discussion Why aren't more Linux versions available?

[ghost_one]

Basically, title.

I've been on Linux (almost) exclusively for the past 15 years. I've fought with bad GPU & sound support (not just) in games running via Wine or Proton. I was genuinely happy about the Linux support rushing in when the SteamDeck hit & more software ran at least as good as on Windows. One side effect of this: most engines support creating a Linux version by now. RPG Maker, Godot, Unity, Ren'py, Unreal, Twine all can do it.

So why are there still so many games (with the exception of most Ren'py games) that focus only on Windows, and maybe macOS? Creating a Linux port shouldn't be more work than checking a box, maybe running a VM to compile. Most games compiled for Windows still "work" with Wine, but usually with shitty performance, and a not unsubstantial number has issues with asset loading because Linux filesystems aren't case-insensitive (means trying to load scene1.png as Scene1.png won't work).

And if you're a game creator who'd like help creating Linux-native builds of your game: I'd be happy to, just ping me.

 

[AlBetGam]

At a guess:

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[Kernist]

Yeah, obviously the reason is exactly on the graph above, and even if I know shit about the topic I doubt porting to Linux is just one click of a button.

But if it is, there is a deal for you. We have one game on this forum that has only Linux port and Windows version is lost to the void, if it's easy for you to convert there is 1000 LC reward for it:
https://lewdcorner.com/threads/game-bounty-list.19735/

 

[ghost_one]

@AlBetGam The things about Statcounter that irritate me are

• Reporting 10+ years old OS X as current and even rising, even as Apple pushes the current OS on all platforms as macOS
• The amount of "Unkown" even surpassing Apple devices

@Kernist Which game & is the source available? Because if not it's definitely not a "push of a button", unlike if one's the original author.

 

[Kernist]

@AlBetGam The things about Statcounter that irritate me are

• Reporting 10+ years old OS X as current and even rising, even as Apple pushes the current OS on all platforms as macOS
• The amount of "Unkown" even surpassing Apple devices

@Kernist Which game & is the source available? Because if not it's definitely not a "push of a button", unlike if one's the original author.

Stalker x Stalker and I don't know, there is a link to MEGA for the linux version of the game in the thread I linked, post #9.

 

[misterfluffums]

Yeah, obviously the reason is exactly on the graph above, and even if I know shit about the topic I doubt porting to Linux is just one click of a button.

But if it is, there is a deal for you. We have one game on this forum that has only Linux port and Windows version is lost to the void, if it's easy for you to convert there is 1000 LC reward for it:
https://lewdcorner.com/threads/game-bounty-list.19735/

So porting applications between OSes is indeed not easy, generally speaking if the dev doesn't use an engine.

However, RPG Maker, Godot, Unity, Ren'py, Unreal, Twine are indeed as easy to export for Linux for the dev as ghost_one says, because the engine is doing the heavy lifting of wrapping your code in OS compatible games.

Only problem is, you need the source code for it.

Bit like how if you have sheet music, it's easy to play the song on the piano, and it's easy to play the song on violin. But if you only have a piano recording it takes quite a bit of effort to reverse engineer it so you can play the same song on violin.


Case in point: the game you mention is a Godot game, which for the dev was easy to export for windows or linux. But for us, we'd have to turn it back to source files again before we'd be able to convert to windows. There are reverse engineering tools theoretically available for godot, I have no clue how well they work

 

[Beduin123]

Basically, title.

I've been on Linux (almost) exclusively for the past 15 years. I've fought with bad GPU & sound support (not just) in games running via Wine or Proton. I was genuinely happy about the Linux support rushing in when the SteamDeck hit & more software ran at least as good as on Windows. One side effect of this: most engines support creating a Linux version by now. RPG Maker, Godot, Unity, Ren'py, Unreal, Twine all can do it.

So why are there still so many games (with the exception of most Ren'py games) that focus only on Windows, and maybe macOS? Creating a Linux port shouldn't be more work than checking a box, maybe running a VM to compile. Most games compiled for Windows still "work" with Wine, but usually with shitty performance, and a not unsubstantial number has issues with asset loading because Linux filesystems aren't case-insensitive (means trying to load scene1.png as Scene1.png won't work).

