LinuxGameCast Weekly EP147 – Seig Smile

Microsoft nopes Oculus for Linux! Dota 2 gets Reborn, Steam is bad at maths, and Godot goes full-metal Vulkan. Then Massive Chalice faces our CHAIRQUISITION! All this, plus your hate mail.

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Colour Key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Steam News:

35% of WHAT?
http://www.pcgamer.com/35-percent-of-valves-get-it-early-hardware-preorders-are-already-sold/

Without a total of available units this metric is FK-all useless.
Oh hai fluff piece
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why people don’t often report on what VALVe says unless it’s about how many million active accounts there are.

Outside the window
http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KevinGeisler/20150608/245463/Steam_Refund_Experience_Majority_Outside_of_2Week_Window.php

“It turns out that 80% of our refunds match the sale price for these periods, putting the purchase dates between 2-5 months ago”
- That’s, a bit alarming.
- WAIT! *checks playtime* That gives me an idea …BRB #YOLO
- I’ve seen several people able to yoink refunds for 6mo old games.
- In a way it’s good to let everyone get rid of das uber shite games in their collection but they need to kick on the 14-day restriction after a month.
- Oh look, real stats
- https://twitter.com/garrynewman/status/609421991729344512

% Off
http://www.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/39ckjx/some_companies_are_raising_prices_on_their_steam/

War Thunder went up 10 wet stinky
https://www.steamprices.com/eu/dlc/244390/war-thunder-ace-advanced-pack
What I see happening is that there will be a lot of pissing and moaning, and nothing will be done about it. Why? Because fuck consumers.
- Who knows though. Apparently this kind of behaviour is illegal in several places, including Oceania. Mind you, the AUS government may just fire off another digital goods tax hike and the Aussie consumer will be back to square one
I’m team do your FKN research before buying.
This is not the first time this happened. And it’s illegal in most countries.
- Either Valve finds a way to curb this or they might be looking at proper lawsuit, even though it’s not exactly their fault.

Dota 2 Reborn
http://www.destructoid.com/valve-announces-dota-2-reborn-new-engine-new-ui-less-frustration-293869.phtml

I guess the most important bit of news here, for the gaming community in general, is that this beta comes with the new iteration of the Source engine. Source 2, as the internet calls it
- ZOMG HALF LIFE PORTAL 3 CONFIRMED!
Because fuck all if Valve’s ever gonna come out and say anything coherent beforehand.

2X The Wang
http://store.steampowered.com/app/324800/

Coming in 2016
I for one, can’t wait. One of the big things that would have made SW1 even more awesome was multiplayer, and now they’re adding 4 man co-op
One thing that worries me is that they’re saying levels are procedurally generated. Hoo boy.
- Yeah, it really came off as “same fkn places but randomly generated \:D/”
BTW, Shadow warrior is on sale for 5 bucks. If you don’t have that game already, buy it

Victor Reset
http://steamcommunity.com/games/345180/announcements/detail/138831099311766133

They’ve raised the level cap and changed how fast you level up
The nice thing is, you keep your XP and get set to the new appropriate level. You still have to level up though
When they say “level up” they mean you do it all at once.

Patch simulator
http://store.steampowered.com/news/?appids=265930

“Better Mac and Linux optimization.”
- Be afraid. Be very afraid
- Hate to say it but it still runs like a bit of arse-sauce.
Oh so that’s that 1.1GB update.
I suppose it’s good that they’re still working on it…
- They’re probably gonna be pumping out new DLC until the end of time

Trackmogersomething
http://survivethedistance.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1463

Minecraft style, seed generated tracks.
- I like that!
Because I’m a grown “adult”
- http://imgur.com/CZ46G6b,Stvd30T#1
- Interesting Note, I ended up using that track as a basis for a numenera dungeon

Sir, you are testing multiplayer
http://steamcommunity.com/games/242880/announcements/detail/218768639465032714

Wow… your busted, ineffectual, not-fun stealth game gets multiplayer.
Can we get some fk mothering doors?
Does this thing still run like arse?
- Well, it gets around 60 on the 980 at 1080

Multi-Coffins
http://steamcommunity.com/app/320540/discussions/0/615086038681811501/

Gimmie!
Multiplayer is ..confusing.
Edit: Shite don’t work, son.

Reaching
http://store.steampowered.com/app/327090/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

You do know obvious shite is obvious http://steamcommunity.com/app/327090/discussions/0/615086038668872585/
That is literally Rust without as many dongs and more boats.
- So what you’re saying is that there are fewer dicks but a whole lot more seamen?
  - Also yes!

