Steam Play For Linux Now Runs Windows-Exclusive Games !!!!!!!

[Abarbarian]

Introducing a new version of Steam Play

In 2010, we announced Steam Play: a way for Steam users to access Windows, Mac and Linux versions of Steam games with a single purchase. More than 3000 of the games that have been added to Steam after that point have included Linux support, with more titles being added every day. Since then, we've continued to look for ways to make more titles easily accessible to Linux users.

So, two years ago, we started an effort to improve the quality and performance of Windows compatibility solutions for Steam games. A lot of our work has been in the form of supporting Wine[www.winehq.org] and other existing compatibility projects. We have also been integrating these tools into the Steam client to provide the same simple plug-and-play experience offered by regular Linux games.

Valve Changes Everything:

I had to blink a few times at today's news from Valve HQ. While we knew it was working on something special to run Windows games on the Steam for Linux client, I didn't expect an announcement this huge, and I didn't expect it so soon. Let's not draw out the suspense. Here's a quote directly from Valve: "Windows games with no Linux version currently available can now be installed and run directly from the Linux Steam client, complete with native Steamworks and OpenVR support."
Valve just dropped what's arguably the biggest and most exciting news to hit Linux in years.

Steam Play brings Windows games to Linux

The updated Steam Play, now available in public beta, does away with this, adding in the ability to play Windows titles directly from the Steam for Linux client. The trick is the same workaround that Linux users have been using since the first Steam for Windows client release, only built in. Proton, Valve explains, is a customised version of the Wine Windows compatibility layer with various tweaks specific to Steam and particular games. When a game is marked as compatible, it appears in the SteamOS & Linux section of the Steam Library with a note that it is playable via Steam Play; users can then install and play the game as though it was a native Linux release.

The full list of Windows-based games compatible with the beta is below.

• Beat Saber
• Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
• Doki Doki Literature Club!
• DOOM
• DOOM II: Hell on Earth
• DOOM VFR
• Fallout Shelter
• FATE
• FINAL FANTASY VI
• Geometry Dash
• Google Earth VR
• Into The Breach
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013
• Mount & Blade
• Mount & Blade: With Fire & Sword
• NieR: Automata
• PAYDAY: The Heist
• QUAKE
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• Tekken 7
• The Last Remnant
• Tropico 4
• Ultimate Doom
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade
• Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm

I gave the Steam Play a whirl on my Arch set up and it runs ok. I made the alterations to allow me to try out games not on the starter list.

I had to start and shutdown Steam several times before all my Windows games were available from Arch. Once the Windows games were available I decide to try out some games I have in play at the moment.

Alan Wake ---- runs well, has saves from Windows games

Batman Arkham Asylum GOTY ------ does absolutely nothing at all

Dead Space --- Seems to start up ok, no saves from Windows games,plays first set scene with great graphics, but will not let the player move, so it is a nearly playable

Half Life Episode 2 ---- plays fine and has saves from Windows playing

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl ----- plays well, tried to add on a mod but the game then refused to start, standard game runs just fine

Serious Sam HD The Second Encounter ----- runs well, seems to be some slight crackling on the sound, no saves from Windows game

The Book of Unwritten Tales ------ plays well and has saves from Windows games

So it looks like this initiative from Valve will be a winner. As you can see from the few games I tried most ran well and I would imagine a whole heap of my other games will too. This is great as I will not have to start up Windows 7 so often.
The only down side to this is that you have to install the games for linux as well as Windows so you end up using twice as much space. That is if you want to play the game on both platforms. If syncing saves between platforms works then I think this is a great idea.

it is almost time to wave goodbye to Windows forever..............................

 

[floppybootstomp]

I heard about this from one of my USA friends on Facebook and it's quite amazing news imo.

I doubt whether all will work flawlessly to start with but the fact Valve are working on it and have progressed this far so quickly is encouraging.

My Facebook contact tells me Unreal 2003 works well on the Steam Linux Client and Steam automatically patches all the mods and updates for online play.

Of the games listed above I have all the DOOM stuff, Nier Automata, Quake and Star Wars Battlefront Two.

Imagine not being dependent on Microsoft to Game, warms the cockles of me heart it do

I have a legal pucka copy of Win 10 so I'd keep that on a separate swappable hard disk should I ever need it (MS Publisher files for instance) but my whole computing experience could become Minty flavoured.

Good news.

All the Half Life games already ran on Linux btw.

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

Yea I like this development, so many opportunities. The best part is that it's not a virtual machine, so you're saving tons in RAM and processor resources.

 

[Abarbarian]

Machinarium ------ works well and has saved progress from Windows game.

Not at all sure if this is a good thing. Before I had to switch of Arch and fire up Windows 7 to play most games. As a result I only fired up Windows when I had a decent free period to play games in. Now I can just have a quick five minutes whenever I feel the urge. An we all know where a quick five minute scratch leads to , don't we

 

[Abraham Andres Luna]

An we all know where a quick five minute scratch leads to , don't we

Yes we do, yes we do

 

[Abarbarian]

The number of games that work with Steam for Linux has risen dramatically

971 titles have now been elevated to “Completely Stable” condition by the community, with another 692 being listed as “stable.” It is important to note that 37% of the reports are coming from Ubuntu users, with Arch and Linux Mint coming in second and third, respectively. Almost 65% of results are from those using Nvidia drivers, as well.

Steam For Linux Adds 1000 Perfectly Playable Windows Games In Under A Week

As of this writing, 2134 unique games have been user-tested from the Steam for Windows library. Each game receives one of six ratings: Completely Stable, Stable, Unstable, Unplayable, Crashes or Won't Start. A Completely Stable rating signifies that the game exhibits native-like performance with no bugs or errors. Since testing began, 971 unique titles have been stamped with a Completely Stable status.



It's worth pointing out that your mileage may vary depending on GPU driver version and operating system. Note that Ubuntu accounts for 37% of all submissions (Arch Linux is in 2nd place), and 64% of users are running on Nvidia.

The community-maintained Steam Play compatibility reports can be viewed here. You can submit your own results here. You can also check out a web-friendly version of the compiled results at https://spcr.netlify.com/ and sort them to your liking.

Want to see if a game plays ?

https://spcr.netlify.com/

Tried a game and want to publish your result to help other folks,

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeefaYQduMST_lg0IsYxZko8tHLKe2vtVZLFaPNycyhY4bidQ/viewform

The games I tried have already been put on the list so have not used the feature yet. Using the game checker site I looked at Dead Space which for me started but did not let me move my player on my first try. On my second try I managed to move to the first door and then froze. I see in the listing that it worked fine for some folk but not for others.
Oh well back to the grindstone....................................... it is really hard work testing games

 

[Ian]

This is a very interesting development. Pretty much everything I want to play is listed there .

I'm going to set up Dual boot this week and give this a try!

 

[floppybootstomp]

There's actually a lot more games will play in Linux than listed at that link. Some time ago I posted a link of all the games I knew were compatible but I'm blowed if I can find the post now

All you have to do is install the Steam client in your Linux Distro and you'll see all your purchased games listed. If you click on each one if it's compatible it will simply display the 'Install' instruction. Simple as that. Although I suppose this new development may not show the install instruction yet on some games - one to find out eh?