The Linux manual for the Shadow of Mordor port has been spotted in the wild, and it looks like it may be a sore spot for AMD gamers.
Note: This is all subject to change, as SoM hasn't been released yet. We sincerely hope they can optimise for AMD graphics users too, but it could be a driver issue and out of Feral's control.
Found on SteamDB (as usual!), the manual was added for Linux. You can find it directly here.
A user in our forum and several in our IRC mentioned it, so it's worth giving people a little pre-warning:
Mordor FAQ for LinuxWhich graphics cards and driver versions are supported by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor?
Graphics cards
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor requires the following graphics card series or better:
Nvidia: 6xx series
AMD and Intel: AMD and Intel graphics cards are not currently supported by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Graphics drivers
Every effort has been made to support the graphics drivers packaged with Ubuntu, as well as open-source drivers. However, as the game contains a number of advanced graphics options, some driver versions are not compatible with it.
The driver versions below have been tested, and these and newer versions will run the game without issues:
Nvidia: 346.35
You may be able to play using older drivers. However, it is possible that you will encounter performance and stability issues, and we do not currently offer support for older driver versions.
Open-source drivers
Open-source graphics drivers are not currently supported by Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Unfortunately, the current open-source Nvidia drivers do not support a number of the graphical features used in the game.
It's a shame, but not entirely unexpected. Aspyr Media noted in their blog posts while porting Civilization BE that AMD (and Intel) may not be supported due to many issues, but luckily they fixed it before release.
Will this stop you trying Shadow of Mordor if you are on AMD graphics?
Shadow of Mordor is still one of the best games I've played in recent years, and stole many hours from me on Playstation (copy long since sold now it's coming to Linux I should add!). I plan to sink many more into the Linux version at release, and will do a write up of it for sure. Feral are taking their sweet time, but it will be more than worth it! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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AMD has always had inferior drivers going all the way back to when they were called ATi. I don't know why people even bother with them. Nvidia has always been the best.
Because of the cost, the (raw) power, the power-consumption and the (open source drivers ;))... ya, today this may be different, when I bought my last card, nvidia had nothing to offer apart from a more costly card with less power and bigger power consumption that had (and I give them that) better drivers. I didn't want to wait back then and replaced my nvidia with an AMD. Apart from Dying Light and Dead Island (both on Linux) I never regretted that decision.
But, really, the driver situation is only important for Linux, because on Windows the AMD drivers are good enough. From my experience, most people who say different just repeat myths and old (but no longer valid) truths and haven't had an AMD card for many years.
I'm quite content with the open source mesa drivers and I hope that OpenGL 4 compliance will be reached soon.
2 Likes, Who?
My bet is, we will see this even more often from now on.
It's easy for developers and porters to claim it is AMD's fault.
AMD's reputation allows the easy blame game even *IF* it is just because
it would require the developers/porters extra work to *also* optimize the
game for AMD (because they did for NVidia in the first place, ofc).
Don't f*ck it up with Vulkan, AMD. Pretty please!
Driver support on all platforms has to be great right from the start.
This a chance of a lifetime, so to say. Don't miss it.
It's easy for developers and porters to claim it is AMD's fault.
AMD's reputation allows the easy blame game even *IF* it is just because
it would require the developers/porters extra work to *also* optimize the
game for AMD (because they did for NVidia in the first place, ofc).
Don't f*ck it up with Vulkan, AMD. Pretty please!
Driver support on all platforms has to be great right from the start.
This a chance of a lifetime, so to say. Don't miss it.
4 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man 13 Jun 2015
I plan(ned) to buy a new graphics card in the next months and I wanted it to be another AMD, but maybe I'm going to save that money for other stuff :)Or just buy an Nvidia card and save yourself the needless aggravation. Nvidia has always offered stellar Linux support and deserve our support in return. Refusing to go the Nvidia route because their drivers are closed source is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Like Liam said, it's not Nvidia's fault that AMD drivers are second rate, so why punish them?
3 Likes, Who?
I have a AMD card. I was proud to support AMD, because they tend be much friendlier towards open source while everything Nvidia does is proprietary. That was more important to me than a small difference in performance. But it isn't a "small difference", AMD support on Linux is dismal. Games run better on my laptop with a Nvidia card half as powerful.
I think it is worth giving AMD until November to get things running nice on steamOS, before I turn to a proprietary (but actually working) competitor, but somehow I doubt that anything will change.
I think it is worth giving AMD until November to get things running nice on steamOS, before I turn to a proprietary (but actually working) competitor, but somehow I doubt that anything will change.
3 Likes, Who?
I plan(ned) to buy a new graphics card in the next months and I wanted it to be another AMD, but maybe I'm going to save that money for other stuff :)Or just buy an Nvidia card and save yourself the needless aggravation.
Nvidia has always offered stellar Linux support and deserve our support in return. Refusing to go the Nvidia route because their drivers are closed source is like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
As I said, nvidia is currently not an option as I do not plan to use proprietary drivers. If gaming would be my only concern I'd just boot up windows, really. That would be much less of a problem and currently I'd rather support Microsoft than nvidia :p
Like Liam said, it's not Nvidia's fault that AMD drivers are second rate, so why punish them?
Idk, apart from the reason I stated above... maybe the 970 lies and stuff like that. If you think things like that should be supported, great!
But don't blame AMD if Nvidia gets a monopoly and starts charging (even more) money for their graphics cards.
