Hey everyone,

I wanted to open a discussion about the Shader Pre-Caching feature in Steam and whether Valve should consider disabling it by default. For those who may not be familiar, shader pre-caching is designed to improve game performance by downloading and storing pre-compiled shaders, which can help reduce load times and stuttering during gameplay.

https://preview.redd.it/v2h5afaj5hzd1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=10ea12cbc11e6b9ccd47bd1d4b6773d661ce709e

1. Frequent Downloads: A lot of users have noticed that starting Steam often triggers massive shader pre-caching downloads—sometimes between 2-8GB daily—without any actual game updates. This can be quite frustrating and seems unnecessary.
2. Concerns for New Users: This feature can be particularly confusing for new Linux users who may not understand why they are experiencing so many downloads every day.

Drivers and GPL Support Dates:

• AMD: Mesa 23.1 was officially released on May 10, 2023.
• Intel: Mesa 23.3 was officially released on December 2, 2023.
• NVIDIA: Graphics driver version 520.56.06 was released on October 12, 2022.

Recommendations for Users:

• Disable Shader Pre-Caching: For those with new drivers above the specified versions, it’s advisable to turn off this feature in the Steam settings under Downloads. This can help reduce the frequency of those large downloads.

https://preview.redd.it/eq0s253l5hzd1.jpg?width=849&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=23518779f7cef826cf416c11bbb99b2843eb23ae

Conclusion: While shader pre-caching aims to enhance gaming performance, its current implementation has led to excessive downloads and user frustration. Given these issues, do you think Valve should disable this feature by default? Or do you believe it still has its merits for certain users?

anytime I load A new map in cities skylines set any higher than 1080p it immediately crashes the computer.I've disabled all mods, tried the native linux and widows version through proton, as well as A different DE. I have 32GB of ram, ryzen 3600 and an RX6700xt. distro is fedora 40 KDE.

and do you have any issues with it (in certain games or applications) compared to using a floating desktop environment?

Since the release of Fedora 41 / GNOME 47, I've been running the experimental xwayland-native-scaling feature to make the desktop look consistent and not destroy my eyes with blurry electron/non-wayland windows. However I am totally stumped with an issue with Steam and Proton and have been completely unable to figure it out.

I have a 2023 Zephyrus G14 with a HiDPI display and a 2560x1440 32" gaming monitor that's not HiDPI. The external monitor is set as the primary display. When I run games on my external monitor, they're rendering at 5120x2880 and then downscaling to 2560x1440. This results in horrible performance.

I cannot seem to find a fix for this. Gamescope crashes immediately no matter what mesa drivers I use. Forcing steam to use a predefined scale (eg GDK_SCALE=1 GDK_DPI_SCALE=1) doesn't affect the game window sizes or resolve the scaling problem.

How can I get games to ignore the HiDPI scaling of my laptop's display and render properly at the native resolution of my external monitor?

I used to play GTA 4 in linux through bottles. And it used to run in my pc few days ago. Now today I tried to run the game after 2 weeks but it was not working. Run it through terminal and get this error:
info: OpenVR: could not open registry key, status 2

info: OpenVR: Failed to locate module

info: Required Vulkan extension VK_KHR_surface not supported

I tried to run it from steam and it works. And since I never run the GTA on steam, there was no save file in steam. So, I decided to paste my save files from bottles to steam, so that I can play it. But I can't find my save files anywhere. I opened up the explorer from bottles and go to appdata/rockstar games/GTA 4 but there was no save file. There are just two folders Setting and User Music. I also check the Documents in the explorer and I cant find any save file there also.

https://preview.redd.it/56y5nhvbqgzd1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=22c4aa606c0ea2ce0ed070a2206a84d3423407f0

So, where can I find my GTA 4 savefile? And also is there anyway to fix this error, then pls help. Thanks.

I've been wasting my time with the Rocket League not working bakkesmod issue. I need a fix.

