Steam on Linux is Rather Good

[vrbtny]

Steam was released for linux today, well at least the open Beta was. So me, being the eager beaver i was, installed it and promptly installed the only game i had that actually ran on linux. Team Fortress 2

And holy moly, does it run good.

My Desktop has a GTX 260, a decent if slightly aging graphics card. It can handle Team Fortress 2 pretty well on windows, usually managing to keep up 60FPS on medium-high settings, but with only 2, maybe 4MSAA. Even then it is a bit choppy

But Team Fortress 2 on Linux? Everything runs on High-Ultra High, with 16X anisotropic filtering and 16XMSAA, ultra smooth with no chopiness or anything of the sort. It just looks and plays amazing, never going to touch my windows version of TF2 again.

Seriously, how can 16XMSAA be this smooth?

Yikes.

 

[Hazy992]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

 

[DoPo]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Most of the indie ones - the stuff in the Humble Indie Bundles for sure. Serious Sam, too. They aren't too many but way more than what was there a couple of years ago. Although, I reckon it would take another 5 or so years to get a solid foundation, however it could turn into a viable platform. Basically, there need to be more games that come out with multiplatform support, while the current Windows only ones get old...

But it could be very easy if just the next Half-Life is released on Linux only (at least for the first month) XD

 

[vrbtny]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

This is a very good point, and I believe the current answer is 42

Most being indie games which aren't very demanding on the gaming system, although Killing Floor is available for Linux Although on the plus side, nearly everything being developed on Kickstarter is using Unity 3D, or something similar, so they will also be playable on Linux.

I am not advocating the full switch over from Windows to Linux yet, and likely won't be for a good long time, I just now appreciate why Valve want to start gaming for Linux, if it offers this good a performance boost

 

[Fearzone]

Good to hear game performance on Linux is good, thought I had no reason to doubt it, and Team Fortress 2 might not be the best benchmark. The main concern is, how much of our game library would we still be able to play after making the switch?

Hopefully more and more as time passes. Linux is the right direction for PC gaming.

 

[viranimus]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Most of the indie ones - the stuff in the Humble Indie Bundles for sure. Serious Sam, too. They aren't too many but way more than what was there a couple of years ago. Although, I reckon it would take another 5 or so years to get a solid foundation, however it could turn into a viable platform. Basically, there need to be more games that come out with multiplatform support, while the current Windows only ones get old...

But it could be very easy if just the next Half-Life is released on Linux only (at least for the first month) XD

This is mostly spot on. The foundation is already being built between indies, some older games gaining support and where other orgs like GOG have already been trying to move towards penguin support. As much as I truly loathe steam, I do like the move to linux because in the scheme of things it helps people abandon windows and gravitate to open sourced software. Its good for linux. Its good for gaming.

But yeah honestly, Im not at all surprised that it makes a massive performance overhaul. With as much bloat and waste involved in the Windows OS & its architecture, moving to an OS that cuts all that ineffectual and useless garbage out is going to make a world of difference. Almost like moving from a 32 bit to 64 bit OS cranked up to 11.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well the speed performance is probably more a result from Source itself getting awfully bloated over the years, the port no doubt saw quite a few changes in that regard.

But anyway let's talk Steam:
- how does it compare to the Windows version, all functionality there?
- does it still load it's fat arse before every game, spends minutes figuring out connections and patches then ends up freezing?
- does it still spam you with ads every time you finish playing?
- does the shop indicate which games work on your OS and which don't?

 

[Woodsey]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Considering Valve are the ones making the first move, and working with AMD and Nvidia to do it, it shouldn't be too long before others are encouraged. It's not going to take over but it'll become noteworthy soon after. Windows 8 being crap might just help things along as well.

- does it still spam you with ads every time you finish playing??

Might I recommend a trip to the mysterious and frightening 'Settings' menu?

 

[vrbtny]

But anyway let's talk Steam:
- how does it compare to the Windows version, all functionality there?

I do believe it is : Friends, Community, Verify Game Integrity, Big Picture.
It is a direct port, nothing cut that i can find.

- does it still load it's fat arse before every game, spends minutes figuring out connections and patches then ends up freezing?

I can't strictly comfirm or deny this, because i haven't used it enough, but I've yet to sit around twidling my thumbs waiting for steam yet.

- does the shop indicate which games work on your OS and which don't?

It does indeed, there is now a little penguin next to games that run on linux(not that many unfortunately) There is even a new tab in the steam toolbar for linux. Click it to see what i'm talking about.

Hope that helps

 

[UltraPic]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Considering Valve are the ones making the first move, and working with AMD and Nvidia to do it, it shouldn't be too long before others are encouraged. It's not going to take over but it'll become noteworthy soon after. Windows 8 being crap might just help things along as well.

What do you mean by first move ?.

 

[Yellowfish]

I'm really, really glad this is finally happening. I'm not a Linux user, and I have little interest in the whole thing, but I'm happy because this means that Linux now has a serious chance of becoming a full-fledged competitor to Microsoft's and Apple's operating systems. Now Linux will get more attention from gamers and game developers, and this will hopefully lead to the OS itself developing further. Hopefully this will also lead to more people switching to Linux completely.

 

[DoPo]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Considering Valve are the ones making the first move, and working with AMD and Nvidia to do it, it shouldn't be too long before others are encouraged. It's not going to take over but it'll become noteworthy soon after. Windows 8 being crap might just help things along as well.

