Latest Comments by pleasereadthemanual
As of January 2024 - 75 of the Top 100 most played Steam games work on Steam Deck
18 February 2024 at 11:12 pm UTC

Quoting: BadCo
Quoting: pleasereadthemanual
Quoting: BadCo
Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47Anti-cheat can get a lot worse. If you want to see how, take a look at Android.

A lot of Android games don't bother directly detecting cheating: instead they just try to detect rooting. If you have root access, they assume you're cheating. If you don't, they assume you're not cheating. Worse still, it isn't just multiplayer games that use "anti-cheat:" publishers of single player games with in-app-purchases don't want you to cheat, because then you are less likely to buy in-game stuff with real money.

It may just be a matter of time before a big PC game publisher decides the solution to cheating is to require you to be in "S Mode" (i.e. only have software from the Microsoft Store). That wouldn't just mean the end of WINE: It would mean the end of Steam and all other stores as distribution platforms for AAA games.

I really hope I'm wrong.

I wouldn't be surpirsed if Valve were working on some sort of Anti-cheat product to sell or provide to developers to avoid scenarios like this.
They already have one. VAC.

That's not really what I meant. As far as I am aware, Valve don't license VAC to other developers?
It sounds like any Steam developer that makes use of Steamworks APIs can integrate VAC into their game: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/features/anticheat/vac_integration

Games that use VAC: https://store.steampowered.com/search/?category1=998&category2=8

Manjaro and Slimbook team up for the Slimbook Hero Linux gaming laptop
16 February 2024 at 12:09 am UTC Likes: 3

Quoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerRunning some numbers, it looks like System76 runs better deals for us in the US.

Also, I don't want to start a flame war, but isn't Manjaro a bad operating system? I heard multiple Linux people say that it's not good.
I'll just say that, last I checked, Manjaro held Arch's packages back for two weeks, so there is no guarantee that the AUR packages will work properly if they expect newer versions of system packages as dependencies.

Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare 2 adding EA AntiCheat, breaking it on Steam Deck / Linux
15 February 2024 at 1:58 pm UTC Likes: 4

Quoting: BlackBloodRum
QuoteSo players on Steam Deck / Linux will be left with a broken game. Concerning for many reasons, because once again it shows developers can and will just break their games on certain platforms - even when put through Steam Deck Verified by Valve, it's not a guarantee that the games will continue working unless the developers support the platforms directly.

Indeed. But this is why so many of us for years have opposed DRM and tried to call attention to such tactics. But alas, most people don't listen, "it won't affect me.".
You won't see me advocating for DRM, but Anti-Cheat isn't DRM. It does accomplish the same feat DRM is most effective at: preventing customers from using products.

But this game does include third-party DRM already according to the Steam page:

QuoteIncorporates 3rd-party DRM: EA on-line activation and Origin client software installation and background use required.
Does it even work now? There's a single-player mode. I imagine that would still be playable even with the anticheat..?

I don't know what I'm supposed to tell people. Buy your games on GOG and itch DRM-free, then use a Wine launcher? That rather defeats the ease-of-use of Proton. Steam automatically updates games, so even if it works now, there's no guarantee it'll work in the future unless you smuggle the game files out if it happens to not include Steam DRM (which it does not in this case). There's just no easy way to guarantee that what CAPCOM and EA are doing by bolting on DRM after the fact won't render your game unplayable in the future aside from...well, just not buying from Steam.

Hell, even having a Native Linux version at one time is not enough guarantee! Rocket League had one until a few years ago, and now Psyonix is talking about integrating Easy Anti-Cheat, which may or may not work in Proton.

Grab a free copy of FlatOut during the GOG Love at First Pixel sale
14 February 2024 at 11:21 pm UTC

Quoting: legluondunet"Yakuza Complete Series" only with english subtitles...
As long as it has Japanese subtitles, I'm satisfied.

Heroic Games Launcher v2.13 brings GOG support improvements
13 February 2024 at 1:12 am UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Nocifer
QuoteWe also started a partnership with GOG and now every game you buy from the GOG store inside Heroic will give us a commission, so it is another way of supporting the project. :)

It's not just about being able to log into GOG and buy games via the embedded browser, it's about GOG forming a partnership with Heroic and giving them money for every game we buy through the client.
I'm curious as to whether this is a normal affiliate link like GOL has, or something more.

Edit: Ah, based on the comments above about the tracking domains (adtraction), it's a normal affiliate link.

Steam UI scaling should work even better in the latest Beta
7 February 2024 at 11:53 pm UTC

Quoting: michaldybczakI don't understand. High resolution monitors are available for years and are now becoming a standard. Any new computer or laptop will have high resolution display. I recently switched to a laptop with 1444p monitor and Steam UI is very small. Setting to scale UI doesn't work. The variable given here does work, but why is it so troublesome? Why isn't it working automatically, or at least with a setting in UI? I just can't comprehend it. What is the issue here?
Lack of interest in fixing it, probably. Valve has let big bugs in the Steam client rot for months in both the Linux and Windows client. They might eventually get around to fixing it.

What to Expect From Wine on Wayland in 2024
4 February 2024 at 1:46 am UTC

Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: pleasereadthemanual
Quoting: Purple Library GuyYeah. Although what I really really want is alternatives to Adobe products that work about as well, because I really dislike Adobe. Specifically for fiddling with .pdfs, I have no need for anything more powerful for image stuff than the GIMP and various other already available open source things.
Have you tried acrobat.adobe.com? I haven't, so this is a genuine question
No. I only get halfway serious with .pdf for work, and at work we've got subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud, which has nothing to do with a cloud, you just download the software.

