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Portal 2 Beta Released For Linux

Posted by Soulskill on from the now-you're-thinking-with-betaportals dept.

jones_supa writes "Yesterday Portal 2, a Source-based game that has been missing a Linux version, got a public beta release. The Steam game product page doesn't yet say the game supports Linux. To access the beta for Linux, right-click the game in Steam, select Properties and go to the Betas tab. Valve hasn't published the Linux system requirements for Portal 2 yet, but WebUpd8 tested it using Intel HD 3000 graphics under Ubuntu and it worked pretty well."

99 comments

  1. Linux.. by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 3, Funny

    >The_Cake
    False

    --
    I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    1. Re:Linux.. by thevirtualcat · · Score: 5, Funny

      sudo ln -s /bin/false /bin/cake

    2. Re:Linux.. by sexconker · · Score: 1

      >The_Cake
      False

      Wrong. Portal had cake, it was not a lie. If you had fully played the game you would have found it.

    3. Re:Linux.. by preaction · · Score: 1

      Ratman was pretty confident that the cake was, indeed, a lie.

    4. Re:Linux.. by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      I was referring to the writing on the wall, not the cake in the basement.

      Do keep up.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    5. Re:Linux.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, set both the pedantic and whoosh flags on this one.

    6. Re:Linux.. by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Wrong. Portal had cake, it was not a lie. If you had fully played the game you would have found it.

      I don't think the cake is very ... appealing after listening to the ingredients in it.

      It may have a cake, but it sure doesn't look edible.

  2. Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Windows for games and work software, Linux for everything else.

    1. Re:Just dual boot already by Sarten-X · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Portal 2 crashes on my Windows system whenever I load the Workshop menu. I'm hoping for better stability under Linux.

      Linux is stable enough for my servers, so why wouldn't it be stable for my games, too?

      --
      You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
    2. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Because games are developed for Windows, duh.

    3. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Laugh it up. Just realize that you're still begging for Windows' table scraps.
       
      Maybe you'll get SimCity 2000 some day.

    4. Re:Just dual boot already by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 2

      Someone who isn't a serious gamer probably isn't going to buy a copy of Windows just to play a game.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    5. Re:Just dual boot already by Dunge · · Score: 1

      If Portal crash, you have a serious issue with your computer because it's one of the easiest game to execute. Install your drivers dude. As for Linux being stable for servers, well that's exactly what Linux excel at, you give it some predetermined set of applications and rules and you stick with it. Totally the inverse of using a computer for a desktop usage (which include playing games) where you keep changing installed applications all the time. Windows is still far far ahead on this domain.

    6. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like a problem with your PC. Portal 2 runs flawlessly and has never crashed on any Windows PC I have ever played it on.

    7. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then just keep the copy that comes with your computer.

    8. Re:Just dual boot already by hobarrera · · Score: 1

      Nope. I just used the windows version on wine, and now, I'm getting rid of that. Surely, not the only person.
      Plus, this means Portal 2 is now available for SteamOS.

    9. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Define work software. As a developer, Windows tools are pretty shitty for work.

    10. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Linux is stable enough for my servers, so why wouldn't it be stable for my games, too?

      Because the problem isn't the operating system. While playing Portal 2, does your entire Windows operating system crash and take all your running programs with it? Not likely. The problem is the quality of the applications from companies such as Valve. You're blaming Microsoft for code written by Valve. It took Valve almost 4 years to get a stable "Steam Friends" system working because their servers were always down, and judging from the bugs still apparent in TF2 and their botched Halloween update, they haven't changed much.

    11. Re:Just dual boot already by ilguido · · Score: 1

      Define serious, please.

    12. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is nothing on Linux that is as good as Visual Studio.

    13. Re:Just dual boot already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Portal 2 has a lot of know launch issues "dude." For example, it doesn't like tools such as Fraps running.

  3. Intel GPUs by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    The curse of low-end systems.

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
    1. Re:Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On my HD Graphics 4000 both Portals work amazingly good.

