Shatur

It’s a crate for server-authoritative networking.

This release adds support for Bevy 0.14.0 and includes features from the previous RC. I like Bevy's new release candidate process a lot!

But it will take some time for the messaging backends to update. The bevy_replicion_renet that I maintain needs the renet crate to be updated to Bevy 0.14 first.

📜Full changelog 📦bevy_replicon

It’s a crate for server-authoritative networking.

We usually don't make breaking changes when a Bevy release is around the corner, but decided to make a small exception for this one :)

This release adds support for Bevy 0.14.0-rc.4 and splits the crate functionality by features. For example, for headless server you can disable client feature. By default all features, except diagnostics are enabled, so you have the same set of plugins as before. But most plugin authors will need to add default-features = false.

📜Full changelog 📦bevy_replicon

You can find it on crates.io or on GitHub. If you're already on the rc.3, cargo update should automatically pick it up.

Here is the list of fixes since the 0.14.0-rc.3. This is likely the last release candidate!

The estimated release date for the 0.14 is now beginning of next week.

You can find it on crates.io or on GitHub. If you're already on the rc.2, cargo update should automatically pick it up.

Here is the list of fixes since the 0.14.0-rc.2. This version also has observers merged!

The estimated release date for the 0.14 has been pushed back by one week, to be able to finish the release note and migration guide.

It’s a crate for server-authoritative networking.

Bevy has started drafting release candidates to let users test them before the actual release. And I think it's awesome!

This release adds support for Bevy 0.14.0-rc.2. There are no functional changes.

We haven't released bevy_replicon_renet because we need to wait for bevy_renet. However, other crates, including other messaging backends, won't be blocked.

📦bevy_replicon

You can find it on crates.io or on GitHub. Notice that as it's a release candidate, you have to specify the version for it to be selected, it's not automatic.

Please test it on all the strange use cases you have, update the plugins you maintain, and get ready for an exceptional release! The migration guide is still being worked on, but the draft can already prove useful.

For the next two weeks, we'll cherrypick back to the release branch merged PRs from the 0.14 milestone, so that they will be in the 0.14 release. While we will avoid breaking changes, it's still a possiblity one will be merged if there's a big enough issue.

Bought the device a few days ago and wanted to share the experience of running a Bevy game on it. I developing an open source life simulation game called Project Harmonia. The game is at the prototype stage: you can build walls, place objects and move around, but no no actual gameplay loop.

Bevy engine supports it natively since it's just a regular x86 with GNU/Linux. So nothing special was needed! I compiled the game via Cargo and it works.

The game runs great. I get stable 90 FPS (90Hz is the refresh rate of the device) consuming only 13.1 W. The UI is a little big and controls aren't adapted well for gamepads, but I will fix it later.

The console itself is also a nice machine for development. Next I will write about the setup I use.

As you may know, it runs SteamOS with KDE and based on ArchLinux.

Packages mostly mirror official ArchLinux repositories, but there are some additions and everything is compiled by Valve. So you can even install SuperTuxKart or GNOME 😃

Another difference from vanilla ArchLinux is immutable file system. You can make it writable via a single command in terminal, but each update wipes all changes made to the system. Home directory remains untouched.

Because of the immutable filesystem, I decided to try Flatpak. It installs packages into the user's home directory. Therefore, such apps won't be removed after an update.

But I faced some limitations due to containerization. For example, the Firefox extension for KeePassXC does not work because apps can't interact with each other. And it's not suited for installing stuff like compilers or libraries. So I decided to explore other options.

Next, I tried to create a script that I planned to run after each update. It installs all the packages I need through the system package manager.

But packages on SteamOS are older then in Archlinux. For example, Neovim on SteamOS is 0.9, but on ArchLinux it's 0.10, so I had to downgrade my configuration. And it causes incompatibilities with AUR. For example, I couldn't install Crow Translate because of it.

Another problem with such script is that Valve nuked /usr/include directory to free space. All packages are present, but the folder is missing. It makes sense for a gaming device, but I need it to compile packages from AUR.

It can be solved by reinstalling all packages that put files into /usr/include. But it causes another problem 😃 Allocated space for / is limited and you quickly run out of space after restoring headers and installing a couple of packages.

Then I decided to try Distrobox. It creates containers that tightly integrated with the host system. It even comes pre-installed on the Steam Deck.

And I like it a lot! It is very easy to use and combines the advantages of both approaches. All packages will persist across updates and I have access to all packages that I have on my regular PC. Graphical apps look native and can interact with each other.

The game on photos was compiled on the Steam Deck 🥰