Internode Ping Spikes While Playing CS:GO

This is a typical ping log just now while playing CS:GO. I'm using ADSL2 and relatively close to the exchange (<500m). I've used an Asus RT-AC68U and a TP-Link Archer D9 and I get similar responsiveness with both:

64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=242 ttl=59 time=1119 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=243 ttl=59 time=1233 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=244 ttl=59 time=1249 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=245 ttl=59 time=644 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=246 ttl=59 time=91.9 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=247 ttl=59 time=712 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=248 ttl=59 time=1076 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=249 ttl=59 time=1222 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=250 ttl=59 time=1254 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=251 ttl=59 time=1291 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=252 ttl=59 time=1304 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=253 ttl=59 time=1274 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=254 ttl=59 time=520 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=255 ttl=59 time=24.4 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=256 ttl=59 time=24.2 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=257 ttl=59 time=25.2 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=258 ttl=59 time=114 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=259 ttl=59 time=451 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=260 ttl=59 time=898 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=261 ttl=59 time=1234 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=262 ttl=59 time=1296 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=263 ttl=59 time=1272 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=264 ttl=59 time=1285 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=265 ttl=59 time=1281 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=266 ttl=59 time=1437 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=267 ttl=59 time=1481 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=268 ttl=59 time=1235 ms
64 bytes from pubweb.internode.on.net (150.101.140.197): icmp_seq=269 ttl=59 time=564 ms

All I can say is...gg.

How Much CPU Does CS:GO Use?

I ran a quick test on CS:GO to see how much CPU it was using. Turned out to be more than I expected, regularly getting 60-80% on an i5, sometimes in excess of 80%.

This screen cap is taken on my system with an i7 4790K hyperthreading off (aka "i5 mode"), using a GTX970 at 1080p. It was taken during online deathmatch. With hyperthreading on it was similar usage, but only using the 4 real threads makes it easier to see how much the CPU is being used.

If you're looking for a CPU and can afford an i5, it would seem like a quad-core CPU is useful even for an "old" game like CS:GO.

Interestingly though, when running with 2 cores + hyperthreading activated, the usage didn't go up by a whole lot:

This cap is with 2 cores and hyperthreading activated — essentially an i3^†. It gets into the 80-90% more regularly, but it's not that much more. I can only guess the engine is a bit clever in scaling what it does based on the resources available. I did notice a few frame drops into the low 100s, but the gameplay didn't feel particularly different.

_{† The i7 has a higher base clock speed and a much bigger CPU cache, so it's not a true test for how an i3 would behave}

Dungeon Defenders on 64-bit Ubuntu Variants

A while back I found using the ia32-libs package was a way to get Dungeon Defenders going on 64-bit Linux, but that package went away. Here's the process I went through to get Dungeon Defenders working on Xubuntu 14.04.

Graphics Setup

First in general: install graphics drivers. For nVidia this is basically:

apt-get install nvidia-current
nvidia-xconfig

For AMD the process is a little more fraught with danger, I found this process works well with 14.04 though:

apt-get install fglrx-updates fglrx-amdcccle-updates
aticonfig --initial

Then reboot. After, if using AMD, run amdcccle and set the "tear free" option to enabled.

Game Setup

Since ia32-libs is deprecated, I went through and manually found all the packages. Here's the summary that should hopefully include everything needed to run the game:

apt-get install libglu1-mesa:i386 lib32stdc++6 \       libxext6:i386 libasound2:i386 libpulse0:i386 \       libxcursor1:i386 libxinerama1:i386 libxi6:i386 \       libxrandr2:i386 libxss1:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386

Then, before you run DD for the first time, edit the file DefaultDunDef.ini in UDKGame/Config/ and remove "_Valentines2013" from the GameplayLevel parameters, so that they only say "LobbyLevel.UDK". This will prevent the bug when you start the game it goes straight back to the menu.

