What games do you play on Linux?

Mostly Strategy and RPGs.

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It was true of Quake 3: Arena in 1999. <_< That was a native port, not running in WINE, but still, it got the job done.

To revisit the raytracing discussion, this video does a really good job of breaking down games where ray tracing is good, where it's not worth using, where it actually HARMS the game's visuals, and where it genuinely delivers on its promise.

Spoilers, because the video is LONG: In roughly 60% of games, raytracing just wasn't really worth it. In 40%, it was worth it, with roughly 30% being very noticeable and 10% what he describes as "transformative." The only games out of 37 he tested to be transformative were Metro Exodus Enhanced edition (the patched-in raytracing in the original Metro Exodus is not as good, something he details during the video), Cyberpunk 2077, and Alan Wake 2. It's worth noting that he tested 37 games, but there are more than 37 entries in the breakdown I'm citing above, because if a game's low quality ray tracing and ultra raytracing were different categories (that is, if low isn't worth using, but ultra is), the game got recorded in both columns during the breakdown.

Major takeaways:

  • Whether or not raytracing is worth it depends heavily on the game's implementation.
  • Using a few raytraced effects as opposed to many generally isn't worth it. To get raytracing that's worthwhile, devs need to commit.
  • Path tracing (which very few games currently implement) is well worth it.
  • At 6 years in, only the last couple of years of games were developed with raytracing available for their entire development cycle. In theory, being able to plan on it from the very start should make a big difference in being able to use it well.

God that thumbnail is cursed.

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I've actually got and played through both Cyberpunk and Alan Wake 2. While they're definitely nice looking games, i would say the ray tracing isn't worth it for the performance hit most people are going to take. Especially when you turn on path tracing, that's where the hurt really starts.

A lot of people say that Cyberpunk and the like are defninitely worth it, but to me while playing, I find it hard to tell the difference when I'm looking at someones head through a scope, as an example

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I agree, while Ray tracing has the potential to look amazing in some games, its really not worth the performance hit. And even if you do have high end hardware like I do with an Nvidia 3080 notebook GPU, it still may not be enough to drive RT and get decent fps. For example, you want 144 fps with rt on, you might need a 4090!

I didn't know that RT quality depended on game though, cause I've not experienced many games that had RT available on a game through Linux. The more I learn.


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My game list grew a bit:

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The only game i played is xcom2 for a short while, did not really like it. All other games i never played :sweat_smile:

Have you ever tried Fantasy Strategy games? I can highly recommend "Age of Wonders 4"

Nope, strategy games like this:

Command & Conquer series
Company of Heroes 1 and 2
Halo Wars 1 and 2
Commandos series
Star Wars Empire at Wars
Starcraft 2 (only singelplayer)

I am still thinking to pre-order Tempest Rising which looks alot like Command & Conquer

Ah, RTS games, I'm more to turn-based strategy.

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I now play Minecraft Bedrock and Java on my Zorin OS device. Pretty cool!

I am currently enjoying a game called Blue Prince. A puzzle rogue-lite where you go through a mansion, trying to get to the final room of an estate thats been left to you. I'm only shy of 7 ish hours in, but its great so far, and quite relaxing.

Given I love my puzzle games, and there's so few available right now, I would highly recommend it for anyone else looking for such a game. Relaxing, puzzling, and just in general a good game with a unique premise that I haven't seen many do.

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