No Man's Sky has been shown to work rather well in Wine on Linux

Yeah, it runs good on wine and even free demo edition (pirated) works fine.
To ppl who is even thinking about linux version, no, there is NOT going to be native linux version because game uses phyreengine.
Only "hope" is wrapper-port but I wouldn't keep my breath while waiting...

People keep mentioning setting the prefix to Windows 7 but I found that only Windows XP mode works for me ...

Same here, the game won't even start on windows 7-comp; but I'm running the winehq-devel and not the winehq-staging recommended in the post. What version of wine are you running?

I am running the multilib version of Wine (non-Staging) from the Arch repos officially but I took the PKGBUILD script from this package: https://www.archlinux.org/packages/multilib/x86_64/wine/ modified it slightly and now I compile wine-git with it. This way I get a distro-perfect Wine package but I don't have to wait for the maintainer :D

As for the XP or 7 mode, I have tried about 5-6 times to run the game in Windows 7 mode and it would just hang whereas in 64-bit XP mode everything loads :)

Wine has its purpose. For one, it is a gentler transition to Linux gaming rather than just saying "goodbye" to a lot of your games. But I'm not a Winer user anymore, not for a couple years now. There is enough Linux gaming support to keep my backlog growing more than it's shrinking.

My purpose for WINE is making my tax declaration.
I'm a bit tempted to try No Man's Sky, but hey, there are good videos out there.
And as others already said: I've got too many good games for Linux anyway.

Wine is bad for gaming on Linux imo.

I'd rather the focus be on imommu with KVM going forward if that's the case. Anything is better than Wine.

Wine is however, good for Office applications and other productivity apps not available on Linux.

and that means you still have to install that garbage OS.

i'd take wine every day over that.



as for No Man's Sky. I't works pretty good indeed under wine:

View video on youtube.com


I'd love to see the Linux official client for it, i quite enjoy the game tbh.
Luckily we will get Planet Nomads soon™

True. For the record, i don't use wine or iommu (my ivy bridge dosen't support vt-d). I just don't support Windows only games. So wine is kinda useless to me in that regard.

I honestly don't understand how someone dislike WINE...

I don't know in which world you're living but in my world Linux gamers make up the 1% of the entire gaming community, meaning that we count almost as zero to some developers and publishers (such as Bethesda, EA, Activision, etc..).

A lot of games aren't going to be ported soon and some of them will NEVER get ported to Linux, due to them being too old or being in an evil copyright limbo or other bullshit.

In the meantime Wine provides to the Linux-only user a great chance to get a lot of these games to work without the need of dual boot.
Sure, sometimes is counter-productive because it "counts" as Window$ purchase, but we are in a situation where A LOT of gamers don't try/switch to Linux because native ports are lacking, especially compared to an OS that can run all the games available.
Most of them don't even know that Wine exists and that with it the amount of playable games on Linux duplicate or even triplicate, making Linux an extremely solid alternative.

I.e. a guy who plays just Age of Empire II can wait 7-8 years to get a native Linux port and then switch to Linux (and in the meantime using Windoze) or switch and play the game with Wine until the native ports is available (if ever..).

Another example: I bough a 10yo used audio-mixer on ebay and it came with a software-cd, naturally Window$-only, so I can go on and say No TUX NO BUCKS and go with this mentality in an audio-store to find some compatible mixer (and say goodbye to the cheap ebay prices) or just run the software on my Linux rig where it may run even better then on a newer Micro$oft OS; Wine compatibility is quite famous.

IMO Wine is the key to get more people to permanently switch to Linux! I'm pretty sure that videos like this one about No Man's Sky impress the gaming community, especially if someone see that the game runs better on a non supported OS and maybe even with a lower hardware.

As for performances (excluding Gallium Nine), there were 1500+ developers who worked on Wine and it was written using reverse-engineering to avoid copyright issues, there are still thing to improve but they're really getting there..
And unlike the OS that some of you dual-boot or suggest to virtualize, Wine it's open-source, financed by donations and free to use, modify and fork for everyone.
You may think that is useless, or that sucks.. In my opinion it's a godsend and one of the best software that Linux has to offer..


