[ MH-Wilds ] Add post on public beta

It actually runs on the Steam Deck without any special changes! How cool
is that?!!  : D

Author: CodingCellist

content/en/post/monster-hunter-wilds-beta-steam-deck/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+---
+# Documentation: https://docs.hugoblox.com/managing-content/
+
+title: "Monster Hunter Wilds Beta on the Steam Deck"
+subtitle: ""
+summary: "The Monster Hunter Wilds open beta ran this weekend. And not only does
+          it actually run on the Steam Deck, it does so surprisingly decently!"
+authors: [thomas-e-hansen]
+tags: [video-games, monster-hunter, steam-deck, linux,]
+categories: [sprout]
+date: 2024-11-01
+lastmod:
+featured: false
+draft: false
+
+# Featured image
+# To use, add an image named `featured.jpg/png` to your page's folder.
+# Focal points: Smart, Center, TopLeft, Top, TopRight, Left, Right, BottomLeft, Bottom, BottomRight.
+image:
+  caption: ""
+  focal_point: ""
+  preview_only: false
+
+# Projects (optional).
+#   Associate this post with one or more of your projects.
+#   Simply enter your project's folder or file name without extension.
+#   E.g. `projects = ["internal-project"]` references `content/project/deep-learning/index.md`.
+#   Otherwise, set `projects = []`.
+projects: []
+---
+
+By pure coincidence, I happened to check the "News" section of the Steam Deck
+main page last night, and saw:
+
+_"Monster Hunter Wilds Open Beta Test -- Introductory Guide"_
+
+WHAT?!
+
+Some hasty reading revealed that not only was MH Wilds doing a public beta, it
+was already ready for download and all I needed to do was press a button on
+Steam to "apply" for access (really it was just an automated sign-up/check kinda
+thing; I got access immediately).
+
+I have over 200 hours in what I would consider its predecessor -- Monster Hunter
+World -- so Wilds has been a game I have been looking forward to a lot (Rise
+just didn't quite scratch the same itch). I didn't realise just _how much_ I had
+been looking forward to this until I was legitimately giddy watching the
+download go  ^^
+
+Unfortunately, yesterday was Thursday, meaning today is Friday, not the weekend,
+and so I had to wait until after work to try it out.
+
+My Steam Deck is my main gaming machine these days (if it can be called that), I
+haven't had time nor budget to build a desktop PC, so I was somewhat worried
+about whether the beta would even run:
+
+1. It's the Steam Deck and MH Wilds recommends turning on AI Frame Generation,
+   _even for 1080p 60fps!_ The Steam Deck is very nice and convenient, but a
+   graphics powerhouse it is not...
+2. The Steam Deck runs Linux. Although Valve has done borderline miraculous
+   things with respect to compatibility layers and interop between Windows games
+   and their little Linux box, we are talking about the beta version of a PS5
+   game ported to PC assumed to be running Windows. I was asking a lot of
+   several potentially brittle moving parts here, and fully expected to be
+   disappointed.
+
+I am so happy I was wrong! The game _just worked_ (!!) out of the box. Download
+the ~29GB; click "Play"; game UI loads (I'd already made it further than I
+thought I would); watch the shaders compile for a while (which was where
+other Linux users had reported problems); shaders compiled successfully (could
+this be actually working??); and camera, lights, action! Well. Almost. Turns out
+even though I had said "no" to enabling frame generation, the graphics settings
+still had it turned on, and the Steam Deck doesn't support frame generation as
+far as I know. But the menus were running, just not with a game preview as the
+background, so I could easily navigate to the right setting and change it to
+"Off" myself.
+
+Ladies and gentlemen, we got graphical backgrounds on the menus!
+
+1½ hours later, I'd made a character (relatively quick, I know ^^) and started
+playing the introductory campaign. Does it run? Yes! Amazingly? No, it's the
+Steam Deck. But it _does_ run! I got ~16-20 fps stable in the environment,
+occasionally maybe dipping down to 10 during fights, but no "slide show"
+stutters which prevented me from reacting, it always ran smoothly (for a
+suitable definition of that word). I also did not expect any flickering of the
+whole image, something other Linux users had reported, so overall I consider
+this a massive success! Sure, the visuals are all set to either "off", "low", or
+"lowest" (yep, there's one worse setting for some of them ^^;;) but hey, it
+actually runs!
+
+I really can't emphasise enough just how amazing it is that this runs! 8 years
+ago, when I first started dabbling in Linux, running games via compatibility
+layers was a "mostly okay if you're lucky, spend some time with the right magic
+config files, and others have it working" situation. And that was for released
+games, forget about the open beta of an upcoming AAA title with online
+multiplayer! The fact that I can just download this, on what is effectively a
+Linux console, and _it just works_, is nothing short of amazing, and shows just
+how much incredible work Valve has invested in not just the Steam Deck, but
+Linux compatibility layers as a whole.
+
+The gameplay itself (there is only ~1-2 hours in the beta, which is fair enough)
+seemed interesting. There are some changes from World such as mounts being there
+from the start (Rise also had this, if I recall correctly), but otherwise it is
+largely reminiscent. One thing that did surprise me was that there is no
+"Monster Hunter Language" option, and you have to choose to have your palico
+"speak" in cat voice (by default it is set to speak words, same as the other
+NPCs). I think the reason for the lack of Monster Hunter Language is that the
+player character now speaks during cutscenes (!) rather than just grunting
+approvingly or sounding vaguely surprised or shocked. It could also be that it's
+just something missing from the beta; time will tell.
+
+In any case, I think it is interesting to have the voice and pitch -- which can
+be chosen at character creation -- of your player character be used in the
+cutscenes; I feel it adds to the immersion, even though it will never be exactly
+as you imagined the words or voice of your character.
+
+I took plenty of screenshots and even some short videos of how the game looks,
+and what performance was like. I'll upload those sometime over the next week,
+when I have time to sort through them.
+
+Until then, take care and thank you so much for reading along! I hope this was
+informative and interesting  : )
+