requirements, particularly useful if you’re rocking an SSD as the
system drive. Note that you can install to other types of storage,
such as network drives or USB flash drives, but the performance
tends to be poor in the case of most games.
>> To carry out the installation, click on ‘Install’ or (confusingly,
in the case of free games) ‘Play’, near the top of the product
page. Complete a test of the system by clicking on ‘Play’ once the
installation has completed to check that the game runs properly.
>> As we said, Steam handles its own updates, both for itself
and the games that you have used it to install. The updates for
games are often huge, but you can monitor, pause or cancel them
on the Downloads page (hover over Library and click Downloads).
This is fortunate because, as well as consuming bandwidth, the
updates are compressed and encrypted and this means that
they use a lot of CPU time while they are downloading. In our
experience, they can keep two cores fully occupied for the entire
duration. Handily, you can exit Steam at any time, and updates
will resume next time it is launched.4
WINDOWS GAMES
But what if you want to run a game that doesn’t offer a
Linux version? In such cases, there is a good chance that it
can be made to run using a system called Proton. An official part
of Steam on Linux, Proton makes use of both Wine and DXVK,
layers that translate Windows software and graphics calls into
native Linux ones.>> However, there are some caveats. Firstly,
compared with how the game runs natively on Windows,
performance and stability might be an issue.
>> Secondly, it raises the ethical question that,
arguably, running the Windows version under Linux
might reduce pressure on the developers to make a
Linux native version of a game.
>> On the first point, the best way to get answers about
the viability of running a particular game is to search for
it on the ProtonDB website (www.protondb.com) to see1. MAIN MENU
Easily
overlooked,
this is the menu
bar. It’s mostly
concerned
with options
to configure
Steam itself.2. STEAM
SECTIONS
These tabs
take you to
different parts
of Steam. Each
entry is also
a pulldown
menu if you
hover over it.3. GAME
LIBRARY
CONTROLS
Three filter
icons to chose
from; installed
games, owned
games and
native Linux
games.4. SEARCH
The search box.
If you need this,
you probably
have too many
games!5. GAME
LIBRARY
The list of games
in your library.
Left-click to
be taken to the
game’s page.
Right-click for
the properties
menu.6. RUN A GAME
A button that
changes
between
play, install,
and stream
functions.7. GUILT-O-
METER
Total playing
time. Keep
this covered
when your
boss, partner,
or parents are
present.THE STEAMINTERFACE
1
2
3
4
5
6 7
>> Getting ready to play Firewatch on a laptop without 3D support,
thanks to Steam Remote Play streaming.