I got an issue I just cannot wrap my head around. I got Dark Forces via Steam, the original version. I downloaded the most popular controller layout for Steamdeck, however it is really annoying to use since for some reasons when I move around using the left stick, the left trackpad starts vibrating as if I move via that.

This is not a hardware issue, I play plenty of games that use the left stick, which other than Dark Forces never leads to the left trackpad vibrating. Also I found a different controller layout that I liked for Dark Forces, where this issue isn't happening.

Now why do I still bring it up. I hear of the Force Engine project that modernised Dark Forces quite a bit. Required some tinkering, but got it working on the Steamdeck. Managed to copy over my layout from original Dark Forces. Again, left trackpad vibrating when left stick is moved.

What setting do I need to try to get rid of this? I tried removing any mapping from the trackpad, this didn't help. I found buried in some submenus a setting that was called haptics, I also switched that off. No change. It is really annoying and I just want to know which setting is causing this.

I tried searching online, but all I am getting is people saying it's a hardware issue. Hope you agree, in my case it is not.

Got my new ssd installed in the deck, booted into recovery and started reimagining. It was going fine for a while then I started to see a lot of errors and it hung for a while.

But after sitting at the above image for a while it started moving again. Now it is stuck again, and for far longer than before. Is it safe to turn it off and go back into recovery?

Update: rebooted and it booted into Steam OS, and is updating.

Update 2: after the reboot and update I am not signed in and installing games.

You might have seen that I've been posting my interviews, or Q&A's rather, with developers of Steam Deck/Linux projects you might know and love (with many more to come!):

• RetroDECK
• Heroic Games Launcher
• Lutris

Well now I've had the chance to sit down with independent media creator Gardiner Bryant, known for his focus on Linux and gaming.

Possibly most well known for:

• His PeerTube channel

• His YouTube

• ...and his blog!

Gardiner is Linux, and Steam Deck, and gaming. While most might gravitate to his video content (YouTube, I'd hazard, would be what he might be most known for), I prefer his written posts. I miss blogs, and having his to read makes me so very happy.

So, if you've an interest in what might be behind the curtain of an independent content creator, particularly one focused on gaming - then read on!

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Origins:

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Can you tell us a bit about your background? Who is Gardiner Bryant!

I'm a Mainer first and foremost. I was born and raised here. I grew up as a gamer. I played games on my SNES, N64, and PC as a youngin. My favorite game series were Super Mario (3, World, 64), Command & Conquer (Red Alert, Tiberian Sun, RA2, Generals), SimCity (2k, 3k Unlimited, 4), The Sims, and DOOM, Unreal Tournament, and so many others.

What was your first real exposure to both Linux and to gaming? What 'clicked' for you?

My first experience with video games was Super Mario Bros 3. I remember sitting on the floor at my friend Caleb’s house watching a cartoon that he called Mario. But there was no talking. And then he handed me the controller and I realized I was in control of the cartoon. Mind blowing stuff. I was very young. I was in preschool.

My first experience was probably in 2003 or 2004. One of my girlfriends’ friends was in the “computer careers” vocational class and he gave me a copy of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It was way outside my comfort zone. I had no idea what to do with it and I rolled back to Windows XP quite quickly.

After that, I installed Ubuntu Jaunty on the family PC which pissed my dad off. Then I put Fedora Core 6 on my PC and it was awesome (except I couldn’t figure out how to play my extensive collection of MP3s).

As far as Linux and gaming? I tried WINE to play the classics. But it never clicked for me until the Humble Indie Bundle 4. It included some of the games I’d been playing on my Wii and 360: Bit.Trip Runner, Super Meat Boy, Shank, and Cave Story+ to name a few.

This was well before Valve announced Steam was coming to Linux! Humble was Linux gaming at the time.

Was there a specific moment or project, with video creation, gaming or writing which made you realize, “This is what I want to do”?

As a kid, my dad published comic books as a hobby. He created “Lobsterman: Maine’s First Superhero” and it demonstrated that I could do something creative and be successful at it. He also was a radio DJ and had pretty decent taste in music.

Even more importantly, my mom’s parents were creatives. Joe, my grandfather, created awesome mechanical things set to music (think backwoods Maine Disney World) and Bea, my grandmother, was a collector, a seamstress, and more. They were self-employed and made their passion their livelihood.

I’ve always been fascinated by tech. Video games, animation, audio & video production. As a teen I created several home movies with my friends. My church even put on “Oscar Nights” that encouraged local youths to create videos based on scriptural themes. I taught myself programming and animation as an homeschooler using Macromedia Flash.

It’s just kinda been my thing, I guess!

How did gaming intersect with your interest in open-source? Were they always linked for you?

No, they weren’t. When I was first starting out as a Linux user most of my gaming happened on my Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Don’t get me wrong, I tried games through WINE. But they were always classic PC games I had physical copies of. I didn’t get into Steam until the Steam for Linux beta.

What drew you toward independent journalism over more traditional tech career paths?

The example of my grandparents loomed large in my life. I wasn’t super close with them (nor my father for that matter) but entrepreneurship has always been in my blood and working a standard nine to five has never suited me. Despite the risks of being independent, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

However, I cannot stress this enough: I’m not journalist. Liam from GamingOnLinux is a journalist. He checks his facts and reports on the news. I’m a writer and enthusiast and (if I’m anything journalism-adjacent) I’d be a Linux pundit. I’m also using that term in the most derogatory sense of the word. 🤣

I do have a commitment to truth and I strict ethics statement on my company’s website that I adhere to. But I just don’t think of myself as a journalist.

You've cultivated a strong personal voice online—how much of that is intentional vs. just being yourself?

I have intentionally put myself in everything I do. I’ve also avoided doing things that would compromise my beliefs/ethics.

That sounds all high and mighty but really all it means is I’m incapable of inauthenticity. (Spell check is telling me that’s not a word. But I swear I googled it.)

I can’t make myself do things that I’m not interested in. This is a double-edged sword, though, as it means my focus is fickle and the only thing consistent with my content is myself. If I had been able to sell out, I could be in a different position in terms of subscribers/income. But YouTube punishes channels that don’t specialize in exploiting their audience’s attention and they’re doing that to me right now.

As far as writing goes, writing is also in my blood. I’m a descendant of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow through my maternal grandmother and both my maternal grandparents were both writers. Joe in particular was a poet, lyricist, and a composer of limericks.

If you weren’t doing this—creating, writing, advocating—what do you think you’d be doing instead?

If I was still working for myself, I’d be doing more of what I do now as my day job: web development and backend programming. If I weren’t working for myself, I’d probably still be doing IT for the furniture store I used to work for.

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Linux & Gaming:

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How would you describe the current state of Linux as a gaming platform? What’s still missing?

I’d characterize Linux gaming as “strong, mature, and capable.” The biggest thing we’re missing is real anticheat support. But that will come, naturally, as adoption grows and, crucially, the kernel-level anticheat fad falls by the wayside.

Do you see Proton and tools like Lutris as long-term solutions, or are they transitional?

I think compatibility layers are truly the only long-term solution for Linux gaming. Even after the Windows platform is long dead, Proton provides a stable layer gives Valve (or whoever) the capability to triage apps into a stable state.

How do you balance enjoying games as a player vs. analyzing them as a Linux advocate?

I mentioned that I’m not able to force myself to do things I’m uninterested in. That extends to my gaming habits. I don’t play games I’ve got no interest in and if a title doesn’t hold my attention then I’m not going to talk about/cover it.

It’s one of the reasons that I’ve got such an extensive collection of retro consoles and games. There’s something about the classics that the modern titles can’t seem to achieve!

What’s one misconception you think people still have about gaming on Linux?

It is too technical or requires the use of the terminal. I had a friend tell me the other day that he doesn’t use Linux because he’d “rather use a GUI.”

He was holding his Android phone and I replied, “your phone is basically Linux and it’s exclusively a GUI.” That baffled him.

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Steam Deck & Handheld Gaming:

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What do you think the Steam Deck meant for the Linux gaming scene as a whole?

It’s a symbol that serves to legitimize Linux gaming. It’s a clarion call for people who know it runs Linux.

And to anyone who doesn’t know it runs Linux, it’s an affordable gaming PC.

Have you found yourself using the Steam Deck more for gaming or experimentation/tinkering?

The only PC games I play are on my Steam Deck (except for VR, of course). I’ve got a $4,000 desktop PC and I tried DOOM: The Dark Ages for the sake of completeness, but I only played for like 10 minutes.

I actually am not much of a tinkerer anymore. I’m really busy with work so just want things to work. Honestly, that’s probably my favorite thing about Linux. More often than not It Just Works.

Do you think Valve has lived up to the open-source ethos with the Steam Deck ecosystem?

Valve’s contributions to open source are massive. I don’t think they can be overstated how important what they’re doing is. Their work doesn’t get enough recognition.

But they could stand to make more of their in-house code more open, for sure. 😉

What’s a feature or evolution you’d like to see in the next iteration of the Steam Deck?

A second USB port. The ability to dock a desktop GPU using a standard like USB 4. And I’d also like to see haptic trigger feedback similar to what Sony has on the PS5 controller. VRR might also be nice but that can have battery implications and the Deck 2 needs to improve on the current hardware’s battery life.

I think Valve has nailed pretty much everything else.

I don’t want to see a 1080p+ screen. It’s unnecessary and adds performance and power constraints that are not worth the upgrade.

Is the Steam Deck’s success creating pressure for other handhelds to follow suit with Linux-based OSes?

I think they serve different markets.

Many of the folks who are not satisfied with the Steam Deck’s hardware are also going to be conscious of the fact that many online games aren’t compatible with Linux.

