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Portal 2 Beta Released For Linux
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."
>The_Cake
False
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
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.
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.
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!
What am I missing?
An attention span.
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.
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
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?
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).
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.
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?
Exactly.
... 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.
No matter how much Linus Torvalds hate Nvidia, they are still the only company that I know of that has...the last 7 years
Learn from that, Valve!
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
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.
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.