Linux Game Cast 485: Licker of Laptops

Fedora launches a live streaming initiative! BattlEye adds support for ARK & Mount & Blade II on Linux, NVIDIA announces the 2060 12GB, Steam is headed to Chromebooks, and Linus attempts to install a font.

Special thanks to:
KRDucky (new pat)
Zyn (new pat)
TheSyldat (game donation)

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
10:31 New BattleEye games
14:56 Ubisoft Connect update
20:31 Steam Deck FAQs
25:26 Faster VA API decode for remote play
27:36 Steam finally coming to ChromeOS
30:26 Liftoff: Micro Drones
32:56 Pocket Cars track update
37:11 Rob Riches Linux support
43:41 NVIDIA 2060 12GB incoming
51:21 GOG retuning to GOG
55:36 Fedora streaming initiative
01:01:56 GOverlay 0.7
01:04:36 Opinionated GODOT template
01:06:01 Open 3D Engine gets first release
01:09:06 Review: Monster Bash HD
01:17:06 Emails

Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Steam: News

Battle Eyeballs

And nothing of value was gained.
There is DayZ and I’ve seen more than a few “would totes switch to Linux if X worked” so it will be fun seeing what excuse they come up with.
Ok, I’m not going crazy.
Unturned does have a Linux version.
You need to use Proton to join BattlEye protected servers.
Something you cannot do in the native version.
Apparently ARK also tends to look better under proton while delivering lower ferps
I guess given the state of neglect some linux ports are getting, this is gonna be needed even if the native version does support their AC solution

Ubi connect

Typing this on a Monday and thinking it’s Deck related.
Deck might not have the oomph to run Steam + NotSteam + game?
They went Epic only back in 2019.
Probably just a small update or something but I want to believe.jpg
Ubisoft connect is their Steamworks equivalent.
I guess they just want to ensure the live service games on Steam will be covered.
Cross platform saves are definitely a nice feature tho

DEKFAQ

They recommend targeting Vulkan as your primary graphics API for best performance and battery life.
Recommending Vulkan.
Nuking any and all launchers from orbit because FK launchers.
Don’t use DRM.
You can’t prevent your game from showing up on Deck.
- That’s some motivation.
They’re also recommending that a frame cap be implemented for better battery savings
They recommend using a DS4/5 Controller for working out your controller mappings, even though the glyphs on the steamdeck are Xbox style
Having big dumb lists like this is a good thing. Now we have a sign we can tap
Pushing the FerPS limitation for the sake of battery life is good.
As a liker of laptops I can confirm that was a good way not just to keep battery use down, but also to reduce fan noise.

Better VAP

“Greatly improved vaapi decoding” to make sure that all the remote play stuff on deck will be as minimally dogshit as possible
Probably related to a patch we’re gonna be talking about later
But is it improved to match what Linux already had, or are we talking about an improvement beyond even that?

Steamy chrome

It’s totally happening you guys. I swear!
Proton on chromebooks is probably a good thing
Until we start seeing some beefier chromebooks, I’d assume it’s more game streaming oriented. A “We have stadia at home” if you would.
Can’t wait to play AAA titles with my 4GB 1GHz celery gaming rig.
- I feel personally targeted.
That said, I’m gonna try anyway.

Steam: New Games

Liftoff: Micro Drones

PvP.
Haha, tiny hovercraft bears no eels.

Steam: Game Updates

Pocket Tracks

New map.
Still no bots.
I really want this game to have something!
The physics are spot on, and you can set the assists to be as hands on or off as you like.
There’s just not enough other content there.
They need to put this on super sale for a week so it will build a playerbase.

Penguin Riches

Tested on ubuntu and manjaro. Schmancy. Those steamdeck articles are paying dividends
I’m not gonna complain about more puzzle games… yet

News:

RTX on ON

At the arse-end of 2021 they are going to slap 12GB on it and resell it.
I’m guessing this is what Nvidia expects the midrange Intel GPU to deliver?
Will I give up CUDA & nvenc for whatever Intel ploops out?
Depends on price and availability.
Not even an upgraded super
Looking at that table of specs, it’s closer to a Super with lower memory bandwidth.
And the Super performed very similarly to a 1080, so it’s going to be that with 12GB of VRAM and 5W higher TDP.

Return to GOG

Lancing off the Gwent consortium.
GOG is gonna switch back to their primary focus of good ol games? Well I never.
So, GOG, about that Deck?
Kinda hard to see the advantages of GOG when they were busier trying to compete with Steam instead of doing what everyone wanted them to do
Bring back older games and get them to work on the current versions of Windows.
Something about being DRM free is great, but there’s already games on GOG which require the Galaxy client to have working multiplayer, so that argument is gone.