I’m keen to see how the Lenovo Legion Go with SteamOS is going to perform in terms of sales. Plus, however the next SteamOS device performs will be telling.

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Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Philosophy:

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What originally drew you to the FOSS movement? From all we’ve ever talked, you bleed FOSS, what makes the scene mean so much to you?

I believe in freedom and independence. I’ve experienced first hand how for-profit tech is built on exploitation and harming their users.

I’ve come to the understanding that the proprietary software industry is impossible to sustain without fundamentally violating the rights and autonomy of their users. It will always trend towards authoritarian levels of control and that is fundamentally at odds with my core beliefs.

I believe the software industry (we’re talking the proprietary software industry) would be completely unsustainable if it weren’t for the four pillars of proprietary software. They are: patent trolling, violations of privacy, licensing rather than ownership, and downright criminal behavior. These four pillars are mechanical, they’re cold, and they’re misanthropic.

The free software movement stands in stark relief against the machinations of proprietary software. Instead, FOSS offers its own four freedoms. At their core the four freedoms are anthropocentric, they put the rights of the user ahead of the any other interest.

Do you feel the broader tech culture is moving closer to or further from open-source principles? Or is that just those of us who adore it just ‘dreaming out loud’ (e.g. this is the year of Linux!)

Like I said, I think the tech industry is impossible without the problematic “four pillars.” Sure, there are some standouts (anomalies) like Valve who are interested in FOSS and contribute back to the community. But that’s a rarity.

I’d like to hope that Valve can be an example of how other companies should engage with FOSS, and they sure are. But I’m skeptical (cynical?) enough to see the industry moving further from an ethical foundation rather than closer to one.

Where do you personally draw the line between open-source purism and practicality?

I don’t think purism of any ideology is helpful. And that’s true when it comes to FOSS as well. If there’s a task that you need to complete, use whatever you know and what you have on hand to complete that task.

But where I draw the line is pretty simple. I won’t use proprietary software from any vendors who have a history of paid subscriptions or “software as a service.” I generally won’t use any software that assaults my mental autonomy with ads, especially if it’s software I’ve paid for. And I also try to steer clear of any software that relies on the cloud or injects useless AI garbage.

That being said, I use proprietary stuff like DaVinci Resolve for video editing and Affinity Photo 2/Designer/Publisher for much of my client work. And I obviously play tons of video games through Steam.

What’s one underappreciated FOSS project you wish more people supported or used?

Honestly, Linux. OEMs need to ship more Linux on their retail hardware. Valve, Fedora, Manjaro, and Bazzite are both doing great work on that front.

How do you handle community friction or dogmatism in the FOSS world?

If they’re in my comments section, I troll them. I try to call out dogmatism and unhelpful attitudes as I encounter it.

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Gaming Journalism & Content Creation:

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You've called out traditional games media before—what do you think they consistently miss?

In many instances, the games media fundamentally lacks integrity. They create sponsored content masked as reviews. They toe the publisher’s line in order to secure early access, etc. They view the world through the post-capitalist lens of corporatism and cronyism. They’re also complicit in the hype cycles and unsustainable “bigger number better” bullshit.

Do you see yourself more as a journalist, commentator, educator, or something else entirely?

I’m a commentator and educator… sometimes a loud and joyless pundit. 😂

What responsibility do independent creators have in a space full of sponsored content and hype cycles?

Authenticity. Just be yourself and do what you love. Report your thoughts and feelings honestly and do not heed the critics or try to make yourself more appealing to a general audience.

How do you choose what to cover, especially when there's pressure to chase trends or clicks?

I talk about whatever piques my interest. It can be a new game launching, a news story that pop up on my meticulously curated RSS feed reader, or something shared by the folks in my Revolt server.

Have you ever been tempted to take brand sponsorships or pivot toward commercial content?

I’ve done many sponsorships in the past. I’ve stopped doing them over the last few years because (again) it’s really hard to force myself to do stuff I’m not interested in. And I don’t really give two hoots about money beyond what I need to survive.

I know some companies have sent you some fun products for review, with no strings attached. Notable the new Legion Go S recently. Can you share any more? Or...perhaps a favorite of the bunch?

I get hundreds of emails per week offering me free review samples. It always goes the same way: I inform them I’ll only talk about their product if I’m free to review their product by the criteria of a review laid out in my ethics statement.

MinisForum always tends to send me really interesting devices. I truly love the most recent one they sent me. I also get GuliKit and 8BitDo controllers quite frequently.

The Legion Go S is also really cool!

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Community, Motivation & Identity:

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In a creator landscape dominated by monetization, why do you keep doing what you do?

I sometimes joke that I’m a sheep dog. I’m only relaxed when I’ve got a task to accomplish. At this point, my job is to be passionate, honest, authentic, and I have fun doing so. I don’t care about much else.

How has your audience shaped your content direction over the years?

Honestly, I don’t give a lot of thought to the audience beyond “am I getting my message across to Joe/Jane Viewer?”

I make content that’s designed to be welcoming to and digestible by beginners. I can’t tell you how many times I see some kind of criticism in the comments of my video that boils down to “I don’t like the way you said X. Next time, say Y instead” and I just laugh. It’s like, if you know enough about the subject to have an opinion on this, then you’re not the person I’m making it for.

It goes back to your question on what I consider myself and, yeah… “educator” is the right word.

What part of the Linux or open-source community energizes you the most?

Situation: you buy some kind of smart appliance.

The first-party app to control the product is limited, designed poorly, and requires some kind cloud connection/subscription. Now you have new account credentials you must manage, you have another random device connected to your WiFi, and potentially anther subscription fee to pay.

Meanwhile there’s some random GitHub repo started by a first time programmer who has reverse engineered the app/product and created a Home Assistant integration that not only is feature complete but has unlocked some dormant/inaccessible features.

Passion will always surpass profit. That’s why I’m a dyed-in-the-wool true FOSS believer.

Have you had moments where you considered stepping back or quitting—and what kept you going?

Yeah. Many times. Most of it has to do with YouTube screwing me over so frequently. But deploying/running a PeerTube instance reinvigorated me.

Recently, my blog has become my happy place

Perhaps most common when I write these for creators, devs and the like - is a sense that while working on gaming all day long (developing, writing, creating) there’s no time to enjoy it for yourself. Do you find this, too? Or are you able to create that divide and still game?

I started my channel because I felt I didn’t have enough time for gaming. Oh, sweet, sweet naivety.

Honestly, I still play games for myself, though. Particularly through my retro gaming collection. I am just so busy that I don’t get back to it as I’d like.

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Looking Ahead:

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What excites you most about the future of Linux gaming in the next 3–5 years?

Obviously the roll out of the third party SteamOS machines is shaping up to be a big deal. I’m excited to see what that’s going to do for the community. One of the biggest hurdles of Linux growth is that it’s not generally preinstalled on PCs available at retail. I’d like to see more of that going forward.

As for what excites me? I’ve always been someone who looks forward to the new, the novel, and the unknown. Maybe that’s the Star Trek nerd in me. I’m excited to see how Linux gaming continues to be appreciated by mainstream gamers. And it will continue to grow.

Do you have any personal goals or creative projects you haven’t yet explored?

I’m really excited about my blog and I’m hoping to get to a point where I’m posting at least one article a day over there. Last week I did three posts in a week.

I’d also like to really deep dive stuff and produce more original content outside of Linux gaming. I’ve got ideas for projects. For example: seamlessly retrofitting bluetooth connectivity (possibly more) into a bedside clock radio that I’ve had since I was twelve.

How do you see your role evolving as the tech and content ecosystem continues to shift?

I’ve consistently been one of the louder voices in the space evangelizing FOSS philosophy. As the profit-driven forces of enshittification continue to erode their destructive path through society, I’m still going to be raising my voice against it and demonstrating that their corruption doesn’t have to be tolerated.

If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about the Linux or FOSS community, what would it be?

Well, one of the biggest issues we face are the grifters and charlatans who are profiting from spreading lies, driving wedges, and sewing dissent among FOSS projects. Granted, that’s a cultural-wide sickness that we’re facing right now and I don’t know a) if your magic wand is powerful enough to fix that or b) what it would take to actually fix those issues. But that’s what I’d like to attempt.

Is there a dream collaboration—either with a person or a company—that you’ve always wanted to pursue?

I’ve never been good at collaboration. Historically, I’ve actually been terrible at it! Heck, the only reason I’ve got a podcast is because my co-hosts James and Hi-Tech Lo-Life were persistent in asking me to join them!

With that said, it’d be good to talk with more FOSS developers, bring them on my show, extoll more FOSS apps/games, and shine a light on the best that the free software movement can produce!

Any last words, of any kind for everyone?

If you believe in my work, you can help support what I do by subscribing to my blog or by becoming a member.

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And that's the end! Once again, I'd love to thank my friend Gardiner for taking the time to answer these, and for even doing this to begin with!

I love to do these, because I feel like while the community on Lemmy might be smaller than on other platforms, to me its quality over quantity.

I hope you've enjoyed this, and if you want to find more of Gardiner, you can use the links down below:

• Podcast

• Mastodon

• PeerTube channel

• YouTube

• Blog!

I have more of these coming in the future, too! I'm waiting for the answers from the team from The RomM Project which will be next, and am planning one for a member from Decky Loader which will be after that one. I also have far more planned, but too soon to say :)

And as ever, I really appreciate anyone who reads through these and enjoys them!

