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Today is a good day. I had the pleasure of speaking to Feral Interactive on their porting work for the Linux version of XCOM and games in general and here it is in all its glory.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Feral?
My name is Edwin Smith and I am Head of Production at Feral. My main job is to facilitate other people’s work. Most of my time is spent co-ordinating our internal developers and QA with the companies with whom we work. The aim is to make sure that there is a good flow of communication, so that we avoid misunderstandings and hopefully head off problems before they arise.
Why did Feral decide to get into Linux?
The catalyst has been the Steam OS and the Steam Machine. That convinced us that Linux could support AAA games.
OS X is a UNIX-based platform so from a development perspective Linux feels like a natural extension of what we already do as Mac developers. We also felt that a lot of the experience that we had in publishing for the Mac and marketing to and providing support for smaller audiences would be applicable to Linux.
So, essentially without SteamOS & Steam Machines Feral wouldn't be porting games to Linux?
The scope and quality of Linux gaming have been steadily improving for a few years. However, Valve’s decision to use Linux for SteamOS was in our view a big validation, and certainly made the decision to develop for Linux easier.
For a company just getting into Linux what roadblocks did you encounter in bringing XCOM to Linux?
No roadblocks, just a few speed bumps ;-). A few things are different, for example 64bit support. 32bit libraries are no longer the default on Linux as they are for Windows and OSX. That means the game has to be updated to be 64bit clean.
Is the port just to confirm properly a 100% native port? So, no wrappers (Wine, eON, Crossover etc)?
This is a 100% native application. Just like our Mac games, all our Linux games will be 100% native. We never use WINE, Crossover etc style wrapper technology. Promise!
We avoid wrappers because we believe they do not allow for the same level of platform-specific tailoring that native ports do, so they don’t often provide gamers with the best experience that the platform – and the game - can provide.
Making a native application allows us to give the game that extra bit of platform specific polish.
Two examples in XCOM:
- We modified the videos to use VP8 on Linux, as that was the best codec to use.
- We wrote a Linux-specific pre-game launcher for the Complete Edition of XCOM that allows you to choose between the main game or the expansion pack, XCOM: Enemy Within. We rewrote it for Linux to support Big Picture mode (with HD graphics) and gamepads.
XCOM for Linux has lots of small changes like these, all of which contribute to making the Linux version feel like it has taken advantage of everything the platform has to offer.
And, once the game is released we are committed to maintaining it based on feedback from the community.
What tools are you using in porting XCOM to Linux?
We use a large number of tools and custom libraries during development. A few examples are: QTCreator, gedit, CMake, apitrace, systemtap, perf, git-svn, meld, libvpx, SDL2 and webm. We also have our own custom libraries designed to help game development on Linux
What do you think about Steam Machines and SteamOS and what it means for the future of PC gaming?
The Steam Machines and SteamOS have great potential as an alternative to Windows, but it's a braver man than me who will forecast how that is going to play out.
What sort of sales numbers are you expecting from the Linux crowd given that many may already own it?
For now we're more focused on the reception that a native Linux port of XCOM gets from Linux gamers than the sales. We are committed to bringing AAA games to Linux and making sure those games are completely awesome to play on the Linux platform; if we do a good job of that then over time we trust that the sales will follow.
The game is currently 64bit only. Is there a certain reason this was done and will a 32bit version come?
The latest Linux distibutions are primarily 64bit, and libraries are increasingly being developed and maintained in 64bit. In gaming terms, we’re seeing more and more 64bit-only games released for Linux, so overall we think 32bit has a limited future in AAA gaming.
As our first game for Linux, the decisions we made about the hardware and software XCOM supports have long-term implications. Since it was apparent to us that 64bit is the future and that 32bit is being phased out, we decided to support only 64bit from the beginning.
Although we have had a few requests for 32bit support, we’re unlikely to support it.
We asked about the tools used to port the game, but what about the platform? Were you able to develop any of it on Linux directly or was Linux more of a testing environment?
The entire development process, from alpha to the final release build, took place on Linux. Having developers run the OS they are targeting is key to attaining the best gaming experience.
It also helps that everyone on the Linux team at Feral were either keen Linux users before they started working on the project or adopted Linux as their primary platform during the development process. This means they get what Linux is about. We wanted the game to be more than just a Windows (or Mac) application dropped into Linux, we wanted to optimize it for Linux as much as we could.
This relates to your earlier question about wrappers. Because XCOM for Linux is a native application that is optimized for the platform at a source code rather than just a runtime level, it can be adapted to Linux’ usability conventions and features, not just its technical features (such as OpenGL).
