Pre-order Steam Controller for 10th November and get Rocket League and Portal 2 for free

Not long left until the +Steam Controller release date of 10th November 2015 (as well as Steam Link and a number of new Steam Machines, too).

+Valve continue to run their pre-order promotion, introduced last month, whereby a pre-order of the Steam Controller or Steam Link awards a free copy of +Rocket League and +Portal 2. If you already own either of these games you can give away your free copy as a Steam gift.

Whilst Rocket League is not yet available for Linux, the developers at +Psyonix Studios have confirmed that it is planned for a 2015 release on SteamOS and Mac.

Steam Controller, Steam Link and Steam Machines Now Available for Pre-order

+Valve have announced the following:

A limited quantity of orders will be shipped October 16th, weeks in advance of our official launch. Pre-order now and be among Steam Hardware's first wave of users."

The controller can be pre-ordered for £39.99 on the +Steam Store.

Steam Link is also £39.99.

Two Steam Machines are also listed: +Alienware's and +Syber's. However, the prices are listed in US$ and there is no add to cart option if you are connecting to Steam Store from the UK.

So it appears as if the controller and the Link are available to pre-order in the UK, but Steam Machines are not yet available to pre-order in the UK.

Batman Arkham Knight will Arrive on Linux

Yeah Batfans! Batman Arkham Knight is being released for Linux via Steam (SteamOS). OK, so it may be several months behind the PC and console slightly delayed release date (23 June on PC, Autumn on Linux and OS X) but this is certainly still something to look forward to, if some of the previous Arkham games are anything to go by.

Being developed by +Rocksteady Games who developed Arkham Asylum and Arkham City (but not the mediocre Arkham Origins), the game is in good hands.

There will be no multiplayer, the developers preferring instead to concentrate on making the single-player game as good as can be. They made the decision to develop for latest-generation consoles and PCs, but not PS3 and Xbox360, to allow for more technical scenes. For example, riots can have around 50 on-screen characters interacting with the environment.

Pre-purchasing will give an additional character to play, Harley Quinn, the Joker's psychotic side-kick.

It comes as no surprise that there is a season pass with downloadable content, as this seems to be the norm these days for AAA titles. The season pass is priced at £32.99 which has annoyed some. In defence of the price Warner Brothers said:

Earlier this week, we announced the Season Pass for Batman: Arkham Knight. While the story of Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Trilogy will come to a close on June 23rd, we are excited to continue telling stories and delivering more content to explore and play through in the 6 months following the game’s release. We’ll be building more narrative, more missions, more challenges and more characters and vehicles that we want players to experience, even though they didn’t fit into the storyline of Batman: Arkham Knight.

We’ve heard from our community that you want more information on what we’ll be delivering in the Season Pass. While we aren’t ready to unveil every aspect of the content we’ll be developing, we would like to share more detail now to give you a better sense of the scope of the Season Pass.

Batgirl: A Matter of Family

An all new prequel story expansion in an entirely new location where you play as Batgirl for the very first time in the Arkham series - check out the first render of Batgirl.

The Season of Infamy

Play as Batman in all new story missions featuring legendary super-villains invading Gotham City, with new story arcs, missions and gameplay features.

Gotham City Stories

Play as Batman’s key allies in narrative missions extending their storylines, from both before and after the events in Batman: Arkham Knight

Legendary Batmobiles with Themed Tracks

Drive the most iconic Batmobiles from Batman’s 75-year history, on custom-built race tracks, each themed to that Batmobile’s specific era. Every Batmobile will be drivable across every race track.

Crimefighter Challenge Maps

Engage in a series of new challenge maps utilizing the unique play styles of Batman and his allies.

Character Skins

A variety of skins from across the eras for Batman, Robin, Nightwing and Catwoman. As we fully ramp up development on the Season Pass, we will be sharing even more details on each monthly content drop. We hope you enjoy playing Batman: Arkham Knight as much as we’ve enjoyed making it.

WB Games

Here's to yet another top tier game coming to Linux. +Valve's Gabe Newell's prediction that Linux is the future of gaming looks more accurate with each new release.

Verdun 1914 - 1918

Another interesting title has been released for Linux.

 

Verdun is a first person multiplayer squad shooter set during WWI, attempting to strike the right balance between realism and gameplay. From +M2H and +BlackMill Games this looks like a well-executed breath of fresh air for FPS fans who feel they're growing tired of copycat games.