    2. Re: Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're six year old card runs a seven year old game remarkably well? Does "remarkably well" = "as designed"

    3. Re:Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on the need. I know I'm not going to get amazing performance on my laptop running intel HD4000 graphics, but that's just fine for what I do on it. Software development and some lower-end gaming (i.e. WoW or some emulators). If I really want to go crazy with the eye candy, that's what my desktop is for. I wouldn't go so far as to call my laptop low-end though, it does have an i7-3000 series and is a damned good number cruncher.

    4. Re: Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Isn't your question relatively the same as "Does your new, cheap integrated GPU run last year's games well?" If so, that's significant.

    5. Re: Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Source engine is designed for low-end graphics hardware, so the answer to your question is "it depends which game".

    6. Re: Intel GPUs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not six year old card. Why do you think I am?

    7. Re: Intel GPUs by jimshatt · · Score: 1

      > Hello, I am Eliza.
      * I'm not six year old card. Why do you think I am?
      > Did you come to me because you are ?

  4. Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Can someone please explain the appeal of these games? To me, they're full of stupid puzzles and sophomoric quirkiness. What am I missing? Is it symptomatic of a dull generation?

    1. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by invid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm 47 years old and those are my 2 favorite games.

      --
      The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.
    2. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Yunzil · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What am I missing?

      An attention span.

    3. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by CaptSlaq · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can someone please explain the appeal of these games? To me, they're full of stupid puzzles and sophomoric quirkiness. What am I missing? Is it symptomatic of a dull generation?

      Portal had some of the most amusing dark humor in a game that I've ever heard. While I won't say that the gameplay redefined a genre, as someone who is terrible at FPS, it was a refreshing change to not be "go here, blow this up, shoot these guys, get cake". Granted, it was "go here, press this button, get cake", but I actually like puzzles, so perhaps that is where I found most of my entertainment.

      Minecraft is digital Lego Mindstorm.

    4. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a whole generation is dull and here i am looking for some attention because i don't like a videogame

    5. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are right, all video games are designed for children and autistics. Everyone else is out exercising, lifting weights, and playing strategy wargames.

    6. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Minecraft is digital Lego Mindstorm.

      Despite the developer's best efforts to make it digital Duplo.

    7. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm 46 and I agree. I don't know what he's talking about with the "dull generation" dig. I found both games to be completely refreshing and original.

    8. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Dunge · · Score: 1

      Minecraft I agree. Can't find the appeal either. It's a sandbox construction game. In 15min you've seen everything the game has to offer and you have to "invent" your own stories. Can be good for artistic types, but honestly they better invest time in real art application(2d/3d) than playing Minecraft. As for Portal though, well, I don't understand your point. Puzzle are actually very smart (not stupid), story is great, humor is great, graphics are great, the game is smooth and bugless, level design and exploration is top notch. There's nothing dull about completing the campaign once. Few hours well invested.

    9. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by interkin3tic · · Score: 2

      You're missing maturity. Specifically, the maturity to realize that trolling in online forums is a waste of time and not ultimately fulfilling. Why don't you go read a book or call a friend if you're bored?

    10. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

      Minecraft is virtual LEGO. Nothing more nothing less.

    11. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      To me, they're full of stupid puzzles and sophomoric quirkiness. What am I missing?

      What you are missing is that nobody else on this planet is you. Your opinion is as valid as everyone else's, but it's not more valid.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    12. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      In 15min you've seen everything the game has to offer and you have to "invent" your own stories.

      No, you've seen everything the game has to offer you. Other people are not you.

      Disclaimer: not a Minecraft fan.

      but honestly they better invest time in real art application(2d/3d) than playing Minecraft.

      Yeah? Or what? What is it with this I-know-what's-best-for-you attitude? If it makes someone happy to spend hours building a blocky version of the Enterprise in a primitive virtual world, what's the big deal?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    13. Re:Portal + Minecraft: I don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Nothing. Portal is for casual gamers and people who don't like to think much. It's just a simplistic puzzle game that can be completed in an hour.