What do you mean by first move ?.

Well, up to now the Linux games were few and in between - several ports of games, some freeware and such. The Indie Bundles helped as they were released multiplatform - they set out a nice example but didn't herald a change or anything - Linux gamers would buy them but the rest of the people didn't really notice the Linux option. Now it's Valve who is doing things and they do gather a lot more attention, not to mention they work with video card manufacturers. Yes, they are taking the first move to "Let's actually bring gaming to Linux" as opposed to "Let's see which game can we scrounge up".

 

[G32420NL]

Some people are really demonizing windows :S i owned that card (gtx260)and you probably should have updated your drivers, it's a close to top range card from the times that tf2 came out, a game on an older engine:

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Palit/GeForce_GTX_260_Sonic_216_SP/20.html

Although this is an oc model the difference is small in this case. edit: because you will always be above 60fps

And i never have any crashes between maps, nor long update periodes, offcourse what applies to me does not apply to everyone but 10 of my friends with all kinds of systems and windows versions have had clean sailing. (some bugs but veeeerry few)

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

Well the speed performance is probably more a result from Source itself getting awfully bloated over the years, the port no doubt saw quite a few changes in that regard.

But anyway let's talk Steam:
- how does it compare to the Windows version, all functionality there?
- does it still load it's fat arse before every game, spends minutes figuring out connections and patches then ends up freezing?
- does it still spam you with ads every time you finish playing?
- does the shop indicate which games work on your OS and which don't?

- Steam cloud, store, big picture, workshop etc all present and in working order. Though big picture has been a little choppy for me on occasion
- Not much different to windows in that regard
- Yeah
- Steam now has a Linux section on it's store page and you can select to just show linux supported games in your library much like for mac games.

 

[Woodsey]

That's all well and good but how many games actually have Linux support? Windows is still going to be the platform of choice for the foreseeable future as that's where the games are. I don't see that changing anytime soon either.

Considering Valve are the ones making the first move, and working with AMD and Nvidia to do it, it shouldn't be too long before others are encouraged. It's not going to take over but it'll become noteworthy soon after. Windows 8 being crap might just help things along as well.

What do you mean by first move ?.

As in the first notable push.

 

[Laughing Man]

I'm really, really glad this is finally happening. I'm not a Linux user, and I have little interest in the whole thing, but I'm happy because this means that Linux now has a serious chance of becoming a full-fledged competitor to Microsoft's and Apple's operating systems. Now Linux will get more attention from gamers and game developers, and this will hopefully lead to the OS itself developing further. Hopefully this will also lead to more people switching to Linux completely.

LOL no, no it really really won't

The performance difference between Windows and Linux with a GTX260 shouldn't be an issue really. The 260GTX should eat TF2 without issue, would be interesting to know what kind of CPU is being run alongside given that Windows and Source are both CPU hogs.

 

[afroebob]

Some people are really demonizing windows :S i owned that card (gtx260)and you probably should have updated your drivers, it's a close to top range card from the times that tf2 came out

They have updated the graphics for TF2 over time. I'm not calling it Crytek by any means but they have made some texture and model updates. But it is true TF2 isn't the greatest benchmark but if you could get some FPS than it would be a valid way of looking it things.

 

[gigastar]

Good to hear game performance on Linux is good, thought I had no reason to doubt it, and Team Fortress 2 might not be the best benchmark. The main concern is, how much of our game library would we still be able to play after making the switch?

Hopefully more and more as time passes. Linux is the right direction for PC gaming.

I remember sometime in the past when Valve claimed they tested L4D2 on Linux and got a absurdly higher FPS than any graphics whore would know what to do with.

It makes me wonder if Linux is really that easy to work with or whether Valve have been closet Linux developers all along.

And it might as well be called Linux Gaming. The PC moniker is far too associated with Windows.

 

[G32420NL]

Some people are really demonizing windows :S i owned that card (gtx260)and you probably should have updated your drivers, it's a close to top range card from the times that tf2 came out

They have updated the graphics for TF2 over time. I'm not calling it Crytek by any means but they have made some texture and model updates. But it is true TF2 isn't the greatest benchmark but if you could get some FPS than it would be a valid way of looking it things.

You are correct sir, they did buff up the engine, but i stand by my statement about the performance of the card.

http://www.thg.ru/graphic/radeon_hd_4870/images/crysis3.png pretty good, no?

All i'm saying is that i'm finding it strange that the platform that get's better driver support whould have poorer performance too the degree that was said. i did a neat little test (because i have time to burn) i took an gtx 295 (about two gtx 260) turned off sli and got stable performance all the way @ 1920 x 1080 with every bell and wistle. minimal was 59.45 fps with hot pyro on pyro action. with 4gb ram and an amd x3 720 @ 3.6ghz

edit: benchmarked tf2 offcourse on 2fort

but every system is different, and if linux gives him a cleaner experience, good i whould like to see linux become really competitive, give microsoft more reasons to think about gamers beyond showing angry birds in windows 8 commercials

(i did read about a new driver update for linux that doubled the performance in november)

 

[TK421]

- does it still spam you with ads every time you finish playing??

Might I recommend a trip to the mysterious and frightening 'Settings' menu?

You have caused me to chuckle good sir. Well done.

OT: Yay! Screw windows and their money-grubbing ways!!