This is from the official website at www.verdungame.com:

Verdun is the first multiplayer FPS set in a realistic First World War setting. The merciless trench warfare offers a unique battlefield experience, immersing you and your squad into intense battles of attack and defense.
The game takes place on the western front between 1914 and 1918, in one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. The developers were inspired by the infamous Battle of Verdun France in 1916, The game includes many historically accurate features such as realistic WW1 weaponry, authentic uniforms and maps based on the real battlefields of France and Belgium.
The Frontlines game mode is unique in its tactical complexity. The realistic trenches are challenging to fight in and require tactical cunning to capture and defend. The Entente and Central Powers strive to gain control of frontline sectors. In one battle you're rushing the enemy trenches in an offensive battle in order to gain ground, In another battle you might be defending your recently conquered ground against an enemy counter-attack.

FEATURES:

• Realistic World War 1 gameplay: Authentic weaponry with realistic bullet physics, skill based weapon handling, poisonous gas with a claustrophobic gas mask experience and artillery barrages
• Tactical squad-based FPS: Unique squad leveling system, distinct squad types and roles, voice chat
• True trench warfare: Real-time dynamic frontline with momentum-based attack and counter-attack gameplay
• Authentic World War 1 setting: Typical WW1 music and style, historical battlefields set on the Western Front
• Challenging game modes: Team-based Frontline and skill-based Rifle Deathmatch

Currently available on +Steam for £15.29. Will you be buying it?

Pillars of Eternity: March 26th Release Date - Linux, Mac and Windows simultaneous release

Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity is due to be released on 26th March 2015 on Linux, Mac and Windows, distributed via +GOG.com - DRM-Free Games and +Steam.

Main features:

• Play as any one of six races: Human, Aumaua, Dwarf, Elf, Godlike and Orlan.
• Utilize five core skills to overcome any situation: Stealth, Athletics, Lore, Mechanics and Survival.
• Deep character customization: Build a character as one of eleven classes such as Barbarian, Chanter, Cipher, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Priest, Ranger, Rogue and Wizard.
• Sculpt your own story: Side with various factions using a reputation system, where your actions and choices have far reaching consequences.
• Explore a rich and diverse world: Beautiful pre-rendered environments laced with an engaging story and characters bring the world to life.

The game is inspired by the likes of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment, and was funded through crowd funding (it raised $3,986,929 and became the highest funded crowd sourced video game on Kickstarter at the time). This model has allowed the developers at Obsidian to make the game the way they wanted, rather than be restricted by publisher demands, as +Joshua Sawyer explains in a Reddit AMA with with Obsidian, here.

Whilst unashamedly based upon the aforementioned classic games, such as a pausable real-time system and fixed isometric gameplay with 2d pre-rendered backgrounds, it will not be based on D&D rules and will have an original plot and setting, all thanks to the freedom that Obsidian had as a result of the crowd funding model.

I think this game could do really well in terms of Linux sales alone, and I'm pleased to see it has a simultaneous release on all three major PC platforms.

Will you be buying it on release day?

Steam Controller - will it be love or hate?

So, the folks at +Valve and +Steam have listed the Steam controller in all its glory on the Steam Store and the Steam Universe site.

According to Valve, the controller will be available from November 2015 for $49.99. 


Some tech journalists have had a try out and reported mixed feelings. The consensus seems to be that it's a bit, well, unusual. Whilst I've not picked one up yet, I have to say that I do fear that they might only succeed if the games are designed around the controller. Harking back to the Nintendo64 (what do you mean you weren't born then!?) with it's new-fangled, tri-pronged, analogue/digital hybrid gamepad this took some getting used to, but N64 games (e.g. Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, Pilotwings 64, Turok) felt like they had been designed with the N64 gamepad in mind (in fact, some had been). Soon, it felt like this gamepad was the most natural way to control a game, especially Super Mario 64. In my humble opinion, it's the best controller I've ever used, but let's not get on to that now. If you revisited Super Mario 64 on the Wii with the Wii's classic controller, you'll know how it just didn't feel right - this demonstrates how important it is for the game to fit the controller.

It takes practice and perserverance to get used to a new control input, particularly if the new design is radical. The change from digital d-pads to analogue sticks took some getting used to but of course, all console makers were on the same band-wagon, so it created its own momentum, and was unlikely to fail - everyone wanted the new generation of 32 or 64-bit consoles back in the '90s, and the new analogue gamepads that came with them.