The Obelisk of Infinite and Yet Paradoxically Limited Power
http://steamcommunity.com/games/246400/announcements/detail/157971399072069390

Nekro is finally becoming the MOBA it always wanted to be but without having to compete with DotA2 and LoL.

News:

Googs gaming
http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2015/06/a-youtube-built-for-gamers.html

Good luck /w that!
I mean really, you will have to de-FK my Google accounts before I will even think about using it.
I like how there are people in the comments saying “bye bye twitch” and “YT Gaming > Twitch” before they’ve ever had the chance to try it…
The bullshit hype machine strikes again!
I’ll reserve judgement until it’s out.
I said this when it was announced: What does it bring to the table other than the brand name? Google really needs to sweeten the pot for joe-streamer if they want their service to take hold
Mind you, it may just end up being killed off in three years, as is tradition
I wonder what kind of agreements people are going to have to make with game devs to use the platform as well

Unity 5.1 is here!
http://blogs.unity3d.com/2015/06/09/unity-5-1-is-here/

Multiplayer and VR improvements.
What happens to the Unity ghetto now that Steam has a system in place to handle refunds?
- Well, hopefully it disappears as developers figure out that the well has run dry
They’ve added some interesting new network features, including a multiplayer service that can do matchmaking
Also new is a unified OpenGL renderer. Shame it won’t do fuck and all for CPU performance
The build service is a nice idea though

Embrace ☑
http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/11/oculus-rift-consumer/#.gch6gb:NoBW

Everyone thinking the Xbox controlla is the reason for lagging Linux support needs to pull the dicks out of their collective ear-organs.
Hell, if it wasn’t for Ballmer/MS we might not have SteamOS.
Linux support started nopeing when Carmack joined the team.
The Xbox controlla (and the I.R. tracker) was a knee-jerk reaction by The Facebooks after VALVe dropped a FK mothering hydrogen bomb on their arse at Steam Dev Days.
Not only does Valve’s VR already have all that business, that business was baked in from genesis and AND the dev kits are shipping.
It looks to me like they’re more invested in creating a sort of Steam store for Oculus only games.
- Let’s see, for Windows that makes Origin, UPlay, Battle.net, Steam, Arc and now the Oculus Store.
  - Don’t forget Gog/Galaxy and Desurahahahahahahahahaha
- Competition is good but in the age of convergence they’re splitting their user base even more!
You know how to kill a product like this before it even goes to market: Facebooks have banned sexy occulus apps
Honestly, the two controller setup looks dumb. Reminds me of those fake Jim Carrey lincoln commercials

OpenMW Framework switch underway
https://openmw.org/2015/openscenegraph-port-playable/

Woo! Demonstrably higher framerates!
- Although, the new version still has no shaders.
- Those eat up a lot of the performance
Good on them, though. If they manage to introduce the shaders and the rest of the stuff, it’ll be considerably better than Ogre ever was.

I can smell it from here
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/support-beast-s-fury-fighting-game#/story

Um, Brad. You already launched a sucsessfull Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beastsfurygame/keep-beasts-fury-going/description
Supposedly the indiegogo is to speed up the animation of other fighters. Maybe you should have factored that into your original crowdfunding campaign
- It’s their second Indiegogo campaign.
- Linux was not a stretch goal during the first. . https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/beast-s-fury-project-indemand#/story
  - Linux is hard, man!
Inspired by famous 2D fighters such as the street fighter series and Skull Girls.
- So we can expect a similar timeframe?
  - For what? another crowdfunding campaign?
They have collected 75,395 AUD and delivered a demo with two characters.
- So Carmageddon meets skullgirls and this is their bastard, crowdfunded child?
I’ve seen this happen more times than I can count.
It’s not that the devels are bad per se BUT they are thinking mo money mo features vs. mo money finishthedamngame.
- It really speaks to a disease spreading through the indie dev community that I like to call…POOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- If you do not set realistic goals and understand from the outset what you are trying to accomplish, your project will forever be in limbo

Live long and Godot
http://www.godotengine.org/wp/first-steps-towards-1-2/

It’s an interesting move to try and become a nonprofit
Good move on them to focus on the usability of their toolchain as well. The fewer barriers that exist, the more people will use it
Much like leadwerks, someone really needs to make a cool game in godot to show off it’s capabilities
“While many claim it will just be an additional API, those of us who have been in the industry for long enough know well that Vulkan will make other APIs obsolete.”
- You see, you claim to have been in the industry for a while but after I googled for your names I found nothing besides Godot
- And as Jordan mentioned, there aren’t any games available for it!
- Don’t get me wrong, I want to see Vulkan succeed. But starting an article with that sentence is… disingenuous at best.