And if you're a game creator who'd like help creating Linux-native builds of your game: I'd be happy to, just ping me.

90% of games run on Linux either natively or via Wine/Proton - so, I don't see any problem. Anyway, I recently play mostly RenPy games, so no problem at all.

 

[mentalblais]

Creating a local VM on your linux system is not too hard. Overall VM tech has gotten to the point you can run things with low performance degradation on any system now days.

 

[ghost_one]

Case in point: the game you mention is a Godot game, which for the dev was easy to export for windows or linux. But for us, we'd have to turn it back to source files again before we'd be able to convert to windows. There are reverse engineering tools theoretically available for godot, I have no clue how well they work

Exactly. With Godot, it's downloading once the required platform templates & then clicking "export".

90% of games run on Linux either natively or via Wine/Proton - so, I don't see any problem. Anyway, I recently play mostly RenPy games, so no problem at all.

It's an issue with a lot of RPG Maker games because the .exe very often hangs during loading (without any notification of what's going on) and the web-version assuming it's a case-insensitive file system, failing to load lots of assets. Unity likes to either hang completely (Third Crisis did that a lot), or lose all keyboard input (often happens with The Lewd Knight), if I move the focus from the window even once.

Creating a local VM on your linux system is not too hard. Overall VM tech has gotten to the point you can run things with low performance degradation on any system now days.

Sure, if you're willing to accept the overhead of creating, running and maintaining a VM plus synching all required files every time you want to play a game… Kinda like saying "Why do you want a translated version of that manual, translation websites have gotten to the point where it's little extra effort".

 

[misterfluffums]

I agree there are ways around it - like you technically don't *need* android ports of renpy games, joiplay will suffice for 99%.

But I think it's valuable for devs to be made aware how easy it is to support multiple platforms with modern engines. Even if the majority of players will play on windows, additional player base for very little effort will always be a profitable trade imho.

Btw, I've been sufficiently intrigued to try my hand at decompiling / recompiling Stalker x Stalker for windows, I'll let y'all know the results this weekend. I give it a 80% odds of success?

 

[Therply]

Probably varies a lot per dev, but in my experience, a sizable portion of devs simply don't know that they have any users who want to play on Linux, and if you ask them nicely (especially if you're a paid supporter), they'll happily make a note to tick the Linux box when doing their builds. I definitely feel you though, I'm also on Linux for many years and there are a lot of games that are just plain unplayable for me with Wine. Wine is better than it used to be, but it's not in any way a substitute for devs taking the 30 seconds to tick an extra box.

 

[Rebel 357]

Basically, title.

I've been on Linux (almost) exclusively for the past 15 years. I've fought with bad GPU & sound support (not just) in games running via Wine or Proton. I was genuinely happy about the Linux support rushing in when the SteamDeck hit & more software ran at least as good as on Windows. One side effect of this: most engines support creating a Linux version by now. RPG Maker, Godot, Unity, Ren'py, Unreal, Twine all can do it.

So why are there still so many games (with the exception of most Ren'py games) that focus only on Windows, and maybe macOS? Creating a Linux port shouldn't be more work than checking a box, maybe running a VM to compile. Most games compiled for Windows still "work" with Wine, but usually with shitty performance, and a not unsubstantial number has issues with asset loading because Linux filesystems aren't case-insensitive (means trying to load scene1.png as Scene1.png won't work).

And if you're a game creator who'd like help creating Linux-native builds of your game: I'd be happy to, just ping me.

It's been one of my goals to help promote Linux for gaming. I have been made out to be the bad guy because I prioritize Linux over Windows. Windows is shit to be honest and has been kept alive due to gamers and some applications. FOSS and Linux should be reigning over all considering all the privacy and security issues with the other OS's and proprietary software.

