There has been constant rise for a while now, which in itself hasn't happened this long before. Which is good as rise starts from quite low point.

There might be even more interest in Linux when Steam Deck actually comes out.

As for the publicity, I noticed this few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvosJN00d2w

I would sure would hope that if they compete on how long they can keep Linux on their main machine, something about that competition gets mentioned later on.

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Thanks again for Liam for digging up few more demos. Some of them are not actually new, so they might be harder to find with the trick I found earlier. Basically just go to https://store.steampowered.com/search/?sort_by=Released_DESC&category1=10&os=linux and check if you find anything interesting in the recently released ones. Browsing the event site works somewhat, but it's easy to miss a few and some of the games don't have Linux build yet, even if they advertise it. What I have seen is that Linux version might actually appear when the game is actually released.

I have tried few of the games already earlier and was able to get already one of the fresh demos working. Just had to disable Steam overlay, otherwise many of the demos crash quite soon after launch.

APICO

This is basically game about beekeeping mixed with something in little bit similar to Stardew Valley or Graveyard keeper. There's crafting and most of the things have simple minigame so you have to work little bit for some things.

You can also crossbreed bees in order to find new species. Too bad I managed to make savegame that crashed the demo so I haven't been able to play it all the way though.

I also had problem launching the game via Steam client. In previous version of the demo launching once via command line made the launching via Steam client work. Latest demo however refuses to launch via either method. Launching via command line just complains that it can't connect to Steam. Might have to debug some more.

Midnight Protocol

This one has been in several festivals already. Basically if you take hacking minigame (I think Deus Ex: Mankind Divided had something that's closely related) and expand it a bit. Worth taking a look.

Nej
Game doesn't explain itself much, but so far figuring things out hasn't been too difficult. Too bad it crashed while I was playing so I haven't seen all it has to offer. Fulfills requirement of being able to pet the dog right there in the demo, so that's something.

Onsen Master
It's basically Overcooked adapted into hot spring setting. Controls take while to figure out and I haven't been able to figure out how to clean up the messes. Mess that some customers make looks bit glitchy, so maybe the game doesn't work perfectly with Mesa/AMD.




It would be interesting to hear if those demos work or do other people also get the same bugs.

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Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: a0kamiWe're all there to make the joke but the fact that Linux doesn't care about extensions is making it tough..

Yeah. Hero (file designated executable) doesn't really roll off the tongue.

Neither does ---x------ Hero. As the game is on Steam, only owner can execute. There's no bit though that you have to pay, but I guess that can be implied.

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Quoting: Shmerl

Quoting: AnzaTo me based on where the checks are, it's designed more like an anti-cheat measure. Based on the discussions though, anti-cheat is no longer effective.

How do you define an anticheat in a single player game? Many of such games historically had built in cheats / consoles and allowed mods that change all kind of behavior. I wouldn't even touch a game that actively tries to prevent that.

I explained the scenario where there's at least some kind of reasoning for anti-cheat. Leaderboards can be more fun it they're online, they have just risk of having cheaters. With officially sanctioned cheats and mods using official integration, there can be different leaderboard for each cheat or mod. Or leaderboards could be disabled altogether in those cases.

Line is bit blurry with that leaderboard example as technically it's multiplayer (you're playing against other people). But if only multiplayer component in the game is leaderboards, it's practically misleading to call it multiplayer game.

So the point stands, there are online features in single player that make sense. They're not all there to spy on users (it's just that collecting telemetry is always a possibility with online connections).

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Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: TheSHEEEPWtf?!

Only 10 finger support?!

Yeah, what if I want to get my nose in there, too? Then what, huh?!

We do have saying that you are sitting there nose touching the monitor. So based on that we must be proficient playing games with a nose. With small screen it gets lot harder to see anything though and fitting rest of the fingers in there gets hard. So based on that it seems like Steam Deck is not going to be popular among ten fingers and a nose players.