What's your position on open-source GPU drivers (radeon, nouveau) vs. proprietary drivers (catalyst, nv) on Linux?
It depends on the drivers, and what works best for the project in question.
For example, XCOM only officially supports the proprietary Linux drivers for AMD and NVIDIA cards. Although some users have been able to play with the open source drivers, we have found they are not as stable. They are also missing some features that the closed source drivers have, so we aren't offering official support right now.
However, XCOM does support the open-source Mesa drivers for Intel cards, and we actually logged and fixed a bug in the driver during the development of XCOM.
Although we are open to supporting more open source drivers in the future, our immediate goal is to get great performance and stability in complex 3D environments and for that, the open source drivers for AMD and NVIDIA cards aren't quite there yet.
That said, we hope that the combination of more AAA games coming to Linux, the feedback we give and receive and the efforts of the Linux community will mean that the open source drivers keep improving in the future.
When you say you are committed to bringing AAA games to Linux, does that mean you are already working on more ports?
That's the plan! Although I can't give you any clues about what's next in line, I can say that the coming year should be a good one for Linux gamers!
How have you felt the reception has been for the port so far?
So far we are extremely pleased with the reception from Linux gamers and for the amazing community spirit on forums. We have learnt a lot from them and are using that knowledge to make sure that our future Linux releases are as good as they can be.
Any words of wisdom for developers looking to port to Linux?
Here are a few short points I think would be helpful to anyone thinking about it:
1. Develop on the platform for the platform. This helps you debug on the hardware / software that people will be playing on.
2. Decide early on what hardware and software you want to officially support; there are lots of hardware and software configurations. For an initial release, it is arguably better to have a small list of officially supported set-ups that offer great performance than a large list that you aren't able to QA and fully optimise. You can always extend the official support at a later date.
3. Polish, and hold your nerve. It's worth spending the time to make sure the game you eventually release is one that you are proud of. People will forgive a delayed release, they won't forgive a buggy one.
4. Engage the community. The Linux gaming crowd are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and helpful. We have already had a lot great feedback on XCOM, which has really helped us to understand what the community values.
5. Don't be scared, penguins don't bite!
Many thanks to everyone at Feral (special thanks to Brad Gibson for sorting the interview out and Edwin of course for answering!) for the port and for future ports to come, it was really great to speak to them about everything and I think we are onto a winner with these guys. It's extremely refreshing to have such a good developer supporting Linux, and this is another thing we have Valve to thank for.
What port would you like to see come from them next and how are you enjoying XCOM? Let us know! Sadly I've had very little time to play it, but the first mission was very smooth for me!
Final note: XCOM is still 50%, so grab your wallets and grab it on Steam now!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Feral?
My name is Edwin Smith and I am Head of Production at Feral. My main job is to facilitate other people’s work. Most of my time is spent co-ordinating our internal developers and QA with the companies with whom we work. The aim is to make sure that there is a good flow of communication, so that we avoid misunderstandings and hopefully head off problems before they arise.
Why did Feral decide to get into Linux?
The catalyst has been the Steam OS and the Steam Machine. That convinced us that Linux could support AAA games.
OS X is a UNIX-based platform so from a development perspective Linux feels like a natural extension of what we already do as Mac developers. We also felt that a lot of the experience that we had in publishing for the Mac and marketing to and providing support for smaller audiences would be applicable to Linux.
So, essentially without SteamOS & Steam Machines Feral wouldn't be porting games to Linux?
The scope and quality of Linux gaming have been steadily improving for a few years. However, Valve’s decision to use Linux for SteamOS was in our view a big validation, and certainly made the decision to develop for Linux easier.
For a company just getting into Linux what roadblocks did you encounter in bringing XCOM to Linux?
No roadblocks, just a few speed bumps ;-). A few things are different, for example 64bit support. 32bit libraries are no longer the default on Linux as they are for Windows and OSX. That means the game has to be updated to be 64bit clean.
Is the port just to confirm properly a 100% native port? So, no wrappers (Wine, eON, Crossover etc)?
This is a 100% native application. Just like our Mac games, all our Linux games will be 100% native. We never use WINE, Crossover etc style wrapper technology. Promise!
We avoid wrappers because we believe they do not allow for the same level of platform-specific tailoring that native ports do, so they don’t often provide gamers with the best experience that the platform – and the game - can provide.
Making a native application allows us to give the game that extra bit of platform specific polish.
Two examples in XCOM:
- We modified the videos to use VP8 on Linux, as that was the best codec to use.
