Linux Game Cast 527: Big Data Mateus

Proton Experimental enables nvapi for a gang of new games, GPD announces their Steam Deck competitor, Steam introduces real-time charts, NVIDIA 40 series pricing would make a scalper blush, and navigating the Epic Store on Linux.

Special thanks to:
Mark (new patron)
RePlayGamingPT (new patron)

Listen:

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:51 New audio interface
02:15 Bricking a Mikrotik
05:32 Jordan vs nosey neighbors
STEAM UPDATE
09:42 Steam client beta friends filter
12:02 Proton experimental adds nvapi support
13:47 Real-time Steam charts
NEW GAMES
19:47 Flashout 3
GAME UPDATES
21:43 Splitgate final update
26:12 Dead Cells boss rush update
NEWS
35:20 NVIDIA 40 series announcement
38:18 Priced for miners
39:02 Can AMD RDNA3 overtake NVIDIA?
40:27 40 series pricing intentional?
45:10 GPD WIN 4 Steam Deck competitor
51:30 Rare Epic Games Launcher update
54:11 Super Tux Kart Vulkan RC 1
57:01 SDL adding support for GPUs
REVIEW
01:00:16 Chronescher
HATE MAIL
01:12:43 Excited about power supplies
01:14:13 Buying an Arc encoder

Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Steam: News

Play /w friends

Fuckin’ finally
You can now filter games based on friends from the library
You can also filter based on group chats up to 8 people in size
The Sep22 update lets you search for friends using your custom nicknames as well, Jordan
- Yes Ass-slut?
If you ran into an issue where you only got a black screen when streaming to a Linux box, the Sep21 update fixed it too.

Proton Experimental

Now with extra bold to indicate the changes.
Yeah, someone is watching.
A metric fuckton of games get nvidia nvapi support
- WTF is that?
- “NVAPI is NVIDIA’s core software development kit that allows direct access to NVIDIA GPUs and drivers on all Microsoft® Windows® platforms. NVAPI provides support for categories of operations that range beyond the scope of those found in familiar graphics APIs such as DirectX and OpenGL.”
- It’s the thing you enable to get the DLSS.
- Remember kids, Proton lies to games to tell them you have an AMD card even if you’re on NVidia. Well… except for all them ones now.
No more upside down videos
No more dalmatian desert in BeamNG

RT Steam charts

How about RT hardware / OS usage?
Not entirely obsoleting Steam Charts yet, you can’t see it on the daily.
I guess someone is getting sick of writing those monthly best seller posts

Steam: New Games

Fleshlight 3

Yes, this needed a third installment.
Flashout 2 was universally panned but a lot can change in eight years.
Pod racing is now a thing.
Graphically it does look better and has VR support.
It’s a single player racing game in 2022 so might as well move on.

Steam: Game Updates

Splitgate – 8.0

This is the end of development update
Unique item drops will get duplicated over time to create a feeling of “endless loot”
Battle pass is going on forever and ever and ever
Splitgate is actually a pretty fun shooter.
I remember when I figured out that that bonking people with the ball was a 1-hit kill, that was fun.
A new map, new pro tiers, and a gang of game modes.
New sprays and nametags.

BOSS Rush Alpha

One of the longest running action roguelites, is getting even more stuff.
The third door after the tailor is going to be the boss rush rooms, and you can do 3 or 5 back to back bosses with or without modifiers.
Boss Rush comes with a few unlocks, some cosmetic, others less so.
And there’s some new legendary item affixes.
Save game backups highly recommended, though not necessary, if you would like to try this while it’s still in Alpha.

News:

Nvidia 40 series announcement

Lol and you thought you were tired of paying thousands of dollars for a video card
DLSS3 also showed up in the announcement.
New version of the NVENC along with dual encoders will be included in the 40 series.
AV1 support landed in OBS so now we play the waiting game.
The 4090 looks like a 3.5/4-slot design and that’s a bit silly.
4090 24GB $1599 & 4080 16GB $1199.
$3.50 says they will try to get away with $500 4060s.
If the last 2+ years taught us that scalper pricing can get fucked.
That miner revenue stream has dried up and regular ordinary consumers are not going to pay that with the flood of cheap 30 series cards on the market.
AMD can come in with RDNA3 and disrupt the hell out of the GPU market if they want to get medieval with the pricing.
Being slightly less greedy is not going to cut it.
AMD saves a lot on die costs by forgoing AI and ray tracing fixed function accelerators and moving to smaller dies with advanced packaging.
Base level 4080 with 12GB is $999.
- But it’s a 4080 in name only.
- 192-bit memory and almost 1K less CUDA doodles.
I already felt pretty good about my decision to buy the 6700XT, now it’s just confirmation bias.
Now, how much of this is Nvidia keeping 40 series prices high to help burn through 30 series stock?
As someone in the market for a new GPU this is pretty disheartening
$900 for a 4070 is not really another purchase I want to swallow, especially if I can get a used 3080/3090 for less than that
Now nvidia knows they actually don’t have to even try to compete with intel
Hopefully the 7000 series is priced a little more sanely