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Quoting: ShmerlOn-line connection for single player game? What for? I don't even get the reason for it, let alone any benefit. Unless developers want to spy on users in some way? It's surely an anti-feature.

Personally, I haven't bought the game so didn't really follow the whole drama. But I agree that for a GOG release it's a pretty major blunder.

To me based on where the checks are, it's designed more like an anti-cheat measure. Based on the discussions though, anti-cheat is no longer effective.

Pure DRM can just cripple the game instead of preventing playing the game.

Anyway I would assume the whole online functionality is deep enough in the game that removing it for GOG build might not be something IO interactive would want to do. If they want to do that, Dungeon Defenders for example had system where there was separate offline and online character that didn't share progression at all. So that would be one way to do it. Assuming of course the anti-cheat is actually effective. Otherwise it doesn't really matter.

I wouldn't say that online component is always useless in single player games. It's just have to be taken into account in the design what happens when the game is offline. If it's just that the leaderboards don't work, then people will most like understand what's going on. If it's woven more into the game, it could be honest to mention it in the store page.

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Quoting: CanadianBlueBeerFor Swamp area, I build a base (with teleporter) nearby outside the swamp itself.
Keeps the eels from eating the boat. (which I chop up, and stash the mats, rebuild the boat when time
to take all the iron home)

Deconstructing the boat is handy as you need to make boat trip only with full load of iron, you can skip the part where you travel to the site with an empty boat.

Swamp has actually nice option as you can make a tree house. Especially if you don't need a huge base. In swamp there's only one enemy that flies high and they're relatively rare. The thing is that those big trees count as ground for the building stability. Branches will complicate building the stairs, but it should be still doable. I don't know how high you need to build to be out of range of arrows, but if the mobs can't see you, it shouldn't generally be a problem.

For the sunken crypts it's actually nice that you can build a teleport on top of them (most mobs can't reach it from there), so you can go quickly to your base to empty your inventory and have some storage for the iron at the crypt. You could even make a cart, though swamp (and most other terrains) is quite difficult terrain for a cart, so maybe get a boat as close as you can.

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Quoting: CanadianBlueBeerJust wait until you see the new thing in the Plains.
heh-heh.


I looked at it in godmode, and have nary a clue how I'm gonna ...... in normal mode.

You'll see.

:D

There have been hints what it is, but I might be able see it myself soon enough. Just have to remember few things from time when plains used to be dangerous. There are some things to do in order to prepare for new area with unknown dangers.

Usual way to prepare is to build either teleport or bed first. That will prevent the situation that after dying, you have no easy way to get back (been there, have several rafts next to plains as proof in the old world). Once that's done, it's good to build at least small outpost so you don't have to travel that much back and forth. New areas usually have some goodies that you need to gather in order to progress, so little bit of storage at least is good.

Of course you still have to get to your grave, so depending on area you need bit of spare potions and other things, just in case. Some biomes are fatal without proper protection.

Spoiler, click me

I haven't yet found swamp or plains yet. Swamp would be preferable first as there's plenty of goodies there. Even when I carried what happened to have in the inventory from the old world, I still need some iron. I'm already prepared with some poison resistance potions and swamp key, only thing missing is the swamp.

I should be somewhat prepared for the plains, problem is that I'll eventually run out of good food and need way to make it myself. Plains visit would be good for the black metal and eventually I need place to grow barley

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Let's see how many Linux native games are there this time around. But usually enough to keep me busy for whole week.

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Looks like people have been waiting for the update. At the moment Valheim is back at top ten most played games right now. 77298 peak today, which is still far from Grand Theft Auto V which has had today peak of 123933.

Dunno if Valheim needs feature where you can steal Thors carriage or something to convert those GTA V players. You can already cause quite lot of mayhem otherwise, just go and knock on gates of a fuling village. For some reason they know that you are going to steal their stuff, so they come out and try to kill you.

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