We're all well aware of Steam's summer sales, but don't forget that indie storefront itch.io also has a lot of games on sale this week. I've linked to my post in !freegames@feddit.uk which covers 22 games that are currently completely free, but you can browse their games on sale page directly for a huge number of indies (of varying quality!)

I'm a regular user of Linux systems but apart from a couple of test Ubuntu installs many years ago they've always been containers or VMs with no DE which I can throw away when I break them. The Steam Deck showcasing how far Wine/Proton has come combined with Windows being Windows has given me the push; I've made a Mint live USB and it's running beautifully on my desktop. I come to you, the masters, with questions before I hit install:

1. What do you recommend I do about disk partitions? I'm keeping a Windows install for the few things that demand it, does Windows still occasionally destroy Linux partitions? Do I need separate partitions for data and OS? Is it straightforward to add additional distros as new partitions or is that asking for trouble?
2. Is disk encryption straightforward? And is that likely to upset the Windows partition?
3. Is cloud storage sync straightforward? It's my off-site backup solution on Android and Windows (using Cryptomator with Dropbox, Google Drive, etc) but I don't think that many providers have Linux clients. Is something like rclone recommended?
4. Should I just use apt to install software? I know there's some kind of graphical package manager (synaptic?), does that use apt under the covers or is it separate? Is it recommended to install something like Flathub too?
5. Any other pearls of wisdom? How do I keep everything tidy? Any warnings about what not to do? Should I use a particular terminal emulator or Firefox fork?

Alas, the live service, bane of the patient gamer.

I picked up the original Super Mario Maker on WiiU for cheap a few years ago but haven't really played it much (who knew that professional level designers are better at designing fun levels than internet randos?), but apparently its servers are being shut down on 8th April. (This has apparently been announced for a while but I only discovered it from recent articles about players trying to beat every level!)

Does anyone know if there's any way to mass-download levels before the servers go offline? Is it just a case of manually downloading all the top levels one by one? Should I just play it intensely for two weeks assuming it'll then be reduced to the default levels regardless? Are there third-party tools to download levels on Cemu instead?

I've got an IKEA hub connected to a few Trådfri lights which I've then added to Home Assistant on a Raspberry Pi and set up a load of automations. I moved the hub and the RPi around my room and now Home Assistant can't control any of the lights, it's just reporting Failed setup, will retry. The IKEA hub can still control the lights fine.

Any idea if there's a quick fix or do I need to bite the bullet, delete the config and set everything up again from scratch?

I was writing this out on my local !letstalkaboutgames@feddit.uk and realised I was basically making a patient gamers post, so here's a copy and paste:

Despite everything you might read from gaming journos about corporate greed destroying the gaming industry I still think it's an amazing time to be into video games. I'm absolutely spoiled for choice with games to play and I think it's just down to not caring about online multiplayer or getting caught up in marketing hype.

You don't have to pay through the nose to buy a fancy machine to play half-finished blockbusters, there are decades of classics that you can still play. Borrow a friend's old console and play some old games-of-the-year, find some random classics on Humble Bundle or GOG, see what random freebies I've posted in !freegames@feddit.uk, stick an emulator on your phone or find one that runs in a web browser.

Example: I played Metroid Prime after seeing a Lemmy post talking about. I could either:

• Dig out a GameCube or buy a Wii on eBay for £5 and find a copy of the game at CEX if I fancy the retro experience
• Buy the remastered Switch version if I fancied splashing out
• Just pirate a ROM if I feel rebellious
• Dump my own ROM and play it on PrimeHack if I feel like tinkering

This is just one example of a great game that passed me by, there are thousands of others out there. We have a crazy amount of choice not only of what to play but how we choose to play it. The bittersweet part is that this could all change so enjoy it while you can!

I've just replayed Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, and I think this video sums up quite well why 2 wasn't quite as good as the original. It's more than it just being more of an expansion than a sequel, it's the little bits that make it feel a bit more special.

Hello fellow patient gamers, this is a cheeky self-plug for !freegames@feddit.uk, a community I've created to post limited-time full-game free giveaways. The reward for being patient is that sometimes you get freebies; post them here if you spot them first, or comment to say whether it's a must play for everyone or if zero cost is still too expensive!

Hello fellow patient gamers, this is a cheeky self-plug for !freegames@feddit.uk, a community I've created to post limited-time full-game free giveaways. The reward for being patient is that sometimes you get freebies; post them here if you spot them first, or comment to say whether it's a must play for everyone or if zero cost is still too expensive!