My concern is that regardless of how good the design is of the Steam controller, and of how much potential it might have for better control than the Xbox360 controller, I believe its success (i.e. how many are sold) depends as much upon first-rate marketing as it does AAA games being designed specifically for the Steam controller.

If players feel the Steam controller is restrictive, either before buying or after, and revert to keyboard and mouse, then it's doomed.

I really hope that as we draw nearer to November we hear the media singing this controller's praises, and developers announcing they have built their game control mechanics around the Steam controller.

I, for one, am hoping this is the successful birth of a new generation of control pads, as we saw in the 1990's with digital to analogue.

Bioshock Infinite now available on Linux

Following the recent news that Steam for Linux now has over 1000 games in its catalogue, Linux gamers can now buy the acclaimed Bioshock Infinite from Steam.

Ok, so it's two years old, having originally been released for Windows, PS3 and Xbox360 in 2013, but nonetheless this is great news for Linux gamers, adding yet another AAA title to the roster of available games.

The Linux version runs in a wrapper as explained here at Boiling Steam which means it has been made to run on Linux in a similar way that The Witcher 2 was. By the look of early reports it appears as if it has been very successful and even modestly specced machines should be capable of running the game at a fair whack.

Steam lists the minimum requirements as needing an NVidia/AMD OpenGL 4.1/DirectX 10.0 level compatible video card, with an Intel Core 2 DUO 2.4 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz processor.

Recommended specs are an Intel Core i5 3GHz (or similar AMD processor) and
NVidia/AMD OpenGL 4.2/DirectX 10.1 level compatible with 2GB of video RAM.

Elite: Dangerous appears on another platform. Linux next?

Metro UK: Elite: Dangerous exclusive to Xbox One; Windows 10 Cross Buy announced. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw4o-WuyA

Linux kernel updates break TBS TV Tuner driver

Each time the Linux kernel updates, my TBS driver stops working. To get it back in action I need to rebuild it, which takes only about 10 mins, but is a real faff when kernel updates happen regularly.

To prevent this from happening I've placed a hold on kernel updates. So all other security and software updates will still take place, but the kernel will remain on same version. This is fine as long as all your hardware works in the current version of the kernel - for the vast majority of people this will be the case.

Here's what I did to place the hold (Debian-based systems only such as Ubuntu, Mint etc):

(You may need to type sudo su first to run commands with superuser privileges )

Into a terminal enter:

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*" | grep image | awk '{print $2}'

This should give you a list of packages e.g. linux-image-3.16.0-29-generic

linux-image-extra-3.16.0-29-generic

Now enter

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*" | grep header | awk '{print $2}'

 For each one of those packages and headers you need to do:

echo <PACKAGE> hold | dpkg --set-selections

Change <PACKAGE>  with your package that was output from the first step above, one at a time.

Now type

dpkg -l "*$(uname -r)*"

and you should see output similar to

Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Conf-files/Unpacked/halF-conf/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version      Architecture Description
+++-==============-============-============

hi  linux-headers- 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel headers for version
hi  linux-image-3. 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel image for version 3.
hi  linux-image-ex 3.13.0-46.77 amd64        Linux kernel extra modules

The  "hi" before the image and header lines, indicate that the kernel updates will be help, not updated, when you accept security and software updates from your package manager as usual.

Thanks to Tony at http://itslinux.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/how-to-prevent-packages-from-being.html for this tip. 

HTC Vive Linux compatibility

The HTC Vive VR headset has recently been announced.

Until further details arrive, we do not know its full specifications. Some headline features are listed at http://www.htcvr.com/ such as:

• A 1,200 by 1,080 pixel screen in front of each eye
• Refresh rates of 90 frames per second
• Wide field of vision
• Headphone jack on headset
• Gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree
• Ergonomic VR game controllers in each hand allow you to use virtual objects and interact with the virtual world
• HTC and Valve have partnered with Cloudhead Games, Dovetail Games and Fireproof Games
• Expected consumer release date: Holiday 2015 (I've no idea which holiday HTC refers to, but I'm assuming July/August)

What hasn't yet been confirmed is the Vive's Linux compatibility. Of course, assumptions abound when devices such as this are released with partial specs (free advertising anyone?), but part of the fun is guessing how things might work.

At present we know that the headset will use the SteamVR API. As Steam VR supports Windows, Mac and Linux, it's reasonable to assume that the Vive will work with all platforms.