1 Likes, Who?
I have a AMD card. I was proud to support AMD, because they tend be much friendlier towards open source while everything Nvidia does is proprietary. That was more important to me than a small difference in performance. But it isn't a "small difference", AMD support on Linux is dismal. Games run better on my laptop with a Nvidia card half as powerful.
I think it is worth giving AMD until November to get things running nice on steamOS, before I turn to a proprietary (but actually working) competitor, but somehow I doubt that anything will change.
Which drivers do you use? I had nothing but trouble with the proprietary drivers from AMD but the open source ones worked great for about 9 out of 10 games in my collection.
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Im eargly waiting.
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Plintslîcho 13 Jun 2015
the power-consumption [...] when I bought my last card, nvidia had nothing to offer apart from a more costly card with less power and bigger power consumption [...]
Do you care to share some benchmarks to back that statement up? I'm curious because I have yet to see a single test where an up-to-date AMD GPU or CPU is consuming less power than a comparable nVidia GPU/Intel CPU. And that's exactly what is keeping me from switching back to AMD. Plus the fact that I haven't had any trouble whatsoever anymore with graphics card drivers since I switched to nVidia.
2 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man 13 Jun 2015
I have a AMD card. I was proud to support AMD, because they tend be much friendlier towards open source while everything Nvidia does is proprietary. That was more important to me than a small difference in performance.So terrible Linux support but open source versus excellent Linux support but closed source.
It's really a no brainer to me, but then I'm not one of those "Rar! GNU Linux! All hail Richard Stallman!" types, either.
2 Likes, Who?
Mountain Man 13 Jun 2015
As I said, nvidia is currently not an option as I do not plan to use proprietary drivers. If gaming would be my only concern I'd just boot up windows, really. That would be much less of a problem and currently I'd rather support Microsoft than nvidia :pFrankly, you're making less and less sense the more you post. "I refuse to support proprietary solutions! I'd rather use Windows!" Um, what?
Don't blame AMD if Nvidia gets a monopoly and starts charging (even more) money for their graphics cards.The word "monopoly" gets thrown around way too much in situations where it's not warranted. Secondly, we could certainly blame AMD if they're forced out of the market because they failed to be competitive.
Look, I'm all for competition, and it would be great if Nvidia wasn't the only choice for Linux, but AMD needs to get their act together and actually compete!
3 Likes, Who?
Seriously I don't get why AMD users get mad, they know their driver is bad and now that it become even more public knowledge AMD will have to do something about it. Their driver is probably going to become better and fast, they should all be happy about it. Unless they think AMD isn't going to do anything, in that case I don't understand why they still have an AMD card.
2 Likes, Who?
Current status should be well known by now: Linux gamers should play on Nvidia chipsets. End of story.
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It would be cool if someone else replaced AMD in video card market and started to compete with nvidia and would do it much more better.
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Which drivers do you use? I had nothing but trouble with the proprietary drivers from AMD but the open source ones worked great for about 9 out of 10 games in my collection.Tried the open source ones at first and they were great, but newer games wouldn't even get past 15 fps on low graphics settings. Switched to proprietary ones and games ran ok, but not as well as they should have. The proprietary drivers seem a bit buggier than the open source ones too. Got Windows 10 on that machine now (and hate it), but maybe I will give the open source drivers another go.
So terrible Linux support but open source versus excellent Linux support but closed source.I think proprietary tech is just awful for PC gaming in the long run and it is very shortsighted to give money to people pushing it. Like I said though, open source means more than a small difference in performance, but not enough to justify buying more AMD crap.
It's really a no brainer to me, but then I'm not one of those "Rar! GNU Linux! All hail Richard Stallman!" types, either.
If I had the money to buy a nice new GPU today, it would for sure be an Nvidia card; it's a no-brainer.
2 Likes, Who?
@AMD haters; have any of you used AMD's latest drivers? I have and I have to say they've made a lot of improvements regarding both performance and stability. So before you continue to bash them with outdated information, perhaps you should open your mind to the posibility that things can change.
1 Likes, Who?
Just to highlight a forum topic
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/1374?page=1
Looks like the 15.5 catalyst driver is a big improvement.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/1374?page=1
Looks like the 15.5 catalyst driver is a big improvement.
4 Likes, Who?
@AMD haters; have any of you used AMD's latest drivers? I have and I have to say they've made a lot of improvements regarding both performance and stability. So before you continue to bash them with outdated information, perhaps you should open your mind to the posibility that things can change.
Is that why Bioshock drops to 30fps on medium in open spaces for me? Must be the insane performance I get from my 290x. Meanwhile in Windows I'm downscaling The Witcher 2 from 1440p and Planetside 2 from 4K and average over 60fps in both game. Please, AMD performance sucks big time. If I was intent on using Linux exclusively I wound't buy an AMD card if they gave me money to do it. Right now, a user who wants to game in Linux using AMD hardware has two choices - either use a crappy proprietary blob that provides 50% performance AT BEST if you're lucky and brings a number of bugs on the table, OR use the open source drivers which also bring sub par performance, lack proper GUI and come with various bugs, as well. Man, I'm truly shocked that no manufacturer would build a Steam Machine around these energy inefficient and heat producing GPUs that have been having inherently bad drivers for year. And don't even get me started on crossfire support.
2 Likes, Who?
I don't think Aspyr 'fixed' their AMD issues on Civ... it has a number of graphical features disabled from the Windows one (water, high detail terrain). I think the backlash here, Reddit and Phoronix probably just made them cut any features that didn't work on AMD so that they could claim compatibility.
1 Likes, Who?
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