- We wrote a Linux-specific pre-game launcher for the Complete Edition of XCOM that allows you to choose between the main game or the expansion pack, XCOM: Enemy Within. We rewrote it for Linux to support Big Picture mode (with HD graphics) and gamepads.
XCOM for Linux has lots of small changes like these, all of which contribute to making the Linux version feel like it has taken advantage of everything the platform has to offer.
And, once the game is released we are committed to maintaining it based on feedback from the community.
What tools are you using in porting XCOM to Linux?
We use a large number of tools and custom libraries during development. A few examples are: QTCreator, gedit, CMake, apitrace, systemtap, perf, git-svn, meld, libvpx, SDL2 and webm. We also have our own custom libraries designed to help game development on Linux
What do you think about Steam Machines and SteamOS and what it means for the future of PC gaming?
The Steam Machines and SteamOS have great potential as an alternative to Windows, but it's a braver man than me who will forecast how that is going to play out.
What sort of sales numbers are you expecting from the Linux crowd given that many may already own it?
For now we're more focused on the reception that a native Linux port of XCOM gets from Linux gamers than the sales. We are committed to bringing AAA games to Linux and making sure those games are completely awesome to play on the Linux platform; if we do a good job of that then over time we trust that the sales will follow.
The game is currently 64bit only. Is there a certain reason this was done and will a 32bit version come?
The latest Linux distibutions are primarily 64bit, and libraries are increasingly being developed and maintained in 64bit. In gaming terms, we’re seeing more and more 64bit-only games released for Linux, so overall we think 32bit has a limited future in AAA gaming.
As our first game for Linux, the decisions we made about the hardware and software XCOM supports have long-term implications. Since it was apparent to us that 64bit is the future and that 32bit is being phased out, we decided to support only 64bit from the beginning.
Although we have had a few requests for 32bit support, we’re unlikely to support it.
We asked about the tools used to port the game, but what about the platform? Were you able to develop any of it on Linux directly or was Linux more of a testing environment?
The entire development process, from alpha to the final release build, took place on Linux. Having developers run the OS they are targeting is key to attaining the best gaming experience.
It also helps that everyone on the Linux team at Feral were either keen Linux users before they started working on the project or adopted Linux as their primary platform during the development process. This means they get what Linux is about. We wanted the game to be more than just a Windows (or Mac) application dropped into Linux, we wanted to optimize it for Linux as much as we could.
This relates to your earlier question about wrappers. Because XCOM for Linux is a native application that is optimized for the platform at a source code rather than just a runtime level, it can be adapted to Linux’ usability conventions and features, not just its technical features (such as OpenGL).
What's your position on open-source GPU drivers (radeon, nouveau) vs. proprietary drivers (catalyst, nv) on Linux?
It depends on the drivers, and what works best for the project in question.
For example, XCOM only officially supports the proprietary Linux drivers for AMD and NVIDIA cards. Although some users have been able to play with the open source drivers, we have found they are not as stable. They are also missing some features that the closed source drivers have, so we aren't offering official support right now.
However, XCOM does support the open-source Mesa drivers for Intel cards, and we actually logged and fixed a bug in the driver during the development of XCOM.
Although we are open to supporting more open source drivers in the future, our immediate goal is to get great performance and stability in complex 3D environments and for that, the open source drivers for AMD and NVIDIA cards aren't quite there yet.
That said, we hope that the combination of more AAA games coming to Linux, the feedback we give and receive and the efforts of the Linux community will mean that the open source drivers keep improving in the future.
When you say you are committed to bringing AAA games to Linux, does that mean you are already working on more ports?
That's the plan! Although I can't give you any clues about what's next in line, I can say that the coming year should be a good one for Linux gamers!
How have you felt the reception has been for the port so far?
So far we are extremely pleased with the reception from Linux gamers and for the amazing community spirit on forums. We have learnt a lot from them and are using that knowledge to make sure that our future Linux releases are as good as they can be.
Any words of wisdom for developers looking to port to Linux?
Here are a few short points I think would be helpful to anyone thinking about it:
1. Develop on the platform for the platform. This helps you debug on the hardware / software that people will be playing on.
2. Decide early on what hardware and software you want to officially support; there are lots of hardware and software configurations. For an initial release, it is arguably better to have a small list of officially supported set-ups that offer great performance than a large list that you aren't able to QA and fully optimise. You can always extend the official support at a later date.
3. Polish, and hold your nerve. It's worth spending the time to make sure the game you eventually release is one that you are proud of. People will forgive a delayed release, they won't forgive a buggy one.
