SteamOS/Linux Support

[HJ]

i'll be the guy.

will there ever be linux version? I want to buy the game, but lack of linux version is a dealbreaker.

[GodFollower]

I hope they do as well. The underlying tech does make this possible for it to be on Linux and SteamOS if they decide to!

[GeneralGeldenhuys]

It seems the choice on DX10 means they will NOT make a Linux version. DirectX doesn't have native libraries for Linux.

[HJ]

Maybe they'll add Vulkan support in the future though.

[qew Nemo]

The game is made using Unreal Engine 4 which natively supports Linux so only it's a matter of whether the developers will put the effort into shipping for and supporting Linux or not. The fact that the system requirements include DirectX 10 is entirely irrelevant, the same shader model features are available from OpenGL and yes, Vulkan.

[Jonathan McEvoy]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von qptain Nemo:

The game is made using Unreal Engine 4 which natively supports Linux so only it's a matter of whether the developers will put the effort into shipping for and supporting Linux or not. The fact that the system requirements include DirectX 10 is entirely irrelevant, the same shader model features are available from OpenGL and yes, Vulkan.

Windows 10 is Microsoft's Last Windows OS for the PCs (there will be major updates for Windows 10 during it's mainstream support or extended support) and in sometime in the future, TSW: CSX Heavy Haul should be released for the Mac/Linux. Windows 10 mainstream support lasts until October 13th 2020 and extended support until October 14th 2025 then they will stop receiving more major updates for Windows 10...

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/lifecycle/search?alpha=Windows%2010

https://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2015/05/windows-10-to-be-the-last-version-of-windows-until-the-next-version/

[GeneralGeldenhuys]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von qptain Nemo:

The game is made using Unreal Engine 4 which natively supports Linux so only it's a matter of whether the developers will put the effort into shipping for and supporting Linux or not. The fact that the system requirements include DirectX 10 is entirely irrelevant, the same shader model features are available from OpenGL and yes, Vulkan.

It is not about the system requirements. This game is using DirectX as it renderer and DTG has to port the whole game to OpenGL or Vulkan. OpenGL doesn't support most of the stuff DirectX 10 uses, but Vulkan will be the better alternative.

To port something is not simple as it sounds, if this was the case, then I would have seen most AAA games on Linux. The fact DTG uses Xbox too means that chances they would put TSW on Linux is slim.

[ExpertNewbie]

The other thing that makes Linux support unlikely also has to do with the graphics drivers. Often they are severely out of date, or in some cases are reverse engineered by the community from the original drivers. To support a game on Linux is not as simple as just changing a dropdown and hitting re-compile. For the small handful of people who use Linux as their primary OS, from an already-small handful of people who play train sims, it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

[GeneralGeldenhuys]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ExpertNewbie:

The other thing that makes Linux support unlikely also has to do with the graphics drivers. Often they are severely out of date, or in some cases are reverse engineered by the community from the original drivers. To support a game on Linux is not as simple as just changing a dropdown and hitting re-compile. For the small handful of people who use Linux as their primary OS, from an already-small handful of people who play train sims, it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

I tried various Debain distributions, especially Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/ZorinOS, etc. and I can tell you that they have more or less the latest graphics drivers.

AMD offer their own most up to date graphics drivers for Linux and Nvidia might be slow on releasing Linux drivers, but they do at times and you can then install through the Software manager on Ubuntu without going to terminal.

The biggest stumble block that prevents porting this game is DirectX. They have to port the game over into Vulkan if they want to run the game on Linux. Otherwise you have to use an "emulator" like Wine.

[qew Nemo]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GeneralGeldenhuys:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von qptain Nemo:

The game is made using Unreal Engine 4 which natively supports Linux so only it's a matter of whether the developers will put the effort into shipping for and supporting Linux or not. The fact that the system requirements include DirectX 10 is entirely irrelevant, the same shader model features are available from OpenGL and yes, Vulkan.

It is not about the system requirements. This game is using DirectX as it renderer and DTG has to port the whole game to OpenGL or Vulkan.

They're using UE4 as their engine though and as it's crossplatform it has renderers using different APIs for each platform, which is OpenGL on Linux and DirectX on Windows. While porting isn't always effortless even when the engine supports it out of the box, the developers of the game won't actually have to tinker with the renderer because they didn't write it, it's a part of UE4.

Also UE4 supports both OpenGL and Vulkan.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GeneralGeldenhuys:

OpenGL doesn't support most of the stuff DirectX 10 uses, but Vulkan will be the better alternative.

Most you say? Such as?
Even if you do find examples, I'm sure you'll find that it's definitely not "most" and it sure didn't preclude games from visual parity on Linux and Windows.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von GeneralGeldenhuys:

To port something is not simple as it sounds, if this was the case, then I would have seen most AAA games on Linux. The fact DTG uses Xbox too means that chances they would put TSW on Linux is slim.

The reasons why you don't see most AAA games on Linux are plenty, most prominent one would be that AAA projects typically chase the most money and the biggest possible audience, but there are a lot of AAA games on Linux these days though. It's not "simple" but it's very much doable, the examples are in the thousands.

Ursprünglich geschrieben von ExpertNewbie:

The other thing that makes Linux support unlikely also has to do with the graphics drivers. Often they are severely out of date, or in some cases are reverse engineered by the community from the original drivers. To support a game on Linux is not as simple as just changing a dropdown and hitting re-compile. For the small handful of people who use Linux as their primary OS, from an already-small handful of people who play train sims, it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

There are also NVIdia drivers which are in excellent shape and provide a fantastic experience. You're right though, it's not always as simple as just hitting recompile, with UE4 in particular I hear, and I'm not claiming otherwise.
Also while the "small handful" is actually millions of people, not gonna disagree there, train fans on Linux is probably a small niche indeed.

[Perkon]

The Game looks great, if it gets a Linux build I will definitely buy it.

[skinnyraf]

My ageing Windows PC is not up to the task playing Train Sim World and I am not planning to upgrade it anymore or replace it, so I'll stick with TS2017.

Coincidentally, my Steam Machine would be able to handle TSW just fine, so my wallet would be ready.

Feral, the biggest studio porting games to Linux, is located not far from DTG, so... :)

[GeneralGeldenhuys]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von skinnyraf:

My ageing Windows PC is not up to the task playing Train Sim World and I am not planning to upgrade it anymore or replace it, so I'll stick with TS2017.

Coincidentally, my Steam Machine would be able to handle TSW just fine, so my wallet would be ready.

Feral, the biggest studio porting games to Linux, is located not far from DTG, so... :)

Hmmm, thats really good to hear DTG have some options left to port game to Linux. Now we need to convince them the market value of porting the game.

That means DTG has to maintain 2 versions of the game as Linux version is working a bit different from Windows. Especially the file directory and some libraries.

[HJ]

Ah, yes. The discourse, just as I expected. Guys, let's keep it clean and positive. We all know the pros and cons of supporting Linux and\or going cross-platform.

The main purporse of this thread is to made it known that there is demand of Linux version.

[Plex]

+1 for Linux/SteamOS+HTC Vive support :)

[JayTwoPointOh]

Focusing on Windows and Xbox One at this moment in time, but who knows what the future holds...

- Jay