Relevant anymore? Steam vs Uber launcher?

Discussion in 'Planetary Annihilation General Discussion' started by Cleverwater, May 15, 2015.

  1. Cleverwater

    Cleverwater New Member

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    Hey guys. Starting to learn PA after picking it up on Steam sale for OSX and I was wondering if the old threads re: performance increases when playing from the PA launcher vs running in Steam are still relevant.

    Not experiencing any major issues, just looking for optimal performance! So if you're on OSX (iMac in this case) and have an opinion let me know.
  2. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    I think this one is best, but I may be biased. :)

    But yeah, the Steam one sometimes does odd things that are mainly related to the Steam Overlay. The UberLauncher in very rare cases could interfere with PA itself by not getting out of the way. In almost all cases there will be no difference though.
    tunsel11 likes this.
  3. theseeker2

    theseeker2 Well-Known Member

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    don't use steam because it's steam
  4. Cleverwater

    Cleverwater New Member

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    Thanks for the prompt replies!

    Death, in order for me to use your launcher do I need to already have the game installed as a direct download (uber launcher) or can it pick up the existing steam install?

    Also, your Linux preference is giving me the itch to try dual booting into the latest Ubuntu. Always have been tempted but have worried the imac's Bluetooth mouse and keyboard would not get picked up and I'd flail around helplessly. But I've always had respect for the penguin fellow.
    cdrkf likes this.
  5. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    You can point it to anywhere. It's capable of downloading the game on it's own.

    If you do want to use an existing install, that will work too. You only need to point it to the right location and press "Download & Install". It will then verify the contents of that directory and download files if needed. As far as I know, the Steam install is exactly the same as the UberLauncher install. But keep in mind that I've never actually tried to do that. :)
  6. cdrkf

    cdrkf Post Master General

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    I have Ubuntu dual booted with Windows 7 on my rig. Out of interest I have a Belkin bluetooth adapter with a pair of wireless headphones. Windows 7 had issues installing them (get them working in the end though officially only supported on Windows 8+)... however Ubuntu? They just worked. No driver install, bluetooth dongle was recognized, installed the headphones, all works including the remote :)

    I think you'll probably be ok...

    Edit: Only think I can think of is it *might* be wise to have a USB keyboard / mouse on hand for set up, though that said, if you download the installer and write it to a bootable USB stick, you can load off the stick and test without installing so that's probably your safest bet.

    Edit edit: Also @DeathByDenim's launcher works very well. I used it to install PA on Ubuntu (I don't think Uber provide one unless they've added it in the last few patches) :)
  7. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    cdrkf likes this.
  8. squishypon3

    squishypon3 Post Master General

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    Unlike you a lot of people actually love Valve and Steam! =I

    Honestly if you just disable the steam in game overlay it should be the exact same thing anyway. :p
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  9. Cleverwater

    Cleverwater New Member

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    Well I've finally had a chance to try both the official Uber launcher, Death's launcher and via Steam (with overlay disabled) and, yup, they're basically the same. Test concluded!
    DeathByDenim likes this.
  10. theseeker2

    theseeker2 Well-Known Member

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    those people are retarded and you know it
  11. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    Good, and now you can install Linux and compare that with Mac. ;)
    squishypon3 likes this.
  12. Cleverwater

    Cleverwater New Member

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    As soon as I can find a reliable guide to doing so I'll probably do it. Got plenty of HD available to partition I'm very wary of playing around with reFind and boot loaders and such...not educated enough to do anything other than follow directions blindly and hope for the best. But I would like to try it. If you know of a recent guide for a dual boot with Yosemite using Ubuntu I'll give it a look-see. ;)

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