Also mangohud doesn't work for me. I might switch back to Windows if I can't fix it. I'm bored.

my use heroic games launcher
Zorin os
64-bit

i neeed help please

Hey, I’m looking for some open-world or driving games on Linux where I can just chill, drive way too fast, and listen to a killer soundtrack or radio, smashing into stuff, jumping off ramps, and exploring some nice scenery. something kinda like mafia 2 vibes My device isn't that powerful, so I don’t need anything too demanding. Any recommendations?

I'm looking into building a small form-factor PC to use a console and install bazzite or something to give it that steamos look and feel. Because the build is small form-factor, not every gpu fits in the case that I've decided on. I've narrowed it down to the top Nvidia and top AMD gpu's that can fit inside my system. Those GPUs are the Nvidia RTX 4060 ti and the AMD 6600XT. I've done some research and concluded that the 4060ti is the best performing GPU that I can get, and its much more powerful than 6600xt for around the same price (give or take $50).

The problem is that its an Nvidia GPU, and I know from experience that those don't run super well on Linux, I had my main gaming PC running Fedora for a while and performance was severely limited because I was using an Nvidia card. So my question is, Is it worth it to get an Nvidia GPU if i'm planning on using linux? or should I get another gpu or potentially use the nvidia card on windows?

As a 4070ti desktop owner, I was wondering how many of you with modern or old hardware have decided to play on linux (wiping windows partition).

To make a long story short, the dates of 2016 and 2022 were chosen as the beginning of the 10xx series era and the end of the 30xx series.

View Poll

How are they able to test and reproduce bugs in almost every issue about any game that is created?

Do they have a shared library? Does each dev have a huge library? Do they share accounts? Do they, you know, yarrrr matey? Or is it pure coincidence?

I'm not complaining. I'm just very curious. Anybody have answers?

Hi guys

I'm thinking about creating a massive indepth guide that covers all the possible scenarios, issues, steps, device specific configuration etc etc for linux gaming.

Ofc this is going to be community maintained. I hate that so many people have to go to a 5 year old post to solve their problems with no results. So, thats why I'm thinking about making this massive guide.

I know its not going to be easy and will take immense time and dedication but slowly we can create a centralized hub of information and documentation.

So to begin with can you guys help me with: - What do you want to see on the website? - How do you think the documentation should be? - Any problems that you wish to be solved should be on website? - Any other suggestions are welcomed

I use EndeavourOS with GNOME on Xorg and play most games with a Dualsene 5 controller. The trackpad on this controller by default moves the mouse around and clicks with it (basically like a trackpad on a laptop), and while that functionality is neat for desktop usage, I do not want this in-game. Through steam input I can map the swipe gestures and clicks to certain actions, but when I do that the mouse behavior is not disabled and is executed together with my remapped action.

Is there any way for me to disable the "mouse" behavior while still being able to use custom steam input (re)maps?

EDIT: GOOD LORD I accidentally solved this after hours of searching just after I posted this.
I had to go into my steam controller settings and disable the desktop layout.
I've been digging through libinput configs just to oversee this simple solution

Leaving this online in case anyone else encounters the same issue in the future.

I have a Dualsense and Nintendo switch pro controller, Steam recognizes both of these controllers, and I can use steam input to customise the button maps and the gyro, but in game no gyro is detected. Additionally, when going to the setup inputs window, there is no option to calibrate gyro. I've tried both wired and through bluetooth, I'm on the most recent version of Ubuntu.

I've had these controllers working in the past, but on a different system (also running Ubuntu).

Just upgraded to a rx7600xt gpu. Things seem to be working fine. Do I need to update video drivers or anything for max performance in games?

I'm still new at linux, but after i came most my games need proccesing shaders and it takes a long time to compiling, Is it required to compile the shaders or not ?

I don't know where else to ask this.

You can enable the dongle's pairing mode by sending the SIGUSR1 signal to xow:

Is there an equivalent solution on windows?

Thanks.