LinuxGameCast Weekly EP176 – Dynamic Cheeses

VALVe seeks forgiveness! NVIDIA solves a mystery, Systems 76 releases a gaming laptop, and Linux on my PS4? Then Bound by Flame faces the CHAIRQUISITION! All this, plus your hate mail.

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Links

Steam

News

Review

Hate Mail


Steam News:

Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

But only after TotalBiscuit called them incompetent and negligent
http://store.steampowered.com/news/19852/

  • Honestly, in the realm of online service snafus, this really doesn’t even hit the top 10
    • IE Remember when sony was transmitting credit card data as plain text?
  • Yes, this is damage control after a big freak out. It’s bad, but not that bad
  • Insert reminder here to use two factor auth when available, don’t save credit card info to websites (even though most companies use tokenization and can’t actually store credit card info without losing their ability to take CC transactions. Trust me, I actually know something about this kind of stuff for once) and limit the personal information they post online
  • I’ve never been much of a Bisquick fan but he called VALVe the FK out, kudos.
  • I love VALVe, they made Linux gaming an actual thing.
  • But fact of the matter is, they (negligently) doxxed a shitton of people.
  • The big difference between VALVe and say Sony, to use Jordan’s example, is that when Sony screws the pooch a shit storm lands on them. But when VALVe cocks up, and they seem to do a lot of that, they get a pass.
    • I seem to recall the sony hack being forgiven after they gave out a bunch of free games.  In my book, sending credit card numbers over plaintext is a lose your business and get burned to the ground type of offense
  • I am guilty of actually giving them said pass, on accounts of the whole “there’s now over 1700 games on Steam for Linux”.
  • But, until there’s some competition in the Linux side, I’m not about to start shitting all over the people who basically own Linux as a gaming platform.
  • Yes, I too am a hypocrite.

CRASH ah ha
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/899924/linux/steam-random-crash-nvidia-358-16-related-/post/4770032/#4770032

  • That explains that.
  • Indeed.   That was getting annoying
  • A fix is probably coming with the next driver update
  • That still doesn’t explain why the SteamOS session keeps randomly crashing on my SteamBox.
    • Seeing as it’s still using the 352 branch.

Clue
https://www.reddit.com/r/steamsaledetectives/comments/3z0ivs/what_we_have_so_far_2

  • After the Christmas SNAFU VALVe is hoping to regain some good faith from the ARG crowd.
  • I remember playing a few ARGs back in the day.   I didn’t have the obsessive apophenia that most of the people in these communities suggest
  • They posted some whack ass chart to map what they did to figure it out too

Sell thy soul-organ
http://steamcommunity.com/app/261570/discussions/0/617329150704920661/?tscn=1451499879#c458604254450794350

  • This will also keep it off PS4, OSX, IRIX, and OS/2
  • It’s a Bird Culture move but not one solely directed at the Linux.
  • That’s the thing about publishers, they have the money you need but you’ll have to abide by their rules.
  • That said, fuck Microsoft!
  • I dunno. That doesn’t seem to have stopped Dust
    • It’s usually a 12/18 month exclusive.
  • Mind you, that could have resulted from an earlier agreement.

Open City
http://store.steampowered.com/app/428190/?snr=1_7_7_230_150_1

  • Want to play the same damn game /w new tracks?
  • Enjoy good physics machines.
    • Well, those are my favourite kind of machines!
    • You already made that joke but it was with “good physics cars”, instead.
      • This one is different.   It has the word “machines in it”.  Silly Pedro
      • Also, they never bothered to correct the typo
  • They finally removed the screenshot /w the big green “buy” button.  
  • The first of their apps to be put up on Early Access.
    • Knowing it’s the same game, engine, physics, /w a new tracks.
      • And an open world (sort of) and the ability to get out of your car and drive random vehicles spotted around the city.
        • Wat?
          • After seeing Jim try and fail to play the game, I went looking at other videos.
            • They say on the store page that they’re not even sure what type of game this will actually turn into

Tower of Pixels
http://store.steampowered.com/app/368830

  • 4X3 aspect ratio so diverse!
  • Could have forked out some more dough for a better banner artist
  • It’s harmless, and priced to sell at 2 bucks

News:

Do not tangle with the kind of people that install Linux on their playstations
http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/30/playstation-4-hacked-to-run-linux-pokemon/

  • Seriously, Sony.. let this one slide.
  • It was bound to happen eventually.   They are just glorified PCs after all
  • I gotta admit though, I’m a wee sad they didn’t do this with the Xbone first, just so we could see microsoft freak the fuck out
  • The accomplishment is the jailbreak.
  • Getting Linux to run on something already running FreeBSD is like saying you managed to replace Redhat with Centos on a machine.
  • Now make a firmware dump and get started on that compatibility layer.
  • Just goes to show no matter how old, outdated, or underpowered the hardware you can install Linux on it.   