  5. Steam Linux by tom229 · · Score: 2

    I wonder if they're finding it difficult to port their titles to Linux. I've been steadily watching my Linux games section of Steam for months now (since the announcement of SteamOS) and I have to say it is still pretty much just as pitiful as it ever was in comparison to the Windows list. Studios don't seem to be jumping on board... yet.

    --
    If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    1. Re:Steam Linux by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2

      I doubt it's a fundamental difficulty. They ported the engine. If I had to guess, it's a few of the specific assets, like shaders, that they weren't bothering with.

      Seeing as their console they're releasing is fundamentally just a linux computer, they're almost certainly planning all future major releases to target linux.

    2. Re:Steam Linux by dstyle5 · · Score: 1

      Steam Boxes will have to be out in the wild for a while to get a sizable user base before alot of devs would create Linux ports I would guess. The current SteamOS Linux user numbers are so low it wouldn't be financially viable for a big company to make a Linux version, unless they plan on supporting SteamOS and are willing eat the dev cost losses until the user numbers grow. Valve has the $ and incentive to do alot of devs don't have that luxury.

    3. Re:Steam Linux by thue · · Score: 2

      There are lots of Linux titles, but they are mostly indie games. Indie games don't seem to have any problem posting to Linux.

      Go buy some Humble Bundles - most games in those have Linux support (and Steam keys).

    4. Re:Steam Linux by ledow · · Score: 1

      It's not difficult to port to Linux, it just takes time on old titles that were never designed with Linux in mind.

      That said, my Steam account has 126 Linux games from 627 games total. That's not a bad ratio considering that I've never bought a Steam game just because it has a Linux version, and that in any non-Steam count, the ratio of Linux games I own would be much, much, much, much less.

      I don't know about Mac - it seems hard to find out how many Mac games I would have on Steam if I was to load it up on there - but I imagine it's the same at best, and much less at worst.

      You have to consider - there are still not huge AAA titles for Linux. Maybe Half-Life 3 will sort that out. But given that, having 20% of my library available on Linux, for free, is a pretty good achievement in - what - a year or so?

    5. Re:Steam Linux by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      I don't know about Mac - it seems hard to find out how many Mac games I would have on Steam if I was to load it up on there - but I imagine it's the same at best, and much less at worst.

      I haven't done any formal analsys but browsing the steam store I can't remember seeing any games listed as windows+linux, it's either windows only, windows+mac or all three.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    6. Re:Steam Linux by AvitarX · · Score: 2

      I've found that a lot of my Humble Bundle game that support Linux (Binding of Isaac being the example off the top of my head), don't support Linux in Steam.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    7. Re:Steam Linux by preflex · · Score: 1

      There's a few Windows + Linux only titles, but they typically don't stay that way for long. It usually just means the Mac port is still in development. For example Cannons Lasers Rockets is Win+Linux only right now, but it's an "early access" game.

    8. Re:Steam Linux by EvanED · · Score: 1

      That said, my Steam account has 126 Linux games from 627 games total.

      I was curious so I thought I'd see it for my library even though I figured won't be gaming on Linux any time soon. And even though that latter thing is still true, I was surprised; several titles that I thought were not available for Linux have been added, like Mark of the Ninja.

      For me, 25 of 84 titles in my library (I have a much smaller collection than you, apparently :-)) are available on Linux. That's actually a higher percentage (30% vs 20%).

      And if you count Portal 2, then if I total the amount of time that Steam says (it lies, but hopefully in an unbiased manner) I've played games that are available for Linux as opposed to the amount of time I've played all games, it's even bigger: 47% of my time playing any Steam game has been spent in something available for Linux.

      So I'm impressed by their library. Not impressed enough to move my gaming PC to Linux by any means (there are too many old games that will probably never be ported for that to apply until there is a compelling advantage to Linux for this), but impressed nevertheless.