_{(After using it as a test application for a fresh machine, I want to go back and play the game from a clean start. After the débâcle that is Dungeon Defenders Eternity, the original game feels much more...fun :(. )}

Compiling Godot from Source on Kubuntu

Hearing about the release of cross-platform, open-source gaming engine Godot, I thought I'd give it a go. After getting the source from github, I hit a "what do I do now" moment? There didn't seem to be anything to run, and I couldn't find any docs that explained what to do.

Perhaps obviously in hindsight, I could have gone to the "compiling from source" page and followed that, but for whatever reason I didn't find it, so here's the process I took to get up and running (using Kubuntu 13.04):

• There is a makefile in the root of the source code. I tried "make all", but it fell over with the error: /bin/sh: 1: scons: not found.
• Tried installing scons (sudo apt-get install scons).
• Make then failed with: scons: *** Do not know how to make File target `bin/godot'
• Web search led to a Godot forum post that defined the other dependencies that are needed:

apt-get install scons pkg-config libx11-dev libxcursor-dev \ build-essential libasound2-dev libfreetype6-dev \ libgl1-mesa-dev libglu-dev

• Now: $ make all
• Should get "scons: done building targets".
• run "bin/godot", this should open the Project Manager.
• Continue to follow the Godot tutorials.

SteamOS Beta: Installation and Test

Despite my stance on DRM (I abhor the entire concept for many, many reasons, but that's for another post), due to demands gentle encouragement from friends I decided to try out Steam (and specifically, SteamOS) and see what it's all about.

At this point SteamOS is in Beta, and while it's got a lot of areas to iron out, once you get it installed it works pretty well, including fully functional AMD GPU drivers despite no official support.

Initially I tried to run this on my old Core 2 Quad system, but the install failed because the BIOS wasn't new enough (needed to have UEFI Boot option). But on a newer machine the install process was much smoother. It was a fairly low-specced machine with the following parts: Intel G1610, 2GB RAM, AMD HD7770, 128GB Sandisk Ultra Plus SSD.

SteamOS desktop

Here are the steps:

• I chose the SteamOSIntaller.zip option, mainly because I thought the CloneZilla-based image option wouldn't work because I didn't have a 1TB HDD, which was apparently required for the image.
• Instead of following the installer instructions in the SteamOS FAQ, I converted it to an ISO using the following command:
grub-mkrescue -o SteamOS.iso steam/
• Next I put the ISO on a flash drive (using Unetbootin or ISO writer of choice). I discovered that even with the ISO, UEFI boot is required.
• Selected "Automated Install" from the boot list. Everything went smoothly for me from this point.
• Initially I was just running with Intel onboard graphics. After install, I plugged in the HD7770. It picked up the fglrx_pci drivers and "just worked" which was nice.
• The first time, you have to run "steam" from the console. It downloads and installs Steam (about 220MB). After installing and creating my account, it "crashed" (spat out a crash ID anyway). I restarted using the "Steam" icon on the desktop, which worked fine.

The first game I installed was Killing Floor. I was only running it at 1680x1050 (using an old monitor), but it looked great at High settings.

Killing Floor on SteamOS at 1450x900

Only games with a Linux target will work. Non-linux games appear in the Steam client window, but don't have an "Install" button. I assume that someone will work out how to get a wine option to run Windows only games via SteamOS, but I haven't tried this yet.

Things of interest to note:

• The installer erases the target drive, and potentially any other drives plugged in. I installed on a fresh system to make sure no data was accidentally lost.
• USB drives mount as read-only by default, and the "steam" user doesn't have permission to do even that. Makes it a pain trying to transfer screenshots or anything between computers.
• The software sources are limited basically to Steam repos. I assume you can add other sources in, but haven't explored this.

GOG: If Only There Was Support For...

Update 27 Jul 2014:

GoG has announced support for Linux. Currently there are 50 or so games.

Original post (13 Dec 2013):

In the past I've bought quite a few games from awesome DRM-free games site Good Old Games. But it's been a while now, primarily because I haven't used Windows for a couple of years.

They send me regular emails like this one, asking me to come back:

And I keep saying "I'd love to buy more stuff, but none of the games will run on Linux".

I understand why they can't support the platform, so I'm not blaming them, but it makes me sad, because I'd love to support their efforts.