System76 Oryx Pro
http://betanews.com/2015/12/29/system76-oryx-pro-ubuntu-linux-review/

  • Man, this “review” is only the makes /w the working segment.
  • “they will likely aim for Windows 7, 8, or 10”
    • Bzzzzzzzt! Even I know that nobody aims for Windows 8.
  • The hardware is certainly nice, but I’ve always been skeptical regarding the build quality of System76/Clevo laptops. Still though, only a 1080P screen?
    • Yeah, the build quality is something real customers bring up.
    • 1080P on a gaming lappy is a damn joke.
    • Seriously, if the price starts with a 2 the resolution should not start with 1.
  • Ultimately, there isn’t much in the way of “building a laptop from the ground up with linux in mind” these days beyond ensuring the wireless card is an intel one.   Good jorb guys
    • Or an Atheros one.
      • I’ve found Atheros is hit or miss depending on how new the chip is and what distro you’re using.   See the issue with my Motherboard’s NIC
  • Best thing about System76’s laptops, with discrete NVidia chips, is that you don’t have to deal with Optimus.
    • They disable the graphics adapter on the CPU.
  • “I played some great games, such as Dying Light, that look absolutely gorgeous”
    • Don’t want to confuse readers /w any of those pesky benchmarks.

Lodi
https://github.com/RobLoach/script.lutris

  • So now you’ll be able to launch steam through lutris through kodi through…steam.
  • You're not Keanu

FNA 16.01
https://plus.google.com/+flibitijibibo/posts/5wrjA7B9Cdz

  • It’s just a tiny fix to add “number of gamepads” control to FNA and an XACT fix for some sound issues that could arise from lower framerates.
  • MonoKickstart also got updated to Mono 4.0.5.
  • And flibit says he’s laying the groundwork for another big update soon.
  • They’ve also normalized a bunch of their code, so special hacks and patches are likely not needed anymore

Goooooal
http://www.properlydecent.com/

  • WTH distro are you running that still uses libboost_thread 1.49?
    • That was the default in Ubuntu 13.04
      • Good thing so many people are still running that.

Pew pew pew
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/railguncontroller/rail-gun/description

  • This will introduce a whole new level of popcorn for the 2016 SWATTing season.   
    • Taking bets for how long it takes someone to be shot with an actual gun because of this!
  • I’m gonna tell ya brad, It’s gonna be hard to aim this fucker straight when your fingers are doing other stuff on the gun to help you move around.
  • So… It’s Light Gun 2.0?
    • A.K.A. The Enforcer
  • I had one of these in ‘98:
    • Pew pew pew

Psychofrauds?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFX0f_YUn1I&feature=youtu.be

  • Fraud? No. Sketchy as FK and all? Seems legit.
  • It looks like www.fig.co will nope by years end.
  • Almost like it was designed to close business immediately after the funding was complete
  • Yup, sell you non controlling shares that you can’t drop for a year with no responsibility to pay you back.  Super sketchy
  • There’s that old saying about things being too good to be true.
  • Now of course, this could have just been the legal wrangling necessary to pull off this funding model of theirs, but still, it’s very clear that the people funding the projects on FIG are being taken advantage of

CHAIRQUISITION:
CHAIR
– Nooope

CHAIRCHAIR– Not sure if want

CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR– Check it out

CHAIRCHAIRCHAIRCHAIR– Shutupandtakemymonies


Game: Bound by Flame
Webzone:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/243930/
Devel: Spiders – Game Weavers
Engine: Silk (get it? because they’re Spiders?…)
Price: 29.99 / CDN 32.99

Wazzat: You are a mercenary possessed by a flame demon in a desperate world ravaged by seven Ice Lords. In this RPG where every choice counts, you will have to choose between unleashing the powers of the beast within and rejecting its demonic influence.


Makes with the working

V- CHAIRCHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • Everything works but the performance can be a bit hit-or-miss /w everything on 11.
  • No issues /w my multi-monitor setup because I use separate freedom screens.  

J-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

P-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • I have to ding it a chair right off the bat because it disables the secondary monitor if I set it to fullscreen on the AMiGA.
  • The reason I’m only dinging it one instead of the usual 2 is because I played 99.98% of it in the SteamBox.
  • There it ran out of the box with no issues.
  • Also, it doesn’t respect XDG standards, it just dumps the config folder in your home folder without even trying to hide it.

Total-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR


Shiny / Sounds

V-CHAIRCHAIR

  • It has a funky cel-shaded aesthetic, sometimes.
  • I mean, you don’t really notice it at first but sometimes it makes things look downright cartoonish.
  • That said, the first 30min of this game look pretty FKN good.
  • Notice how I said the first 30min? Yeah, about that.
  • Not that the rest of the game looks like liquid arse but thar be a difference.
  • Animation rigging ranges from passable to ಠ_ಠ.
  • I would say the same goes for lip sync but that either works or the motherfuckers on screen break out some serious telepathic shite because their mouth-organs do not make /w the moving.  
  • Then we have the dialogue …and the one character that drove me extra crazy.
  • Captain Demon pants.  
  • Mr. Thou this, Thou that.
  • Seriously, not all demons speak like that.
  • Yes, in some urban areas of the underworld this type of speech is common but it’s not an accurate portrayal of demon culture.
  • I’m trying to keep a level head about this because I don’t want to come across an just another angry demon.
  • #demonlivesmatter
  • Shite moves and shite makes noises.