Well, it’s that time again for this last week’s interesting gaming news I’ve spotted! While this week’s is the typical variety, it is also rather text-heavy, so you’ve been warned! As ever though, there’s Steam Deck, Linux, GOG, emulation, Switch and gaming in general in here :)

My aim is to format these posts in a more person-to-person manner than most gaming sites do now. Cozier? My ever-lasting inspo is the old, old video game sites, blogs and magazines that I never had the privilege of being alive for:

• image/gif/link heavy (sorry in advance, there’s a lot this week!)
• personal voice (I can’t write professionally with hard-news style to save me)
• mostly news or articles or points you won’t find on normal gaming sites. These are the smaller, lesser things that I’m drawn to. I know you’ll have spotted the big news articles, so I’m hoping some of these smaller ones might have been missed by you.

So grab a coffee? Or a tea? Or a fresh juice? And enjoy <3

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Gaming News:

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GOG-Jobs:

Looking for a job in the gaming industry (and happen to be more qualified to do the work than saying ‘I like playing games!’) and want to work for GOG?

They left a post recently stating that they’re looking for job applicants for a variety of postitions:

Hey everyone!

We’re often on the lookout for new team members to help strengthen our mission of making games live forever. If you’re a gamer at heart and passionate about what we do, you might be exactly who we’re looking for. Take a look at our current job openings and apply if you think you’re a great fit: https://www.gog.com/work

If you get the job, give them all a hug for me because I fucking adore GOG <3

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Luna & GOG:

If you’re not aware, Amazon’s Luna is their game streaming service. If you’ve got an Amazon account and own GOG games, then you can stream them without installing them (depending on what country you’re in – the service is not worldwide just yet)

Here’s the page on GOG’s site detailing more about Luna, and what games you’ve got or can buy which work on the service

This week, Amazon’s announced 6 more titles they’ve brought to Luna:

Hey Luna fans! Today we have a little bit of everything joining our GOG collection:

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II - Continue Henry's tale as you navigate political intrigue, master medieval combat, and shape your destiny in a beautifully crafted open world. With enhanced graphics, deeper systems, and an even more immersive experience, it's time to live another chapter of history.

• Call of The Sea - Set out on a supernatural adventure in the 1930s South Pacific. As Norah, search for your missing husband while uncovering the mysteries of an ancient civilization in this gorgeous first-person puzzle adventure.

• Never Give Up - Test your skills and patience in this challenging platformer that's not afraid to mock your failures. Relentlessly. Again and again. 😡 With precise controls and a wicked sense of humor, this game will push you to your limits - and then some.

• Araknoid Eternal Battle - The brick-breaking legend returns with a modern twist! Experience the classic Arkanoid gameplay enhanced with new features, competitive modes, and fresh challenges.

• Monster Prom - Navigate the halls of spooky high school in this multiplayer dating sim. With just three weeks until prom, compete with friends to romance your monster crush in this hilarious and highly re-playable (relatable?) adventure.

• Saints Row The Third: Remastered - For those following the Saints' journey on GOG, the most outrageous chapter of the saga is now available! Take over Steelport with enhanced graphics and all DLC included.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone:

The trailer for the game is here, if you want to check it out!

I’ve no doubt you’ve read all about this by now. Its a remaster for the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy. Since you’ve read all you can, and it’s old news for me to even bring it up, I’ll just remind you of the nice points that are coming with this one:

• Atmospheric visual enhancements including God Rays, Dynamic Screen Space Reflections, and Advanced Global Illumination effects.

• Redesigned water shaders, upgraded skyboxes, and wetness effects.

• Improved visuals with upscaled textures featuring more detailed NPCs and environment.

• Upgraded weapon Field of View and models.

• Multiple bugfixes and quality of life tweaks (I wonder just how many bug fixes, because if there’s one thing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is known for, its bugs).

• Full gamepad support.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition will be available May 20, 2025 on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on GOG, Epic Games Store, and Steam. All owners of the game will receive a separate edition of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition in their Steam and GOG libraries, which will be available for download immediately. If you do not have the complete collection, you will receive the updated version only for the games you have in your library. If you don't have any classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games in your library and if you want to buy the games or the collection, you'll get the classic three games for free when you purchase S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition." (this was from the developers’ Q&A on Discord)

You might also be interested in seeing the patch notes for their latest update – 1.4 (Over 700 fixes and improvements with a main focus on combat )

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The Sinking City Remastered:

If you're into Lovecraftian themes and settings, or perhaps just enjoy a sense of distinct existential dread in video games, then you'll no doubt already know what The Sinking City is.

The Sinking City is an adventure and investigation game set in an open world inspired by the universe of H.P. Lovecraft, the master of Horror. The half-submerged city of Oakmont is gripped by supernatural forces. You're a private investigator, and you have to uncover the truth of what has possessed the city… and the minds of its inhabitants.

Frogwares have released a video of their now released The Sinking City Remastered on YouTube (this is a free upgrade if you already own it), showing a nice comparison to the original, and what they improved.

I’ve played the non-remastered version, and I can say that while they didn’t improve the jank (we all love a little jank though, right?!), it certainly was an atmosphere.

Nice news to see after Frogwares won their court case against Nacon, having sole control over their own IP again

For the remastered version of this iconic story, you can expect it to be fully relit in Unreal Engine 5, containing enhanced locations with additional levels of detail and objects, 4K textures and improved reflections, addition of a Photo Mode, as well as support for DLSS, FSR and TSR upscaling. Buying the remaster, you will also receive the original version of the game as a bonus – and for those who already own the original, you will receive the remaster!

The Sinking City Remastered is available everywhere, but I’m going to give you the GOG link because they hold my heart and soul

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GOG’s Betseller List Right Now:

• DOOM

• Dragon Age Origins – Ultimate Ed.

• Deus Ex GOTY Ed.

• Mad Max

• Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Ed. Digital Deluxe**

• Divinity Original Sin 2 – Definitive Ed

• Heroes of Might and Magic 3: Complete**

• Breath of Fire IV

• Alan Wake

• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of The Year Ed.

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance II DLC:

The first DLC for the excellent game is coming soon. Although Warhorse Studios is calling it an ‘expansion’:

Meet an eccentric artist with a disturbing past in Brushes with Death, the new story DLC for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Embark on a series of brand-new quests as you help the Painter finish his artistic magnum opus. In return for your deadly endeavours, you'll be able to choose from over 100 unique shield designs and earn a new set of gear for Henry.

Priced at only $6 USD, this is as the studio says the ‘smallest of the coming DLC’.

You can find the trailer here on YouTube

• The link to the GOG page for the DLC is here

• And the link to Steam is here

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Marathon Steals Artist’s work:

Digital artist Fern Hook (AkA N2) has shown that Bungie has stolen her artwork, without notice or credit, even going so far as to cut/paste art which feature’s N2’s own logo. She shared some posts on social media late in the week which stated -

the Marathon alpha released recently and its environments are covered with assets lifted from poster designs i made in 2017.

It was nice to see she tagged Bungie and the Marathon game account in her post, and obviously plenty of media caught on:

bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language i have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution.

She brought the receipts showing their work and the comparisons to Bungie’s game, and there’s been no way they could get out of this one.

i don't have the resources nor the energy to spare to pursue this legally but i have lost count of the number of times a major company has deemed it easier to pay a designer to imitate or steal my work than to write me an email.

Washington Post had an article which has an interview with Hook, which is great reading, and I’m going to make this week’s News Post end up being 23% larger just by pasting a good portion of it here for you to read. All which I pasted below will be in bold to distinguish that it is from the Post’s article, which you can find here with this link, if you’d like.

Fern Hook, a 30-year-old independent artist in Scotland, noticed something familiar about “Marathon,” the upcoming video game by Bungie, the studio that created the Halo series and is now owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

“Marathon,” she said, is “covered with assets lifted from poster designs I made in 2017,” all in the alpha version of the game, which allowed the general public to play an early version of the multiplayer shooter. She became suspicious when the game was announced in a 2023 trailer, but nothing appeared to be derivative at first.

In mid-April, content creators began publishing videos of “Marathon” gameplay through the alpha version, which the public would access later through an invitation process. She said she “very quickly” began to spot her work. Hook’s futuristic iconography and font designs are posted on social media sites like Tumblr and X as far back as 2017, and similar features are seen all over the environment and the objects within “Marathon.” She pointed out the similarities through her social media on Thursday.

“It was kind of vindicating to see direct plagiarism because it meant I wasn’t crazy for feeling so uncomfortable with the overall direction,” Hook told The Washington Post. “I kept quiet about it because I was advised to seek legal action, but … I don’t have enough time or money to fly out to the U.S. to pursue an unwinnable court case against Sony.”

When The Post contacted Sony about the allegations, a spokesperson pointed to Bungie’s statement on social media. The “Marathon” developer team said on X that it was looking into “a concern regarding unauthorized use of artist decals in Marathon and confirmed that a former Bungie artist included these in a texture sheet that was ultimately used in-game.”

“The issue was unknown by our existing art team, and we are still reviewing how this oversight occurred,” the studio posted on X, adding that it had contacted Hook to discuss the issue and was “committed to do right by the artist.”

The studio said it is conducting a review of the game’s artwork, specifically the images made by the former artist, and implementing “stricter checks to document all artist contributions.”

The allegations would be particularly damaging for Bungie and “Marathon,” which has struggled to gain positive press during a particularly financially challenging era for the once-esteemed studio. “Marathon” is a classic 1990s computer shooter that focused on a harrowing science-fiction narrative. The reboot, expected to be released in September, throws that out to instead focus on an always-online, multiplayer-only competitive shooting game. The most widely critically acclaimed aspect of the new game was its art design, which goes for bold colors and a 1990s futurism vibe. The art style is not original, especially in games, with PlayStation’s Wipeout series being an early adopter. But the clean, shiny aesthetic is rare in a modern video games industry typically obsessed with gritty realism.