Skullport
https://twitter.com/Skullgirls/status/609523206265958401

After so many years does anyone care?
- I suppose the small percentage of linux fighting game enthusiasts do
- Still, after three years, you’re not allowed to say “coming along nicely”
(We all say no) Renaud Lepage thinks he can troll. Pffft!
You know what, the moment it comes out I’ll play the shit out of it!
- But but only WHEN it does come out.
- Because I will not believe it, until I can play it!

CHAIRQUISITION:
– Nooope

– Not sure if want

– Check it out

– Shutupandtakemymonies

Game: Massive Chalice

Webzone: http://www.massivechalice.com/

Devel: Double Fine

Engine: Buddha

Price: US$/€ 19.99 – CAD$ 21.99

Wazzat: MASSIVE CHALICE is a tactical strategy game set on an epic timeline from Double Fine Productions. As the Immortal Ruler of the nation, you’ll take command of its heroes, forge heroic marriages to strengthen your Bloodlines, and battle a mysterious enemy known as the Cadence in a 300 year war.

Makes with the working

V-

Everything worked ..unfortunately

J-

P-

When a tactics game has trouble maintaining 60 FPS on a 970 Strix, FX 8370E at 4GHz and 2 Samsung EVO in YOL0 RAID, you know there’s something wrong with the engine.
- Which since it’s the same as The Cave, Brutal Legend, Stacking, etc. it makes me wonder…
Fortunately, this is a turn-based tactics game, so as long as it’s not jerking around below 30 FerPS, it’s all good.

Total-

Shiny / Sounds

V-

At 3840×2160 it manages to hold a steady 30FERPS using standard AA
Enabling SSAA even at 2X will curb-check that to 15.
Like most DoubleFine games the colour palette consists of multiple shades of brown with a peppering of bright reds and blues pastels.
I’m not a huge fan of the overall art style.
The best way I can think to describe it is 3D Broken Age with a low poly count.
As expected, the voice acting is impeccable.
Unfortunately we have DoubleFine Humour.
Think regular humour, except forced, and cringeworthy.

J-

It’s a double fine game, so the voicework is great as ALWAYS
The Visuals are typical of Double fine’s house style. I have no problem with it
Yeah, anything beyond SSAA kills performance

P-

There’s a reasonable amount of voice acting, but when you get half-way through the game it’ll get a bit repetitious.
The aforementioned Double Fine humour is there, for whatever that’s worth.
The graphics will glitch out if you’re playing the game fullscreen and Alt-Tab out, though.

Total-

Control

V-

It’s point-and-click (shocker) so you point, and click.
My only beef-organ is the lack of free-range camera rotation.

J-

Point and click, Click and point

P-

You click and clicky things happen.
There are supposedly hotkeys for specific actions set to EFQR but, for some reason, it doesn’t recognize those if I hit the buttons on my mouse which I have mapped to those same keys.
It’s the first Linux game I’ve tried with this mouse to outright refuse to recognize ANY of them.
Even the Elder Scrolls Online through WINE recognizes them, what the hell?

Total-

FUN

V-

You can’t mix Double Fine casual with TBS.
Well, you can, but you’ll end up with this.
In all fairness I loathe TBS and this did nothing to change that.
I’m not keeping a spreadsheet to track who is shagging who.
Another overly ambitious project from Double Fine that failed to deliver.

J-

The combat is the game’s strong suit, but it can get fairly repeatative at times
I will give the game this: Playing for an hour feels like playing for about 20 minutes. You can get your money’s worth out of this game pretty easily
The breeding mechanic is really where it falls flat. For such a crucial part of the game, they really don’t go into it too much
And I breed competitive pokemon.
By no means a terrible game, just Meh. Hence two chairs

P-

My favorite part of both this game and XCom is the combat
The micro-management and bullshittery you do in between missions never really appealed to me.
This game, seems to place an even heavier focus on the bullshittery in-between than the combat.
And the combat is seems to be… lacking somewhat.
Maybe because it’s not as hard as XCom’s, or maybe because they spent most of their time on the “fucking by the numbers” simulator and combat was a second thought
I suppose that if XCom was a solid 4 for the fun, this one should get 3 chairs!
But it doesn’t.
I played all the way through the game today and that final mission is just stupid.
“Oh, we need to call the cadence here to set off a chain reaction!”
What that means is they’ll throw you in the middle of a room with no cover and a shitton of monsters and say “Have at, bitch!”
The game all the way up to that point was… competent.

Total-

Final –

Hate Mail:

Hey, Roy
https://plus.google.com/+VennStone/posts/MfKpDyLs2XZ

Refund
http://slexy.org/view/s20vsnx7ks

Show
http://slexy.org/view/s21Bn1i4lp

Controlla (Victor Vran)
http://slexy.org/view/s27ctxUX7n