Universe Expanding

[Grumbs]

Not having to rely on Microsoft for the future of gaming platforms seems like a huge plus to me. Simply having a viable competitor could result in huge steps forward for pc gaming.

Personally I will look into at least duel booting with Steam OS if its possible

[zagibu]

You don't have to port the windows games over. I think the goal is to win devs over to develop for an open platform. This can only work if they get great tools for less money than what they have now, because they are already proficient with their old tools, so there has to be some incentive to move over.

Look at cmp here. No way he would ever move over to develop for an open platform using OpenGL, UNLESS he could get a good engine together with all required tools to make a great game for a small price. He's not an idealist, he just wants to make great games. And he's right of course, Mac and Linux gaming is no market you have to deliver to, yet, it's just too small.

But that might change soon.

[Xant]

cmp is the unsung hero of the modern ages

[Kafein]

The technical problems are insignificant compared to the real problem: big expense for no gain.

I don't think there would be no gain from the perspective of a big gaming business seeking to eliminate intermediates like Microsoft. Nobody likes to be dependent. It would also satisfy the gamers that already ditched windows for wine or those that only keep using windows because they want to play games.

[cmp]

Maybe Valve would profit from it (see Valve vs. Windows Store), but individual game developers wouldn't. They choose Windows because that's where the majority of the potential player base is, not because they are forced by Microsoft. It's not a inconvenient intermediary, it's just a tool to get the job done and they don't have any interest in changing it unless they find one that does it better.

TL;DR: whining about evil Microsoft doesn't help, improving Linux does

[Leshma]

Not having to rely on Microsoft for the future of gaming platforms seems like a huge plus to me. Simply having a viable competitor could result in huge steps forward for pc gaming.

Personally I will look into at least duel booting with Steam OS if its possible

You're the perfect answer to question "why SteamOS?". You heard of it because of all the buzz and formed your opinion based on reputation of the company behind it and rumours that are flooding the internet. Just like most of potential customers.

Reality is, if you want to keep gaming on your desktop, any other Linux distribution is better choice (Ubuntu, Linux Mint) than SteamOS because SteamOS is meant for living room gaming on big TV screen, not for desktop usage. Believe me, there will be no difference because every single SteamOS game will work the same on Ubuntu.

Optimizations will be done on API/driver level, not in kernel like many people think. Valve just said that Linux kernel is better suited for their needs, because it's open (allows them to modify it, unlike NT kernel Microsoft uses which is proprietary technology) and because it offers much better gaming performance while recording a video (not sure why but it's a well known fact).

Maybe Valve would profit from it (see Valve vs. Windows Store), but individual game developers wouldn't. They choose Windows because that's where the majority of the potential player base is, not because they are forced by Microsoft. It's not a inconvenient intermediary, it's just a tool to get the job done and they don't have any interest in changing it unless they find one that does it better.

You're an indie dev, most large publishers don't think like that. They prefer Steam because its big marketplace with lots of customers. Distribution platforms is what they are seeking: Steam, Xbox Live, PSN etc. Steam takes less money for better service and that's the main reason why Sega, Deep Silver, Paradox and others will go with Valve. It's better for them if Steam takes the cake from Sony and Microsoft, because it offers them to earn more money by selling games.

[cmp]

Valve just said that Linux kernel is better suited for their needs, because it's open (allows them to modify it, unlike NT kernel Microsoft uses which is proprietary technology)

Optimizations will be done on API/driver level, not in kernel like many people think.

So... make up your mind?

and because it offers much better gaming performance while recording a video (not sure why but it's a well known fact).

Anyone who puts "gaming performance while recording a video" and "kernel" in the same sentence has no idea what he's talking about. The only well known fact is that some of the most popular recording tools for Win (FRAPS above others) have a huge performance impact, but it has nothing to do with the kernel.

You're an indie dev, most large publishers don't think like that. They prefer Steam because its big marketplace with lots of customers.

That doesn't really contradict what I said. The vast majority of Steam users is on Windows right now.

