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Submitted via IRC for Fnord666
Valve appears to be working on a set of "compatibility tools," called Steam Play, that would allow at least some Windows-based titles to run on Linux-based SteamOS systems.
Yesterday, Reddit users noticed that Steam's GUI files (as captured by SteamDB's Steam Tracker) include a hidden section with unused text related to the unannounced Steam Play system. According to that text, "Steam Play will automatically install compatibility tools that allow you to play games from your library that were built for other operating systems."
Other unused text in the that GUI file suggests Steam Play will offer official compatibility with "supported tiles" while also letting users test compatibility for "games in your library that have not been verified with a supported compatibility tool." That latter use comes with a warning that "this may not work as expected, and can cause issues with your games, including crashes and breaking save games."
Tools that let users run Windows apps in Linux are nothing new; Wine has existed for decades, after all. But an "official" Steam-based compatibility tool, with the resources and backing of Valve behind it, could have a huge impact on the Linux development space that could reach well beyond games. Assuming it worked for a wide range of titles, the Steam Play system could also help ameliorate one of SteamOS' biggest failings—namely, the relative lack of compatible games when compared to Windows.
With all that said, some caution is warranted before getting too excited about these possibilities. For one, we don't know what specific form Steam Play will take. Valve could simply be preparing a wrapper that lets users run existing emulation tools like Wine and DOSBox on top of SteamOS without actively advancing the state of that emulation directly.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Thursday August 16 2018, @07:12PM
Meh...Steam has been great for Linux gaming, and I particularly love the Steam Controller -- normally I play stuff like Factorio or Cities Skylines, but I've used that controller on everything from Warzone 2100 to Call of Duty with good results. And getting good results on an FPS by translating gamepad actions into mouse movements is no easy feat (and RTS games aren't much better usually, but those work alright too). It's not the *best* way to play, and I wouldn't want to use it for online competitive play, but turn the difficulty down a setting and it's just fine for campaign mode or skirmish battles.
Of course, CoD is already a Windows game. I run it through Wine, and it works just fine. I launch it through Steam, because that helps with controller setup, but it's not like it's difficult to set it up through Wine manually. Adding an official compatibility layer doesn't necessarily mean anything. Particularly when I've noticed a number of "Linux compatible" Steam games that won't actually run on my Linux system (had a craving for a Civilization game recently, steam had a Linux version, but I ended up just getting a refund after trying it on multiple different systems with different distros and a mix of Intel/NVidia/AMD hardware and it wouldn't even open nor give any error message or logs on any of 'em).
If they contribute some code back to Wine, that would be great. If not, then I'm not all that interested in what they do with this. Wine is already pretty good as far as I'm concerned, and their "guarantees" about compatibility don't mean a damn thing.
But really I wish they would work on making Steam more like a console. THAT is what excited me about Steam on Linux. It was never really about just playing games on my Linux box to me -- I can find a way to make those work if I really want to, even if that means dual-booting (although frankly, I'd just pick a different game if it got to that point!) But going back to Call of Duty -- I'm not the biggest FPS fan, and the only reason I play CoD is because my ex-girlfriend got a PS3 many years ago, and it came with CoD, so I started playing it there. Mostly I play RTS games and such, so a PC works far better for...but every once in a while there's a game that I just want to play console style. For CoD, there's co-op missions that I can't beat or can't even attempt because there's no split-screen multiplayer. It doesn't work as well with a controller because it's designed for a mouse and lacks the "auto-aim" features that console games use to compensate for the lower accuracy. The PC version is totally unplayable with a normal controller, and only tolerable with the Steampad. "Tolerable" is a rather revolutionary improvement all things considered, but still not ideal. Compatibility with Linux is not my main concern when we talk about Steam for Linux -- I want Steamboxes and console-style play. I wish Valve would try to do more about that, but it seems like they've pretty much given up on the Steambox idea and even the controller doesn't get much attention anymore...which is a shame, because that thing is one of the best devices I've ever purchased. It's permanently changed how I play games. And they could definitely sell me a few more of those things if they could actually give me a reason to use them...