Last edited by manero666 on 17 Aug 2016 at 2:57 pm UTC

Yeah, it runs good on wine and even free demo edition (pirated) works fine.
To ppl who is even thinking about linux version, no, there is NOT going to be native linux version because game uses phyreengine.
Only "hope" is wrapper-port but I wouldn't keep my breath while waiting...

Looking on the wiki page list of games made with that engine there are some games that have been ported (like Bound by Flame):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhyreEngine

So... it's not impossible. :]

What is this "No Man's Sky" of which you speak my brethren and sistren?
Wherefore utter you a name so puerile and hopeless? So untrue.
It is harsh to my hearing, a sound
not unlike the bursting of a festering pustule
amplified a thousandfold.

I know of no such being.
My blood allegiance is sworn onlyto the coming of the One True Dawn,
the Pure and Piercing Light that is only and forever revealed to we mortals as
Planet Nomads.


In the name of the One True Procedural,
Worlds without end,
Amen.

The problem about buying a game to run on Wine is there is no guarantee the game is going to keep running when a new version or patch is released. I do buy windows games to run on Wine (the last one being Dragon Age Origins on GOG) but only if they are cheap/on sale and don't rely on an online connection (where version upgrades can be forced). I'd prefer more native Linux games, but I'm a pragmatist.

The problem about buying a game to run on Wine is there is no guarantee the game is going to keep running when a new version or patch is released.

This! The game might work now, but what is the guarantee that it'll continue to do so? A few months ago I looked at Subnautica, a game that'll probably never come to Linux. Initially it worked fine under wine, but now it doesn't (according to the Steam forums, I didn't buy it since I subscribe to No Tux No Bux). Any future update may make a wine game unplayable.

The only thing I use wine for these days is Lego Digital Designer and the occasional old windows game on my Steam library. And with the enormous number of Linux games, I never really get around to the wine games anyway.

I agree with the posts above - Could be the greatest game ever made for all I know. It certainly looks like a game that I would like. But, just like how we might want to eat cake every day - the real world kicks in and we discover we need to have the diligence to do what's right. So, in short, make a Linux port and then shut up and take my money!!. Until then, I'll just hang out with Stardew Valley and 7 Days To Die and friends.

Short commentary on Wine here: I think WINE is a great tool. Remarkable, really. I use it, for example, to play my original Baulder's Gate I purchased way back when when I ran MS Windows XP. WINE certainly has it's place - whether it's gaming or running and old version of Quicken or a myriad of other use cases.

But to spend cash on a game that will likely never see a native Linux port because it's good for you personally - well, that's kind of just selling out. To make a real difference, we need to support companies like Feral and others that see Linux users as an asset and a viable market. In the end, what good does it do to send $60 US to Hello Games without a Linux version? All it means is that it's much less likely that they will ever release a Linux version! Not to mention that, if purchased via Steam it will additionally count as a Windows sale in the sales figures. A double-whammy!

I'm not telling anyone what to do. We're free to play and buy what we want. Just don't complain that more top-tier titles aren't released for SteamOS / Linux.

Looking on the wiki page list of games made with that engine there are some games that have been ported (like Bound by Flame):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhyreEngine

So... it's not impossible. :]

All Spiders games are produced and developed using the company's own modified version of Sony's PhyreEngine, called the "Silk Engine".

That's why they ain't getting any of my silk. Not until they come home with the tux.

*snip*

While all what you said is true, the basic problem for me is that WINE is a -theoretical- solution to make Windows games run in Linux. In practice...it doesn't work. At least not well. Look at the list of "platinum" quality games. It's short. Very short. And that's the only games that I consider to work reasonably well in Wine. Even the "gold" quality ones usually have huge issues. Yes, they might run. But not in a way that makes you feel happy with the experience. For example, Guild Wars 2 was marked as gold, but the game ran with 15-20 FPS, which is totally unplayable in practice. It also crashed -much- more often compared to running it in Windows. Star Trek Online (also tagged gold) needs literally 10-15 mins to even start and freezes lots as well. Really, if a game isn't on the Platinum list, there is no need to even try. And I am not even getting into the circumstance that barely any game just installs easily in Wine. Usually it involves a lot of fumbling with the configuration and lot of trial and error and a lot of frustration.