This is not the first time Bungie has been accused of using the work of an independent artist. In 2024, a fan made art of a toy gun designed in the style of Bungie’s earlier game “Destiny 2,” which was then used as a model for a game-themed Nerf gun. Bungie later said it would credit and compensate the artist. Hook said this is also not the first time she has seen her work lifted, and she has made posts over the years alleging other organizations tracing and lifting her work. She said she relies on donations for her various online projects, and this recent incident has seen hundreds of people donating money in support. Hook also composes drum and bass music and sound design for games under the name N2, and produces freelance art work under the name ANTIREAL. She co-runs a design and software consultancy firm called Superstructure as well.

“I’d kind of had to learn to shut up about these cases because they’ve happened so constantly over the past 10 years,” she said. “It was tiring to be viewed as ‘someone who complains’ more than as an artist. But the response this time has been overwhelmingly understanding and I’m extremely thankful for the support.”

This is not the first time Bungie has done this (not even the second time): stealing an artists’ work without compensation or acknowledgment – you can see another instance reported here on PC Gamer

Imagine of that instance below:

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Gears of War:

The Gears of War movie we’ve all heard about for one million years is a step closer to happening, with director David Leitch now attached to the project - he is known for directing movies like Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train, co-directing John Wick and more

Will it be Bautista who spent years lobbying for the part of Macrus and the movie being made at all? Probably not, considering his recent bulk/weight loss

Here’s the link to hollywoodreporter where it has been confirmed

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DOOM: The Dark Ages:

To be honest, the most fun I’ve had with DOOM is the semi-recent (and olllllllllllllllllllld) DOOM + DOOM II double-pack. That and 2016’s DOOM were the ones I really, really enjoyed, but by the time Eternal came by...it just didn’t really work for me well. The same goes for The Dark Ages – though aside from its ridiculous price right now (I suspect to encourage users to instead use Game Pass) it’s still a success.

I’ve just had fun seeing what people have shared about it, so there’s not much for me to say, just some fun images I’d like to share.

DOOM (TDA) has a little display at the Royal Armories Museum in Leeds, England. Thought it is short-lived, ending this weekend. The shield and a tapestry are on display, but if you’re like me and not in Leeds...we can just see these photos:

A TDA Xbox controller is available, themed in the obvious manner:

And finally, it seems like someone working at ID is a fan of classic art, with these and more featuring in the game:

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Snake Eyes:

Not much here, but a few stills from the upcoming AAA G.I. Joe Snake Eyes game being made by Atomic Studios are here:

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Starfox:

Ever wondered how the cover art or the classic Starfox was made?

These were actual puppets and model ships, made by a special effects studio: Shirogumi. One interesting fact is that Takashi Yamazaki (writer/director of Godzilla Minus One) was working at the company at the time this was made. The puppets themselves were also on display at the N.Y. Nintendo store when Star Fox Zero was released for the Wii U!

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The Pokémon Fossil Museum:

The Pokémon Company and Toyohashi Museum of Natural History have made it possible to see the Pokémon Fossil Museum without being anywhere near Japan. Pokémon fans can now take a virtual tour around the exhibit until November, featuring a mix of real dinosaur fossils and less-than-real Pokémon ones.

You can use this link to access it, though your browser might not be able to show it, I sure know my hardened one had trouble

Going through some of the in the exhibit for example: Omanyte is based on a prehistoric creature called an ammonite, Aerodactyl is based on pterosaurs, and Bastiodon is based on ceratopsian dinosaurs such as the triceratops.

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Free Cosmetic DLC for Bethesda Games (with a caveat):

If you want to, you can opt in to Bethesda marketing emails at bethesda.net during the promotion window. Then, head to the games and follow the directions below:

Fallout 76: Beelzebilly suit & head, Mr. Demonic backpack

• Beelzebilly suit and head – This cosmetic can be found at any Armor Workbench in game (in the world or at a C.A.M.P.). Through the Craft option, you can craft the Outfit and Headwear directly and then put it on through the Apparel tab in the Pip-Boy.

• Mr. Demonic backpack – This cosmetic can be found at any Armor Workbench in game (in the world or at a C.A.M.P.). Through the modify option, the backpack can be added to an already existing Small or Standard Backpack.

DOOM: The Dark Ages: Butcher DOOM Slayer Skin

• This cosmetic can be found in the main menu. Under Extras, select Slayer Skins to change your skin.

DOOM Eternal: Lux Slayer Special Edition Set, Nightmare Marauder Special Edition Set, Majestic Archvile Special Edition Set

• In the main menu, under Customize, select Slayer, Archvile, or Marauder to change your skins and weapons skins. You can also choose Profile to change your nameplate and icon.

Is it worth it? I’m sure many here will be scrambling over to do so, but remember – your email won’t be scared, that shit will be shared. I’d recommend using an email mask.

The link to follow to Bethesda’s site for this is right here

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Polygon? Polygone:

"It was a good website. I doubt I'll ever find a place like it for the rest of my career"

While Polygon isn’t dead and gone, per se, it is completely changed – having been bought out, run under a new owner (Valnet), and laying off the majority of its employees

Its fitting that the site is basically a shell of its former self, right as DOOM: The Dark Ages has launched.

Some here might remember that YouTube video: there’s a reason they turned the comments off for this one. The now legendary video of one of their staff failing to play Doom 2016 at a level hitherto undreamed of. Basic movement in a 3-dimensional space was too daunting for this person who worked at a video game website.

That classic video, a YouTube link, is here – if you want to cringe and wonder what were they thinking?!

Bye, Polygon!

If you’d like to read some nice statements from former and fired eomployees who worked for Polygon, then follow this link to aftermath (not the Dr. Dre and Eminem kind), each of these are really interesting, and kinda made me sad, tbh

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Witcher 3 REDstream:

Since The Witcher 3 has turned 10 years old, its having a 10th anniversary episode of REDstreams, celebrating The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt anniversary.

Senior Community Managers Alicja Kozera and Amelia Korzycka will be joined by Doug Cockle, along with CDPR’s English Adaptation Director, Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz. Catch the stream on Monday, May 19th at 5 PM CEST on:

• YouTube link here

• Twitch link here

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Revenge of the Savage Planet:

The game has released, and while its change the perspective from first-person to third-person, it’s a definite upgrade in my eyes. It’s a FUN game, if you like platforming (unexpectedly there’s a lot!)

Revenge of the Savage Planet is an upbeat, satirical action adventure Sci-Fi. Jump, shoot and collect your way across vibrant alien worlds, uncovering new gear and upgrades, while discovering various hidden secrets.

I’ve been playing the game via Game Pass, so I am less invested with any shortcomings since I haven’t paid for it.

But here’s a statement by the devs, which I found cute:

• You can find the store page for it here on Steam

• And also on GOG – though it shows as ‘coming soon’ there, at the time I write this anyway

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Nintendo Switch Box Art:

Maybe you remember a few of these posts ago I shared some alternatve Switch covers that are made by fans. One section just loves changing the fact that the default covers come with red and white standardized spines – and are dedicated to providing full-color alternatives to that.

These are more a complete package change on the Switch’s box art. As this generation winds down with weeks left on it (offically) being the Nintendo console, I thought I’d share some others I’ve found that are just so very fun:

Warning, far-too-many images will follow, because I’m so taken by the creativity and imagination people have while making these:

(and they even make them in cassette tape box style!!!)

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Epic Games Clues:

The clues for next week’s myster games are up – free games 3, 4 and 5. Guessing this kinda thing is way beyond me, but I do see people get it right, off-and-on. This last week’s free games included Dead Island 2, so while they might not be of that level, it’s exciting knowing this is Epic’s event time (its coinciding with Epic’s own Epic Sale – running from May 15th to June 12th).

Here’s the ‘clues’ (I use the term loosely because they are not cluey to me!)

Epic also now increased their ‘Epic Rewards’ program. You will get 20% of you game’s purchase price back to your rewards (until August 31st) – so if you’re looking to buy two games,

• Buy one now, wait 14 days for the rewards to be applied to your account
• Buy the other one, applying that 20% back from the other, off the price of this second game

...or don’t, I get tired of the Epic-is-shit-hate comments and DM’s I get off and on when I cover their news.

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Delisted from Steam:

Steam is delisting Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon and Sanctus Reach on May 19th. Delistings are never good news, for anyone. If you want to pick them up on Steam you can get them at the best price I’ve found via Fanatical:

Here with this link

But you can also buy them on GOG:

• Sanctus Reach is -80% off on GOG with this link

• Armageddon is -70% off on GOG with this link

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Stellar Blade:

Stellar Blade’s coming to PC, but with the typical caveats:

• Come with Denuvo DRM
• No support for FSR 4
• Stupid damn PSN region-lock

Now, that region lock is the most obvious offender here, this is a handy graphic which shows you what countries are unable to buy the game:

And another reminder, this region-lock is in place for gamers in these countries for all of Sony’s games. You just cannot (legally) buy these games in these countries.

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Quick News:

• Denuvo has been removed from Life is Strange: Double Exposure

• Capcom has reported eight consecutive years of profits as Monster Hunter Wilds has hit over 10.1m copies sold

• Heroic Games Launcher support threads are now publicly indexed. From hereon in, new support threads which are created on Heroic’s Discord server will be indexed and easily findable with search engines – all thanks to Answer Overflow. Right now, existing threads are also being indexed

• Steam’s monthly ‘top releases’ chart has gotten a refresh - expanded to now include top 50 releases, and historical data waaay back to 2004

• Star Wars: Outlaws has released update 1.6 and the patchnotes for what’s included are here in the link to UbiSoft’s site

• Xbox insiders get new ways to personalize their home screen. Not for everyone yet, but this looks promising since the home screen is covered by giant tiles (and ads)(https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/05/16/xbox-insiders-get-new-ways-to-personalize-home/)

• Epic Games has updated their search to have a new look, which while not the most news-worthy of things, for Epic this is rather big news indeed (their news is rare)

• Bruno of Winlator is back, after taking a break due to the outcry when a virus was discovered in a Winlator build was discovered. Hopefully he sticks around!