GDP Win 4

RGB shoulder buttons ZOMG!
Heavy on the details unless you’re looking for the price.
Over $400 and it’s not a Steam Deck competitor.
- The cheapest GPD Win 3 launched at $850.
  - But…butt it’s better than a steam deck says the marketing
That comparison table is the kind that Gamers Nexus likes to tear apart.
That CPU Geekbench score they show for the Deck is on Windows.
2TB SSD, so minimum $900.
Apparently this is a “dual OS” machine because you can’t run windows on a steam deck
The EGPU support is kinda neat.
1080P low is their run target

Magnolia Catnip

Looks like a competitor to Heroic although this one purports to be more focused on EGS
They got a flatpak and an appimage, or you can install from pip
Has some screenshots but looks pretty bare bones compared ot Heroic.
They got some catching up to do
The thing that hit me was that people actually use Heroic on windows because the EGS client is pretty bad, apparently.

SuperTux vulKan

Launch with –render-driver=vulkan to try it out.
I’m only getting resolution options for 1024×768.
And a warning message about old OpenGL.

SDL Shader Tools (Oil_of_Hope)

SDL 3D API that focuses on the shaders, written in SDLCL, and passes everything to the lower level Mantle-based APIs we’re already more or less familiar with.
Limp mode planned for OpenGL 4.5 and DX11.
WebGPU support is also planned

CHAIRQUISITION:
– Nooope

– Not sure if want

– Check it out

– Shutupandtakemymonies

Game: Chronescher
Webzone: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1911170/Chronescher/
Devel: PurpleSloth
Engine: Unity

Price: £3.99 / $4.99 / $5.69

Wazzat: Chronescher is a challenging turn-based puzzle game in Escher-esque spaces. Use impossible geometries, teleportation and environmental snapshots to navigate your mind and uncover your lost memories.

Mandatory Disclosure: Devs sent us keys on Curator Connect

Venn:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

Launches clean on Debian Testing.
Fullscreen and CYOA mode for resolutions.
No official controller support but it attempts emulation mode with Xbox controllers.
It’s arguably unusable.
A+D and a lot of clicking.
No performance settings but you do get the basic bitch volume & music sliders.

Fun?

This is a game designed for Android and iOS / something with a touchscreen.
Why it’s not on the Play or Apple store is beyond me.
If you’re going to play this on the Steam Deck get ready for a touch-fest.
On PC you’re stuck with the keebs & mouse and it killed the experience for me.
“we don’t exactly know how the game could be played with joysticks”
That’s what PurpleSloth said when asked about proper controller support.
Grids, you do it with highlighted grids like all the other puzzle touch games that implemented proper controller support for desktop.
For $4.99 you get a fun little puzzle game that scratches your brain on occasion.
Level design is nice and I enjoyed the perspective twist fuckery.
With 50 puzzles in 6 biomes there is a lot to keep you occupied for the money.
Unfortunately like most mobile-first games Chronescher is best experienced in quick hits.
Have 3 or 4 minutes to kill? Let’s take another crack at that level we were stuck on.
Even playing on the desktop I found myself checking email and reddit.
I think these games work best as a sitback experience where the player can zone out and focus.
That’s just me.
At the end of the day it’s cheap and you can get your $$ worth even if you’re playing with the keebs and gerbil.

Jordan:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

Launches OOTB
Holds 60@ “fullscreen”. There’s a full screen tickbox and you can drag your resolution of choice
No controller support, just click which makes me think this is a mobile port but no!
A little unfortunate too cuz there isn’t really anything mouse or touch specific about the ui
Graphics get the job done. The art style is a little sparse but no real complaints
The harp loop did get a little grating after a while. I wish there was a bit more variety in the music

Fun?

It’s a decent little puzzler
Rotating the camera and changing the perspective changes the level a la captain toad
Having to deal with sliding block puzzles from multiple angles is a fun twist on sokoban
Each set of levels tosses a different modifier at you. Sometimes you can make portals, sometimes you can snapshot and restore
There is a story here, but they’re doing the nonverbal thing. Solve puzzles to unlock the fragments of your shattered past
But honestly, we’re here for the puzzles. And as far as puzzles go, they’re pretty fun.

Pedro:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

Launches out of the box
Fairly barren on the options
Mouse/Touchscreen affair, though you can use left and right on the keyboard to turn the map.
Very simple graphics and inoffensive music.
Perfectly functional

Fun?

Did you like Monument Valley? Because this is Cairn Gully.
If putting Escher in the name didn’t tip you off, there’s a lot of impossible geometry shenanigans happening.
“Oh, but that gets boring after a while doesn’t it?”
Right up until they give you the Dark Crypt teleportation ability or the Camera from Snapshot in the second chapter.
And I’m guessing in the 3rd chapter you get to use all of them at once.
It gets proper mind-fucky in the best possible way!
For the price, it’s a good game to have on your laptop to give your brain a proper workout if your job is otherwise completely mind-numbing.