Steam on PlayOnLinux no longer working?

Kladiator said:
I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice here.

I am a casual gamer (which means very bad) so I don't need to go online to play.
Out of caution now I disable networking when I play games, so the Steam client can't get updated.

Does it make sense to try testing the new Steam update by creating a new wineprefix, installing Steam, let it update and finally copying the Steamapps folders from the other games so I don't risk to break anything which right now works?
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Unfortunately there is nothing you can do to avoid Steam updates. You can always play in offline mode, but you can't install any new games.
I create a new virtual drive for every Steam game. This means I have multiple steam virtual drives.

So you could install Steam, install your game, update it and go offline.
From then on, just play offline.

If you want to install another game, just create a new virtual drive and install Steam again and the new game. Then follow the same steps to go offline.

As long as those virtual drives with Steam never go online, you will still be able to play.
 
I honestly don't think you have that much to worry about. So far it only happened once that a Steam update broke it in wine, and wine devs were quick to fix it. It is such a widely used program that I don't consider it something to worry about.
 
Except any games that don't run in Wine 1.7.8 or newer.
There are a few games that refuse to run on newer version of Wine.

Kladiator has a good point. If you mostly play single-player campaigns and just want to stay offline... its pretty difficult these days. Even most retail games have some kind of internet activation.
My stepfather fits in this scenario perfectly. He's totally paranoid of the internet and likes to play lots of games. He refuses to buy any games that require online activation.
My mom has internet, but his computer isn't connected. I keep telling him its as easy as plugging in the network cable, activate and unplug.

We are already in a day where almost all games require internet. Even open-source and DRM-free games require internet just to download them. For most of us its not a big deal.
 
Good point. You know, I think I would suggest keeping a backup of said virtual drive if not intending to go online. There are rare cases where game files in a Steam install might go corrupt, and the only way to fix it would be to go online and let steam verify the integrity of game cache.

You know, every time there is an issue with Steam, I'm reminded why I love GOG so much. Sure you have to be online to download the game installer. But after that, you can keep the installer safe and you will never have to download anything again, and the installer can be used indefinitely on as many computers as you like.
 
Exactly! My stepfather could come over and download all the GOG games he wants, then install them at home without internet.
I love DRM free too. Just so easy!
 
Ok, is it me or is Steam still having some problems?
I updated to Mint 16 64-bit and cannot play Borderlands 2 or Rage.
I thought it was 64-bit so decided to start over and install 32-bit Mint 16 and still having problems.

I can run native Linux games (tested Costume Quest and Portal)
But using WinSteam in PlayOnLinux just makes my games crash right before the main menu.
I'll keep testing, but I didn't have any problems until I tried Mint 16.
 
This is probably the problem I experienced. Not all games had the same error message. Disable steam overlay and it should work. I actually didn't try to disable it normally in Steam, I just entered wine config for the virtual drive, added a library called "gameoverlayrenderer" and chose edit and set it to deactivated. Then all games worked.
 
Seriously?
This is Bad
I may have to stay away from Steam games for now because they are breaking PlayOnLinux scripts and my Guides.

I'll try it an report back here
 
Oh my gosh! That was it!!!
Its that stinking overlay for chatting and community.
Crap! I'm definitely staying away from Steam right now.
I hope this eventually stops because I can't keep posting "work arounds" to make games run.
 
Now that you have confirmed this bug for you as well, I think I will mention to disable steam overlay in all my guides that involve steam.
 
Yeah, I will have to do that as well.
Thanks for the Tip.
I'm also going to try unchecking "Enable Steam Community in-game" in Steam and see if that helps.
Sucks because that overlay is pretty cool and allows you to chat with friends, upload screenshots and more...
 
If you install a Steam game via scripts, the overlay is already disabled in Wine libraries.
But since most of our guides are manual installations, you have to disable it manually.
 
Great, now Steam servers are down and I can't install anything.
:(
 
I discovered one thing about this whole Steam overlay thing, and I wanted to ask if anyone else have encountered anything similar.

If I disable the overlay from Steam settings, (uncheck Steam community in game) everything works, until I quit the game. Upon exiting the game, Steam still seems to think that I am in game. I even looked at running processes and the game is not running, but Steam still believes it and also prevents me from exiting Steam properly as it wants me to close the game first.

If I instead disable it from wine config, by adding a custom library called "gameoverlayrenderer" and setting it to disabled, then the game exits without problem and Steam knows I've exited the game.

Since I had this issue, I decided to provide steps for disabling it through wine config in all my guides that involve Steam. Still, I'd like to know if I'm the only one that have discovered this issue so far.
 
I do have this problem from time to time, but it's not consistent.
Sometimes Borderlands crashes on exit and Lost Planet crashes on exit. But other times it closes just fine.
I've even had problems with Steam alone not closing properly.
I'll keep my eye on this and see if I have further complications.
 
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