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If more devs would support Linux, more people would switch. If more people switched, more devs would say there's "enough of an audience".
Look at all the big name titles shipping exclusively to PlayStation (because it's the biggest), XBox (because it's Windows), and Windows ( because it's the biggest). People bend over backwards to get Call of Honor Assassin's Duty Kombat 27 running on whatever they have and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Do you want to live in a world where your only options are Sony and Microsoft until one of them buys the other or Disney buys both?
Be a rebel. Release on Linux first. See if anybody wants to code LINE or something for Windows for free like the heroes that have developed WINE for decades.
Oh, wait, they already did! Every Windows system comes with Linux now (Windows Subsystem for Linux). So does every Chromebook (Crostini). Psst, Steam is *definitely* headed to Chromebook.
Want to support every system best? Release a Linux version. Maybe BSD, too.
That said most Steam games now work on Linux with Proton/WINE. If the developers would be so kind as to just make sure it works there and provide a couple minor tweaks if it doesn't, that would be great.
I also took the leap to freedom since nVidia started getting better with their drivers. AMD, Ryzen has always been on board with the Linux community. Now there are some distros of Linux that come with nVidia support built in. Not so much of a pain to get them installed correctly anymore. However updating them is still a bit of a pain. Some of my games actually run better under Steam for Linux than they did under WindBlows.
With every update WindBlows was turning more and more toward a Google / Apple type of OS. Very hard to change things, Just try and stop tracking and blocking IP's that are connected to those SPY systems. Soon it will be just another good looking interface without any choices. The old 'do things our way SLAVE.'
https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21263377/microsoft-windows-10-linux-gui-apps-gpu-acceleration-wsl-features
While Unity can EASILY export a project and build it on Linux or OSX, Unity has some "issues" on macOS and Linux. Unity doesn't work all that well with OpenGL and Metal. Often porting it causes a lot of headaches.
Edit: It works well with OpenGL, Metal, etc. However, if your game is made in Windows/DX11, it can have issues porting to those target platforms
I made a reply, but it was too wordy. So I nuked it.
Yeah, Unity supports all sorts of graphics APIs you can use on Windows. The problem is most windows devs, and the devs who make PK, code the game for Windows/DX11. If PK was coded in Windows/OGL or Windows/Vulkan, that would make porting it to Mac and Linux a bit easier.
Sure, you can tell Unity to export to Linux (OGL and Vulkan) or Mac (OGL and Metal), but it's not always a clean export. Often things you do for DX11 will come out glitchy or with poor performance in another API - especially on another OS. Since you're running the Unity Engine, in Windows, you won't see these glitches. So you have to build the game, load it on the target platform, test it, then adjust your code... and if you still can't fix it that way... you have to load up Unity, natively, on the target OS.
This would also mean you'd have to buy some Apple and Linux machines... and some studios may not have the funds to do this.
PK is coded on windows for dx11. It’ll take a lot of time to make it fully OGL or Vulkan compatible, and that may be time the devs may not have.
As of right now, most any Linux or Mac system can dual boot Windows (unless you have one of those M1 Macs). So if someone REALLY wants to play a windows only game, this is still a very viable option.. or Proton...etc
That's certainly much better than a flat out no. Please do add Linux support and I will buy. Please help in ending the Windows monopoly on PC gaming.
I think that is their polite way of saying "No, we don't have any plans to do this."
Unity still has terrible issues with Vulkan. At least Unity 2019 and 2020 do. 2021 may work with it better, but PK is coded on Unity 2019.
Q: But why not just upgrade to Unity 2021??
A: TLDR; Upgrading to a new, major version is a nightmare. Unity tends to depreciate a LOT of things from one major version to another. So when you upgrade the Unity engine, you must do a LOT of re-coding things to work around things that are depreciated and code for the new things. The more complex the game, the more difficult and time consuming this process is.
Crytivo makes Universim, and we port it to macOS and Linux, but it takes a lot of extra work to maintain them because often what works in Windows/DirectX doesn't cleanly export when you make a Linux or macOS build.
For Unity games on macOS - Metal is the preferred API, then falling back to OGL if need be. For Unity games on Linux, OGL is the preferred API for now until Unity fixes it's Vulkan implementation.
Note Crytivo does not make PK. We only publish it, but I'm also a fan of the game and own the Alpha version :)
TBH, We could save a lot of development time if we only supported Windows during EA of Universim, and then ported to Linux and macOS once the game was finished. Trying to make regular updates to 3 versions AND handling all the bugs for 3 versions, takes quite a bit of doing. When 90% (or more) of the players are on Windows, supporting macOS and Linux during EA can become burdensome.
I do respect macOS and Linux, but there is a reason Windows has a gaming monopoly. Apple products are great! However, Apple computers are VERY overpriced for what they do. Apple is also trying to use Gatekeeper to force developers to use the Apple store so Apple gets a 30% cut on sales. Example: Universim (the non steam version) will not run on an Apple computer unless gatekeeper gets disabled as it's flagged as "a non authorized app."
Linux is great as well, but has a MUCH higher learning curve vs Windows. If someone made a Linux flavor that didn't take a higher learning curve to maintain and use, more people would use Linux. It is a chicken and the egg issue, but look at it from a developing studios point. While studios love making games, they also need to make money to stay in business and make the games we love.
Note I do not speak for Blue Meridian (who makes PK). I only speak of my experiences with Unity as a programmer, QA tester, and a support person.