LinuxGameCast Weekly EP128 – R.I.P. SteamBox

The Steam Boxen is DEAD! Dying Light plays nice, the 970 Saga resumes, and Ass-pyre releases their secret sauce. Then Grim Fandango Remastered faces our CHAIRQUISITION! All this, plus your hate mail.

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Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Steam News:

The Steam Boxen is teh dead. Long live the Steam Boxen!
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/5-reasons-valve-s-steam-machine-dream-is-still-very-alive-1282052

So much speculation
- “2. Half Life 3, Left 4 dead 3 and Portal 3 could launch at GDC”
  - Also monkeys could fly out of my butt! Let me write an article on that!
- How exactly would that translate into StemBoxen sales?
I would also question the whole smoother gameplay over windows thing, at least from the outset.
- Not because Linux is an inferior platform, but simply because I lack faith in game developers to write good GL code
The degree of optimism in this article was enough to tickle my gag reflexes.
As much as I want the Steam Machines to succeed (and I very much do), I don’t think this article or others of its ilk are as good as their writers seem to think.
It’s like looking at that picture that Larabel has on Phoronix.
- It just makes me want to kick someone’s teeth in.
I want to say a lot of this will depend on their controlla ..but it won’t.
Far as I’m concerned my SteamBoxen is already complete e.g. not playing FPS/RTS/TBS games on it.

Errybody was Kung Fu fightin’
http://store.steampowered.com/app/316930
http://steamcommunity.com/app/316930/discussions/0/627456359698856359/

Oh shit! They have Chong Li from Bloodsport!
- Nah. But Krillin is in it for some reason
No idea what a SM4 1GB VRAM video card is though
Seriously though, I hope that this game doesn’t suck. We need some good fighting games on Linux
- Then play it. They gave us keys.
This business is early access and man oh man it shows.
It’s 100% better than expected but still hella rough.
Fighting is stiff and controller layout makes FK all sense.
- You got that right. Also, why can’t you block?
They have the foundation to make a solid fighting game
Failed Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/895423022/kings-of-kung-fu
So their not really double dipping.
Controls need tightening up!
- Badly!
I’ve had my ass stun-locked repeatedly because it never registers the block when I need it to.

Dying Light is out, busted?
http://store.steampowered.com/app/239140/

I spent my own wet stinky on this business ./rage
o_0 It sets ALL user processes to 19
Aaaand it stays re-niced after it quits.
It’s multi-threaded like a MOFO but only uses half the business.
Same for GPU utilization 53%
Same FERPS at 4K ??? WTH!
There was an update to fix some bugs, but the FERPS are still low and your character still loses his contact lenses when he runs or jumps.
I don’t know man, I have no desire to play Dead Island Redux 2: The quickening

Raven’s Cry
http://store.steampowered.com/app/281130/

Linux reports I could find say the game works!
Seems to be a native port
Performance is not very good.
Not $49.49 worth.
Who knows. By the time it goes on sale for $5 they will have fixed the performance issues
Interestingly enough, these are the same guys who make the Iron Sky video games. I wonder if they’d consider porting them in the future. If they ditch their own DRM
- Which is apparently optional

Gear out
http://store.steampowered.com/app/214420

Is Early Access no longer.
Kinda sorta works too.
The mouse no longer shakes like crazy.
Fullscreen is still busted.
At least it’s free and, assuming the weapons have been properly balanced (lol) you won’t be inferior to people who bought the special Freemium things.
Oh, it’s pay to YOLO but in a way I can deal with. No trying to nickel-and-dime you constantly. Free, Basic, Premium
Well, at least the game stopped crashing

No Achievements on 32bit
http://store.steampowered.com/app/333730/

This tabletop-like PC game genre confuses me. You want to play a game like a tabletop RPG, with the graphical level of maptools and the ability to do barely half the crap you could in any given PnP RPG? Feh!
Roll20.net is a thing. It’s free, so go find a damn game already