4. Engage the community. The Linux gaming crowd are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and helpful. We have already had a lot great feedback on XCOM, which has really helped us to understand what the community values.
5. Don't be scared, penguins don't bite!
Many thanks to everyone at Feral (special thanks to Brad Gibson for sorting the interview out and Edwin of course for answering!) for the port and for future ports to come, it was really great to speak to them about everything and I think we are onto a winner with these guys. It's extremely refreshing to have such a good developer supporting Linux, and this is another thing we have Valve to thank for.
What port would you like to see come from them next and how are you enjoying XCOM? Let us know! Sadly I've had very little time to play it, but the first mission was very smooth for me!
Final note: XCOM is still 50%, so grab your wallets and grab it on Steam now!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
edddeduck_feral Jun 27, 2014
Quoting: GuestThanks for the extensive answer, Edwin. I wasn’t thinking that you’d need to test the 32 bit version thoroughly, but I suppose there could be some differences, yes… (Slower VP8 decoding perhaps?) Or even compiler bugs.
Happy to explain :) The 32 bit and 64 bit versions of drivers libraries etc are very very similar but often just one small change can cause a cascade that ends up in a game bug. To be sure that everything is OK and for us to be happy to say "Feral support this setup" we need to be sure and that take time and effort. We want to give Linux users that great experience out the box and to do that you need to pay attention to detail and test and test and test to make sure you have done all you can.
No game is perfect but you should always aim to be as close as possible :)
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philip550c Jun 28, 2014
Quoting: GuestEdit: thanks for NOT creating a “.feral-interactive” directory in $HOME! :DOr even worse when companies don't hide the folder at all, and when they throw random config files and logs into your home folder.
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Quoting: GuestI have 3 games whose developers thought it was a good idea to save their files in “Documents”
Ugh, yes.
Kentucky Route Zero and Crusader Kings II do that. Redshirts puts its save into ~/Documents/Saved\ Games/Redshirts, while Breach & Clear puts its into ~/Documents/SavedGames/BreachClear.
This is utter madness. What is this, Windows where the prefered save file location changes every year?
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Quoting: edddeduckferalTo put this into perspective one of our Linux testers has over 750+ hours of gameplay on XCOM Linux. To make sure a game is tested and is up to the quality that is deserves that takes quite a lot of time and effort. I am not saying 32 bit would need the same testing again but it wouldn't be minor given all the hardware configurations and features that need testing :)You do your job from begining to the end or don't do it at all. Half-working port isn't what people waiting for.
Quoting: edddeduckferalIt's not impossible but supporting 64 bit and 32 bit however it is a lot more work if you want to give full and official support to the 32bit platform. Given the comments and feedback so far only a very small number of users have 32 bit based OS's and are unwilling to update to 64bit to play.I personaly saw a lot of surveys that says there're only 0.1% of linux users in the whole world. But you've ported XCOM anyway. And now you're talking about "a small number of users" because of surveys said so. No, that's not true. That's just what you want to believe in and beeing in that unpleasant and awkward situation you're tring to look like a reasonable man.
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Quoting: wleoncioQuoting: DrMcCoyAlso: I'm actually shocked that there's still so many people running full 32-bit installs. I had thought that pretty much died out around the time I got a 64-bit system...Think about people like me, who back in 2010 wanted a stable Linux system, went to www.ubuntu.com, read "we recommend the 32-bit version", installed it and had just been updating that same machine since then.
That's the thing, Canonical is in part to blame for the slow decline of 32bit.
I started using Linux ~2007 and researched the architecture question right from the start (I am someone who always says no to 'recommended settings'). Even back then most people said 64bit is fine so I have been using it ever since without any major issues.
Come 2012, and ubuntu.com still showed 12.04LTS 32bit as recommended. LOL
By the way, surely there more games that are 64bit-only. I am not one to keep lists, but Planetary Annihilation is an easy example to point to.
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edddeduck_feral Jun 28, 2014
Quoting: AstroQuoting: edddeduckferalTo put this into perspective one of our Linux testers has over 750+ hours of gameplay on XCOM Linux. To make sure a game is tested and is up to the quality that is deserves that takes quite a lot of time and effort. I am not saying 32 bit would need the same testing again but it wouldn't be minor given all the hardware configurations and features that need testing :)You do your job from begining to the end or don't do it at all. Half-working port isn't what people waiting for.
We stated that the game had a minimum specification that required a 64 bit OS. The game works perfectly well on supported hardware and software. I understand from your many posts in this forum and others that you expected 32 bit support and are extremely upset that your 32 bit OS isn't supported but that doesn't mean the port has a problem. It just means 32 bit isn't supported.