Meme stream

Might I suggest adding all devices and software with official Linux support.
Bitfocus companion for Streamdecks.
Davinci Resolve and AT2020 have arrived on the list.
If you’re going to list Reaper you might as well list Ardour, Mixbus, and Bitwig.
- These are called DAWs.
“After some feedback it is clear we need to define some usecases here, while there of course is some overlap the requirements to do news or interview shows are not the same is the requirements if you primarily are a game streamer.”
- Correct, the requirements for streaming games are higher.
They’ve raised a couple VAAPI issues that hopefully can get sorted.
- It was, last month.
  - That’s good. Is there no mesa component for it as well?
  - No idea, modern VA API is on par’ish with x.264 (fast) CPU encoding.
  - We’re talking Kepler level nvenc if you’re feeling generous.
  - Nobody uses it for streaming.
  - It’s used for transcoding.
Good to see Fedora taking streaming seriously and at least starting to get their ducks in a row to better support it out of the box
RH/Fedora have been pretty good about partnering with companies that can actually affect change on that front, so them trying to lead the charge is encouraging.
I like the idea of Fedora reaching out to manufacturers and developers.
I don’t like this wiki being curated by people unfamiliar with streaming on Linux.

Deck GOverlay

UI revamp because Deck.
Stick your mangohud in the middle of the screen cuz why not?
You’re gonna need libQtPas1.
The one button sync to get all the ReShade git repos and enable them for vkBasalt is sooooo nice!

GODOT Temp

This is a handy boiler plate for your Godot project if you’re looking to get started on a new project
Has a bunch of canned github actions to push your builds
Scene loading and a Pause button

Garfield

Opencrytek/librelumberyard gets its first point release
Native linux version of the editor
It’s nice having a truly open-source AAA game engine on Linux.
Granted, I would have never guessed Cryengine.
Comes in stable and nightly. All 4.3GB of it.
Needs clang-12 and curl4 so Debian 11 is not going to be your dev box.
You can now officially make your own star citizen with blackjack and hookers. I wonder if someone will actually try and finish before star citizen proper

CHAIRQUISITION:
– Nooope

– Not sure if want

– Check it out

– Shutupandtakemymonies

Game: Monster Bash HD
Webzone: https://store.steampowered.com/app/459840/Monster_Bash_HD/
Devel: Emberheart Games
Engine: Unity
Price: £7.19 / $9.99 / $11.49

Wazzat: Apogee’s bash’em and smash’em adventure plunges Johnny Dash into the evil Underworld of Count Chuck, when his dog Tex is kidnapped by Count Chuck along with hundreds of other dogs & cats!

Mandatory Disclosure: Stride PR sent us keys

Venn:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

It’s unity and in 2021 that means it’s probably going to work out of the box.
…and it does.
Fullscreen / windowed is maxed at 1600p, outside of that, no issues.
Controller is picked up as well.
Having a PC speaker mode was a nice touch.

Fun?

So what does 125 additional megabytes of additional remake get you?
A stark reminder of how absolute shit PC platforming was in 1993.
This was released around the same time as Duke Nukem II, Bio Menace, and Electro Man.
All equally terrabad.
Seriously, this is why we had consoles.
This is Monster Bash with a mild graphics bump and that’s about that.
No quality of life improvements for 2021.
Compare this with something like Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap and you might understand why I’m a bit let down.
It has some user levels but accessing them is beyond me, good luck.
I don’t understand why Monster Bash HD exists, but it does.
My suggestion is to play the original in your browser and shed a singular tear for those of us who lived through the dark taimes.

Jordan:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

Everything works. It’s a unity port of a DOS game
Like pedro says, the controller layout is jacked, but I’d rather platform with a controller thank you

Fun?

I never played any of the apoogee platformers as a kid, so I got absolutely zero nostalgia for it
It’s not awful. It definitely like most of the games of it’s time and in 2021 almost 2022 that means that it definitely shows it’s age
Gameplay wise i’m reminded of michael jackson’s moonwalker, minus the whole turning into a robot thing
Run around, save the puppies and kitties, get to the exit
I can’t blame it for being faithful to the original
I maybe would have liked it better if they modernized the game, but that’s not what their target demo wants
It’s a faithful remaster

Pedro:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

Launches out of the box
It holds 144 at 2560×1440… Yes, that is the resolution I was running there.
The sounds are amazing, I love the sounds when you kill one of the floating skulls.
The graphics are as you remember them, but with support for 16:9 resolutions and higher refresh rates.
What’s wrong with your face controller layout?
Left on the D-Pad is down on the menu and right is up, and you have to platform with the analog stick.
Why do you want a whole new generation of people to hate your game?
Play with the keyboard, that’s clearly what it was made for originally and the HD remaster doesn’t seem to have the technical chops to change that.

Fun?

It’s an Apogee platformer
Make the dude skinnier and give him a pogo stick and you have Keen Dreams.
Johnny Dash is already wearing the pyjamas.
Unlike the Keen games which had overworld exploration and actively rewarded you for exploring, this is your traditional action platformer which wants you to either finish on the Par time or 100% all the levels.
Still plenty to explore in each level, but this is exactly the type of game which I played nothing but back in the 90’s
Not this one specifically, I mostly played the Keen games, Crystal Caves, and Secret Agent from Apogee.
But this is just more of that and I’m still not back to enjoying this specific genre.

Verdict:

Venn:
Jordan:
Pedro:

Hate Mail:

Riches

Evil Valve