Latest 30 Comments

Quoting: Mountain Man3D renders do not a viable product make.

Ten times your goal in funding might, though.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

3D renders do not a viable product make.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Even if the lawsuit is sketchy and the UK government sucks. I'm not about to weep for or support Valve. Evil corporations or bourgeois imperialist governments? It's pick your poison with them. I hope that Valve loses and has to pay out. Gaben can afford it. Though that being said, fuck any stupid reactionary groups behind this as well. Nobody is innocent in the room.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Kyle Gospodnetich made things clearer today https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/correction-regarding-gpd-win5-support-for-bazzite/11574

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I just can't take accusations of Valve being an unfair monopoly seriously when their major corporate competitors like Amazon and Epic are a joke and function on the basis of throwing money at customers with giveaway games, and small independent competitors like itch.io seem safe in their niche.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: MinoscerebI like the look of Heroic, it's a lot better designed visually than Lutris and feels more user friendly, but since Lutris can run all the stores Heroic can, and at least for GoG has access to lots of useful scripts for things like mods or just actual playability, I don't see a use case for Heroic for myself. I'm curious where other people fall on this though. Have I missed something about Heroic?

Heroic has experimental cloud save support for gog games which is my main reason to use it

I like lutris for the setup scripts for old gamss

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

as someone who put about 2000 hrs (1000 pre linux days, 1000+ with linux) into bf2, this is great news, however don't you also need to login into nexus mods? would be great if you didn't need nexus mods because that's a bit of a hard pass these days for many people.. doesn't currently affect myself but no doubt down the track it probably will. or is it only if you are playing with a mod that it is required (which would make sense)? just wondering as you know would be fun doing some private matches and have a way to play once ea pulls the pin.

edit - yes ok you can run the server on linux - just not the kyber launcher to run the game on linux..due to WebView2 being requried. nevermind!

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I know this is a Linux gaming site, but DXMT for Wine gaming on macOS is a big thing. I believe Crossover creates it and should be similar to DXVK for Linux. DXMT is DirectX to Metal like DXVK is DirectX to Vulkan. It has to be Metal on macOS unfortunately as the OS doesn't support Vulkan out of the box.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I keep trying this game. I've always figured it's one of those games where part of the enjoyment is figuring out how it all works, like old Amiga games that didn't come with a manual. It's been... *checks notes* 12 years and I still don't know how to do more than dig a hole. And yes, I refuse to check Youtube.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Just installed it on my notebook. Downloaded Star Trek Judgment Rites and directly ran into this problem about missing libFLAC.so.8:
https://github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher/issues/2837
*sigh*

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I'm not a fan of the Game Boy layout would be more interested if it was like the size/layout of a Switch lite. They seem to be aiming for having community OS support which I hope they achieve. I've though about getting an android gaming handheld since even though I really like my Steam Deck it's a little too big for me to easily carry but most don't have 3rd party android rom support and if they do their is no community that makes them at least from the bit of looking that I've seen.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: scaineI suppose the performance thing is cool, but the bit of CachyOS I love is that it integrates snapper into grub seamlessly, so if you break your system (say, an aberrant Arch update), you just reboot into an earlier snapshot and you've learned your lesson. Takes all the pressure off the fact it's Arch. Or being an idiot like me and constantly experimenting with stuff and breaking things.

I'd like them to include ChaoticAUR by default, like Garuda does, but it's straightforward enough to add manually. If you haven't used ChaoticAUR before, it's a precompiled version of the AUR - very fast, because it acts like any other Arch source. No waiting around for AUR compiles.

My next challenge with CachyOS is integrating the boot with TPM, so I don't have to manually unlock my disks at startup. If that's successful, I don't think I'll be distro-hopping for a long, long time.

Oh, really have to find out how to set up snapper now in my CachyOS.
Would have loved to have it when Arch rolled out a new systemd revision which completely broke my internet xD

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

If GOG really thinks about the customer experience first, they should prioritize opening their API for the already existing multiple Linux launchers to work as good as possible, which would be a low hanging fruit, and only then the possibly long term effort for Galaxy itself.

