Tag: launcher
I Got a Destiny 2 Rocket Launcher and It’s My Whole Life Now
Raycast Is the Launcher App Apple Wishes It Made
Valve issue feature-filled Steam Deck software update, unbreak Ubisoft launcher games
Last night was a restless one for the Steam Deck. In addition to a huge client update for the handheld PC, Valve pushed out a Proton Experimental update to fix a crashing problem with games that use the Ubisoft Connect launcher on Steam.
Ubi’s launcher had received an update of its own, sadly one that interfered with the ability of Proton – the layer of software that helps made-for-Windows games run on the Linux-based SteamOS – to keep it compatible with the Deck. Indeed, just like the 2K Launcher last year, with the added irony that the affected games (which include The Division 2, Watch Dogs Legion and Ghost Recon Breakpoint) only arrived on Steam in the past few weeks.
Ubisoft’s launcher broke Steam games on Linux and Steam Deck
GTA The Trilogy – Definitive Edition Now On Steam, Still Uses Rockstar Launcher
GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is now free from the exclusivity of the Rockstar Store, and available to purchase over at Steam. All three games are Steam Deck compatible, and also have Steam achievements for all completionists out there. According to the press release, the trilogy is also arriving to the Epic Games store “later in January.”
The games appear in a bundle over at the Steam store, and while they all have individual storefronts, all purchase options redirect you to the trilogy package itself. As an upside, there is currently a 50% off sale for GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, which ends on Thursday, February 2nd.
Ever since launch, if you wanted to play these enhanced editions of GTA III, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas on PC, you could only buy them via the Rockstar Store, which required the Rockstar Games Launcher. That being said, Steam does note that you’re going to need a user account from Rockstar Games Social Club. And, unfortunately, the Rockstar Games Launcher will still run in the background as you play the games.
2022 saw launcher bloat turn from a minor annoyance into a genuine problem
Asteroid Launcher website lets you simulate an impact on your hometown
Ever wondered what it would be like if the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs struck your neighborhood?
Unfortunately, the recently released Asteroid Launcher web app can’t answer that question (since it doesn’t let you choose an asteroid big enough), but you can still get an idea of how nasty these space rocks are. Created by programmer Neal Agarwal, Asteroid Launcher is simple to use. Just click on a point of impact, then choose the type of asteroid, its size, its impact speed, and its impact angle.
Once it’s launched, you’ll get a visual readout of just how badly you’ve messed up your city. For example, an asteroid that’s only 100 feet in diameter, traveling just 1,000 miles per hour with an impact angle of five degrees would level several city blocks in Brooklyn. The crater would be 261 feet wide, while hundreds of people would die from the combination of the impact, the shock wave it would create, and the subsequent hurricane-force blast of wind.
Credit: Neal Agarwal/Asteroid Launcher
The obvious lesson here is that you don’t want to be anywhere near even a small asteroid impact. But what about a large one? I jacked the asteroid stats all the way up (one mile in diameter, impact speed of 250,000mph, and a 90 degree impact angle), dropped it in the center of the U.S., and found that basically the entire country would be screwed if that happened.
Credit: Neal Agarwal/Asteroid Launcher
An impact of that magnitude on Wichita, Kansas would kill tens of millions, knock down trees as far south as Mexico, and generally be a terrible time for all involved. That doesn’t even account for all the possible ecological effects of such an impact; the six-mile asteroid that killed the dinosaurs also launched so much dust into the atmosphere that it blocked sunlight from reaching the ground.
The lesson here today is that asteroids really, really suck.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Performance Can Get Boosted By Disabling The 2K Launcher
Marvel’s Midnight Suns has some performance issues, and if you’re playing on Steam, turning off the 2K launcher could be the antidote.
Rock Paper Shotgun and players over on Midnight Suns Reddit first noticed Midnight Sun’s stuttering issues and also found the potential solution: Yeeting 2K’s launcher into the stratosphere–or in other words, simply disabling it from launching alongside Midnight Suns.
According to the RPS writer James Archer, the solution massively boosted the frame rate–which went from an average of 90fps to 146 fps. RPS and a Steam user both uploaded guides on how to prevent the 2K launcher from initiating. A short summary is that players will need to go into Midnight Suns’ local files, grab the main executable file path, and then paste the path into launch options.