More than a year without Updates
http://steamcommunity.com/games/211820/announcements/detail/159085165359951726

They have also been in Early Access for almost a year and a half and only just now did they introduce the ability to rebind keys through the GUI.
Does it erase all past saves?
- Yes
  - It really seems one of my first priorities would be sorting my engine so it didn’t nope the savegame of paying customers every time I did the slightest update.
    - Sure, but this was a major version update.
They cocked up the Linux version
- Pushing play doesn’t work.
- Editing the launch_launcher.sh (that’s the technical level of expertise we’re dealing with here) to, instead of the launcher, start the game itself works.
  - Damn thing is full of LD_’s too, most of could be replaced by a simple: cd “$(dirname “$0″)”.
    - Which they’ve since done in update apparently. Still doesn’t work
- Oddly enough, just running ./starbound from the game’s folder works without a hitch. Way to freaking overcomplicate things

Perfect Golf
http://store.steampowered.com/app/288140/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

Hey, I will take whatever sportsball game I can get.
That said, $19.99 for Early Access GOLF? Are you HIGH?!
- or GTFO
  - .Damn kids

News:

Something something NVIDIA
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Discloses-Full-Memory-Structure-and-Limitations-GTX-970

That’s like Tesla selling a car that could travel 400 on a charge. Thing is, it can only travel @10 for the last 50.
http://www.pcper.com/files/imagecache/article_max_width/review/2015-01-25/GM204_arch_0.jpg
- Handy picture for making with the explanation
- I get that ze L2 was disabled because “binning” but they should have sold it as a 3.5GB card /w 500MB of NVIDIA E-Peen turbo-boost L3 technology™
- But wait! There’s more:
  - http://www.pcper.com/news/Graphics-Cards/NVIDIA-Plans-Driver-Update-GTX-970-Memory-Issue-Help-Returns
- The shilling is strong with this one: http://goo.gl/hZW5EB

“That may not be the answer anyone wants – consumers, gamers, NVIDIA, etc. – but it actually melds with where I thought this whole process would fall. Others in the media that I know and trust, including HardwareCanucks and Guru3D, have shown similar benchmarks and come to similar conclusions. Is it possible that the 3.5GB/0.5GB memory pools are causing issues with games today at very specific settings and resolutions? Yes. Is it possible that it might do so for more games in the future? Yes. Do I think it is likely that most gamers will come across those cases? I honestly do not.

If you are an owner of a GTX 970, I totally understand the feelings of betrayal, but realistically I don’t see many people with access to a wide array of different GPU hardware changing their opinion on the product itself. NVIDIA definitely screwed up with the release of the GeForce GTX 970 – good communication is important for any relationship, including producer to consumer. But they just might have built a product that can withstand a PR disaster like this.”

Ryan Shrout, ladies and gentlemen! NVidia’s favorite shill.

Faith in ones product
http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2015/01/26/dying-light-promises-no-review-embargoes-delivers-no-review-copies/

Warner Bros have been doing this lately.
They did the exact same thing with Shadows of Mordor.
To be fair, I really don’t feel like playing a reskinned dead island.
“brand deal” =’s Paying a Youtuber or streamer to make videos of the game and advertise it saying it’s YOLO candy. .

Ass-Pyre
https://www.fahrenheit-game.com
http://store.steampowered.com/app/312840/

I’ve heard good things about this game from my console peasant friends. Looking forward to checking it out.
It’s uncensored too! I wonder if there will be QTE boobs
“Remastered” =’s slapping some new textures on the same blocky arse models from 05.
For 9.99 I might give it a spin.
P.S. gameagent is teh down as of typing.

ePSXe 1.9.25
http://epsxe.com/index.php

Everyone’s favourite Final Fantasy Tactics emulator
They’ve removed the requirement of having a playstation bios rom, but compatibility may suffer as a result

MegaGlest 3.11.0
https://megaglest.org/news/5/17/MegaGlest-3-11-0-released

Bunch of improvements including health bar options, new star trek camera effects,

Supertuxkart 0.8.2 Beta 2
http://supertuxkart.blogspot.de/2015/01/supertuxkart-082-beta-2-and-project.html

Sorted graphic card detection
Implemented a new register screen, which should make it easier to see if you are creating a new online account. For what reason I don’t know.
- Leaderboards. Of course, they could be focusing on adding online multiplayer but…nah no point
New video for making tracks.