P.S. I'm honestly sadly surprised at the bad blood my fellow Linux gamers seem to have for GOG, for whatever petty reasons you are listing, are you forgetting these guys are the only ones with downloadable DRM free games fighting against "you'll own nothing and will be happy"? Get your heads out of your asses it's not like GOG have been swimming in Steam profits and just took some wrong ideologic decisions.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: The_Real_BittermanFedora based ... no thanks

Why? Fedora is one of the best polished and easy to use distros nowadays.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

The Zoom Platform support is awesome. Hopefully they'll also add Itch.io support soon too.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: keturiduSame. I don't get logic, why stubbornly not to include Steam games import to Heroic.

Heroic prides itself to replace official launchers and code their own app from the ground up.
Their backend tools speak directly to the servers of Amazon, Epic and GoG.
This is quite an unnecessary task and a hard one to do for Steam, as it is both complex and natively available on all platforms.
It serves as a counterpart for non-steam games.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: F.UltraAFAIK this have only been rumoured by Epic. But if you have any links with data then provide them.

There are quotes buried in court files - I'll have to look for it myself.

Quoting: F.UltraYet when I google it I get back that Apple takes 30% (and 15% for small publishers) and Sony takes 30%...

Fortnite & the App Store ring any bells? Maybe search for EU DSA?

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

@Mountain Man

It means blindly accepting direction and/or the status quo without giving it any consideration of your own. From what I've read, this does not seem to apply to you.

You are entitled to your opinion, even if others do not agree with it.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I have started testing out Heroic recently. I find that it is not as feature-rich as Lutris but somewhat more stable. What features they do have, work and are well implemented. For example, custom categories. In Lutris, you can assign them but they are pointless. In Heroic, you can filter by them.

The only thing I like about Lutris, that I haven't figured out how to do in Heroic so far, is that I can create an "empty" wine prefix and I can do it without having to be online. I haven't tried this to create an UMU-based empty prefix in either launcher, however. Not sure it would work. UMU only seems to create the prefix once you run the installer.

I also like the idea behind Steam integration in Lutris, even if I don't use it. The idea of being able to track total gameplay time while offline is appealing. Having two launchers (Steam & Lutris) running in the background to do so, is not so appealing. If only Valve would enable tracking game time in offline mode ...

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Where I can avoid it, I prefer not to use a retail store launcher for game installation if I can avoid it. I have never used GOG Galaxy and probably never will -- even if they make a Native Linux version. I like the offline installers, play offline anyway, and could not care less about achievements or other social media features.

Frankly, I still think the best move on GOG's part would be to work with the existing third-party tools (which I do value and use) rather than compete with them. If you ask me, cooperation is the future ...

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

This is not at all my kind of game, but I am continually blown away be the graphics quality, lighting and shading in the pictures GoL puts up.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I liked the article not because I agree with the lawsuit (I don't) but because I appreciate Liam's reporting of it.

Quoting: TheSHEEEPI've always said that Valve's cut is undeniably too large. I just don't see any legal grounds to lower it - but hey, who knows.

Speaking from long experience in the retail industry, 30% is pretty much standard fair unless you are targeting wholesale business levels (mega corps with big box storefronts like Walmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, Best Buy, etc.). Computer hardware and livestock feed are two areas that I am aware of that operate on wholesale pricing margins. As such, I have absolutely no objections to Valve's commission structure and see no reason why they should be expected to target wholesale margins like the big box mega corps.

We have a consignment programme where I presently work. There are two takeaway points about it. While we are occasionally negotiable depending on the product, the default commission is 30% of retail (we provide shelf space, handle merchandising, collect and remit sales taxes, etc.). We also include a clause encouraging consignors to have the same retail price wherever they sell their products (we don't legally enforce it but we have reserved the option to cancel a consignment contract on these grounds). It simply benefits no one if the consignor is undercutting their own prices (it impacts their sales through us and makes it pointless to provide shelf space for their products).

Like you, I see no legal grounds to force any retailer to change their margin/commission structure. That would be tantamount to price fixing -- which is, AFAIK, illegal in most nations. If you don't like Valve's commission structure, you are free to take your business elsewhere. If you lose sales because you went with a retailer with less exposure but lower commission, the blame rests on your shoulders, not Valve's.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: ShabbyXSay this fine is paid, where does the money go? I highly doubt to the consumers the suit claims to protect. Does it go to the UK government? To the people filing the suit (in which case, why do they deserve this money?)?

If it's like class action lawsuits in the US, the overwhelming majority of the money is awarded to the law firm that filed the case since they're supposedly representing the injured party.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Oddly most people that [confirmed the bug with 2.19](https://github.com/Heroic-Games-Launcher/HeroicGamesLauncher/issues/5220) are using Heroic flatpak...

