SteamOS

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Zombie Thorne_sl

shitlord
918
1
I've been wanting to build an HTPC for years now and never got around to it. Looking forward to the different hardware options, and maybe some "Steam" living room form factor cases. I haven't been able to find any i really liked so far.
 
Evernothing

Evernothing

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
4,878
9,239
9QU0o2v.gif
 
Tripamang

Tripamang

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
5,581
34,800
I'm not sure if anyone here caught the announcement of Mantle, a graphics API like glide was for 3DFX that AMD is creating. It's supposedly a port of the low level graphics API's used in the Xbox One (maybe even the PS4) and allows developers to reuse a lot of the code they have for consoles on the PC. It'll have a great deal more performance then DirectX API on the same hardware and most interestingly will be compatible with multiple platforms (Windows/Linux/Mac). Which means it'll be easier for developers to take their highly tuned console code and run it on PC hardware with similar performance levels. Battlefield 4 will use it at launch, and they seem to have other developers on board with it as it was something that developers were pushing AMD to create.

It looks like a huge boon for SteamOS as it'll make it easier to port console games to Linux. The only negative I see with it is that AMD isn't open sourcing the API to allow Nvidia in on the action. (Though who knows that might announce white papers for compatibility at the AMD Developer Summit). It's definitely good times ahead for PC gaming.

Understanding AMD's Mantle
 
spronk

spronk

FPS noob
23,823
29,068
joeboo_sl said:
I haven't read through every possible article dissecting all of the details...but is SteamOS being presented as a replacement for windows, or just as a compliment to windows? Personally, I don't want 2 PCs and I don't want to have to dual-boot either and have to switch OSes between gaming and web browsing/productivity stuff. As a multi-monitor user, I often game while doing other things, there's no chance I'm using a PC operating system that doesn't give me access to my Chrome web browser, or dvd burning software, or whatever else it may be while I'm also gaming.

Just how far-reaching to we expect this SteamOS to be? Are games just the beginning towards a full Windows alternative? Has there been any mention of non-gaming programs on the Steam OS?
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my understanding is that one version will just run on top of windows. So the steam client will eventually just be SteamOS, and games will run the same on it as they do on the standalone steamBox sitting in your living room. If the steambox boots up and has all the steam APIs the steam client currently does, in big picture mode, then your entire steam gaming library would work in your living room off it, and continue to run on your desktop PC too.

I do wonder if all the big publishers who have slowly been using Steamworks for their games, esp as GFWL shuts down, will embrace SteamOS/Steamworks now or will they view this as too much of a competitive edge for Valve and look for an independent cloud API to use instead of Steamworks. If Microsoft wasn't so much shit they woulda moved GFWL to a cloud computing model that worked across PC, XBOX One, and PS4 but of course they are too goddamn stupid and shut the whole thing down instead. Don't have much faith in Sony coming up with a solution either that isn't for PS4 only.
 
Evernothing

Evernothing

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
4,878
9,239
It worked instantly for me. Launched Big Picture via mouseclick on top right corner. Selected game with controller.
 
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a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
29,765
Tripamang_sl said:
How long did you have to play the game in big picture mode before it triggered the completion of the badge? I tried a few times, 5-10mins each and I just couldn't get the badge to trigger.
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I used Don't Starve and it didn't even work with my controller for some reason, hit play and it opened, closed it with my mouse and that was it. I had the badge.
 
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mixtilplix

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,295
109
So what's the GFX driver situation? AMD and Nvidia are both pretty lax when it comes to updating or even just creating driveres for Linux distros. Would be cool if something like this forced their hands.
 
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Smac

24
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The thing that makes me wary about the Mantle announcement is that AMD did not make a single mention of Linux. Their definition of cross-platform across consoles and PC may just mean "consoles and Windows". I hope I'm wrong.
 
Abefroman

Abefroman

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
12,597
11,941
This conversation is way over my head. Can I build a gaming pc with steamos and run my shit or not?
 
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Northerner

N00b
921
9
So conflicted.

I'm not going to lie though, I wish Valve was public. I'd bet on them if I could.

Bah, perhaps I should apply
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Sean_sl

shitlord
4,735
12
Put my hat in the ring: You are now one out of 142,624 eligible beta candidates.

I don't think I'll be able to give up my love of console game discs though, it will be a sad day when everything is finally 100% digital and we no longer have physical collections and actually own property.
 
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Cor_sl

shitlord
487
0
What's not being said, but what becomes increasingly hinted at as we read through AMD's material is not just that Mantle is a low level API, but rather Mantle is the low level API. As in it's either a direct copy or a very close derivative of the Xbox One's low level graphics API. All of the pieces are there; AMD will tell you from the start that Mantle is designed to leverage the optimization work done for games on the next generation consoles, and furthermore Mantle can even use the Direct3D High Level Shader Language (HLSL), the high level shader language Xbox One shaders will be coded against in the first place. Let's be very clear here: AMD will not discuss the matter let alone confirm it, so this is speculation on our part. But it's speculation that we believe is well grounded. Based on what we know thus far, we believe Mantle is the Xbox One's low level API brought to the PC.

If indeed Mantle is the Xbox One's low level API, then this changes the frame of reference for Mantle dramatically. No longer is Mantle just a new low level API for AMD GCN cards, whose success is defined by whether AMD can get developers to create games specifically for it, but Mantle becomes the bridge for porting over Xbox One games to the PC. Developers who make extensive use of the Xbox One low level API would be able to directly bring over large pieces of their rendering code to the PC and reuse it, and in doing so maintain the benefits of using that low-level code in the first place. Mantle will not (and cannot) preclude the need for developers to also do a proper port to Direct3D - after all AMD is currently the minority party in the discrete PC graphics space - but it does provide the option of keeping that low level code, when in the past that would never be an option.
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http://www.anandtech.com/show/7371/u...cs-api-for-gcn

This is potentially a big deal, considering Mantle should have linux/steamos support. It should make it much easier for the big development houses to port their stuff over to the PC (or, at least to PCs running AMD hardware).
 
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Sithro

Molten Core Raider
1,502
204
If I were them, I'd try to get more games on board. I'm talking ones that aren't currently on Steam. League of Legends, Heroes of Newearth, Hawken, Mech Warrior Online, etc. The less stuff I'd have to stream from my PC, the better.
 
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