Steam Client Update Fixes Linux Shortcuts, Adds Vulkan Pre-Compiled Shaders
Five years and one day after Steam for Linux going public, there's a notable Steam client beta update coming down the wire.
A Steam client beta update just became available and it's interesting for Linux gamers because:
- It finally fixes the Steam shortcut behavior that broke months ago. Trying to launch Steam Linux games via desktop shortcuts has been broken for a while but now it's reported to be fixed.
- Steam now supports automatically downloading pre-compiled GPU shaders for Vulkan games. This should reduce first-load times and stuttering for some Vulkan games on Windows and Linux. Valve is now distributing automatically the Vulkan on-disk shader caches for popular games to speed up the initial load times rather than client systems needing to compile the Vulkan shaders on first-load. It will be interesting to see how well this works out for Linux, especially on the Mesa front where the cache may go cold frequently if being a habitual Mesa upgrader.
- A variety of Steam Input updates including configuration updates, support for new Xbox controllers, support for more PlayStation 4 controllers, a variety of fixes, and other updates.
More details at SteamCommunity.com.
A Steam client beta update just became available and it's interesting for Linux gamers because:
- It finally fixes the Steam shortcut behavior that broke months ago. Trying to launch Steam Linux games via desktop shortcuts has been broken for a while but now it's reported to be fixed.
- Steam now supports automatically downloading pre-compiled GPU shaders for Vulkan games. This should reduce first-load times and stuttering for some Vulkan games on Windows and Linux. Valve is now distributing automatically the Vulkan on-disk shader caches for popular games to speed up the initial load times rather than client systems needing to compile the Vulkan shaders on first-load. It will be interesting to see how well this works out for Linux, especially on the Mesa front where the cache may go cold frequently if being a habitual Mesa upgrader.
- A variety of Steam Input updates including configuration updates, support for new Xbox controllers, support for more PlayStation 4 controllers, a variety of fixes, and other updates.
More details at SteamCommunity.com.
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