SteamOS Beta...

[DaGaffer]

...is out. Any brave soul going to try it? I've actually got an old PC that (just) meets the specs; might be worth a play if I have time.

repo.steampowered.com/download

 

[Deebs]

Can't as much as I would like to have a play, the beta only supports nvidia atm Just remember it will wipe the hard drive.

 

[TdC]

ooh based on Debian. nice work that man!

 

[soze]

My laptop is used for porn and games. SWTOR is the only game I currently play that is not on Steam so this might be worth trying.

 

[Scouse]

Been trying to get it working in a Virtual Machine for a couple of days now but I'm shit with linux and the debian install seems to be temperamental in finding the virtual disk (it found it once, but keeps reformatting my UEFI installation media (a USB drive)).

Got it to load debian, but not the steam client properly.


Basically, all I want to do is play L4D2 in a virtual machine so I can play two copies of it on my one remaining good PC. Torchlight works fine in both my WinXP and Win8.1 VM's - but L4D2 has a weird brightness issue (framerate is absolutely fine even running two clients) - so I was hoping to have a pop on SteamOS (and kinda hoping that they'd managed to up support for AMD gfx cards too).

Can't get L4D2 to run on Ubuntu in a VM. Graphics driver problems with vmware workstation

 

[TdC]

re the GFX cards last time I looked Nvidia is the only one who has a hard core performance driver out there, albeit a closed source one. they have it because they support HPC on the linuxes. AMD/ATI do not have such a driver (NB last time I checked was years ago and I've only run with Nvidia since.)

That said I will try the ISO in a VM.

 

[Scouse]

re the GFX cards last time I looked Nvidia is the only one who has a hard core performance driver out there, albeit a closed source one. they have it because they support HPC on the linuxes. AMD/ATI do not have such a driver (NB last time I checked was years ago and I've only run with Nvidia since.)

That said I will try the ISO in a VM.

They want a 1TB drive for their recommended install. The custom install is the one I've been using as I've not got a terrabyte left (6TB chock full of films games and pr0n) but I may clear some room and wang it on one of my hard drives.

Meh. Pain in the ass. All this because L4D2 won't work properly in a normal windows VM

 

[DaGaffer]

They want a 1TB drive for their recommended install. The custom install is the one I've been using as I've not got a terrabyte left (6TB chock full of films games and pr0n) but I may clear some room and wang it on one of my hard drives.

Meh. Pain in the ass. All this because L4D2 won't work properly in a normal windows VM

I just got a warning on my Synology NAS that its nearly full. 4TB. I've only had it six months!

 

[Scouse]

I just got a warning on my Synology NAS that its nearly full. 4TB. I've only had it six months!

It's full of shit you don't need like my PC. Large hard drives just mean that you don't have to do the maintenance jobs you used to

 

[DaGaffer]

Its literally only got movies, tv shows and photos on it.

 

[TdC]

heh I couldn't get it to boot with a virtual box, although I did try the hard way I must admit. I don't really have time to faff about.

 

[DaGaffer]

Steam Machine manufacturers announced at CES: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/05/valve-steam-machines-third-party-support/

As expected, most are starting at around $500. Going to be too expensive for the console crowd. Its interesting for me because a Steam Machine would make sense to replace my ageing desktop as I also have laptop(s) for doing actual work, but, they need to get more publisher support. I think I read that only something like 18% of the games currently on Steam are ported to SteamOS, and they need to court EA and come up with some kind of model that allows EA to bring over Origin or get access to customer data (as they have with XBL).

 

[Raven]

Meh, they don't need EA...when was the last time they released anything that wasn't garbage?

 

[DaGaffer]

Meh, they don't need EA...when was the last time they released anything that wasn't garbage?

Absolutely irrelevant. EA releases drive sales of hardware. Fact. You basically need Activision, EA and Take-Two (for Rockstar) on board to get traction. Valve themselves bring kudos and exclusivity (probably) but you need the others.

 

[Hawkwind]

DAOC of course! Quite like FIFA 13/14 as well. Only game I can consistently beat my son at. All the other games he plays are bro war type fps shit. I'm usually pretty bad at those

Seriously looking at one of these for it:

http://www.t3.com/news/steamos-that-hooks-onto-the-back-of-your-tv-unveiled

 

[MYstIC G]

They don't need EA but EA would certainly draw a crowd. Fifa with PC graphics and controllers could be an absolute monster. To be fair to valve though 18% is impressive given the short timespan of steam on Linux.

 

[DaGaffer]

DAOC of course! Quite like FIFA 13/14 as well. Only game I can consistently beat my son at. All the other games he plays are bro war type fps shit. I'm usually pretty bad at those

Seriously looking at one of these for it:

http://www.t3.com/news/steamos-that-hooks-onto-the-back-of-your-tv-unveiled

Very clever. Nearly as classy as my RPi stuck on the back of my TV with blutack. I knew I should have put out a patent...

 

[Scouse]

Very clever. Nearly as classy as my RPi stuck on the back of my TV with blutack. I knew I should have put out a patent...

Keep that there and stream your games from SteamOS upstairs then

 

[DaGaffer]

Keep that there and stream your games from SteamOS upstairs then

I would imagine an RPi lacks the necessary oomph.

I've been looking at all these Steam Boxes announced at CES yesterday, and frankly I think its a huge missed opportunity. Most of them are just PCs. Sure a lot have nice cases etc. but there's very little you couldn't do yourself for the amount of money they're asking, and in most cases you may as well just get a regular PC for the same money and dual boot if really felt the need to run SteamOS.

I mean look at this one from Webhallen* - its $1500!