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: drenThe amount of corporate bootlicking happening here is crazy. We are talking about a company that effectively has a monopoly on game sales, that promotes a skin gambling ecosystem that is available to minors ("loot boxes"), that for years resisted giving refunds, whos subscriber agreement attempts to prevent class action lawsuits, and who tried to monetize community made mods. Let's also not forget how shitty it was to force users onto a game, CS2, and mothball the better version, CSGO, who can't count to three (ignoring rumors), etc. As a linux gamer, I appreciate that they have made gaming on linux better, but lets not pretend that they aren't interested in getting people onto their own OS, SteamOS, so they can again increase their own margins via hardware and licensing. I think it is best to keep these corporations at an arms length at best. I love GOG because I can actually buy and own games, but they are still a corporation and corporate track records are pretty shitty these days.

Except ofc that this lawsuit (and zero of the others) have anything to do with this list of issues that you have with Valve/Steam. And I am quite confident that most people who write critically about this lawsuit agrees with you that what you list are valid concerns. But as I already said, the lawsuit is not about this so therefore "we" are not defending these actions by Valve when we criticize the lawsuit.

Quoting: TheSHEEEPSeems partly reasonable to me.

I've always said that Valve's cut is undeniably too large. I just don't see any legal grounds to lower it - but hey, who knows.
And that their practices especially for charging with in-game purchases are double dipping in many cases is also quite clear.

I'm not too sure about the PPO stuff, I've read too many conflicting statements here.

Still every single other shop that have taken a less cut does not provide anything comparable with the full suite that Steam offers plus that most of them are also in the red (e.g Epic is only able to afford to have their shop due to the income from Fortnite). So while 30% might be too much, no one have so far been able to actually demonstrate it in practice.

Quoting: poiuzThere are several occasions - confirmed by Valve - that they told publishers they expect the same price or prefer not to sell a game.

AFAIK this have only been rumoured by Epic. But if you have any links with data then provide them.

Quoting: LupertEverettThat's simple not correct.

Yet when I google it I get back that Apple takes 30% (and 15% for small publishers) and Sony takes 30%...

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: TheSHEEEP

Quoting: Mountain ManYou really can't demand that software developers not take advantage of cost saving technologies like cloud servers.

Of course you could.

But that isn't the goal - as I already wrote, those mock servers are already a reality in almost any project.
It would be work to make these more user-palatable, but not much. Paling in comparison to the dough raked in by online games that were even just a bit successful.

It is also by far not the only way to go about this, nor the cheapest.
You are drinking the publisher cool-aid already and they haven't even really started firing their propaganda - weird, dude!

You could absolutely - and reasonably! - demand that an end-of-life plan must be made before an MMO/Online-focused game is released, and that end-of-life plan MUST include a way to play in a "reasonable, minimal way" (eg. say offline only, or self-hosted, etc) past end-of-life.
Or you can't release/sell it in the EU.
Simple, really.

If those few weeks of work and minimal amount of resource cost would keep a game from being developed, then developing that game was never a viable business decision anyway.
Publishers really have no leg to stand on here.

You also can't forget: When you ignore the suits, the vast majority of developers is in favor of this.
Understandably so, as nobody wants to see years of their work just ceasing to exist.

Frankly, I have no time or patience for people who dismiss an opposing opinion as "drinking the cool-aid".

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

I'm fine with lawsuits if it's a legitimate one. My suspicion however is this is just a money grab and Valve are a lucrative target.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Quoting: LupertEverett

1: Steam "price parity clause"

This is only for Steam keys that are sold OUTSIDE Steam.

There are several occasions - confirmed by Valve - that they told publishers they expect the same price or prefer not to sell a game.

Quoting: LupertEverett

2: In-game purchases yadda yadda

"Hey Sony, so I have this DLC for a game I bought from GOG, can I play this on PlayStation?", said nobody ever.

Whataboutism! If you think anyone else should be sued, then take legal actions! Besides: Apple & Google are being scrutinized, too.

Quoting: LupertEverett

3: Commissions commissions

The fee, that is... 30%...

You know... the same amount Sony and Apple also gets, yet somehow it is only Steam who is constantly put on target for it.

That's simple not correct.

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Fedora based ... no thanks

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment

Now I fear steam will get blocked in UK like what happened with imgur

View this comment - View article - View full comments - Report this comment