[Grumbs]

Don't underestimate the shear clout Valve has when it comes to PC gaming now. Bringing out their own Linux with a load of buzz and their own "Steam Box" could push us to a more balanced PC gaming environment. Saying "just use Ubuntu or anything else because its better" doesn't really take into account what Valve are trying to achieve. Other versions of Linux might be better but its about creating a unified version with street cred. Valve putting resources into it, advertising, the whole "steam box" thing, the fact that they're Valve it will all combine to create something bigger than Linux has ever been in terms of being a viable gaming platform compared to Microsoft. Valve are pushing the whole living room/big screen/controller angle but its still about creating another option for PC gaming

I'm all for competition and not having to rely on Microsoft for my PC gaming needs in the future. Windows 8 is a good example of what happens when you have no competition in this area.

[Leshma]

Valve will help Linux ecosystem a lot, and every Linux distro will improve. Especially Debian based distros like Ubuntu or Mint.

There will be no difference between good distro and SteamOS when it comes to game performance. I advise you to use Ubuntu because it's meant to be used on desktop (or tablet), while SteamOS is targeting TVs. There won't be SteamOS for desktop users, at least not for some time. You'll probably be able to use different DE but that's practically the same as using other distro.

You can use SteamOS on desktop alright but that's the same like using XBMC on your desktop. It's created with big TV in mind, not PC monitor and you'll navigate using controller, not mouse or keyboard.

Again I repeat, everything that SteamOS has (better drivers, improved OpenGL API, kernel tweaks) will be available for Ubuntu/Mint/Archlinux as well. That's how it goes in the world of open source.

[Leshma]

So... make up your mind?

Anyone who puts "gaming performance while recording a video" and "kernel" in the same sentence has no idea what he's talking about. The only well known fact is that some of the most popular recording tools for Win (FRAPS above others) have a huge performance impact, but it has nothing to do with the kernel.

Read this part "...not sure why..." first. I don't understand why it works better under Linux but it does. Valve said it as well and I've read it in some articles. You can't blame apps for it because most game recording apps for Windows degrade performance in similar way (if settings are the same). On Linux, open source apps give a lot better performance. Somehow, knowing average quality of open source software, I doubt it's because of applications. It has to have something to do with kernel. Do you have better explanation why games under Linux perform better while recording a video?

That doesn't really contradict what I said. The vast majority of Steam users is on Windows right now.

That is correct. But devs are still porting games to Linux, despite laughable market share. That's because they are working with Valve on this project, because they will get bigger cut out of 50 dollar game then they do on consoles. They plan to sell 10+ million copies of popular games on Steambox, not 2-3 million at best like on PC Windows.

[cmp]

Read this part "...not sure why..." first. I don't understand why it works better under Linux but it does. Valve said it as well and I've read it in some articles. You can't blame apps for it because most game recording apps for Windows degrade performance in similar way (if settings are the same). On Linux, open source apps give a lot better performance. Somehow, knowing average quality of open source software, I doubt it's because of applications. It has to have something to do with kernel. Do you have better explanation why games under Linux perform better while recording a video?

You don't understand it, but you know exactly where the problem lies? I don't buy it. Why don't you show some sources on those claims?

[Leshma]

I'm guessing about kernel being an issue. Can't dig for articles atm but here's proof of better performance. When not recording game runs the same on both systems.

[cmp]

Your proof is a video of a single game using FRAPS (one of the worst and slowest recorders for Windows). :facepalm:
Also, have you even looked at the video? At the initial helicopter scene the Linux side is super choppy at 100FPS, while the Windows side is smooth at 50. :doublefacepalm:

[Banok]

I get the skepticism, can't see steamboxs competing with consoles. But us PC gamers are getting a potentially awesome free OS upgrade. Plus a possibly awesome new peripheral, I actually made front page of reddit with this post:

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1nijg3/the_only_reason_im_interested_in_the_steam/

I can defo see myself dual booting win7 with steamOS simply for the likely huge boost to gaming performance. And probably rarely going back to windows because there are very few windows programs I run other than games. New ATI/nvidia API's will likely replace direct X and we can ditch microsoft completely.

Lets face facts; when has windows EVER found a solution to the problem?

[cmp]

New ATI/nvidia API's will likely replace direct X and we can ditch microsoft completely.

There is no new NVIDIA APIs announced and from what we know about AMD's Mantle it will be initially implemented in the Windows driver only. Just saying.