J-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • 3D Graphics, on linux?   What year is this!?!
  • Honestly, it looks as good as a non-Unity/non-UE4 3d indie title can
  • The soundtrack leans heavily on the Conan the Barbarian score for inspiration.  Brass section biatch!
  • After 20 years of playing D&D, I still cringe when listening to some of the made up fantasy names for shit.   Especially when spoken aloud

P-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • It’s very clear all of the voice actors recorded their lines in different places and with different microphones.
  • Hell, some of them even recorded lines from the exact same dialog in different days and different states of mind. That’s really the only excuse I can think of for the lack of tonal consistency in every single conversation characters have with one another.
  • To finish up the sound, I’mma give it to the composer guy, Olivier Derivière. He did a good job with the background music. It fits the thematically fantastical setting perfectly.
  • Graphics, yeah they fit. There’s really nothing I can complain about those.

Total-CHAIRCHAIR


Control

V-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • Apparently the controlla works better on the Linux.
  • Few things provide me /w more enjoyment than Windows sheep crying in a Steam discussion about something working better on Linux.
    • You can always just dual boot.
  • Things seem logically laid out.
  • Every now and then Mr. mercenary pants will autowalk.

J-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • Works with the steam controller and xbox.   Doesn’t know what to do with the PS4 Controlla
  • TIL you need steam overlay enabled to use the steam controller
  • Mappings are relatively sane considering all the stuff you need to do
  • I do find that blocking is hit or miss.   Plus the camera does you no favours

P-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • Logitech F310 was recognized out of the box
  • NVidia Agents of SHIELD Controller worked only if I played it locally. If I tried to stream it from the steambox and play it like that, it wouldn’t pick up on it.
  • Also, you can rebind keyboard mappings but not controller mappings!

Total-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR


FUN

V-CHAIRCHAIR

  • WTF is up /w your busted ass-map system, Brad?
  • How exactly did that meeting go?
  • GuyX: “Hey! let’s use a large map that you can zoom into and pick quests”
  • Guy:Y “Oh, FK no! let’s have a bunch of little fkd up maps that (get this) we’ll stack on top of each other so the player can only see one zone at a time!”
  • Seriously, I was stuck in that first town trying to sort the FKN quest glyphs for so long I forgot how to fight.
  • Not that there’s much to remember.. swing swing / dodge / block.
  • You know, I could go on-and-on about the faults in this critter but at the end of the day it boils down to one thing.
  • It’s boring.
  • After the first two hours I took off the headphones and started hammering on the B button because I simply didn’t care.
  • And it may as well be on rails. Seriously, you can’t jump.

J-CHAIRCHAIR

  • Like Venn said, maps no worky
  • This game really requires you to take the defensive approach at first.    You suck at low levels
  • The trapping system could have been interesting, but with the one kind of trap, it really just boils down to lay them in front of dudes and have them chase you into them
  • Hoo boy, the dialogue blows
  • It’s a poor man’s bloodborne or demon souls, but it’s the closest we’ll get to that sort of game under linux

P-CHAIRCHAIRCHAIR

  • Why, WHY do you show me all of these cutscenes of combat at the start of the game instead of giving me a combat tutorial?
  • Why are you showing me my character do some amazing shit, instead of letting me actually do it?
  • Why can’t I disable the tutorial prompts? I’ve already gone through the game once, why don’t you let me disable those big ass obtrusive “tips” that do nothing but get in the way of the action?
  • The plot is so generic and “safe” I don’t even know why they bother giving you choices.
  • Characters will only ever rarely acknowledge your decisions at any other point than when you’ve just made them.
  • Egregious example comes straight from the tutorial.
  • The captain asks you to give Peeler some traps and then, when you’re in the temple, he asks you to go look for him. Only the quest to look for Peeler is secondary, means you don’t have to do it. Whether or not you do it is irrelevant. Peeler will never again be mentioned by ANYONE ever for any reason at all. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even exist outside of the tutorial.
  • And just to put a bow on the bad stuff, the final boss is just stupid fuck-you hard because fuck you, that’s why. It has a metric fuckton of hp and every now and then conjures a dragon demon-thing because it can.
  • All that said, I love this game.
  • Outside of the last boss, combat is hard but fair.
  • The leveling system gives you a lot of choice.
  • The crafting system is limited but very satisfying in what you can do with it.
  • And, out of the bland generic-ass companions, Mathras shines like a beacon of interesting personality.

Total-CHAIRCHAIR


Final –CHAIRCHAIR


Hate Mail:

Double
http://slexy.org/view/s21xZqdfrS

  • This email showed up before the whole fig fiasco broke

Magic
http://slexy.org/view/s2dQmL1B4f

  • I’d like to.   I had fun with the original magicka.   Buggy mess that it was
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