VR-compatible games however are another issue. Each game will still need to be available for the underlying platform. So, for example, Dovetail Games Fishing is, at present Windows only. So this isn't playable on a VR headset plugged into a Linux PC running Steam. Half Life 2 will be though, as this has a VR mode, and is available for Linux.

It will be interesting to see which, if any, currently Windows-only VR games will be released on Linux in the near future. If Steam still has commitment to SteamOS it would be surprising if a good proportion new VR titles aren't released for Linux.

Kodi-PVR-MythTV and mythbackend settings

Sometimes you find a fix for a problem that's so simple you want to kick yourself.

I'd been unable to watch live TV streams on other frontends (OpenElec on Raspberry Pi, Ubuntu laptop, and Windows 8 laptop) around the house for several months. Having searched extensively and posted the problem on forums I could not seem to solve the issue.

Even though mythbackend would serve live TV to Kodi frontend on the same machine, I could not serve these streams across my local network to other machines running Kodi. The error message in the mythbackend log was "Client speaks protocol version 75 but we speak 77!" when attempting to connect from some devices (e.g. Raspberry Pi), and "Client speaks protocol version 8 but we speak 77!" when attempting to connect from others (e.g. Windows 8)

After some prodding around in the mythtv-setup options, I accidentally blanked out the IPV6 field in the "general" settings section. I then blanked out the IPV6 fields in the kodi-pvr-mythtv settings on the frontend client, and hey presto! It worked! Live TV streamed without issue.

What I found amazing was that this was a such a simple fix yet I had been struggling to overcome the live TV streaming for months. The reason it had baffled me is that in mythtv-setup settings the IPV6 field hint suggests that if I will be connecting to the backend from frontends on other machines then the field shopuld not be left blank. I hadn't really given this much thought other than, my Kodi frontends are on other machines therefore the field should not be left blank. In retrospect, I guess this hint refers to MythTV frontends, not other frontends such as Kodi, which is what threw me.

Best Kodi add-ons for use in the UK

There are hundreds of add-ons for Kodi. Many don't work, some give you access to content which is illegal to view in the UK such as copyrighted movies, sport and television series, and some seem to just be too niche to be any use to most people in the UK (Gun reviews in Russian anyone?). Amongst them are some gems. Here is a post to help UK Kodi users find the diamonds in the rough.

BBC iPlayer This essential add-on allows streaming of live and BBC TV and radio and catch-up TV from the iPlayer database. It has a much simpler menu system than the layout on BBC's content-heavy iPlayer website, which is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your preference. Personally I like its simplicity and aside from Cmyth (see below), this is my most used add-on.

ITV Player Again, another essential add-on for UK viewers. Not quite as slick as the iPlayer add-on in terms of menu layout, but still easy to use, and allows streaming of live ITV broadcasts across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 as well as streaming catch-up TV from ITV player's database.

USTVnow UK viewers can get live (HD for several months before reverting to SD) access to 6 US channels, for free. ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, CW, and PBS). OK, this one is a bit of a grey area as it is designed for US citizens living abroad, and requires you to tick a box saying so. However, the only time I use this add-on is when my American pal visits to watch the superbowl. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! If you visit https://www.ustvnow.com/ and sign up for free registration, you can then add your username and password to the USTVnow add-on settings and the add-on will stream these free to view channels in Kodi.

Youtube Allows quick and easy access to Youtube direct from 

Kodi. Unfortunately, Youtube seems to have limited access to some DRM-protected content such as official music videos, meaning they can't be viewed from Kodi, but you could view them via a browser. Nonetheless, still a useful add-on.

Radio If BBC radio isn't broad enough for your listening tastes (Zouk, anyone?), Radio gives you access to hundreds, maybe even thousands (I haven't counted - let's just say, lots!) of international radio stations, which you can search by popularity, genre, topic, country, city, language, or search for local stations.








FilmOn Allows access to free to air channels from UK Freeview and many others around the world. The picture quality is not particularly good, but this is made up for by the range of channels available.









Spotimc You'll need a premium Spotify account for this to work. If so, installing this add on lets you search for music, browse for music and play your favourite playlists, all from inside Kodi.





This is just a small selection of the Kodi add-ons out there, and these happen to be my most often used ones. I also use a MythTV add-on which connects to my MythTV backend for me to watch and record UK Freeview TV and Radio.

