WIll there be a Linux version?

[aaronfranke]

It would be awesome if this game ran on Linux. If it does, I plan to buy it.

I heard that Starbase was moving to a DX12 renderer, if you move to Vulkan instead then you can make a Linux version running Vulkan, and as a bonus you can also make a Mac version with MoltenVK.

[jetblade545]

Originally posted by aaronfranke.tar.gz:

It would be awesome if this game ran on Linux. If it does, I plan to buy it.

I heard that Starbase was moving to a DX12 renderer, if you move to Vulkan instead then you can make a Linux version running Vulkan, and as a bonus you can also make a Mac version with MoltenVK.

why are you on linux?

[JLarja]

We actually do have Vulkan renderer, so that's no longer an obstacle for Linux port. However, we don't have anything else, like input code, nor do we have Linux support in the build system (that's somewhat big issue, since for game consoles you'll get Visual Studio Integration and cross-compile in Windows. It's more complicated to make support for Linux (or Mac, for that matter), though Windows Subsystem for Linux could maybe help with that).

-JLarja / Frozenbyte

[[Linux] BockSaga -our true past-]

So i read that, there IS a good chunk of hope! Frozenbyte used to do Linux ports for their games almost traditionally.

[JLarja]

We did, but those were different times. You had to have Linux and Mac ports to get to Humble Bundle, and there wasn't Steam Proton. Currently it's probably a better idea to play the Windows versions of our old games via Proton, than trying to get the native versions running.

We are also having trouble recruiting engine programmers, which makes spending any resources for Linux port currently unlikely.

But if tools get good enough, then sure, maybe, perhaps :D .

-JLarja / Frozenbyte

[fnordianslippers]

Are there any indications that it will work with Steamplay/Proton on Linux?

[AuraFB]

Originally posted by fnordianslippers:

Are there any indications that it will work with Steamplay/Proton on Linux?

We've heard from a couple of Alpha testers that the game runs on Proton without too many issues: https://www.protondb.com/app/454120

[Anhktus]

Originally posted by JLarja:

We did, but those were different times. You had to have Linux and Mac ports to get to Humble Bundle, and there wasn't Steam Proton. Currently it's probably a better idea to play the Windows versions of our old games via Proton, than trying to get the native versions running.

We are also having trouble recruiting engine programmers, which makes spending any resources for Linux port currently unlikely.

But if tools get good enough, then sure, maybe, perhaps :D .

-JLarja / Frozenbyte

i understand that everything is a business decisison.
but after the main dev phase is over, would you have the man power to spare to work on a native linux build? or at least a preset wine/proton pack? seen other devs release those as their linux version.
i really enjoy watching others play that game and would love to join them but i'm a 100% "no tux no bucks" guy.

[JLarja]

We are small enough that everything isn't really a business decision, but I think people generally underestimate the amount of work of "just do thing X". For example, I have no idea what it takes to create "wine/proton pack" and how to deliver it to users. And doing it once isn't enough, it needs to be automated. And it would be really great, if it didn't increase the build time.

The last two points illustrate a more general problem. Adding a platform isn't just a one time cost. We used to do Linux builds, but over time it became too expensive[1]. Now it's been few years, and even more of the infrastructure code is gone. We used to have virtual machines running Linux and making automated builds. We don't have that automation any more.

In other threads, I've been talking about WIndows Subsystem for Linux and Visual Studio's Linux support. Unfortunately those haven't been going forward quite as fast as I've hoped. If we could just add Linux platform target it VS and compile Linux executable, we would probably already have plans for native Linux support.

So, let's hope Microsoft pushes for Linux a bit more :D .


[1] Note: not really a money question: the expense was that there was no one to keep the code alive. Hiring someone specifically to do that would have been a money problem, firstly because there's not nearly enough work for full-time "Linux platform specialist" position, and secondly because hiring a specialist vs. just someone who really likes to make games tends to be expensive.

-JLarja / Frozenbyte

[d4689c2142009020ed09d0402a60dcd1]

How about a wasm port to https://windows96.net/