• Rainbow 6 Seige X will be on Game Pass Ultimate, day one on release which is June 10th.

• GTA V is continuing to sell 5 million copies every 3 months, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is now the "best-selling title of the past 7 years in the US"

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Games I’m Recommending:

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I thought it might be nice to recommend a couple of games I’ve enjoyed playing lately!

The Precinct:

Game’s launch trailer here on YouTube

Averno City, 1983. Gangs rule the streets and your father lies restless in his grave. Clean up the city, uncover the truth, and embark on thrilling vehicle chases through destructible environments in this neon-noir action sandbox police game.

I wasn’t around for the original GTA games – that isometric view gameplay, but I did enjoy one done in the same style: Chinatown Wars. I played that on my (beloved) Nintendo DSi for a work trip some time ago and just LOVED every second of it. So when I heard about this game, being an almost spiritual successor (I know, from the perspective of the police) at least in the view and gameplay...I had to get it.

You are Officer Nick Cordell Jr. As a rookie beat cop fresh out of the Academy, you’re on the front line of defence for Averno’s citizens. Dive into a world of thrilling car chases, sandbox crimes, and a healthy dose of 1980s noir as you protect the populace and solve the mystery of your father’s murder in the line of duty.

The game looks beautiful and if you’re on handheld it even has its own dedicated Steam Deck settings preset, which runs wonderfully. I’ve run into plenty of bugs, but they’re honestly the smallest things – nothing really impedes my fun or gameplay. For an indie game, this one is really fun. The neo-noir 1980s setting and visuals looks utterly beautiful on the Steam Deck’s OLED, and on a desktop PC it really shines. It needs patches, it’s quite basic, and I suppose it’s not a must-play by any means...I think its more the novelty of the hard-boiled detective voice over and the neon soaked streets. Its no masterpiece, but I do know I’m having fun. I’d say worth it after patches and on a good sale.

Now go and leave angry comments down below at how little this is actually like GTA – I know you want to.

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RUINER

You’ve probably played this, and I’d even say a good portion of readers here might even have it (knowingly, or not – looking at you Humble Bundle collectors!), but no matter what I can’t recommend Ruiner enough.

If you’re anything like me and love the setting of cyberpunk as a genre, then this one’s for you.

An action-shooter developed by indie devs Reikon Games. Set in the dystopian metropolis of Rengkok, you play as a masked protagonist controlled by a hacker (who calls you ‘puppy’), seeking vengeance against a corrupt corporate overlord.

The game features brutal, fast-paced combat with a variety of weapons and cybernetic abilities, all set to an amazing synthwave soundtrack. Seriously, this album is so good you’ll want to buy the physical vinyl record they released of it:

The typical inky black endless-night with crazy neon visuals, and an great tech-noir narrative, Ruiner is a massive recommendation by me. It’s also dead-cheap almost all of the time, on Steam and on places like Humble and Fanatical.

Now go get ‘em, Puppy.

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That's the end!

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I think this is all that caught my eye (okay, that's a lie, but this has really grown in word count and I'm sure 50% of you have exited the post in disgust at how rambling its ended up being), and as ever and always - I hope you've enjoyed what I've shared!

I'm always open to hearing what you think of these, any ideas or thoughts - they are just all kinda for you, no matter how you look at things. Some points have been made like:

• These are too long, can you just post each 'point' separately? - No, sorry, I just love writing them in this format. I know what you're saying (they seem to be getting longer and longer), but the format stays!

• You need a dedicated website for these! - In one regard I agree, and I am planning on it, but no matter what on that front, these will be posted first (who knows, maybe forever) on Lemmy - it's my contribution to the FOSS scene

...but if you've an idea or thoughts, do speak up!

Any mistakes, be they a forgotten link or poor formatting (or just plain wrong opinions of mine!) are entirely my own - this fact never changes :)

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My Previous News Posts:

• Steam Deck / Gaming News #2
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #3
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #4
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #5
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #6
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #7
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #8
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #9
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #10
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #11
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #12
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #13
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #14
• [Steam Deck / Gaming News #15(https://lemmy.world/post/29568047)

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My Mastodon:

Seems really cool. I haven't gotten to test it out yet, so I'm not sure how well steam game licenses work with it yet

I have my steam deck mostly in my dock on my big screen but I been needing a controller for it.

Does anybody know a good brand that's not Xbox or PlayStation or Nintendo that supports Linux and there software for there controller works on the steam deck to be able to adjust the settings on the controller?

Preferably with holo joystick and can work wirelessly or wired with back buttons like a steam deck.

I thought about 8bitdo buy there software don't work on Linux.

I'm considering it, and yet... considering not to. Like, if I'm travelling, I could put up a pngtuber, and run a light game. But also... Life before stream, amiright?

Have you used your SD for streaming to another platform? Was it pretty feasible? What should I consider dialing in? =3=

Starting today, new support threads that are created on discord will be indexed and be easily findable with search engines thanks to Answer Overflow. Right now, existing threads are being indexed.

The dedicated community link is here: https://www.answeroverflow.com/c/812703221789097985

I think this is crazily important. My biggest issue with Discord is that they have become the default hubs for issues and fixes. Over days, weeks, months and years those fixes get buried and harder to find, but the worst offender is that they are unindexable by default.

Its lovely to see someone doing this. I wish everyone would do this.

As ever, if you don't know Heroic, you can find their website with this link here

It’s been 5 days since I shared the last of these - where I share a roundup of all the interesting things I have spotted in gaming news. There’s a lot of different topics this week, but as always it remains Steam Deck, Linux, GOG, emulation, Switch and gaming in general!

My aim is to format these posts in a more personal manner than most gaming sites do now. Cozier? My ever-lasting inspo is the old, old video game sites, blogs and magazines that I never had the privilege of being alive for:

• image/gif/link heavy (I’m a big GIF fan – and I pronounce it with a hard ‘g’)
• personal voice (I can’t write professionally with hard-news style to save me)
• mostly news or articles or points you won’t find on normal gaming sites, these are the smaller, lesser things that I’m drawn to. I know you’ll have spotted the big news articles, so I’m hoping some of these smaller ones might have been missed by you.

So grab a coffee? Or a tea? Or a fresh juice? And enjoy <3

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Black Mesa – Resonance Decade Update:

You’ll no doubt know that Black Mesa itself is is a fan-made, far-higher-graphic’d-than-the-original remake of the classic 1998 first-person shooter Half-Life, developed by Valve. Originally created as a free mod by Crowbar Collective, it was later officially approved and released as a standalone commercial title in 2020.

These days it goes on steep discount quite often, plays really well on Steam Deck, and has just announced a huge update:

In celebration of our ten year anniversary on Steam, we’ve pushed our longstanding public beta to mainline. This update includes substantial improvements including:

• Fixes to startup related crashes
• Fixes to physics engine related crashes
• Steam Deck Improvements
• Linux Improvements

You can read the full (and extensive) patch notes on Steam with this link right here

And you can find the game for -90% off right now on Steam too, with this link to their page

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GTA IV Remaster?

I know, I know, there’s announcements regarding Rockstar games every two weeks or so predicting the fans great dreams...which end up as tears in the rain because they’re just that – rumors and nothing more.

Well, I’ll add another to the unending procession and let you know that the rumor mill (with great sources...as always) is saying that GTA IV is on its way “says Rockstar insider”.

And here’s an article detailing what’s going on, which refuses to embed as a link in my post for some reason, so you have to look at the long, ugly link instead: https://rockstarintel.com/gta-4-remaster-could-release-this-year-says-rockstar-insider/ https://rockstarintel.com/gta-4-remaster-could-release-this-year-says-rockstar-insider/)

IF it does come to fruition, I hope it gets the same treatment as say...the recent Tomb Raider remasters, or Crash Bandicoot/Spyro...not like the weird A.I. nonsense Rockstar got a phone game company to whip up for them with the trilogy semi-recently.

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Space Marine 2 – Modded:

The game takes on a new life. Honestly, not that it slowed down much, this game has had a lot of support and reviewed so nicely!

Last update that came out was about a month ago and added prestige for each class including 5-6 unlockable new perks each, unlockable free cosmetics, a new weapon, a new operation and the paid content included even more cosmetics for customisation.

And now, Saber releases the entire toolset to make modding the game easier for fan:

"As of today, we're releasing the official Integration Studio for public use," Space Marine 2 director Dmitry Grigorenko says. "This is the exact same editor we use internally for all gameplay development. No more editing files in Notepad and praying you didn't miss a bracket. Integration Studio makes editing anything… ten times faster, safer, and more intuitive."

Integration Studio gives Space Marine 2 modders access to the game's A.I. behavior trees; its level scenario editor; the tools for creating game modes and adjusting melee combat; and the means to tweak the AI director, UI and HUD elements, and visual effects. Saber says more functionality is still to come.

"This is only the beginning," Grigorenko continues. "Not long ago, I promised we would support the modding scene, and we meant it. Watching this community grow, push boundaries, and create incredible experiences has been both inspiring and humbling. We're excited to see what you build next, whether it's a cinematic campaign, wild new game mode, or something we never saw coming."

You can find the modding kit right here if you want it – sadly it’s a Discord link, but...its still here for you if you want it!

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Gothic 1 Remake:

It’s a long road for this game, and the game itself is quite niche to most (funnily enough the game is so well known and regarded in Poland – like a mini cultural phenomenon there, basically national treasures), but Alkima Interactive is taking the process of remaking the first Gothic game quite seriously.