Quoting: AstroQuoting: edddeduckferalIt's not impossible but supporting 64 bit and 32 bit however it is a lot more work if you want to give full and official support to the 32bit platform. Given the comments and feedback so far only a very small number of users have 32 bit based OS's and are unwilling to update to 64bit to play.I personaly saw a lot of surveys that says there're only 0.1% of linux users in the whole world. But you've ported XCOM anyway. And now you're talking about "a small number of users" because of surveys said so. No, that's not true. That's just what you want to believe in and beeing in that unpleasant and awkward situation you're tring to look like a reasonable man.
We have been reading every email and post in as many forums as possible to get feedback on the title, including from yourself we have had only a small number of people ask about 32 bit support so far compared to the large number of happy gamers on 64 bit.
I know you are of the opinion all software should be 32bit supported and our decision to openly support only 64 bit only with XCOM has upset you greatly. We have always tried to help you, we offered advice on how to request a refund when you missed the Ubuntu 64bit requirement on the Steam store page and we also have offered to answer any questions you might have on 32bit/64bit if you send us an email with them all in to help you understand why we developed a 64 bit version.
I don't want to turn this comments page into a debate on 32/64 bit OS, the last time I saw this happen on the Steam forums it got out of hand with people taking sides and nothing constructive is gained from it.
If you do have reasons and information about 32/64 bit or any other feedback please send it to us. We know you might not be happy with our decision on 64 bit but we are interested if you (or anyone else) have any thoughts and feedback about XCOM or our future porting decisions.
Edwin
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Cheeseness Jun 28, 2014
Quoting: minjThat's the thing, Canonical is in part to blame for the slow decline of 32bit.
I'm not sure that holds much water when there are still significant numbers of Windows users (even in the Steam survey which is biased towards gaming oriented users) who're running 32 bit operating systems - maybe even more than there are 32 bit Linux users. It seems very much that there's something bigger at work than one distro's recommendation.
Given that there aren't corporate machines constantly trying to get people to upgrade and buy new stuff, the level of 64 bit adoption on Linux has always seemed pretty impressive to me.
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Quoting: CheesenessI'm not sure that holds much water when there are still significant numbers of Windows users (even in the Steam survey which is biased towards gaming oriented users) who're running 32 bit operating systems - maybe even more than there are 32 bit Linux users. It seems very much that there's something bigger at work than one distro's recommendation.I was talking about Linux only. Sorry for not pointing that out.
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Quoting: edddeduckferalI know you are of the opinion all software should be 32bit supported and our decision to openly support only 64 bit only with XCOM has upset you greatly. We have always tried to help you, we offered advice on how to request a refund when you missed the Ubuntu 64bit requirement on the Steam store page and we also have offered to answer any questions you might have on 32bit/64bit if you send us an email with them all in to help you understand why we developed a 64 bit version.
I don't want to turn this comments page into a debate on 32/64 bit OS, the last time I saw this happen on the Steam forums it got out of hand with people taking sides and nothing constructive is gained from it.
It's how you treated customers I didn't like. Personaly, I'm not sure if I want to play XCOM even if it will be ported on 32-bit OS. If there was explanation back then instead of almost complete disregard and agreement among the other who said that 32-bit OS users are just a bunch of loosers and it's cool don't pay attention to them, I'd have said nothing.
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Quoting: AstroWhere have they ever said that they agree that 32-bit OS users are losers? They were very clear that they only supported 64-bit operating systems and IMO they have treated their customers with proper respect. How can you say they have disregarded you and been silent when one of them has been here chatting with you?Quoting: edddeduckferalI know you are of the opinion all software should be 32bit supported and our decision to openly support only 64 bit only with XCOM has upset you greatly. We have always tried to help you, we offered advice on how to request a refund when you missed the Ubuntu 64bit requirement on the Steam store page and we also have offered to answer any questions you might have on 32bit/64bit if you send us an email with them all in to help you understand why we developed a 64 bit version.It's how you treated customers I didn't like. Personaly, I'm not sure if I want to play XCOM even if it will be ported on 32-bit OS. If there was explanation back then instead of almost complete disregard and agreement among the other who said that 32-bit OS users are just a bunch of loosers and it's cool don't pay attention to them, I'd have said nothing.
I don't want to turn this comments page into a debate on 32/64 bit OS, the last time I saw this happen on the Steam forums it got out of hand with people taking sides and nothing constructive is gained from it.
I'd suggest you get that refund and completely ignore the game. This conversation is simply going nowhere.
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