Linux Game Cast 546: Proton Powered Screwbisoft

Valve wants you to buy more DLC! AMD is ‘undershipping’ chips, PikaOS fuses Nobara with Ubuntu, Proton 7.0-6 fixes the Ubisoft launcher, and Hi-Fi Rush gets Steam Deck verified.

Special thanks to:
Basil x37 month resub


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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:04 Pedro vs Stadia
STEAM NEWS
08:46 Big Steam client update
13:13 Personalized DLC
16:03 Proton updates fix Ubisoft launcher
GAME UPDATES
19:41 Hi-fi Rush is Deck Verified
NEWS
30:35 AMD underships CPU / GPUs
34:33 Heroic launcher updates GOG installs
36:35 Faster fast-linking with RADV
40:11 PiksOS
44:32 Pioneer 2023-02-03
REVIEW
47:45 Zombie Admin
HATE MAIL
01:03:09 Converge
01:09:03 Trackmania 2020 on Linux


Colour key: Venn Jordan Pedro

Steam: News

-oldbigpicture

  • Bold move making new big the default.
  • The new big picture is still a show of slides on team green.
  • Yeah, new BP still eats shit on nvidia so add that flag to your shortcut fam
  • It’s the big beta round-up onto a proper release
  • New big picture works pretty much as expected now on AMD even at 2560×1440
  • The fix for the screenshot noise causing the overlay to crash is in stable now.
  • Buttload of Steam Input fixes and new stuff.


Experiment 15

  • Want to pay more money for stuff in games you already own? Steam got you
  • It shows you how much DLC you have floating around.
  • I have 408 DLC and 2162 DLC available.
  • DLC has to be a chonky expansion for a game I rather enjoy to extract the $$’s from me.
  • 629 in my library and 2564 available.
  • Most of my suggestions seem to be the soundtracks.
  • I don’t honestly know if anyone was asking for this, player-wise.


Proton 7.0-6

  • This should fix the nonsense with the Ubi launcher, should.
    • Hey, it fixed it on this end, neat.
    • Remember to double tap that quit button.
  • Q3 fixes are in there.
  • Gotham Knights is now playable for the seven people still playing.
  • Many microsoft flight sim fixes
  • Don’t need ProtonGE to play Uncharted anymore, good news for the less Linux inclined Deck players.
  • I also totally misread super house of dead ninjas as “super house of the dead ninjas” and I was very sad when I wasn’t met with a store page for a rail gun shooter typing tutor featuring zombie ninjas

Steam: Game Updates

Hi-Fi Deck

  • Streamers have been playing the snot out of this one.
  • I like that they somehow pulled off a stealth drop in 2023.
  • Looks like a very cell-shaded variation on No More Heroes
  • I guess now that they have big daddy Microsoft funding them, Bethesda can venture out of their usual publishing comfort zone.
  • I’d imagine it’s a lot harder to stealth drop something for an existing franchise like an ES6 or a new Halo
  • I mean, you could do it, you’d just need to NDA the fuck out of everything

News:

GG AMD

  • Now nobody wants to buy the old stuff OR the new stuff.
  • The dry times are over and things are returning to normal… ish.
  • Partners want to carry lower levels of inventory because people ain’t buying $999 GPUs during a recession.
  • “the idea we are doing this to keep prices “elevated” isn’t accurate.”
    • No. It’s just a happy little coincidence, I’m sure.


Trafalgar Law

  • New theme: Blue steel…sorry, Midnight Mirage
  • If you set a wine version for a game and it’s not there (system upgrade, clearing out old GE versions), it’ll now suggest new ones based on installed wine installations
  • Quite a few fixes for GOG installs, should prove to be less of a crapshoot.


How RAD

  • The nvidia driver can do fast linking pipelines in 0.02ms and mike took some exception to that
  • Some analysis, patching and then voila 50000% performance on Dota2 and Zink
  • This is good news for people on AMD cuz you know how bad those openGL woes can get
  • And some handy dandy tips for other driver engineers who want to add this capability to their stack
  • Very important when the Steam Deck is a thing and it only has 8 threads to go around.
  • And if DXVK_ASYNC isn’t going to be a thing in default proton, it’s very nice to have something to stop the games from freezing for 2 or 3 full seconds when another player casts some particle effects in an MMO.
  • If it happens at driver level, all the better!


PikaOS

  • Nobara for Ubuntu.
  • Is this just duplicating nobara’s changes to fedora or does this go a step further?
    • Based on their website no. But hey
  • Arch is the new Buntu, son.
  • Options to install Steam, Lutris, GOverlay, MangoHud, Wine, Winetricks, vkBasalt, and other gaming-centric tools.
  • LibreOffice for productivity? Why?
  • How did LibreOffice become part of the default install for every distro?
  • It’s good to have an option for people afraid of the Fedorf
  • And Nobara does do a lot of things right.
  • Valve, could you release SteamOS 3.0 already?


Pioneer 2023-02-03

  • New ship and a fancy new detailed cockpit
  • Pioneer is a open ended space fuck around simulator. Get in your ship and do shit!
  • Pretty impressive looking screenshots from an open source project

CHAIRQUISITION:
– Nooope
– Not sure if want
– Check it out
– Shutupandtakemymonies


Game: Zombie Admin

Webzone: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1143860/Zombie_Admin/

Devel: Hastily Assembled

Engine: Unity

Price: £3.39 / $3.99 / $4.99

Wazzat: It’s the zombie apocalypse, but you can’t miss a work day! Scavenge for weapons, survive… and don’t forget to restock the toner cartridges over at accounting. This humorous top-down shooter has you working your way up the corporate ladder, all the way to the rescue helicopter on the rooftop.

