linux

[ultracore]

i realy want to play this game but i dont want windows can u guys make it support linux in the futere i realy want to have it

[Houtworm]

Linux Support, comeon devs, its almost 2019, cant dwell in the past forever, Windows is over

[Silent]

Does it not work with Proton just fine?

The game is very Windows-centric, porting it to Mac/Linux is just not viable given the game is niche. And Linux gaming is still much less relevant (market share wise) than some people make it sound.

[Houtworm]

I have not tested it with proton, But i prefer Native games, porting this classic should not be a problem, maybe in the form of a remastered edition :)

[Silent]

Originally posted by Houtworm:

porting this classic should not be a problem

I'm not sure what leads you to that conclusion. Like I mentioned, none of the games created using this codebase/game engine were released on anything other than Windows, therefore the game is very happy to assume OS specific logic in various code parts.

While not impossible, factorizing the code to be cross platform is simply not worth it for a game which is as niche as SLRR. It would not be cheap and there is absolutely no way there are enough Linux/Mac gamers who are:
a) aware of this game
b) willing to purchase it
to make such an investment worthwhile.

[Houtworm]

If you use SDL2 and make it run on OpenGL on windows, you are practically done, you just need to compile it.I do not know what is Enough, But i can insure you there are lots of Linux players, Linux gamers also do not have as much choice in race games, especially not one like this. If you remaster it somehow, maybe some visuals some extras that would be a nice excuse to ask more money for it, and given you spent time in it also worth it. We look like a small playerbase, But most of us use the Windows version of Steam under Linux, or just dual boot for games. Linux gaming is on the rise, and this has to be if we want to keep a free market.

[Silent]

Originally posted by Houtworm:

If you use SDL2 and make it run on OpenGL on windows, you are practically done

If.

SDL2 is nice, but no matter how nice the framework is, it doesn't make the initial migration any easier. I've had an opportunity to work on several cross platform products and out of three PC-powered platforms (that is Windows, Linux, Mac) Linux had the most caveats in it (caused by gimmicky drivers and a multitude of possible configurations, as well as several other things I don't exactly recall by now), despite the fact the codebase was developed with multiple platforms in mind and was theoretically easily transferrable.

It's a whole new level of difficulty when considering migrating an old, convoluted codebase written with a single OS in mind to a cross platform environment. Despite your assurances, I have reasons to believe it's next to impossible for this game to have enough Linux enthusiasts be interested in it - not if you factor in the costs and time required to migrate code like this.

Even more so that we have Proton now - if the game works fine using it, then sticking to a native port sounds like a preference which may yield very little advantages of just bitting the bullet and using existing solutions.


Do note nothing I say about plans is final, it's up to ImageCode - but unlike him, I can speak from a perspective of somebody who had a chance to work on truly cross platform games - and seeing QA struggle with ever piling up Linux-only issues was not my fondest of memories.

[Houtworm]

I agree it takes some time, and i can understand you do not see Linux as a viable playerbase.

But the cavecats you are talking about are almost nonexistent on modern day Linux, especially in Steam, Steam packs most libraries in their runtime, ofcourse there might be some issues with some version of something But all mainstream Distros have the same packages in their repos, and almost if not everything is backwards compatible, You see more problems in between windows versions than Linux Distros. I am in several discord chats, everyone uses different distros, and different hardware but we can all play the same games.

I understand your choice, But if you ever plan to remaster or create a squel, please keep Linux in the back of your mind, Linux is the future

[Houtworm]

To respond to your edit,

I also fully understand that you have no say in this, i am also not judging anybody, i am just here to help push a free market for games and the privacy of users which is becoming more and more important these days.

I see this forum here full with Windows problems, Is that load really more than Linux QA? you do not need to test every distro or every piece of hardware, Just check 1 Distro, Like Ubuntu, or Arch, and Test Intel, AMD and Nvidia graphics. if all is fine i am positive it works great on all Linux distros with sufficient hardware.

And i did not know you have had a bad experience with Linux, i do not know which game you are talking about, but i agree it can be a hassle, one way to prevent this is designing the game with Linux in mind, that way it should not be a hassle at all.

[Silent]

Originally posted by Houtworm:

but i agree it can be a hassle, one way to prevent this is designing the game with Linux in mind, that way it should not be a hassle at all.

Which exactly brings the discussion back to my original point - an outdated codebase not written with a single platform in mind would be exceptionally annoying to fixup for cross platform at this point.

I absolutely do not oppose the idea of having a future game cross platform (though I don't know what platforms STE is going to target, as I am not and will not be involved in that); I only oppose the idea of spending time and resources to retarget this game, especially in the wake of Proton being (allegedly) relatively good.

[Houtworm]

Proton works wonderfull even on very DirectX dependend games like GTAV, but it is mostly a tool to get the ball rolling, get people to switch to Linux Full time.

Linux is still a small playerbase, But i am sure Steam is going to change that. they have to for their future, And i will support them every step of the way.

Being dependand on Microsoft is a bad thing, we seen that various times, Nokia is a great example. Steam Knows this, and i think that is why they work together with Linux, Wine, DXVK, to expand the Linux Player base to secure a free market future.

All good games will get a remaster someday, even this one. by the time we are viable in the eyes of game devs we will get those remasters too.

Thank you for your fast response, even though we disagree on some points, i am very happy you responded I think that deserves respect, I hope to see some Linux games from you in the future :)

[Greggio]

I was just looking for the status of Linux port / Proton / Lutris performance/availability and found this thread. I'm searching for information so i know can i buy this game in the first place.

There really ain't many racing/drag racing tuning games for linux. Pretty sure there is enough interest for it, look Euro Truck sim 2 community pulling crazy stuff in youtube.

Well anyways what ever you do in the near future, it would be great idea to start using Vulkan api for the performance gains and easy portability across very many platforms.
Linux has become more easy to publish. For example containers can be solution to cut many compatibility issues. Also driver stacks have been made much more easier to utilize.

Native ports usually has one major advantage for the linux user, it's usually much more secure than run windows apps in wraps with long unsecure claws to your system.

Anyways i hope you the best luck in future.
And i would like to have some information about the possibility to port or use wrappers (wine/lutris/proton) to run this game.

[-E.B-]

I just wasted money for best ever racing game, because i am using only linux. only 2 versions of proton launches game but when i start new and write my name i see only black screen with no sound