Its very pretty, but its just a high end gaming PC.

(*historical fact, I nearly bought Webhallen when I was at GAME - they were pretty switched on guys, but conservatism won out, again).

 

[Raven]

Yeah but a lot of people struggle with self builds so £500 for a competitively specced PC (Or at least a PC capable of decent graphics) is a pretty good starting point. While many of us can easily build a console beater for that sort of price, a lot of people still spend around double, triple that from OCUK or wherever.

And I disagree, they don't need EA, EA are exactly the sort of crowd they should be avoiding. They can't compete head to head with consoles with a $500 starting price, they need to offer something different. While recent consoles have sold by the bucket load the content is the same as it was years ago, the industry has stagnated. Same old boring shooters, same football game year in year out with maybe an extra function here or there.

For whatever reason people seem happy with mediocrity and repetitiveness but I really hope the Steam OS/consolePCthingy can start to change that.

...not that it will though I imagine like most mass market industries these day, the public loves its junk.

 

[Scouse]

Meh. Like I've said all along. Just buy a fucking PC and install Steam.

What we really need is a way to make PC's and PC development sexy again.

 

[Gwadien]

So basically, firms are getting PCs, installing SteamOS on it, smacking the price up a few hundred and selling it as a SteamBox?

 

[Raven]

Sort of, that Webhallen PC would probably set you back that much as a pre-built anyway.

 

[Gwadien]

Sort of, that Webhallen PC would probably set you back that much as a pre-built anyway.

You're right; http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-432-OE

 

[MYstIC G]

Yeah but a lot of people struggle with self builds so £500 for a competitively specced PC (Or at least a PC capable of decent graphics) is a pretty good starting point. While many of us can easily build a console beater for that sort of price, a lot of people still spend around double, triple that from OCUK or wherever.

And I disagree, they don't need EA, EA are exactly the sort of crowd they should be avoiding. They can't compete head to head with consoles with a $500 starting price, they need to offer something different. While recent consoles have sold by the bucket load the content is the same as it was years ago, the industry has stagnated. Same old boring shooters, same football game year in year out with maybe an extra function here or there.

For whatever reason people seem happy with mediocrity and repetitiveness but I really hope the Steam OS/consolePCthingy can start to change that.

...not that it will though I imagine like most mass market industries these day, the public loves its junk.

You say that but fifa with every player on both sides being human controlled on a PC powered platform, that would be a cool example. Valve need to keep the PC strength, better multiplayer.

 

[DaGaffer]

Yeah but a lot of people struggle with self builds so £500 for a competitively specced PC (Or at least a PC capable of decent graphics) is a pretty good starting point. While many of us can easily build a console beater for that sort of price, a lot of people still spend around double, triple that from OCUK or wherever.

And I disagree, they don't need EA, EA are exactly the sort of crowd they should be avoiding. They can't compete head to head with consoles with a $500 starting price, they need to offer something different. While recent consoles have sold by the bucket load the content is the same as it was years ago, the industry has stagnated. Same old boring shooters, same football game year in year out with maybe an extra function here or there.

For whatever reason people seem happy with mediocrity and repetitiveness but I really hope the Steam OS/consolePCthingy can start to change that.

...not that it will though I imagine like most mass market industries these day, the public loves its junk.

If those Steam Machines were all 500 quid machines that would fine, but they're not, most of them are 2-3 times that. So what's the point?

I disagree about being able to compete with the consoles; in theory Steam's advantage is that it can work as a console AND a mouse/kb PC so could probably command a bit of a premium over the consoles. But, in order to get a decent enough device at that 500ish price point, so that the hardware can at least break even, you're going to need broad appeal, and that means the support of the big publishers. This concept isn't going to fly as a niche hardcore thing; not enough developers will get onboard when there are more lucrative and larger markets elsewhere.

 

[Scouse]

I disagree about being able to compete with the consoles; in theory Steam's advantage is that it can work as a console AND a mouse/kb PC so could probably command a bit of a premium over the consoles. But, in order to get a decent enough device at that 500ish price point, so that the hardware can at least break even, you're going to need broad appeal, and that means the support of the big publishers. This concept isn't going to fly as a niche hardcore thing; not enough developers will get onboard when there are more lucrative and larger markets elsewhere.

Agree.

I think the controller is the selling point, but they have to hit mainstream with it. Even now, PS4 and Xbone players seem to be reasonably in the dark about it.

It needs a raft of exclusive killer apps AND the mainstream shit that you're on about. It needs L4D3 and HL3* at launch, it needs them across PC and SteamOS only - with valve taking the hit on cross-platform sales.

It needs everything the consoles have and more.




*edit: It ain't getting HL3 tho. A mate of mine in the know tells me that people are leaving valve because it ain't all it was sold and people aren't getting to work on it. Gabe loves other things and HL3 is in danger of becoming vapourware.

 

[Scouse]

Sounding more and more like an ill-conceived concept by a company without a plan tbfh.


And still, they fail to ask, why not just stick a PC next to your telly with Steam installed?

 

[Raven]

Yeah, the more I hear about it the less I care. It would be much better with a windows based machine and Steam installed...at least you could play non-steam games on it. Plus it doesn't get rid of the hardware updates so there is absolutely no advantage to getting one unless you can't put a PC together yourself...which I reckon my mum could manage with half an hours googling.

Nice idea, poorly executed.

 

[Raven]

Also, with Sony offering much of its back catalogue through the cloud with no need of a console...a TV gaming machine becomes redundant. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't the last generation of traditional consoles, bad generation to be trying to introduce a more expensive solution to the market.