Hey there!
I’m a solo dev working on a sci-fi grand strategy game (I didn’t manage to find if self-promo is allowed so I’ll keep the name for myself).
I was updating my planning and started to think: since my game will be published on Steam, it will be playable on Linux using Compatibility Mode even if I don’t specifically target Linux itself. I myself play on an Ubuntu and this allows me to play almost every Windows game (old ones are more capricious, but recent ones are ok).
So I’m wondering, is there really an advantage to have native Linux support nowadays? As a solo dev, the thing I lack the most is time. The days/weeks/months it would take me to add it and fix all the probable bugs it entails could be used to improve the game itself or add features instead for example.
On a more general note, what do you other Linux players expect from a Linux game?
is there really an advantage to have native Linux support nowadays?
Yes, performance and consistency.
As a dev, you honestly are asking the wrong question. You shouldn’t pride yourself on the corners you’re cutting; you should be using them as an opportunity to expand your knowledge and skillset.
You’re adding to the pile of developer trash every time you rely on abstraction layers to do your job for you. You’re reinforcing an atmosphere where windows developers can get locked-in as much as they want, and it’s up to the Linux community to pick up their (your) slack.
In all honesty, I don’t have high hopes for your game and you really should consider what I’m saying before you release more trash into the world.
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You actually don’t need to install or touch the Steam OS yourself. If you use Steam you can just enable Compatibility Mode in the settings of your non-Linux (or even Linux-compatible) games and it will use Proton to run them.
I’m trying to gauge where is the line between “always welcome” and “needed” though. From my own experience and the ones I’ve heard around Proton works well (sometimes even better than native builds as others have pointed out), and if it’s the general consensus, spending more time on the game itself and not have a linux version is better for my players and for me.
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They make an OS too, which is for example running on their Steam Deck portable gaming platform, but nobody has to use it specifically :)
I think you should just write it for Linux. Since Windows has that Linux Windows Thing (I don’t remember what it’s called), it’ll probably work there as well as long as you mark it as a dependency.
Wsl doesn’t work well for graphical apps
I’ll have to take your word for that. I thought that people got desktops running on it. But then I don’t get to use windows very often.
Weird to recommend someone develop software for Linux then, on the basis that “it should Just Work ™️ in Windows because Windows has the Linux Windows Thing”
Lots of people do the exact opposite and nobody seems to find anything wrong with it.
You can but it requires heavy, HEAVY tinkering
So wine ends up being better than the Microsoft stuff. Not really surprising I suppose.
The goal of wsl is to run command line application for devs, and it’s actually very good for that
I cannot go into that site because they don’t comply with the gdpr right to not allow any legitimate interest cookies with one button, hoping I will click agree instead of going through hundreds of vendors and disabling these illegal trackers
I prefer a working Proton build over a untested broken native build. If you can’t afford the time to test the Linux builds, go ahead and just rely on Proton.
Testing on Steam Deck so it can be verified probably does make sense from a marketing standpoint though. Mostly checking that controls work, graphic settings are not too demanding by default and font scaling works properly.
I think it’s what I’ll do indeed. And for the Steam Deck I intend to make the game fully compatible with it as I’ve read a lot of time how it enabled people with otherwise few opportunities to play to get a bit of “me time”. Being a dad I empathize a lot with that struggle haha
Yes. It’s still needed. Mostly because not everyone using Linux is using a controller or other peripheral input device that just works natively (look at non-steam os handhelds and Bazzite for instance). On smaller screened devices, menus and keyboard specific options can be problematic regardless of other compatibility features.
Sigh… this is exactly the sort of developer decision people were worried about when Proton first came out, and why some Linux users were opposed to it. Obviously in retrospect the benefits of Proton have been worth it, but those folks wouldn’t be wrong to say “I told you so.”
