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Steam for Linux: Now Officially Available to All + 39 Games Initially Supported...

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Official Steam Linux Community!

steam.jpg


An Early Holiday Gift!
posted by Frank @ 07:13PM on December 19, 2012


The Steam for Linux beta program is now open to the public! In order to participate in the beta, you must download the latest Steam Linux client (found here) or upgrade your existing Steam for Linux client to the latest version.

In addition, we will now track Steam for Linux client bugs using GitHub. This provides a better interface for tracking bugs than the forums used in the closed beta. The Steam for Linux repository (currently empty) is public, allowing anyone with a free GitHub account to create a new issue and edit or track it and search the existing bug database. The repository contains a readme file (README.md) detailing how to create a new issue (it describes the same format used in the closed beta).

The team will continue working through existing issues in the forum but it is strongly recommended that any new issues be entered using GitHub's issue tracking interface. The sub forums will remain open so that people can join/continue existing discussions about the Steam for Linux client.

And last but not least, we now have a steam installer package repository. There is a mailing list for announcing updates to the steam installer package. To subscribe, use the public mailman page located here: https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/steamrepo.

Here's the change list for this release:

The Steam for Linux client closed beta transitioned to an open beta.
Linux - Fixed excessive CPU usage by the Steam client when running Team Fortress 2
Linux - Fixed overlay crash when starting Cubemen
Big Picture - Improved back navigation behavior throughout user interface
Big Picture - Added discount timers and other user interface to store

DOWNLOAD LINK!

Steam Linux Games List!!
 
And I have most of those games.
For years people called linux gaming a dream, now it's becoming more real.

Also for those who uses ArchLinux, there is a package in AUR. Steam
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Surprised they don't have all Valve Source engine games ready at launch.

Well technically it's still "BETA" even though anyone can install and join in the Beta. Plus Steam updates all the time for all platforms so it's a bit of a rolling release in and of itself.
 

XTERC

Member
Having not played with Linux for a while, what is a good distro? I have an i7 and a GTX680 if that makes any difference.
 
I assume this would make Linux: the OS with the lowest rate of game piracy.

Having not played with Linux for a while, what is a good distro? I have an i7 and a GTX680 if that makes any difference.

If you want everything ready get Linux Mint, if you want to build it like a lego get ArchLinux.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Having not played with Linux for a while, what is a good distro? I have an i7 and a GTX680 if that makes any difference.

If you care about Steam get something Ubuntu based. So either stock Ubuntu one of the spinoffs like Xubuntu or Lubuntu or another upstream Distro like Linux Mint or Elementry OS that is based off of Ubuntu.
 

derfybzh

Member
I'm so not excited :/ Personnaly I love my Windows , but a major plus for gamer who doesn't have windows if they still exist ?
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
I'm so not excited :/ Personnaly I love my Windows , but a major plus for gamer who doesn't have windows if they still exist ?

Do you go into console threads to register your lack of excitement, too?
 

Massa

Member
I'm so not excited :/ Personnaly I love my Windows , but a major plus for gamer who doesn't have windows if they still exist ?

A lot of gamers have Windows as a secondary platorm, whether they're primarily Mac or Linux users. The less need to boot into that secondary platform the better.
 
Is there a 64bit variant? I keep getting wrong arch (i386) errors.

EDIT: this is in Mint

Code:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
Building data structures... Done 
This package is uninstallable
Wrong architecture 'i386'
 
Sounds good. I don't use Linux because all I typically do on my home PC is play games, but I am happy to leave MS if Linux is viable. I have enough of those games already to warrant at least installing Linux and playing around with it.

It will be interesting to see if this only attracts indie type games or if some of the major publishers will push for releases.

Will TF2 Linux players be in the same games as Windows players?
 

marrec

Banned
Yeesh...

Hey, they got SPAZ and Dungeon of Dredmore so that's pretty good.

Is Steam's support of Linux going to increase the number of games being ported to Linux?
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Is there a 64bit variant? I keep getting wrong arch (i386) errors.

EDIT: this is in Mint

Code:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
Building data structures... Done 
This package is uninstallable
Wrong architecture 'i386'

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Valve

Read the 64 bit section. You just have to install the one i386 libraries and you are good.
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Yeesh...

Hey, they got SPAZ and Dungeon of Dredmore so that's pretty good.

Is Steam's support of Linux going to increase the number of games being ported to Linux?

No. It's going to be exactly this forever.
 
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Valve

Read the 64 bit section. You just have to install the one i386 libraries and you are good.

Strange, I already have that package installed. Still no go. Something else must be missing, likely because I'm on Mint.

Code:
$ sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-glx:i386
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 is already the newest version.
libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 set to manually installed.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 146 not upgraded.
Code:
$ sudo gdebi steam.deb
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree        
Reading state information... Done
Building data structures... Done 
This package is uninstallable
Wrong architecture 'i386'

EDIT: going to try some of what I'm reading here

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/11/reddit-users-bypass-valve-linux-beta-invitations
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
You mean people are going to STOP porting to Linux?

That sounds like a stupid answer morningbus. Is that a stupid answer?

To be less snarky in my reply, yes, I think things are going to improve.

Mac gaming got a huge shot in the arm thanks to Valve and I would expect a similar thing to happen with Linux. Especially since we have a UE3 game running now.
 

barugon

Member
This is superb. I figured I'd be waiting months before I could toy with it. I'm this much closer to being Windows-free.

And I'm super-thrilled to hear it's (usually) working very well in Mint. I never was a fan of Ubuntu.
 
