Full list of games I have tested (updated)

[markh748]

Hi all,

I have been using Aster to play local multiplayer with two monitors and two workstations for a while now. Here is a list of games that I have tried. If others could contribute to the discussion that would be great!

For all the steam games I created a second steam installation by copying the steam.exe and steamapps folder to a new directory. This fixed a few games for me

Games that work perfectly

• Left 4 Dead

• Payday 2

• Borderlands 2

• The Division (UPlay)
  
  This works fine because UPlay allows two instances to run without Sandboxie!

• Unreal Tournament (GOG DRM-Free version)

Games that sort of work..

• Vermintide 2
  
  This works but only in the "modded realm" (which you choose from the launcher). Playing the regular mode uses EAC which causes the problem.

• CSGO
  
  All modes work including matchmaking. I got a kicked a few times at the end of a few matches. I got an error about a "pure" server and a .vpk file to matching the server. It works almost perfectly though and I will test more.

Games that DO NOT work

• Deep Rock Galactic
  
  Not sure why this doesn't work. The game can run on one workstation both with and without Sandboxie. But when I try and open two at once the second instance is met with this error screen.
  
  https://i.imgur.com/ugRBt6R.png
  
  It seems to be game specific. I might email the devs about it since it's a great local coop game

• Insurgency
  
  This is really disappointing since I just want to host a coop LAN server without using the BattleEye anticheat but this isn't an option when using Sandboxie

• Ring of Elysium
  
  Again an issue with the anti-cheat and Sandboxie which is a shame since this is my favourite BR and it's F2P.

The main problems

• Steam does not let you run multiple clients simultaneously, even with different Windows users logged in

This sucks because UPlay allow it and I can use Aster to play The Division flawlessly. If they allowed it then we wouldn't need to use Sandboxie to run the second instance and I assume anti-cheat would run fine.

• Sandboxie doesn't allow programs running in the Sandbox to hook in with anti-cheat software or install drivers ect

This seems like it could be possible and our best chance. There are a few discussions about this on Sandboxie's forums but the devs just state that this is not what the software is for and ignore the requests. There are some commands that allow you to stop Sandboxie blocking hooks and drivers. But currently I don't know enough about the software to make it work. I will keep playing with it:

https://www.sandboxie.com/BlockDrivers

https://www.sandboxie.com/BlockWinHooks

Going forward

I think we need to solve one of the two problems listed above for more widespread use. I am happy to test more games that people suggest.

Many thanks!

Mark

[Khalid]

Insurgency worked flawlessly for me when i tried it sometime ago, along with Dying Light and many other games.

[Amnesia]

Have you tried sandboxing also the Anti-Cheat files? Regards

[markh748]

Insurgency worked flawlessly for me when i tried it sometime ago, along with Dying Light and many other games.

That was probably when it used VAC only. It doesn't work with the new anticheat unless you use something like Goldberg's LAN emulator to plan on LAN only. This works for Deep Rock Galactic too. Goldberg's LAN emulator is great but it means you can't play online with other players together.

Have you tried sandboxing also the Anti-Cheat files? Regards

When you run the game the anticheat also opens sandboxed. However the sandboxed version doesn't appear to be able to read or write some files that it needs. I couldn't find a way around it.

[kaivorth]

What is the performance hit of having a second person playing the same game? Is it half?

Have you tried Borderlands 3? I know it just came out lol.

Excited to get Borderlands 2 running with the gf like this. Rearranging my room and getting a second computer chair.

[markh748]

What is the performance hit of having a second person playing the same game? Is it half?

Have you tried Borderlands 3? I know it just came out lol.

Excited to get Borderlands 2 running with the gf like this. Rearranging my room and getting a second computer chair.

It's not half because you have the extra overhead of an extra user using Windows but it's not too far off. I'm running a 4670K (stock clocks) and a 1070. CPU tends to be the thing that's limited mostly. Limiting the FPS in options or using nvidia inspector helps get rid of the stuttering and bugs if the CPU is being throttled.

I've played Borderlands 2 a lot with it but that's pretty light. I don't own Borderlands 3 (yet) but I have played the Division and that works ok.

[kaivorth]

Update if you get borderlands 3! I'll do the same

[alexanderjohn]

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mark! It's great to see a list of games that work well with Aster. I hope you find a solution for the issues with Deep Rock Galactic and Insurgency. Your insights on using multiple Steam installations are really helpful. Looking forward to more updates!