My take on it is that if you’re not developing Xbox-first (which would imply being forced into DirectX etc.) you should pick libraries that give you cross-platform compatibility “for free” (I know it’s not that simple, but you know what I mean) to begin with. It has to be part of the plan from the beginning (and integrated into your build/test pipeline, etc.); writing the whole game for Windows first and then trying to add Linux support after the fact is a fool’s errand.
Well, I’m using Godot which can target all three big OS, though clicking on the export button and actually supporting a platform is not the same.
In the end I think I’ll try to make builds for all OSes and have testers for each platform, and estimate the viability of the builds from the amount of bugs they give me back.
This is a good take… You can tell when newer (usually indie) games were built on OS-agnostic engines; you can’t really tell the difference between the Linux runtime and proton.
Otherwise, proton is often better.
if a bug arises from using proton, it would cause the same issue for users that are forced to use proton.
just click the button that builds for linux. build for as many platforms as you can. if you cant fix all of the bugs due to time, then you’ll become a better programmer for your next game and not make thise same mistakes <3
Well, it’s not a quick game made in 3 months and then I go on to the next. I fully intend to support it and give my players the best experience I can. So it’s not as simple as “click the export button”, I have to actually commit to support the builds.
I’ve heard that Steam provides some guidelines to get your games to work well with Proton. I’m not able to find them but maybe they’re behind a developer portal or something. If it works with Proton there’s no reason to aim for a native Linux binary since your time will be better spent elsewhere.
Yes that seems to be the consensus in the end. Thanks for your answer :)
For the docs I’ve found this for Proton common issues: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/proton?l=english And this for Steam Deck compatibility: https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/recommendations I’m sure there are other resources, but if someone finds the thread later and needs a starting point, here they are
Thank you for sharing your findings, those are interesting reads. Good luck with the development. I signed up for theailing list out of curiosity.
Nowadays I view Windows as a gaming layer that has been bolted on the great Borg mothership that is Linux in the form of Wine or Proton in route to the goal of Total World Domination.
A bit like Embrace, Extend, Extinguish but in reverse, if you will. So it’s fine.
Native Linux support is always preferable if the developer can handle it or has the budget to do so. However, as long as it works well via Proton, that’s the important part. I don’t follow him anymore due to several reasons but Gardiner Bryant has a video about this, it’s a pretty solid watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uScsmjvdwyo
Thank you for the link, I didn’t know the inner workings of it :)
At this point, Linux native is almost more like reinventing the wheel. The people working on the compatibility layers have done so much work to make a windows game feel native that you can almost think of them as cross compilers in a weird gross way
Linux native games are great as long as the engine is open source. If it’s closed source, it will eventually stop running on up-to-date distros some time after the developer stops updating it. For closed source games, it would be better to develop for excellent wine/proton compatibility so the game will continue to be playable long after it stops getting updates.
Good point indeed. Thanks :)
Closed-source games should be packaged including their dependencies (e.g. like an AppImage or whatever) rather than relying on OS-provided shared libraries.
I honestly mostly shop for “SteamDeck verified”.
I really appreciate when a dev puts the extra effort in to make a Linux port, but I can understand when a solo dev such as you doesn’t have much time to spend on porting. To be honest, I’m just happy if the developers at the very least test the game on Linux using Proton and WINE to make sure it’s working well and correctly. That way if making a native port really is that much of a hassle, I expect them to at least test it on Linux. I think that most large teams should make a (good) native port, though.
I’m using Ubuntu myself to develop actually so I’m kind of doing that all the time. The problem is, my machine isn’t everyone’s machine, my drivers aren’t anyone’s drivers, and so on.
In the end I think that I’ll try to give Linux builds to testers to see if they report a lot of bugs or not and decide at that moment if it’s too much work or not.
Sounds like a good strategy. I don’t know all the details, but from the way I understand it, your Linux build would be run by Steam in a Linux container, Steam Runtime. So build and test against that if you can. If I have it right, maybe the Steam Runtime container will give you more confidence if you are able to go with a Linux build.
edit: If you sell your game through Steam.