The fans who have been following along with the project and updates have had the rare events of devs taking their feedback and changing direction or making changes because of their feedback and criticisms.

Anyway, the latest of their update videos showing progress with their Gothic 1 Remake demo is here

And you can also find the changelog to Nyras’ Prologue (the demo) here with this link to THQNordic’s site

And finally,

The Steam page for it is here, if you want to check it out

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A Webbing Journey:

I found a cute game from FireTotemGames called, you guessed it, A Webbing Journey. I’ve not got much to say on this one besides the fact it is ADORABLE, and has full Linux + Steam Deck support.

Sadly their GIFs are quite large in size, so I’m writing this while I save them, then I’ll try resize them – hope they don’t end up looking like low-res playdough blobs being animated, then hope I remember to take this paragraph out when I post this on Lemmy.

It releases soon (into my nemesis – Early Access) on May 19th – so let’s hope it is as good and cute as it looks?

Adorable spider chaos! Swing around the house, weave crazy structures, play with physics-based objects, and pull off chores with nothing but your webs and your wits in this madcap sandbox adventure.

Swing from place to place, crawl over every surface (even upside down!) and weave crazy webs in this adorable spider sandbox. 

Silky is a tiny hero on a big mission - to help their favourite humans! Baking cookies? Doing dishes? Watering plants? No task is too big if you’ve got the imagination (and the spiderwebs!) to pull it off!

The link to their Steam store page is right here, if you want to look!

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Junk Store Teaser:

The developer of Junk Store (who happens to be a good friend of mine!) has shared a ‘next gen sneak peek’ for what’s coming next for Junk Store on Steam Deck. I’ll just copy what he wrote, then I’ll link the video!

While things might appear calm on the surface, I’ve been working intensely behind the scenes to get Junk Store ready for launch. Right now, there’s only one known bug left to fix on my end. The rest is mostly polish—help screens, UI touch-ups, and general quality-of-life improvements.

The core systems seem stable, but of course, we’ll see what happens when the software makes contact with actual users. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the new systems I’ve added. When testing the extension generator, I realized it was just too complicated for most users—so I built this instead. The video’s rough, but it should give you something to speculate about while I finish up the last bits. Hope you enjoy it—can’t wait for you all to try it out.

You can find the video here, if you’d like to see what features he teased will be available and able-to-be-generated for the next iteration of Junk Store

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Unity Still Quite Awful:

RocketWerkz, an independent game studio founded by Dean Hall (creator of DayZ), is facing a serious licensing dispute with Unity Technologies. On May 9th, Unity sent a vague compliance warning threatening to revoke the studio’s license access by May 16th, citing improper use of Unity Personal licenses instead of Pro licenses. When RocketWerkz requested clarification, Unity responded with a list of alleged violations—including names and emails of individuals who either don't work on Unity projects, already have Pro licenses, or are entirely unaffiliated with RocketWerkz. Two names belonged to employees at a different local company, raising serious concerns about how Unity collects and applies its data.

Dean Hall has criticized Unity's enforcement tactics as flawed, opaque, and aggressive, warning it reflects a worrying trend in the company's direction. Although RocketWerkz has moved away from Unity for future projects—favoring Unreal Engine and their own BRUTAL engine—the issue still affects two active games: Stationeers and the unreleased Torpedia. Despite having spent over $300,000 on Unity since 2014, including a recent $43,000 payment in December 2024, RocketWerkz now faces a potential halt to ongoing development based on what appears to be faulty or misattributed data.

I’d encourage you to read through the entirety of it. Sadly it is on Reddit, but you can find it here in the r/gamedev sub-reddit with this link

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Black Salt Games:

The developers to one of my favorite games ever (DREDGE) shared a post detailing the fact that:

Last year, we donated $100,000 to the NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust for a new boat, truck and other costs. They have sent us some photos of their boat "Pahu" in action which will help to aid their important conservation work, researching and protecting marine species all around Aotearoa.

They further detailed their beliefs in another post:

We are proud to support The Whale and Dolphin Trust in their mission and encourage fans of DREDGE to learn more about our oceans and conservation efforts. In the wise words of the great David Attenborough " the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea."

I love them, and this is why I support independent developers.

Here are just a few images they shared of the Pahu!

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GEX:

The GEX Trilogy releases on June 16th. From what I can gather (aside from the fact that I learned Glen Schofield of Dead Space fame directed the third game) the wise-cracking one liners might have aged poorly, but then again I don’t expect this trilogy is aimed at my generation, but from a few before me:

In addition to revealing the game's release date, we've also announced that GEX 2 and GEX 3 will be playable in native widescreen with all-new analog control, letting you experience GEX like never before! Now that's what I call getting some tail!

We also revealed some new artwork by famed Japanese artist, Yoshitaka Amano! You might know him from his work on a lesser known Square Enix franchise, so it made sense to finally give him the opportunity to illustrate their best one – GEX!

The link to that announcement is here if you want to see it!

---

Palworld Disappointed:

Nintendo is, as ever, a shitty company for the community. I understand that they hold the nostalgia carrot over everyone’s head (or at least those over a cetain old age), but their practices lately have been a little more than shitty.

Palworld developer Pocketpair has confirmed significant game changes which were forced by the ongoing lawsuit from Nintendo. [Nintendo and The Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocketpair last year, seeking an injuction and damages, and all Hell broke loose when we all saw that Nintendo was trademarking nonsense to inflict damage

I’m going to copy the statement that Pocketpair made, and just paste it here, because I think this one should be read in full. So what follows isn’t my words, but theirs:

We would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for the continued support of our fans over the past few months. We apologize for not being able to share as much information as we would like, but we trust our fans understand how difficult it is to be fully transparent while litigation is ongoing.

Currently, we remain involved in prolonged legal proceedings regarding alleged patent infringement. We continue to dispute these claims and assert the invalidity of the patents in question. However, we have had to make certain compromises in order to avoid disruptions to the development and distribution of Palworld.

On November 30th, 2024, we released Patch v0.3.11 for Palworld. This patch removed the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pal Spheres and instead changed it to a static summon next to the player. Several other game mechanics were also changed with this patch. As many have speculated, these changes were indeed a result of the ongoing litigation. Everyone here at Pocketpair was disappointed that this adjustment had to be made, and we fully understand that many players feel the same frustration. Unfortunately, as the alternative would have led to an even greater deterioration of the gameplay experience for players, it was determined that this change was necessary.

Furthermore, we regret to inform our players that with the implementation of Patch v0.5.5, we must make yet another compromise. From this patch onward, gliding will be performed using a glider rather than with Pals. Pals in the player's team will still provide passive buffs to gliding, but players will now need to have a glider in their inventory in order to glide. We understand that this will be disappointing for many, just as it is for us, but we hope our fans understand that these changes are necessary in order to prevent further disruptions to the development of Palworld.

We also want to extend our apologies to our fans for the discomfort and concern this ongoing litigation has caused. We remain committed to developing Palworld and delivering exciting new content to our fans.

On behalf of everyone at Pocketpair and Team Palworld, thank you again for your continued support.

---

Expedition 33 #1:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s soundtrack has hit number one on Billboard’s classical album charts!

After selling over two million copies in under two weeks, Emmanuel Macron hailed it as “a shining example of French audacity and creativity”, and with 48,502 reviews on Steam holding a Very Positive rating, the achievements clearly haven’t stopped.

The soundtrack for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has achieved over 18 million track streams since its release on April 24. With the soundtrack being made up 154 tracks, making for 8 hours of music.

If you’d like to get a taste, then follow this YouTube link and see the full orchestra session for Session 33’s music!

---

Crow Country:

If you know me well enough, you’ll know I hate the old before-my-time ‘tank controls’, I’ve experienced the excitement on seeing the original Resident Evil games on GOG – then the subsequent hatred of tank controls. The same with Dino Crisis (can they PLEASE remake that in modern style for me?!) and...now Crow Country.

But for some reason, Crow Country has charmed me enough to look past the bane of my existence and love it anyway. Go figure.

Crow Country

The year is 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, Crow Country. But your arrival has broken the silence, Mara Forest. If you want answers, you’ll have to venture deep into the darkness of Crow Country to find them…

It is pure nostalgia for the old survival horror games on the PS1 (Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis), and it’s beautiful. So very, very atmospheric and also so reasonably priced for what it is!

What I do not like is seeing fucking stupid reviews like this one I found on GOG upon release:

You should check it out, you can find the GOG page link here, if you’re up to being kinda scared and love theme parks, but also if you’re wondering whether you should dye your hair purple and cut it shoulder-length like the adorable protagonist...or maybe that’s just me?

---

GOG’s Dynamic Pricing:

No one can explain this better than GOG themselves (I feel like I’m doing very little of my own writing for this News Post!), so I’ll paste their announcement here for you:

"Hello everyone!

We’ve just launched the first batch of bundles with fully functioning dynamic pricing. It’s a feature many of you might recognize from other platforms, but for those who don’t, here’s how it works:

When purchasing a bundle, you only pay for the items you don’t already own, making it easy to complete your collection without spending more than necessary.

We know this has been a long-requested feature, and that the lack of it has been frustrating for many of you. That’s why we’re super excited to finally start introducing it to the store, and we hope you’re just as happy to see it live.

Now, what do we mean by “start introducing” and “first batch of bundles”?

Well, right now this dynamic pricing system is available for 24 bundles in the store (you’ll find the full list in my comment below). We'll continue expanding this feature to more and more bundles – new and old – with the goal of eventually covering the vast majority (if not all) of them. You’ll know a bundle has dynamic pricing from the information displayed under its price on the game page.

Note: If you already own all components of a dynamically priced bundle, you’ll be able to “claim” that bundle in the store so it shows as owned.

You might also be wondering: What about various game editions that include base games + DLCs?

