this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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I'm not sure what the question is, but if you're asking about pre-compiled shader downloads, those are just files being installed. If you're asking why your machine is compiling shaders locally before a game launch, it's so your machine doesn't hitch and stutter when running the game. You pretty much always want this enabled.
I don't know what your comment about Bitcoin is about, but if you're imagining your machine doing work to benefit Valve, you're mistaken about how shader caching works, and the distribution of such.
The Bitcoin thing was a joke about how it uses so much CPU/GPU, it almost feels as if he's mining crypto for Daddy Gaben.
His actual complaint is that the shaders seem to get recompiled on every game launch, which takes forever, instead of just re-using the ones it compiled previously.
Well I can explain the latter:
Steam has a very simple but extensive distribution system in that if the client (your machine) has X combination of hardware, it will frequently check for updates to any files the publisher has pushed upstream. The Steam platform has a compilation mechanism to pre-build graphics and shader caches for end-user clients to prevent them from having to do all that work, so when a publisher tweaks something related to graphics, Steam's backend will build distributed versiona of these compiled shareders and textures and make them available to clients to save your local machine from having to do that work itself on update and launch.
You can disable the behavior in the downloads settings from what I remember. I'm sure you can Google get more specific about how you want that handled, but it can be disabled, your local machine will just have to spend more effort to build them itself to satisfy the requirement the game. You're spending more money on your energy bill this way vs just letting the steam client download the pre-built versions.
It's me venting. And providing a place for venting and advices. Things people do sometimes.
While you are sounding like some chatgpt. You do a paragraph on me mentioning bitcoin with obvious sarcasm. And it's all messed up.
Their comments reads nothing at all like ChatGPT to me, and I'm stuggling to see why you said that.
What is the supposed sarcasm regarding bitcoin mining? Not sure what point is being made with that.
That wasn't serious. Can we call it a metaphor or an epithet? This person wrote a dedicated paragraph about that, thinking I suspect Valve in mining bitcoins. I didn't think they are a bot, but they seemed to lose the tone of my text completely, once they got to 'bitcoin' word. It felt bot-ish because chatbots do dance around a few words sometimes.
Stop responding as if you've been asked "why do you think they are a bot" or "why do you think it's bitcoin mining". You were only asked why you said that. I know it's not your actual idea.
I was asked why they sounded like a bot to me, no? I made no point writing that.
You weren't asked why you thought they were a bot. As I said, none of us seriously believed you thought they were a bot. We asked what the point being made by that joke was.
And I said it has no point.
If your joke has no point, then it's just a statement.
Your comment was out of place and didn't make sense. That's why I brought it up. Couldn't tell if you thought your local machine was actually coin mining or whatever. Just an out of place comment where you should have asked the straightforward question of "What are shaders and why...?".
You are a real person AND you felt like my starting little half-joke about bitcoin (ignoring everything else in my post) is worth you writing half of your previous answer, a whole paragraph about it? Like what? Seriously?
I'm still not convinced if you aren't a robot. You do behave as such. Just like ones on stackoverflow I've seen today.
Yeah, cause those GPT bots are out there monitoring your very special comments on Lemmy specifically. Y'know because they matter...
If you thought that was a joke, I have some material you should watch.
Bots on there or reddit answer anything with a YT link, or just anything. There were subs where bots were talking to each other in circles, a lot of them were noticed carmafarming. I doubt no one of techie locals tried to build a good person-like bot there. This project is too obvious of an idea.
I don't feel special. I feel screwed that some human-adjacent bot answers me bs and makes no sense. I feel like I'm trapped in a void, and I can't reach other people.
I don't know what invited that suggestion. But drop them. I have time.
I'd take my words back, if they would be related to what I've said.
What stupid ideas are you invalidating right now, besides me jokingly comparing your writing style to a bot's one? It's not about answering fast enough (that's possible, you are wrong there, hehe), you miss keys while printing since your first answers. I know you are real. I'm just confused by how you write. That's all.
I never meant my PC was mining bitcoins in the first place. I said it again and again. I think now that's settled?
Our argument is stupid. And as you descended to insults, it's not even funny. Feel free to tag me this fucking idiot on Lemmy, I think that we'd see each other again. Hope, next time would be more productive.