    9. Re:Steam Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For me, 25 of 84 titles in my library (I have a much smaller collection than you, apparently :-)) are available on Linux. That's actually a higher percentage (30% vs 20%).

      For me, I have 57 of 98. Of the remaining 41, half work well enough in wine that I don't have to reboot to play them, either. Most of the ones that I have to reboot for were gifts.

      I find myself booting Windows for games less and less as more games become playable in Linux. When faced with a choice of dealing with a reboot just to play some game, I find myself opting to load something native or that runs well in wine instead. I already have more games than time to play them all, so the ones that require extra effort just go untouched for months at a time.

    10. Re:Steam Linux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean, indie games written in crappy things that have no source control like unity run on linux? You mean to tell me they're running on engines designed to be multiplatform(and suffer greatly for it), or in crap like flash, and it works. I wonder what sort of mystery this is.

  6. Awesome by Idou · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have spent more money on games since Steam was released on Linux than I have my entire life.

    It is like having and eating my cake, too (but, this time, the cake is not a lie).

    --
    Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
  7. Wow, only 3 years late! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Linsux is catching up to the atari jaguar as a gaming platform!

  8. Curse of the Linux-only gamer by Ynot_82 · · Score: 4, Informative

    I have to say, I loved Portal 1
    So when Portal 2 was released in beta for Linux, I downloaded and played it immediately.

    Having not played it before (last time I used windows was 1998)
    I had no idea what the game should have been like.

    Portal 1 was fairly sparse on the dialog front
    "We regret to inform you that.....eeee...." lights flicker
    So I didn't think much of it when Portal 2 was light on dialog

    Played through to chapter 4 before I realised that there haven't been any dialog
    Bug report here (no apparently fixed)
    https://github.com/ValveSoftwa...

    The curse of the Linux-only gamer....

    Ps. I've enjoyed the game so far, even sans vocals

    1. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1

      It didn't occur to you that the bobbing up and down sphere making elaborate series of facial expressions during the intro was supposed to be talking?

    2. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by Ynot_82 · · Score: 1

      I don't know, really.
      I've played stuff before (point & click adventure games) where you're dropped into a world with no knowledge of anything and expected to get a certain way through before any kind of plot exposition.

      and it's not like the game was silent - I had everything except the vocals.

      anyway...

    3. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fixed now, however from the bug report anyone who already had the game downloaded needs to manually fix the issue.

    4. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      and it's not like the game was silent - I had everything except the vocals.

      Did you not turn on subtitles?

      That's the thing with modern games I like - they all have subtitling options which I promptly set to "always on"

      That said, there are still evil games out there that have dialog and no option to have subtitles at all. Naturally there's always a point where a poorly mixed piece of audio overwhelms the dialog and you miss some key story plot or something.

    5. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by petermgreen · · Score: 2

      Portal 1 was fairly sparse on the dialog front

      Portal was fairly sparse overall. It was an extra thrown in with the orange box and the production values reflected that.

      Portal 2 was clearly a much higher budget game.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    6. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by lordofthechia · · Score: 1

      Definitely replay it from the beginning. The dialog you've missed is pretty awesome and sets up one of the important characters in the game.

      --
      Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
    7. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by EvanED · · Score: 1

      Did you not turn on subtitles?

      I'm not the OP, but I hate subtitles. Especially for a game like Portal, so much of the humor is in the delivery of the lines that I feel that seeing the subtitles appear and reading ahead (which is essentially impossible to avoid, at least for me) spoils the experience a lot. I also feel like it takes me out of the experience a bit.

      If the games had an option to "show me subtitles but only display the subtitle for a line after the line is complete" I'd probably use it a lot more, but I explicitly go in and turn off subtitles when they're on by default, and only turn them back on after I hit multiple points where I can't understand the dialog.