We completely agree that bringing dynamic pricing to those would be a huge improvement, for both you and us. It’s something we’re actively looking into, and we hope to expand the system in that direction. We can’t promise an ETA just yet, but we’re optimistic it’ll happen sooner rather than later.

That’s all for now! Give this new system a try, see how it works for you, and let us know what you think.

Thank you all for your support! :)"

I can say that there’s been some issues, but it’s a big task, so they are working so hard on ironing these out. You can read it best in this post they made on their GOG forum – with users chiming in with the issues they might have encountered

Irrespective, I’m so happy to see this has arrived on GOG!

---

Silent Hill 2 (Remake) on GOG:

More GOG news (with one more to follow this one!) in that in a surprise announcement without preamble, Silent Hill 2 released on GOG! There’s nothing I can say here that you don’t already know I’m sure, but it was nice seeing a bit of a ‘shadow drop’ for a game, especially one of such calibre.

It’s also great seeing Konami being more and more open to DRM-free gaming in recent times. If you want to support this (it sounds crass, but only by buying the games on GOG can we show the companies that it is a viable idea), then you can find the link:

Here! On GOG’s page

---

Old Skies:

I can't be the only one who thinks the character design from Old Skies is totally copying Remedy's Control with Jesse Faden, right?

---

Quick Fire News:

---

• Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is on Steam – this is the VR game which has been stripped of VR requirements, so let’s face it will probably play weirdly

• RailGods of Hysterra – Early Access releases on Steam: Lovecraftian...living...train(?) management game?

• Mafia: The Old Country contains Denuvo DRM (boo, hiss)

• Slitterhead however has removed Denuvo DRM (yay!)

• Valve issues a cease and desist to Counter-Strike: Classic Offensive mod team – after 8 years of development

• Dinosaur Planet: Recompiled (the N64 title) has a static recompilation of the prototype here on GitHub

• The Nintendo Switch has now sold 152.12 million units worldwide! 8 million behind the PS2’s numbers

• Split Fiction has sold nearly 4 million copies since launch!

---

Emulation/Retro Gaming-ish News:

---

Sega Saturn turns 30:

Two days ago the Sega Saturn officially turned 30 years old, in North America anyway. Ironically, the beginning of the end of Sega’s hardware efforts, not that anyone knew it at the time. Seen as a fair misfit, it’s a pretty impressive library of games when you look back on it now – but it was the release of this, the Sega CD and the 32X all within a year that threw things into a spin.

Still, happy birthday, Saturn.

---

Eden Emulator:

Another (yes, I know) Nintendo Switch emulator for Android phones has hit the scene. Still in pre-alpha (though they released another version a number of hours ago with a fair changelog for their short time as testament to their efforts.

It’s yet another Yuzu fork, so I won’t hold my breath, but it has the Android emulation scene in a bit of a buzz, so it has to be doing some things right.

• Much of the team come from Citron

• The team has already reached out to Sudachi developer Jarrod Norwell to collaborate.

• It has a new UI

The GitHub is here

---

Nintendo’s Account Agreement:

This one has people in a bit of a panic, but Nintendo has updated its Account Agreement to crack down on piracy and emulation. Basically, unauthorised use of digital products may now render them—or even your device—unusable. This however has been done before in the past by Nintendo (most notably and similarly with their 3DS line-up), and really means little. It is scare tactics only, and quite impossible to enforce.

To reiterate: Nintendo's new terms warn that violating usage rules could let them 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵, 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 - effectively bricking it. Or, again, that’s what they’re saying can happen (as someone with extensive Switch modding experience, I say ‘good luck’)

But if you’d like more on this – you can read it here on this link to eurogamer’s article on it

---

Mario Party 4 Decompiled:

Mario Party 4 becomes the first decompiled Mario Party and Game Cube game – and there is a PC port in the works!

You can watch a video on YouTube about this here, made by MattKC Bytes

---

LACED:

I found this lovely statement recently, retro enthusiast Lorentio Brodesco developed what they call ‘LACED’, a low-cost method to delayer and reverse-engineer vintage console PCBs using tools like a 5W laser engraver and common chemicals — all for under €200. This technique, accurate to 3–10 microns, helps preserve the inner workings of classic hardware that are often undocumented or deteriorating. The full method is open-source and available on GitHub to support restoration, cloning, and historical preservation in the retro gaming community.

The statement made has a few lovely quotes, but I’ll just share my fav:

A little over a year ago, I started a journey to understand and preserve the inner workings of retro consoles — beginning with a PlayStation 1 motherboard I literally sanded by hand to expose its inner copper layers.

No microscope. No budget. Just curiosity, paper, and a dream.

That project evolved. I wanted something more precise, more replicable, and open to anyone with passion and patience.

You can find the GitHub here with this link!

---

Calibre:

This comment just made my day. If you have an e-reader, and don’t use Calibre, then you need to follow this link and change that fact. I utterly swear by it

Anyway, I just wanted to leave this here because they’re using RSS to read what I post on their Kobo, and that’s amazing to me!

---

What have you been playing?:

I like to ask this off and on, because my fav thing is matching game choices to usernames. Some of your names I recognize from commenting on posts I make here (which is rather lovely), and some are new...one thing remains – I love hearing what you’ve been playing!

I recently picked up a Japanese OLED Switch on my travels (in Thailand!), and took it along with me when I then skipped to Malaysia, and in Plaza Low Yat I found someone who had the equipment and let me use it (for a fee) to mod my OLED. Happily, I’m well and truly back into Switch gaming (and those sweet, sweet custom firmware themes I can use).

I’ve been playing modded Breath of The Wild for the 70928753753457th time on there. But its still such fun.

On my Steam Deck I’ve started BioShock: Infinite (my fav of the three), but might leave that for later and go replay Control.

But that’s unimportant, because what is important is you sharing what you’ve been enjoying! AAA? AA? (UbiSoft’s short-lived AAAA?). Emulation? Indies? Let us all know!!!

---

What I have been up to:

---

I recently shared on Lemmy an interview I did with Mathieu Comandon, whom you might know as the one responsible for Lutris!

You can find the link to that interview here, if you haven’t read through and would like to!

I’ve had a developer friend help me contact the team behind The RomM Project and I’m hoping to soon do the same style and kind of interview with them, and share it with you all here! Very much looking forward to this, since RomM is so utterly unique in this gaming space.

I also shared an interview recently with the entire team who are behind Heroic Games Launcher, again if you haven’t read through – you can find it right here with this link to it on Lemmy

---

Further:

---

If you’d like to reach me, I wrote a handy little post on Mastodon recently with my contact details. Just the (very few) FOSS spaces I occupy these days

---

Lastly:

---

I have been asked quite often here, and on Mastodon, and on Matrix (which surprises me to no end, each and every time that this even gets asked!) how can I support you?

I’m making a back-up of my posts, and I will host them somewhere else. But as I say each time, I like to think of this as my way of contributing to Lemmy, FOSS and open-source social spaces. I love that my words and posts are in one place – that it has a slight chance of making someone stick around.

I’ve no interest in making a Patreon (I loathe news and review sites who offer this, but that’s my own personal view), or a Ko-Fi. I do these because I love to.

That said, as someone whose Steam library is 40-ish games big, and you’ve got to send me something?

Send a worldwide (since I am not in the ‘States!) Steam key to me!

My Steam Deck has existed almost entirely as a GOG Deck, and I’ve recently been looking at Steam games again (I have to say, the cloud saves and shader cache is worth its weight in gold sometimes)

BUT - remember, I do this because I love writing them, not for some Machiavellian plot to pivot and benefit. I’m just glad you’re all here, and reading these :)

---

My Previous News Posts:

• Steam Deck / Gaming News #2
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #3
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #4
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #5
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #6
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #7
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #8
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #9
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #10
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #11
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #12
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #13
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #14

---

My Mastodon:

I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I probably get a few hours of deck time a month.

Between long periods of no use, is it better to leave it plugged in and charged, or is it better to let it run out of battery and stay discharged for extended periods?

The TL;DR: The game won't launch on current steamOS, but preview build 3.7.6 fixes the launch issue.

Unfortunately the game is unable to maintain decent frame rates even with severe reductions in graphical settings.

The drastic decrease in performance compared to Doom 2016/Doom Eternal is due to the game using mandatory ray tracing for lighting.

It's possible that we'll see some patches or mods that improve performance, but at launch it will not be a good deck experience.

EDIT: Not sure why Lemmy is embedding that youtube video, there's an actual article about the performance, and there's a different video on how the Steam Deck itself actually performs with the game.

Does anyone else see this? Every time I wake up my Deck to continue playing no gamepad input is accepted by the game only keyboard and mouse.

Might be because I'm not running SteamOS but OpenSUSE and start the game from KDE Plasma. But maybe this is an issue on regular Steam Decks as well I can report.

Edit: It's a bug in Proton 10. Thanks guys!

A while ago I had the good fortune of organizing a fair-sized interview with one member of the team behind Lutris.

Lutris itself is an open gaming platform for Linux (obviously, including the Steam Deck!). Lutris helps you install and play video games from all eras and from most gaming systems. By leveraging and combining existing emulators, engine re-implementations and compatibility layers, it gives you a central interface to launch all your games. The client can connect with existing services like Humble Bundle, GOG and Steam to make your game libraries easily available. Game downloads and installations are automated and can be modified through user made scripts.

You can find more information about Lutris before you read this little interview (or after, that’s up to you!) by visiting these links:

• Lutris official website
• Their Discord link
• Their own forum on their site
• The GitHub page

One last thing to note before posting this is that I did this interview some months ago, back when I was a stalwart Reddit user and contributing a lot to the Steam Deck / Linux scene on there.