Mandatory Disclosure: Devs sent us keys on Curator Connect



Venn:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

  • Hey look, everything works out of the box, neat!
  • It’s locked at 60 but I can live with that.
  • Using around 35% of the 3060 to maintain 60 @ 2160p.
  • Pulp surf rock fiction soundtrack with a side of whimsical.
  • Shotdamn.

Fun?

  • It’s a twin-stick shooty pew pew but relatable.
  • The opening scene in this game your boss calls to make sure that you can still make it in despite the apocalypse.
  • That’s going to hit some of you right in the feels.
  • Drink java, take the piss, and spend 95% of your time doing tasks way outside your job description.
  • Again, feels.
  • Did I mention the zombie apocalypse? That’s where the shooty pew pew comes in.
  • You have to shuck and jive around zombies while completing these tasks.
  • It’s pretty basic but some things can really get in the way since there is no dodge / roll mechanic.
  • You run out of gun food, well, book it!
  • And you can only use whatever gun you have at the time and that quickly becomes enemy #2.
  • The shotgun just, fkn, works. Assault rifle when you absolutely positively.
  • SMG is a pox upon the earth, avoid it.
  • Then the big kicker, ze minigun turns you into zombie bait.
  • Boooo!
  • It’s fun to play with the 5 seconds but brings the swarm so quickly it’s best to leave it be.
  • Then again, this game is $4 so buy it for the office humour.
  • Having a gun inventory and doge would spice up the action, just saying.
  • That is why this rando on the internet thinks your first DLC should include that along with a full engine overhaul making Zombie Admin 3D and fully path traced.
  • Hockey Stick R&D.
  • Or you could toss in some online multiplayer, whatever is easier.
  • You do you.
  • This is a 2 Chair game but gets 3 because of the price and making the clapped out genre of twin stick entertaining for a few minutes.


Jordan:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

  • Launches Ootb
  • Holds 60@uhd on the rx580
  • And look! Some visual options! A drop down menu to select resolutions! Amazing
  • Controls work out of the box and are sanely mapped
  • The soundtrack is okay
  • The colour palette is very grey. I’d like a little more contrast with the background elements you can get stuck on
  • Otherwise everything is pretty clear. There’s some character blindness with couch co-op

Fun?

  • While I’m not as good as pedro, I figure I can get through the game in under two hours. No 100% on all missions though
  • Run around, do odd temp work while chugging coffee and trying not to piss yourself
  • It’s a delicate balance cuz everything takes precious time and you gotta balance keeping your health up and shooting through zambos
  • Having a full bladder makes things take longer but those bathrooms are usually deathtraps with only one ingress so i guess it depends
  • Some of those chores are pretty funny too. This comedy game has some decent writing. Or at the very least spares us from constantly exposing us to the writer’s wit. It’s tossed in here and there to great effect
  • The zambo AI is pretty consistent, they’ll chase once they have line of sight so you have that to take advantage of
  • Couch coop is fun and all but goddamn add some online multiplayer . The spawn rate is more aggressive and P1 can lose p2 off screen
  • If you’re not super l33t and you didn’t 100% the levels immediately, there really isn’t much replay value in going back and trying to do the challenges
  • I’d like to see a more expanded version of this. With online MP

Pedro:

Launch/Looks/Sounds/Control

  • Works out of the box on the Desktop and the Deck
  • Can’t really maintain 144 at 2560×1440 with SMAA and everything else cranked on the desktop while recording.
  • Default settings on the deck do maintain 60 FerPS or 40 if you prefer to rock and roll like that.
  • Doesn’t allow control rebinds but the arrow keys are mapped out of the box, so I will excuse it.
  • Controller inputs also work fine on the Deck.
  • I like that the dead zombies lose all color and become just floor-colored ragdolls.
  • Immediate visual indication of what you’re doing is important in a hectic game, and this one certainly qualifies.
  • I like the pre-main menu music and the more relaxed jingle when you’re not getting swamped by zombies.
  • Again, good job on that one.
  • I could tell exactly how much shit I was in from the music alone.

Fun?

  • Those were some damn fun 59 minutes.
  • I’m only half-joking.
  • It is a fun game but it’s over quickly.
  • You can absolutely go back and replay the levels to get the chievos but that’s not going to be everyone’s cup of zombie jam.
  • I suppose if I were to compare it to the Starbucks Green Eye Cappuccino on price alone, Zombie Admin would absolutely win.
  • It’s cheaper and lasted me a lot longer than one of the aforementioned caffeinated beverages.
  • And even though it was over in about an hour, I could still tell something about the mechanics.
  • The more powerful the weapon you pickup the more zambos spawn.
  • If you have the sheer gall to pick up a minigun and finish a job in a short period of time, you will die from the ensuing clusterfuckery.
  • And the game will spawn undead co-workers from places with no other entry you’d previously already cleared, but just so happened to not be looking in that direction for a couple of seconds.
  • That’s some dickery!
  • That said, I didn’t hate it.
  • I wasn’t satisfied, but I thoroughly enjoyed what I played.

Verdict:

Venn:
Jordan:
Pedro:


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