I had reformatted recently, should have made one of my partitions for mint. No dota 2 yet :(. Still some great games in that lineup.


IIRC Neverwinter Nights runs natively on linux, there must be a list of games out there that run natively in linux.
 

ymmv

Banned
Yeesh...

Hey, they got SPAZ and Dungeon of Dredmore so that's pretty good.

Is Steam's support of Linux going to increase the number of games being ported to Linux?

Probably not. Steam is a distribution platform, not a multi platform games engine. Steam has been available for Apple computers for a while now, yet publishers/devs still don't find it worthwhile to port games to OSX. Linux' marketshare is a lot smaller than OSX, so there's even less incentive to port Windows games.
 

MC RaZaR

Neo Member
This is great. Will download tha packages when I get the chance. This could be the first step for mainstream gaming on Linux.
 

ThatObviousUser

ὁ αἴσχιστος παῖς εἶ
D-d-d-d-downloading!

Wonder if they'll put it in the Ubuntu Software Center. Does Canonical have rules against other app stores? I know Google does.

Oh hey, I can download Amnesia since I bought it for PC. This is so nice, it's actually, like, the future and stuff.
 

maharg

idspispopd
I'm excited. Been running games in Wine a lot lately and it's actually gotten really good at that, but having a proper distribution mechanism for native games is a huge step up.

Probably not. Steam is a distribution platform, not a multi platform games engine. Steam has been available for Apple computers for a while now, yet publishers/devs still don't find it worthwhile to port games to OSX. Linux' marketshare is a lot smaller than OSX, so there's even less incentive to port Windows games.

Whether that changes probably depends on whether the rumored/expected/whateveritisnow steam console runs windows or linux as its base OS. I tend to think the reason they're pushing for this is because it'll be the latter.
 

Game Guru

Member
\Whether that changes probably depends on whether the rumored/expected/whateveritisnow steam console runs windows or linux as its base OS. I tend to think the reason they're pushing for this is because it'll be the former.

Don't you mean the latter? I mean it makes more sense to push Linux in general if the rumored Steam Console runs on it.
 

ymmv

Banned
Don't you mean the latter? I mean it makes more sense to push Linux in general if the rumored Steam Console runs on it.

What's the point of a Linux based Steam console that can run only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of games on Steam?
 

maharg

idspispopd
What's the point of a Linux based Steam console that can run only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of games on Steam?

What's the point of Valve giving Microsoft $30 for every console they sell?

If Valve launched a linux-based console you'd see that number skyrocket.
 

Game Guru

Member
What's the point of a Linux based Steam console that can run only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of games on Steam?

Stop thinking of the Steam console as being an HTPC, and start thinking of it as being a console like the ones people buy from Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo with all that entails. This mean it will be subsidized hardware that makes its money back from every game on the system having to go through Steam. Remember that backwards compatibility has never been the console industry's strong suit.
 
what if valve will reduce his cut (let say 20~15%) if the developer make a steambox version.

would be cool or an awful idea?
 

Serra

Member
XXXX > " Steam Beta does support Linux and FTL shows as a Linux compatible game. When I install it it creates an empty folder. How about putting the game in that folder? "

XXXX > bugfix release 1.0.1: put game in folder
 
what if valve will reduce his cut (let say 20~15%) if the developer make a steambox version.

would be cool or an awful idea?

Yeah, I was thinking about this regarding Linux support. If Valve really wanted to stick it to microsoft, they'd be able to offset the additional costs of supporting linux to their partners by taking reduced margins for games with Linux support.
 
If you game on Linux and don't have FTL, you are a bad person. Just leaving that out there.

It's 25% off right now in the official page, and it includes a Steam key as well as a DRM free version through the Humble Bundle page (the last one was a nice surprise, as I have most of those bundles and it's becoming a pseudo-Steam for me). This actually makes it CHEAPER than just buying the Steam key here in Europe.

Funnily enough, I bought it on GOG and I loved it so much (and realized I disliked the lack of Steam features like auto updating) that I double-dipped today.
 

la_briola

Member
XXXX > " Steam Beta does support Linux and FTL shows as a Linux compatible game. When I install it it creates an empty folder. How about putting the game in that folder? "

XXXX > bugfix release 1.0.1: put game in folder

You need to opt in the FTL beta.
 
That penguin reminds me of CS 1.5 because I would only choose servers that had that icon next to it. I didn't even know it was linux. (I was like 10)
 

XtremeCacher

Neo Member
I have used Linux for several years now, needing to boot into windows for games was for sure a saddening but almost always necessary process. I'm looking forward to being able to remain in Linux.
 
Are there any plans to release CSS on Linux?
The only reason why i bother logging into Windows these days is to play a round or two of CSS.
 

androvsky

Member
Are there any plans to release CSS on Linux?
The only reason why i bother logging into Windows these days is to play a round or two of CSS.

Have you tried it on a new version of Wine? According the Wine database, it's working extremely well. And I can say from experience that the Windows version of Steam works great on Wine too. iirc there's a special winetricks install command for installing Steam, you don't want to do it manually.
 

maharg

idspispopd
Have you tried it on a new version of Wine? According the Wine database, it's working extremely well. And I can say from experience that the Windows version of Steam works great on Wine too. iirc there's a special winetricks install command for installing Steam, you don't want to do it manually.

I did it manually, works fine for me. But I've been running the bleeding edge Wine PPA for like half a year now. If you want to run games on ubuntu you should definitely set yourself up with it: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-wine/+archive/ppa
 
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