    8. Re:Curse of the Linux-only gamer by digitalchinky · · Score: 1

      Cave Johnson should be an inspiration to us all.
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  9. That is...if you even can get steam installed by MindPrison · · Score: 1

    I'm on Slackware 14...

    And I sort of stopped after 10-14 dependency issues, and by then...I've not even managed to get STEAM installed. Heh....the Open Source software BLENDER 3D (which in my case, use the Nvidia Drivers on my system), installed...and compiled from source like a DREAM... why can't these Valve people learn from that? I'm a long time Linux user (14 years or so), but I'm not a genius by a long shot, just an average Linux user I guess.

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
    1. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Yeah! If they can't even support all 1 million obscure distros and desktops, they they shouldn't release it at all!!!!!!

    2. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by ledow · · Score: 4, Informative

      Despite being a Slackware fan, it has to be said the package dependency issues are ALWAYS going to plague Slackware. It just doesn't have automated dependency resolution compared to just about every other distro on the planet.

      That's both a wonderful thing (compiling from source is much nicer and only uses the things it needs to rather than everything under the sun) and a nightmare (when you want to just install a closed-source Linux binary that integrates a lot of libraries for every possible gaming-related library under the sun in order to run "Big Picture" mode).

    3. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That's not the issue at all. The problem is Valve releases their shit dynamically linked to very particular versions of things like glibc... the versions, specifically, that ship in the latest ubuntu. They could just as easily build it against older, still-secure versions of librares to make it more portable. Or they could do the sane thing and release static binaries, since the bulk of any game download is assents and not executable code.

      Basically, the problem isn't with Slackware (or Gentoo, or Arch, or or or...) it's with the project manager at Valve, who clearly values simplicity of packaging over portability of product -- a valid approach to the Windows world, but one that is antithetical to the reasons people run operating systems like linux.

    4. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by MindPrison · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Exactly.

      No matter how much Linus Torvalds hate Nvidia, they are still the only company that I know of that has...the last 7 years ... gotten that part right. They've made an install script that basically works on every blend of Linux on the planet, and I really mean that...It really just WORKS. All you have to do is to download it, and sh Nvidia....blah blah. and it does the rest for you, 3d support - right there, no fiddling with a gazillion dependencies, and you don't even need a repository or package installer.

      Learn from that, Valve!

      --
      What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
    5. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Slackware doesn't have a wiki page like this?

      https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Steam/Game-specific_troubleshooting

      Most games are going to have major dependencies. It's not a total walk-in-the park on Arch either. Steam mitigates it's own dependency issues by statically linking most of it's libraries. We're in cowboy territory running steam on unsupported OSs. The only supported Linux OS currently is Ubuntu and you should understand that going in.

    6. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nvidia has also had years and years of experience. Way to stick it to the man MindPrison. Way to stick it to the man. FUCK those beta programs that only currently support a subset of Linux distros as they mature the code base. Yes MindPrison, they are COMPLETE assholes.

    7. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by ppz003 · · Score: 2

      In case you or someone else doesn't already know, one of the main contributors to Slackware has already done most of the hard work.

      http://www.slackware.com/~alie...

      You can build it yourself or just download the package. Available for 14.0, 14.1 or current.

    8. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Despite being a Slackware fan, it has to be said the package dependency issues are ALWAYS going to plague Slackware. It just doesn't have automated dependency resolution compared to just about every other distro on the planet.

      That's both a wonderful thing (compiling from source is much nicer and only uses the things it needs to rather than everything under the sun) and a nightmare (when you want to just install a closed-source Linux binary that integrates a lot of libraries for every possible gaming-related library under the sun in order to run "Big Picture" mode).

      OR, you take the best of both worlds: dependency resolution with compile-time feature selection and customization/optimization. It's called Gentoo.

    9. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      nVidia also hosts their own SUSE RPM repository.

      Adding it as a source to yast or zypper gets you a kernel module package. This package not only fits into your system in the expected places but also features useful tools. There are programs to check and configure your X11 server, down to seeing GPU temperatures. Included are the scripts needed to recompile the actual module part for a new kernel without re-installing the whole package.