11 Reasons why you should switch to Linux

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[Therply]

Another reason for not building for Linux that I've seen from some devs is that they don't have the ability to test the Linux build, and they're worried about releasing something they can't test. For such devs, it can be very useful to kindly explain to them that it's OK if they release it without testing, and all they have to do is put a note indicating it's untested so that people's expectations are set accordingly. The community is usually happy to test it out and report back on whether it works (devs are sometimes shocked at how enthusiastic the community is at testing this kind of thing).

 

[ghost_one]

Another reason for not building for Linux that I've seen from some devs is that they don't have the ability to test the Linux build, and they're worried about releasing something they can't test. For such devs, it can be very useful to kindly explain to them that it's OK if they release it without testing, and all they have to do is put a note indicating it's untested so that people's expectations are set accordingly. The community is usually happy to test it out and report back on whether it works (devs are sometimes shocked at how enthusiastic the community is at testing this kind of thing).

I like pointing people to

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for that. 5.8% of players created 38% of bug reports, of which 3/400 were platform specific. Linux users are mostly technical literates who know how to reproduce bugs & write useful bug reports.

Worth it?

Oh, yes - at least for me. Not for the extra sales - although it’s nice. It’s worth it to get the massive feedback boost and free, hundred-people strong QA team on your side. An invaluable asset for an independent game studio.

 

[AlBetGam]

@AlBetGam The things about Statcounter that irritate me are

• Reporting 10+ years old OS X as current and even rising, even as Apple pushes the current OS on all platforms as macOS
• The amount of "Unkown" even surpassing Apple devices

@Kernist Which game & is the source available? Because if not it's definitely not a "push of a button", unlike if one's the original author.

Sure, I don't know how they're counting their numbers and I don't claim them as gospel. But I think it makes the point that Linux is a very very small piece of the consumer PC market, and even if conversion is easy for a lot of devs it's of limited value.

 

[ghost_one]

even if conversion is easy for a lot of devs it's of limited value.

See the Reddit post I linked above. Linux users are few, but they provider more & higher quality bug reports than other platform users, by a large margin.

 

[Therply]

I like pointing people to

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for that. 5.8% of players created 38% of bug reports, of which 3/400 were platform specific. Linux users are mostly technical literates who know how to reproduce bugs & write useful bug reports.

Wow that Reddit thread is great, I am definitely going to cite that in the future. Thank you so much for sharing that. The statistical observations in that thread make perfect sense in retrospect but many of them wouldn't have occurred to me.

 

[AlBetGam]

See the Reddit post I linked above. Linux users are few, but they provider more & higher quality bug reports than other platform users, by a large margin.

That's nice, but it doesn't address the fundamental issue of Linux having a tiny market share. I don't think many devs decide what OSes to work with based on who's going to give them the most professional bug reports.

 

[Therply]

That's nice, but it doesn't address the fundamental issue of Linux having a tiny market share. I don't think many devs decide what OSes to work with based on who's going to give them the most professional bug reports.

If we're talking about devs who have a nonzero QA budget, it's likely going to be something they take into account. If the time you spend ticking the box to build for Linux is less than the time you save on QA testing, then you're making a net profit from building for Linux.

Edit: Also "most professional" is a rather understated way to put it. More like "vastly more bug reports, each of which is far more likely to be actionable". I don't care if the bug reports I get are professional per se, but if they're of the form "it crashes" with no other details, that gives me negative value since it's not actionable and yet it wastes my triage time.

 

[misterfluffums]

If the time you spend ticking the box to build for Linux is less than the time you save on QA testing, then you're making a net profit from building for Linux.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I can't stress enough how easy it is to port with engines.

You get more players (who have less choice in native gaming so that gives you an edge too) with a click of a button.

And if you fear the additional time cost to 'support' another platform, well, I 100% believe the reddit post that the additional quality of bug reports of 397 bugs more than makes up for the 3 platform specific bugs that needed fixing.

If it wasn't this easy to port I'd understand not porting, but seriously, any dev should at least take a look at porting.

Edit: I'm mainly a Ren'py amateur dev btw so Linux support is included by default, but I'm basing my opinion on android porting as well: didn't do that at first, got asked about ports a bunch, noticed how easy it was to port and now I have a bunch of new players just because I click "build android release" every time.