We also have that plan. I think. Adobe is confusing as hell. It includes access to some web-based versions of those programs at creativecloud.adobe.com.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyIt was the only software I've ever used at work where systems people had to come down and walk me through the process of getting access--not because I called them up or was having particular trouble or anything, just because they had to do this with everybody who needed to use the damn thing. Basically although we bought X many licenses or whatever, every single person had to log into their website which I guess they're calling a cloud even though it's just a server you're downloading their software from, and authenticate directly with them as a person who's allowed to get their software, I guess so they can track you specifically and presumably turn it off if you try to keep using it after the subscription is over . . .

Anyway, I think they're assholes. But I can't currently get away from them.

It's the same situation here. It's more flexible; as long as I can get my work done, it doesn't matter so much what I use. So I do use Affinity Photo for some solo projects. But I can't replace After Effects, and inDesign is impossible to replace without file conversion. If I could get rid of After Effects, I would be very happy. DaVinci Resolve Fusion is looking like the only viable replacement, but there's a definite learning curve and the work I do with AE is not that serious. Natron somehow seems to have an even larger learning curve and I'm a little concerned about how active the project is.

Yes, I think Adobe are assholes. Adobe software used to work in Wine, at least in some form, before they switched to Creative Cloud. Then things got more complicated when they started using all that watchdog software.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyA couple years ago during Covid I was working from home from my Linux desktop, and everything else was fine--LibreOffice was fine for the office stuff, our library system is browser based etc., but no Linux things I tried would do what I wanted with .pdf files. Luckily there was a remote desktop setup thing, so I was able to use Acrobat via that, but that was the only thing I needed to do that for. Master PDF, you say? Hadn't heard of that, I should give it a shot.
Here's a link: https://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor/

There's a comparison table of the features. It's a one-time purchase, I believe. I think Foxit is another one? But they're quite expensive. It's worth a shot.

I haven't bothered because working with PDFs is the least of my worries, haha.

Linux remains above macOS on the Steam Survey for January 2024
3 February 2024 at 9:57 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: F.Ultra
Quoting: constMy take on some of the arguments here:

1. Chromebooks are pretty much an US thing. I know no one who owns a Chromebook here in Germany and when I looked for their prices, I know why. You get a pretty good Business Laptop for the price of a cheap tablet with a bad keyboard.
Which is why I mentioned that it was regional just like you mentioned the state in Germany. Over here Chromebooks have about 10% of the total computer market and is above Apple.
The only place I've seen a Chromebook in Australia is on display at JB-HI-FI. I don't know anyone with one and I've never heard about someone having one in Australia.

According to statcounter, the market share is at 0.51%...it's lower than Linux!

Australia also has a ridiculously high macOS market share. It was at 32% in October, and that sounds about right. Macbooks are everywhere! It's completely eating into Windows' market share.

Want to see a terrifying statistic? iPhones account for 60% of the market in Australia according to Statcounter. That's 30% higher than the worldwide statistic. I absolutely believe it.

Australia really likes Apple products. I'm kinda interested to see what the breakdown would be on Steam in Australia...

What to Expect From Wine on Wayland in 2024
3 February 2024 at 9:50 am UTC

Quoting: FoxStevenWhat I only want is using Adobe Product on linux......
You and me both.

I tried out photoshop.adobe.com this week, because they finally released it publicly a few months back (though I used it during the beta). I couldn't resize the canvas. There's no option to do that like in desktop Photoshop. So I tried cropping it, but it just errored out. I spent an hour with a support agent, and it turned out it can't handle large files (I was working with a 135MB PSD).

I thought it was okay aside from...well, that. I didn't hit any other limitations, but to be fair, I had only used it for an hour.

What I really want is Adobe inDesign on the web and After Effects...somehow on the web or working through Wine. One of those is more likely than the other.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyYeah. Although what I really really want is alternatives to Adobe products that work about as well, because I really dislike Adobe. Specifically for fiddling with .pdfs, I have no need for anything more powerful for image stuff than the GIMP and various other already available open source things.
Have you tried acrobat.adobe.com? I haven't, so this is a genuine question

Affinity Photo apparently works in Wine so long as you transfer some files from a Windows installation. Aside from that, there's Master PDF and a few other Linux PDF editors. I haven't tried them, so I have no idea if they're any good.

Linux remains above macOS on the Steam Survey for January 2024
2 February 2024 at 1:33 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: const2. Not so sure about the Appstore. I can see that for single player titles, but for multiplayer? I really don't know. My guess is Apple Users tend to prefer console gaming.
If you're curious about what Mac users think, you could try checking /r/macgaming. This post, for example.

I thought this comment was enlightening:

QuoteINSTALL STEAM FAST. STAY AWAY FROM APP STORE.

There is no reason to use the Mac app store unless you also have an Ipad or Iphone that can run these games - otherwise you are paying full price for games that are not full price on any other retailer. Anywhere else you will get a license for Mac + Windows but through Apple you only get the Mac license as well.

Go to GOG. Go to Steam. Go to Humble. All of these retailers often have games for 50%+ off. You will get a significantly better deal shopping anywhere but the app store. (I just got Pathfinder Wrath of The Righteous marked down from $60 to $9 this weekend, the App store will never do that! This game might not even be on the App store tbh.)

Also it will be easier for you to find games that you are interested in because all these other store fronts are way easier to navigate.

It seems like you're right about multiplayer games on the App Store. I can't find any mention of multiplayer games available there, though I'm sure I heard about one a while ago...

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