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Latest Comments by CatKiller
Valve released Windows drivers for Steam Deck OLED but no official support
16 August 2024 at 9:54 am UTC Likes: 3

Finally. I've no interest in Windows myself (obviously), but the bait-and-switch of "you can totally install Windows... but the hardware won't work" was rough. Getting all the Deck platform stuff upstreamed so that buyers also have the option of whichever Linux distro they might choose is also something that needs to happen. As I understand it, those parts have been trickling out - hopefully this release is a sign that they've got their formalisations tidy.

Valve confirm plan to get Steam Deck's SteamOS on the ROG Ally and more handhelds
16 August 2024 at 9:37 am UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: Philadelphus
Quoting: KlaasWhat I don't like is that they apparently prevent deeper discounts on other stores.
While it's proving difficult to research and I don't have time to really dig into it at the moment, from various statements I've read from developers the situation is more that developers shouldn't sell Steam keys for their games at significantly lower prices elsewhere on a permanent basis…which all makes sense, because Valve takes no commission on Steam keys, so everyone would just sell keys for their games elsewhere at 30% off, pocket 100% of the proceeds (making the same amount they would selling on Steam), and Valve would be stuck honoring those keys and supporting the distribution and hosting of said games without getting any money.

There's absolutely not a formal requirement for games sold elsewhere except that devs can't take the piss with Steam Keys. The "don't take the piss" provision of the Steam Keys agreement is widely known and games are cheaper than on Steam literally all the time.

If it comes to Valve's attention that Steam customers are getting a bad deal Valve will sometimes contact the publishers to find out why that is, and if there's anything that can be done about it. The extent to which one might say there's an informal requirement is discussed at length in the court filings of the Wolfire case - Attachment 1, Attachment 2.

Dwarf Fortress adds Dwarf Babies, an upgraded Adventure Mode and more but macOS cancelled
16 August 2024 at 9:06 am UTC Likes: 6

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualEdit 2: https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey?platform=mac

You can see VirtualApple makes up 73% of the Processor Vendor for macOS. That's about three-quarters of users using Whisky/CrossOver/Some Wine Thing to run Steam instead of the native Steam client.

But then it's under the macOS category, so maybe it is being counted correctly..?
VirtualApple is Apple Silicon. The use of that on Mac in the survey is in line with use of the M GPUs.

In particular, none of the Mac hardware - neither CPU brand nor GPU model number - shows up in the Windows-only section at all. Individual GPU model numbers are listed down to 0.15%.

The idea that vast numbers of gaming Macs exist and are being miscounted as Windows machines seems like wishful thinking on the part of Mac users.

Steam Deck SteamOS 3.6.10 Beta 'Tenth time's the charm' fixes some real nuisances
15 August 2024 at 4:40 pm UTC Likes: 6

Quoting: ToddLI'm always tempted to try out these Preview/Beta builds but too afraid that'll make changes on my Steam Deck that might cause more problems. Now, if I had a spare Steam Deck, I would go for it but don't have the funds for another one right now.
All you need to do is run a gaming website for many, many years, and then Valve will send them to you for free. EZ.

Dwarf Fortress adds Dwarf Babies, an upgraded Adventure Mode and more but macOS cancelled
15 August 2024 at 1:38 pm UTC Likes: 7

QuoteFeels a bit odd to be on the other side of the fence for once, as that's what usually happens to Linux but Dwarf Fortress has Native Linux support already.

Linux has had higher share than MacOS for a year now, after all.

Valve confirm plan to get Steam Deck's SteamOS on the ROG Ally and more handhelds
14 August 2024 at 4:23 pm UTC Likes: 6

Quoting: eldaking(Yes, I know the reason they do it is because their main business is the game store and not the hardware. Still impressive and unusual for these days of platform lock-in)

Not really that - people are generally going to get their games from Steam regardless of whether they're using Windows or Linux. The strategic aim of the Deck is as a Linux gaming demonstration device so that Valve's own customers aren't the handcuffs that tie Valve to Microsoft. The other handhelds coming with Linux out of the box is the best scenario, but Linux being easy (and desirable) for customers to put on themselves is a pretty good second choice.

Valve upgrades Steam Families and Game Recording in the latest Steam Beta
14 August 2024 at 4:15 pm UTC Likes: 5

QuoteFixed a rare bug that could result in the client failing to start due to invalid symlinks in ~/.steam

Ah, Jackbox.

World of Goo 2 is out now with Native Linux support
7 August 2024 at 4:53 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: scaineIs it coming to Steam at a later date?

They don't really have the pull of a Minecraft or a Tarkov to get loads of sales directly from their website. Selling through the Epic Store isn't going to get them a lot of sales, either. So... sensibly... they should sell it through Steam once they've worked off their obligations to Epic. But who knows for sure?

They don't have a Steam page for it currently, so I can't wishlist it there, so I'm only going to find out when it releases on Steam if Liam happens to notice and mention it.

World of Goo 2 is out now with Native Linux support
7 August 2024 at 1:08 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: soulsourceit does not work out-of-the-box on Gentoo, because the AppImage does not contain all dependencies - the one thing that the AppImage format promises to solve.
To be fair, that's "unclean build environment" rather than an Appimage issue per se - they could have included all the libraries they needed, but didn't. Still an annoying end result, either way.

Personally, I'll be waiting till it comes to Steam.

The Jackbox Megapicker fixed to stop megabreaking your Steam Deck
6 August 2024 at 5:02 pm UTC Likes: 5

Quoting: dziadulewiczHow was this even possible? Isn't SteamOS immutable for its boot to start with?

According to the game dev on the GOL Discord:

Quoteinside of the .steam folder a steam symlink was getting replaced by a folder preventing the deck to start steam the next time around. deleting the folder recreates the symlink and brings the deck back to life.