      So my hat's off to whomever runs the nVidia repository.

    10. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by drewm19801927 · · Score: 1

      Really? I guess YMMV; I deliberately sought out a laptop with an Intel GPU because Intel's drivers are open source, and as such are already shipped with any OS. Nvidia's installer "script" requires you go google for it and download it manually, it subverts your package manager, breaks every OS update, has frequent problems with xorg.conf, required tinkering with nvidia-xconfig... once I even had to manually remove the script part of the file and untar it manually because of some incompatibility... It could also depend on what linux distro you're using... Debian and Ubuntu have the best package manager in the industry, so anything non-standard is a step down.

    11. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm running steam on Arch linux just fine. It's in multilib repository.

    12. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This month, Torvalds actually gave Nvidia a thumbs-up for increasig their cooperation.

    13. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? I'm on Slackware also, and Steam works without any problems. I don't remember any dependency problems.

    14. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      I don't google for it, I go to nvidia's website and quickly find it from there. The script can be invoked with --help, then you can find out how to rebuild the kernel module instead of reinstalling everything (useful for a kernel update or booting an older kernel in grub). You can enable forced anti-aliasing and/or anistropic filtering, just like under Windows. Your distro may or may not provide a version that you can install by clicking a couple things. There's actual documentation in /usr/share/doc.

      That said it's not perfect, requires knowledge of ctrl-alt-f1 and sudo service gdm stop or similar, and I did fuck up the xorg.conf too, failed for a while to add a custom resolution (I have to blame randr or Xorg? such crap used to work a few years ago) and in particular switching back and forth between nouveau and nvidia driver can be hard, you wrestle with that shit, I even eventually ended with a system where the nvidia driver couldn't be made to work anymore.
      Else most times it's nice.

    15. Re:That is...if you even can get steam installed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You do realise they want linux to have the viability to compete with windows on the desktop, not be your tiny pet project? They WANT to target the people in the windows world and make it as easy to download and run as it is in that brand new win 8.1.

  10. Oh the wait is a lie by joaommp · · Score: 1

    Been waiting for this for a longe time.

    --
    Onda Technology Institute
  11. Have fun penguin lovers! by miller701 · · Score: 1

    It's a great game. My then 8 year old and I had a great time playing it when it came out.

    And if you don't, I'll burn your house down ... with a lemon!

  12. Sound and load times by phorm · · Score: 5, Informative

    The bigger issues I've found in linux are
    a) Sound. Using DOTA2 for an example, you get one option for the sound card, without any pulse/alsa channel or device selections. My system has a soundcard, HDMI audio, and USB headset. Switching outputs is easier in 'nix than windows (in the same area as volume control, you can redirect a playback stream: NICE), but getting the Microphone input to work consistently can be very frustrating.

    b) Load times in Linux seem longer. For whatever reason, the assets also appear to be larger which is probably a contributing factor. Perhaps there's some licensing issues between how assets are compress between the two OS's, leading Linux to be a bit bigger.

    That said, once the game is going DOTA2 and L4D2 are just as good in 'nix as windows. In fact, the window-switching is better/smoother so you can alt-tab without killing your game or dealing with annoying stutters.

    1. Re:Sound and load times by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As far as I know, Valve games use SDL on Linux for audio, and therefore the usual SDL environment variables SDL_AUDIODRIVER and SDL_PATH_DSP can be used for audio API and device selection. It might not be the most convenient method, but is probably not unusual for Linux users. Although it is harder to excuse the complete lack of support for multichannel audio, which is otherwise supported by SDL 2 and ALSA.

      Source engine games use the same assets on Linux and Windows, packed in .vpk format. You can check this by running 'md5sum' on the files, and comparing the output. If the loading is slow, it is either because the Linux port is not well optimized (yet ?), or your hard drive is used in some sub-optimal way (e.g. a SATA3 SSD running in a lower speed compatibility mode) on Linux that could be fixed by correct configuration.