Hope this list has been of some use to other Kodi users in the UK.

Petition to bring Elite: Dangerous to Linux

Have you seen this petition yet?

https://www.change.org/p/frontier-developments-plc-port-elite-dangerous-to-linux-desktop 

Were you a fan of Elite on the BBC Micro, Commodore 64 and Amiga, Sinclair Spectrum, Acorn Electron and Archimedes, Nintendo Entertainment System, Apple II, MSX, Atari ST, PC, amongst others?

Back in the 1980's and 90's Elite appeared on many different platforms and sold hundreds of thousands, maybe even more than a milion, according to Frontier Developments.

What a pity that Elite: Dangerous is only available on Windows at present, Mac in several months, but no confirmed plans for other platforms.

Do add your support to this petition for Frontier Developments to release a Linux version.

Steam-ish machine

Steam Machines' future is reported to be in peril as a result of delayed releases and Windows 10/Valve announcements (http://www.pcworld.com/article/2877281/why-the-steam-machine-revolution-may-fizzle-out-before-it-even-starts.html). However, my Steam(-ish) machine is here right now, and here's a report.

A quick recap: my linux (Ubuntu-based distro) HTPC sits in my lounge in ye-olde case (13 year old, Evesham X case), next to the television. I chose components to get a good balance between performance, low noise and low-power usage. The CPU is an AMD FX-8300 and GPU is an Nvidia GTX-650. This means the system can run games such as The Witcher 2, and Metro Last Light at medium/high settings, yet can be left running 24/7 without high power usage and too much noise (HDD soon to be replaced by SDD, and GPU fan to be replaced, which should reduce noise to practically inaudible).

Steam for Linux is installed on this PC, and runs absolutely fine in Desktop mode. However, Big Picture Mode frequently crashes, usually when viewing video, so I rarely go into Big Picture Mode, which is a problem, as Desktop mode is so hard to read on my television from about 8ft away. This is a real shame as Big Picture mode's layout is very good as part of a living room PC. Big Picture Mode also seems to be very resource-hungry, even after lauching a game; so much so, that when launching Metro or The Witcher 2 from BPM, the frame rate is so low the game is unplayable. Switching to Desktop mode and launching those same games resolves the issue.

I use an Xbox 360 wired gamepad to play most games now. Any games that require mouse and keyboard, particularly FPS, range from virtually impossible to slightly clunky with a Logitech K400 keyboard, as it has a trackpad, and a small one at that. Fortunately, most WASD games I've seen being released on Steam these days, support gamepads.

So what is the experience like compared to dedicated gaming consoles? Well, I'm sorry to say, that whilst I get on well enough with Steam Desktop version (as long as I sit close enough to read text!), Big Picture Mode just doesn't feel as sound as I'd like it to be. Admittedly, my machine is configured to do a lot more than just run Steam, but when I trim down running processes to test Steam I still come across the same issues; the main ones being Big Picture Mode crashing, and its resource-hogging. Once these are resolved, I would be quite happy to boot into Steam BPM by default.

The range of games is on Steam for Linux is growing larger and larger all the time - Steam is now listing 939. With recent major titles such as Metro, Dying Light, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Football Manager, Sid Meier's Civilization series, and The Talos Principle, to name a few, the quality is getting better too. Hopefully this year will see more and more AAA titles being released on Steam for Linux, as this will surely prompt Valve to iron out those bugs on Big Picture Mode sooner rather than later.

BBC iPlayer add-on for Kodi, and Channel 4's 4oD

After being stopped by BBC several months ago, I've just noticed that the BBC iPlayer add-on for Kodi is working again. I can now watch live BBC TV and access all iPlayer's catch-up recordings via this add-on.

This is good news as I no longer have to access it via browser - the Kodi addon works so well and is far easier to navigate and find programmes than BBC's own iPlayer web site.

If only Channel 4 would allow such third party access to their 4oD service, too. I appreciate it is available on Windows PCs, iOS, Android, some games consoles, Smart TVs and set top boxes, but Channel 4's use of DRM restricts access to viewing via one of these devices. So, my only way of accessing 4oD is via Android - not a great viewing experience! Come on Channel 4, please open up http://m.channel4.com/4od/ once again so that third party 4oD apps can work again. I've tweeted Channel 4 with this request and on the form at http://www.channel4.com/4viewers/contact-us. You could do the same if this matters to you, too.