Game: Grim Fandango Remastered
Webzone: http://store.steampowered.com/app/316790/
Devel: Double Fine /LucasArts
Engine: Custom
Price: 16.99

Wazzat: Something’s rotten in the land of the dead, and you’re being played for a sucker. Meet Manny Calavera, travel agent at the Department of Death. He sells luxury packages to souls on their four-year journey to eternal rest. But there’s trouble in paradise. Help Manny untangle himself from a conspiracy that threatens his very salvation.

Scale:
– Nooope

– Not sure if want

– Check it out

– Shutupandtakemymonies

Makes with the working

V-

Correct me if I’m right but didn’t it have a few graphics options before the update nixed them?

I’ve had one bug (before and after patch) that causes the gerbil cursor to nope. For added fun the keyboard does fk all as well.
This caused a reload from save.

J-

P-

The last update broke the menu.
The options are still there, if you click randomly around the pause screen you’ll find them.

Total-

Shiny / Sounds

V-

Oh look! 4:3
They upped the 3D but the backgrounds not so much.
Tell me this does not look FK all out of place
http://i.imgur.com/uzVqVL4.jpg
Honestly I found myself hitting backspace and playing it like that.
Voice acting is solid (original) and the soundtrack is the same old goodness.

J-

I dig the art style, what with the mexican stylized skulls and whatnot
The living world bit was kind of clever, IMO
The backgrounds can be a bit jarring but it doesn’t really bother me
The voice acting is top notch as well

P-

I get that the original assets were designed for a 4:3 screen and since they didn’t really bother to up-rez the backgrounds, they had to keep it.
But now everything just looks out of place.
- Characters look like they’re standing in front of a green screen.
- It’s also easier to find the thing you need to progress, because it probably is higher res than the backdrop.
I like the whole spanish accent they have goin’ on.
- It even translates to the localized Portuguese version.
  - Portuguese with a Spanish accent, I don’t hate it.

Total-

V-

Point + click ……………………………………………….wait. The game.

J-

You point, then you click. Not much else to say

P-

What Jordan said.
Throw in proper controller support and you’ve got yourself a Steam Machine ready game.

Total-

FUN

V-

This game was released in 98 and by that time I had Torvalds so far down my throat organ my eyes watered.
Seriously, I was demanding native ports back then.
FF 17yrs and I get my my native port \:D/
Wish I had some nostalgia spectacles because all I’m thinking is “man, we had some proper attention spans back in the day”
The “remaster” made finding objects in the scenes way to easy. Oh, that thing I need, bet it’s that one random “remastered” object.
After 40min of solid gameplay it didn’t hook me in the slightest.
Again, I have no previous experience /w this game.

J-

I never really played this game back in the day, so I have no particular attachment to it
Never really was a fan of point and click adventure games, as I’ve mentioned before
I’m sure if you were a fan of the original, this thing is freaking awesome, but it really doesn’t do it for me.

P-

I don’t remember it being this clunky.
Meeting Salvador Limones was still just as awesome as I remembered.
But I guess…
- Point and click adventure games died for a reason.
- No matter how thick your nostalgia glasses are, even Grim Fandango hasn’t aged properly.
  - It’s still a great story, but the game elements are just… clunky.
And this is a game we’re reviewing.

Total-

Final – (1 chair short of the Third)

It was a very good game, in its day. And it’s great that you can legally obtain it once more. Just don’t expect to be blown away.

Hate Mail:

SANDMAN
http://slexy.org/view/s2CP4XHx0v