  13. It was not already? by Dunge · · Score: 1

    Strange, I thought all Source engine games were pretty much the only games in existence ported to Linux...

    1. Re:It was not already? by preflex · · Score: 2

      This is obviously wrong as there are over 800 titles available for linux, but Valve hasn't published 800 source-engine games. Even limiting the scope to big-publisher FPS stuff you're still wrong on two fronts. CS:GO is still missing. Metro: Last Light (using the 4A engine) has been available since November.

    2. Re:It was not already? by Admiral_Grinder · · Score: 1

      Serious Sam 3 debut with Linux support.

  14. The question is.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Does this mean 2014 is the year of linux on the desktop??

  15. son of a bitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why ubuntu

    1. Re:son of a bitch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It works on other distros too, Einstein.

  16. Games are still only developed on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've yet to hear of a cross-platform game (Windows/Linux/OS X) that was created primarily in Linux, using software only available in Linux (GIMP, Inkscape, Blender, etc). Virtually all (actually fuck it - literally all) games are developed in Windows and then, if you're lucky, ported to Linux. Sure the indie developers often use cross-platform stuff like SDL to give themselves a better chance of a port, but they still use Photoshop, Visual Studio and such Windows-only (or sometimes Win/OS X only) tools. NOTHING is created using Linux only.

    I'm not expecting this to change, if ever.

    1. Re:Games are still only developed on Windows by AlphaBro · · Score: 0

      This is the reality that most Linux users fail to grasp. And it's expected, of course, because despite their perceived technical prowess, most of them fall firmly into the advanced end-user bucket. It's difficult to grasp what serious development entails until you've actually taken part in it.

  17. Great to hear! by rabbin · · Score: 1

    This is the game I was waiting to show up on linux. The vanilla single player and coop campaigns are far from the best aspect of Portal 2 now. The custom maps are where it's at and the ingame custom maps browser, downloader, rating system, and "series subscription" functionality remove all of the pains of hunting for the perfect maps. I highly recommend people check out the custom maps if they're fans of puzzles--there are some extremely challenging ones that will test both your mind and your agility. And if coop is your thing there are some excellent custom maps for that too.

    1. Re:Great to hear! by blackpaw · · Score: 1

      Do you know if the custom maps/mods for Portal 2 work on linux? I had no luck with them for Portal 1.

    2. Re:Great to hear! by rabbin · · Score: 1

      Haven't been able to try it out yet (poor internet), but according to the following link "...users have access to the Workshop and can download any custom map they choose". http://news.softpedia.com/news...

    3. Re:Great to hear! by blackpaw · · Score: 1

      I feel your pain :) 19 hour download for me as well - Thanks Turnball! I was scheduled for fibre last year.

      The user generated maps seem to work well under linux. Overall the experience has been flawless, despite being a beta. It downloaded, it worked, simple as that. Well done Valve!

      This should keep me entertained for a while.

    4. Re:Great to hear! by rabbin · · Score: 1

      Nice! I should have mine setup today (I can't actually download it because the single DL is much larger than my monthly bandwidth allotment, so I need to *drive* to an ssh server I've setup... 'mericuh internet). I'm trying to remember what collections are especially good because I haven't played in a while (should change now that it's available on linux), so assuming my memory is still good:

      Designed For Danger Collection http://steamcommunity.com/work...

      12 Angry Tests Collection http://steamcommunity.com/work...

      Dilapidation Collection (if I recall correctly this is of especially high quality) http://steamcommunity.com/work...

      Killing Machine Collection http://steamcommunity.com/work...

      And there are many other great ones which aren't coming to mind yet. Some of the above--at least in my opinion--are better than the SP or coop campaign (at least in terms of how challenging and interesting the puzzles are)

  18. Early 2013^W 2014 by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

    The cake is a lie!