windows also cry about bad Witcher 2 performance?
Or is it even worse on Linux?
Mojang's Card Battle Game Scrolls Has New Hope For Linux
By , 25 May 2014 at 8:40 pm UTC
Quoting: WorMzyHonestly, this looks like a minigame you'd expect to see stuffed into a bigger game. I don't get all the fuss about it.

You can say the same thing for all Card Games (physical or digital). They’re MUCH deeper than they appear to be.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 7:59 pm UTC
"reputation for having low quality games. Think about that big picture for a moment, seriously."

I never though about it this way, I always though 'It's better than nothing" but you're right, it can cause a lot more damage to Linux in the big picture!
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 7:44 pm UTC
What exactly is the fiasco? I purchased Witcher2 on Friday on sale, and I've played it all weekend on Fedora 21 with no trouble. What have been the issues?
Verdun, The WWI First Person Shooter Has A UI Overhaul & A New Map
By , 25 May 2014 at 7:29 pm UTC
Yeah, I still have the resolution problem as well. I found that if I change my resolution (to anything from default, since this game doesn't seem to save your settings under 'nix yet), the lock up doesn't happen.
Verdun, The WWI First Person Shooter Has A UI Overhaul & A New Map
By JayBeee, 25 May 2014 at 7:17 pm UTC
I have some weird problems with the game under Linux, though. I need to press escape for the game to start after the loading screen, and sometimes the screen goes black, and I have to press escape to get sight back. Other than that it's a really fun game, not much features right now though.
Mojang's Card Battle Game Scrolls Has New Hope For Linux
By Liam Dawe, 25 May 2014 at 7:02 pm UTC
It's a pretty deep strategy game. It's like playing out a board game with cards in a PC game and watch your units come alive on the screen.

There are multiple types of decks, a deck builder to choose exactly what cards you take into battle with you and more.

It's really good.
Mojang's Card Battle Game Scrolls Has New Hope For Linux
By WorMzy, 25 May 2014 at 6:56 pm UTC
Honestly, this looks like a minigame you'd expect to see stuffed into a bigger game. I don't get all the fuss about it.
Dota2's tournament prize fund has hit nearly 7 million dollars
By Liam Dawe, 25 May 2014 at 6:33 pm UTC
I like to think i'm a good Dota2 player, but I probably wouldn't stand a chance in hell against any of the teams players haha.
Dota2's tournament prize fund has hit nearly 7 million dollars
By WorMzy, 25 May 2014 at 6:30 pm UTC Likes: 1
That's an insane amount of money.

No, I won't be watching. My younger brother probably will though, he loves watching people play games for hours at a time. I'd rather play a game than watch someone else play it.

The term "e-sport" really makes me chuckle though. Are the people competing "e-athletes"? That's an interesting description of someone who sits at a desk for a couple of hours, playing a video game. When I was younger, we just called it a LAN party. ^_^

Maybe I'm bitter because I know that I'd never win! :D
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By fedso, 25 May 2014 at 5:58 pm UTC
QuoteWhat about Valve's ToGL? Considering all of Valve's games that are on Linux now and run pretty damn fine, using ToGL sounds like a much better approach than eON.

They didn't run fine at the beginning and actually some still have game breaking bugs, I've never been able to complete HL: OF because of this bug: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/halflife/issues/917

According to jaycee1980 from the Steam forum: "Actually, we've had plenty of help and feedback from Valve...". So it would seems Valve does consider eON a valid solution.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By Hamish, 25 May 2014 at 5:41 pm UTC
Quoting: AnonymousIts perhaps better if there is a game studio dedicated to do ports for Linux.

A group of people willingly to support Linux by helping other studios to port over their games so that they can only focus on their projects.

Porting games and working on other IP's isn't going to work especially for 3rd party studios that do console ports and PC and Mac ports. It takes time.

Yes, it might be time for a rise in professional porting houses again. At least for older titles that were not developed with cross-platform in mind.

Back in the day Loki Software made stellar ports of some very Linux unfriendly games. What they lacked was an effective means of distribution. That is not a problem anymore.
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports
By , 25 May 2014 at 5:38 pm UTC Likes: 1
Its perhaps better if there is a game studio dedicated to do ports for Linux.

A group of people willingly to support Linux by helping other studios to port over their games so that they can only focus on their projects.

Porting games and working on other IP's isn't going to work especially for 3rd party studios that do console ports and PC and Mac ports. It takes time.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition Released For SteamOS Linux
By Lordpkappa, 25 May 2014 at 5:19 pm UTC
Quoting: Znurre
Quoting: Lordpkappahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2HNIJlacO4

How it works in my system.
Thank you for the video.
This just reinforces my point, that doesn't look fluent to me.
There are small frame drops all over the place, and seems you even dip below 30 fps at times (during the scene with the rushing soldiers).
Most of the time you have a good fps, but then it drops at occasions.
This is not ok imo, especially since lowering the quality does not even help, even on low I get these drops in FPS and small stuttering.

For the max dettail with v-sync enable i think it's a very good result. I play the game very very well, sure they could be better, and maybe for Linux Cdproject will bring 2-3 patches to stabilize the situation.
In more closed area like jail i archive 60 solid, i'll try to switch dettails in the same area and i remake a video.
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