Nothing here is out-of-date, and it’s still a damn fine interview (if I may say so myself!), I just wanted it shared here on Lemmy.

I hope you enjoy it :)

This interview is held with Mathieu Comandon.

---

Introduction and Background:

---

Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Lutris and how it got started? I see that you initially made Oblivion Launcher, so this has clearly been your passion for a long time. What sparked you to jump from that to Lutris?

Mathieu Comandon: "I had recently switched to Linux as my main OS, after using it on secondary machines for a while. I still wanted to play my games but at the time, it meant reading tutorials that would get outdated really fast or only worked on one distro. Getting games to run on Linux could become a very frustrating experience at times but it seemed that this could be considerably improved."

In a more broad sense, what was the inspiration behind creating Lutris?

"Around that time I was using Cedega, a proprietary fork of Wine with a nice GUI. I wanted something similar but open source but I didn't want to limit myself to Wine games like Cedega or PlayOnLinux did. I wanted support for all games that could run on Linux, which included native games and emulators."

Can you give us a brief overview of your team's background and how you came together to develop it?

"These days, the team is mostly Daniel Johnson, who does an enormous amount of user support on Github and GloriousEggroll who provides builds for Proton-GE. Then there's the Open Wine Components project that encompasses other gaming projects and regular contributors on Github.

There's also a very active moderation team on the Discord server.

There's no fixed team structure, anyone can just come and go, do their own thing."

How has Lutris itself evolved since its initial release?

"15 years ago, gaming on Linux was very experimental. With the evolution that happened in the past years, it's now something we have integrated in our lives. Games running on Linux is now the norm. So instead of tinkering, we can shift our focus on making sure games keep running in the years to come, particularly games that are no longer being sold."

Please tell me about your logo for Lutris!

"The initial logo (the version with the Atari joystick) was designed by a friend of mine at the time and later received some updates to make it more readable at small sizes. It was always meant to take inspiration from Mozilla's logos. A lot of projects have an animal as their logo: PHP, Postgres, Firefox... so I wanted my own animal mascot. I picked the otter because it's an animal that likes to play!"

---

Features and Functionality:

---

What are the key features that set Lutris apart from other game launchers? There is a few now who offer similar capabilities, what makes Lutris so unique?

"Lutris is the only launcher on Linux to support such a wide array of games from all platforms. Most launchers focus on Wine but Wine is only one of the 54 runners we currently support. The idea is to be able to build a collection of all the games you have played during your lifetime, easily accessible and playable."

How does Lutris integrate with Steam, especially on the Steam Deck?

"The Steam integration is much more basic now than it once was when we used to run Steam in Wine. Running Steam games from Lutris only calls Steam with the correct Steam ID, the options in Lutris don't apply to the Steam game. For the Steam Deck, it's the opposite: Running Lutris games in Steam. We have a feature for creating shortcuts for Lutris games in the Steam UI. In the next release of Lutris, we'll also have better support for running games with umu on the Steam Deck (it makes it possible to use Proton instead of Wine)."

Could you explain how Lutris handles the management and optimization of non-native games?

"We call runner any program that can launch games, native games being the only games that don't require one. We provide binaries for those runners, which get updated on a more or less regular basis. The important is not using the latest version but having a version that can run games really well. For example, we ship DOSBox Staging to provide a better experience for DOS games. Wine / Proton is the only runner that receives some patching."

What features do you think are the most underappreciated by users?

"Certainly the collection management and non Wine games aspects. I often see people with less than 10 games on Lutris and all mostly Wine based. On my end, I have over 1300 installed games for a variety of platforms. Sadly, the fact that people have switched from HDDs to SSDs doesn't help building a large video game collection."

---

Development and Community:

---

How do you prioritize and manage feature requests and bug reports from the community? I see you have such a sizable community built up around you (which speaks volumes to your skills as a programmer), can you describe what goes into prioritizing bugs or features?

"If something is broken and impacts significantly the usage of Lutris then that gets the highest priority. Then comes the pull requests submitted by contributors. Bugs that can't be reproduced or features that would only interest a small portion of users get the lowest priority."

Can you share any interesting stories or challenges you faced during the development of Lutris?

"Between 2011 and 2012, the development of Lutris had crawled almost to a halt because of a game called Minecraft.

At numerous times, maintaining the project felt very overwhelming and it was often difficult to deal with that. I often resorted to measures that were more or less clumsy but however gave me some breathing space (for a few months, reporting issues was only allowed to previous contributors, for example). Nowadays, managing the project is much easier. I put less pressure on myself to try and micro-manage everything and I get some precious help from the community to help me with Github."

How important has community feedback been in shaping Lutris? Can you give an example of a community-driven feature that you ended up implementing?

"The community has a tendency to push for the adoption of newer technologies while I have a tendency to hold back a bit before we adopt anything new. Some people use lutris on quite outdated systems and we try not breaking anything until a distribution gets really old. Finding the right balance is quite an art but the community helps in knowing what is needed and which systems can be dropped.

Also, a few runners we have were entirely written by community members. Translations are another aspect that is heavily driven by the community."

How do you foster a positive and engaged community around Lutris? Your discord in particular are so positive about your product, how do you encourage your users to participate and contribute

"I don't have the time to do much on Discord but there is an amazing moderation team. Troublemakers are kicked out really fast which keeps the vibe on the server positive. Personally, I tend to engage more with the community on Github and Mastodon."

---

Technical Aspects:

---

What technologies and programming languages is Lutris built on?

"The desktop client is using Gtk 3, the website uses Django. Both are written in Python. We also have a moderation dashboard written in VueJS."

Can you discuss the challenges and solutions in ensuring compatibility across various Linux distributions?

"We've been shipping a set of libraries with Lutris trying to increase compatibility across distros. This isn't a perfect solution but works for the most part. This is the approach Steam used to have. Now, similarly to Steam, we are transitioning to a container based approach, whether it's pressure vessel with umu or Flatpak."

How do you approach optimizing performance for different hardware configurations, especially for the Steam Deck?

"We don't really have anything in place that target specific devices. We do however provide many option to let users find the best possible setting for their games."

How do you handle the rapid changes and updates, do the Steam Deck's updates ever affect what you do?

"There are some breakages once in a while but so far the Steam Deck with its immutable OS has been pretty stable. We're still working on providing support for using Proton on the Deck's game mode but it's coming soon."

---

Future Plans:

---

What are your short-term and long-term goals for Lutris?

"Short term is the release of Lutris 0.5.18. It will contain all the fixes and improvements made during the past few months, but nothing really groundbreaking. In the longer term, we're going to start working on a "Big picture mode" (integration with OpenGamepadUI) and cloud saves."

Are there any upcoming features or improvements you’re particularly excited about?

"The 2 I mentioned earlier, cloud saves and fullscreen UI are very important. We also need a better rating system and better support for Flatpak (by making the Lutris Flatpak very thin and using other Flatpaks to run games)"

How do you see Lutris evolving with the advancements in gaming technology and hardware?

"That mostly depends on upstream projects like Gamescope, VKD3D, Mesa or Plasma. We used to lack a lot of features of newer hardware like HDR or ray tracing. Now, we have pretty much every feature used in games like DLSS, FSR3, HDR, etc... Now, we're only lacking in anti-cheat support."

What is your vision for the future of gaming on Linux?

"Projects like the Steam Deck and Playtron are going to help push gaming on Linux outside of the Linux community and make it available to a wider audience. Maybe we'll finally see game consoles for the TV using Linux. The new trend of handhelds is nice but it's not the best way to experience games with graphics pushed to their highest settings."

---

Community and Support:

---

What are the best ways for users to get involved with the Lutris community?

"Easiest way is to join the Discord server. That's where most of the non-development stuff happens. We might get a bridged Matrix room at some point too."

How can users contribute to the development or support of Lutris?

"For development, we have a list of open tickets on Github, and if someone wants to implement something new, I recommend creating a ticket if one doesn't exist. Sometimes, some contributors send a patch which doesn't fit the project and we don't merge it. We want to avoid that kind of situation, especially for substantial patches. Supporting the project financially is very much appreciated. There are Patreon, Paypal and Liberapay Lutris accounts that can be used for donations. We don't accept cryptocurrency though."

What resources do you offer for new users to get started with Lutris?

"The goal for Lutris is to not require any ressources to get started so if anything is missing or unclear, report it as a bug."

How do you address user support and ensure issues are resolved efficiently?

"In a lot of user support for Lutris means troubleshooting generic Linux issues. That's we have both a Lutris Support and Linux Support channels in our Discord server. Usually, when something is broken in Lutris, we'll start getting multiple reports for it and we prioritize those issues first."

---

Closing Thoughts:

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What advice would you give to aspiring developers who want to create their own game launchers or similar tools?

"Build a very small project that solves a real and specific issue you have and try to make it work. If it solves your problem, it may continue evolving into something bigger."

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about Lutris or your team?

"When I started working on Lutris, I had no idea it would reach this size. I initially imagined it would mostly be picked up by the community and I would focus on other project. But then Linux gaming got really big (Vulkan happened) and with it Lutris got bigger too and at this point it was clear no one was going to take over. Lutris was becoming a recognized open source project and I was invited to events like WineConf and Ubuntu Summit. After a lot of perceverance, it really paid off!"

What has been the most rewarding aspect of developing Lutris for you personally?

"It has been an excellent learning experience in plenty of fields. And it has certainly helped me get jobs more easily. But the best reward is Lutris itself. Being able to manage a large library of games spreading over decades and multiple systems."

---

I hope you enjoyed this, and coming up (once I write the questions up and get them all done) I have:

• AA of Decky Loader
• Eben of Junk Store
• Gardiner Bryant of YouTube

...and some more I won't name just yet! Thanks again for giving me a space I can share these :)