:(

Fixing KDE Games Menu Crash

After installing the game "A Virus Named Tom" from the Humble Bundle 9, trying to view the "Games" menu in KDE started crashing.

The problem is due to the file avirusnamedtom_com-avirusnamedtom_1.desktop in ~/.local/share/applications. It contains a reference to an image where either a) the reference is invalid because it contains spaces, or b) the image is unreadable.

To fix the problem, I edited the Icon line from:

Icon=/home/ash/Software/games/installed/
  VirusNamedTom/A Virus Named TOM.bmp

to:

Icon="/home/ash/Software/games/installed/
  VirusNamedTom/A Virus Named TOM.bmp"

(Line break above is for clarity -- there is no line break in the file).

After logging out and logging back in, the Games menu should work again (although the icon for AVNT still doesn't appear properly, and I can't open the file in the default image viewer, which makes me think it's broken in some way. GIMP can open it without any problem, so I'm not sure what the issue is).

An alternative solution is to rename or delete the .desktop file, but then you lose the AVNT menu entry.

Also note this should fix a crash when clicking on the menu and selecting "Edit Applications..." -- which also occurred until I made this fix.

Hat tip to abelthorne, who posted the clue that led me to track this down.

Update 17/10/2013:
After a bit more experimentation, I found that the image can be made to work in the Games menu by saving as it as .PNG in GIMP, removing the spaces in the filename, and removing the quotes in the Icon entry in the .desktop file. There are some weirdnesses or limitations in the .desktop format it seems, and also something strange with the .BMP that comes with AVNT.

Running Card Hunter in Linux

I read a recent PAR article on new browser-based game Card Hunter so I signed up to give it a shot.

Unfortunately if you're using Linux and Firefox, depending on the version of the flash player you have installed, it probably won't work.

To get it going I installed Chromium and the Pepper flash plugin, following these instructions (as referenced in the Card Hunter forums). This works perfectly.

Fixing "mojo.run: No such file or directory" error

When trying to install something with a .mojo.run extension (for example, I was installing Dungeon Defenders from the Humble Bundle), if you get this error:

mojo.run: No such file or directory

The solution (thanks Kazade!) is to install the ia32-libs package. Then the installer should work.

(Posted this because it took me way too long searching to stumble across Kazade's post).

Update 20/10/2013:

I noticed that ia32-libs is no longer an installation target in 13.10. There doesn't seem to be an easy way to fix this, since some suggested mechanisms don't work when you've got a mojo.run file.

The only way I found to do it is detailed here: http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/ia32-libs-in-ubuntu-13-10

The version of synaptic I was using was slightly different to that described above. In Step 4, it was "click New" rather than "other software -> add", and in step 5 the values to insert are in four separate lines:

• Dropdown box: Binary (deb)
• URI: http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/
• Distribution: raring
• Section(s): main restricted universe multiverse

Running Diablo II under wine in Linux Mint Cinnamon

Disabling or re-mapping Alt+Click
If you're playing Diablo II in wine, the default Alt+Click mapping in Cinnamon (which moves the underlying window) is kind of annoying. Since the desktop environment is based on Gnome (I guess), you can use the gconf-editor tool to edit the mappings.

Under Mint 13, the configuration editor isn't installed by default, so you might have to do this:

    sudo apt-get install gconf-editor
    gconf-editor

Then navigate to apps/metacity/general and edit the mouse_button_modifier key to something else (I used "Control" which seems to be fine).

Getting "pick up items with Alt held down" to work
Holding down Alt highlights items. If you can't pick up items with Alt held down, you may need to disable the window manager control of the wine window.

To do this, run winecfg, go to Graphics tab, and uncheck the "Allow the window manager to control the windows" option.

Alt+Click for item pick up now works. The downside is that the window won't appear in the taskbar any more, and when you minimise it you get a little icon in the bottom left-hand corner. But it works.

Note: While initially I did this and it seemed to helped, it might also cause keyboard interaction to stop working. I was playing around with the "Window focus mode" in Cinnamon -> Window Settings at the same time, so at the moment I've turned the window manager control back on in winecfg and it's okay.