As I said above, I really respect the dedication and effort that went into WINE. I don't want to diss on what they accomplished. But for me, the solution to get Windows games to run isn't WINE and probably never will be. It's dual booting. And hoping that one day I will stop feeling the urge to play Windows games entirely.

No way I'll fund a game with no native support. I'll pass.

For example, Guild Wars 2 was marked as gold, but the game ran with 15-20 FPS, which is totally unplayable in practice.

Heh. Been playing it at that framerate since release. WvW wasn't really an option, though.

Last time I tried Guild Wars 2 on Wine, IIRC mouse input didn't work and there was something wrong with the map. I think the trading post didn't work either. Now I'm playing it every day on Mint and while the frame rate is not excellent (on a GTX 560), I can get a fairly stable 30 FPS with medium settings, which is at least more than on my Win7 laptop (GT540M). The only problem I've found so far is a broken texture change when I switch gear or apply dyes, and I only have to alt-tab back into the game to force a redraw (tedious when you're trying out dyes, but hey I'll take it over not being able to play at all).

I wouldn't be surprised if a native port of the game showed up soon. It's an indie studio who's already published for Linux before, the game already uses OpenGL, and porter Ethan Lee is already examining the game as we speak.

I'd wait to buy until it releases for Linux.

I'm a win(n)er. I don't get you guys: If you play a Steam Game via wine AFAIK steam notices this. This also may be an important indicator for them.

I did a steam survey recently and when I saw the results of my hardware check it did notice the wine Version I was using ;-)

However, I would like gol to investigate this issue. Would be interesting to hear Valve if they are able to see if games are played via wine and if they do count this at least internally.

As someone who is building a fork of SteamOS with Kodi as central Element and being able to install and start games from Steam, Amazon and GOG directly as well as do Retro Emulation, I heavily make usage of wine/pol. This is tje software that enables me to offer Games that currently are not supported natively. BTW Many ports also use a similar technology as wine, so from a technical perpective it should not be a disadvantage.

Please Liam, do the investigation, I mentioned above :-)

*snip*

While all what you said is true, the basic problem for me is that WINE is a -theoretical- solution to make Windows games run in Linux. In practice...it doesn't work. At least not well. Look at the list of "platinum" quality games. It's short. Very short. And that's the only games that I consider to work reasonably well in Wine. Even the "gold" quality ones usually have huge issues. Yes, they might run. But not in a way that makes you feel happy with the experience. For example, Guild Wars 2 was marked as gold, but the game ran with 15-20 FPS, which is totally unplayable in practice. It also crashed -much- more often compared to running it in Windows. Star Trek Online (also tagged gold) needs literally 10-15 mins to even start and freezes lots as well. Really, if a game isn't on the Platinum list, there is no need to even try. And I am not even getting into the circumstance that barely any game just installs easily in Wine. Usually it involves a lot of fumbling with the configuration and lot of trial and error and a lot of frustration.

As I said above, I really respect the dedication and effort that went into WINE. I don't want to diss on what they accomplished. But for me, the solution to get Windows games to run isn't WINE and probably never will be. It's dual booting. And hoping that one day I will stop feeling the urge to play Windows games entirely.

Looks like you are terribly unlucky with Wine:)
I mean, I had the opposite experience with it, the norm for me is to have almost every game (dx9) working without a fuss, especially with the latest Wine releases. When I get one that doesn't I'm actually surprised.


Last edited by dubigrasu on 17 Aug 2016 at 9:45 pm UTC

How about framerate? TotalBiscuit was unable to run it 60 FPS with 2x Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 on Windows 7.

*snip*

For example, Guild Wars 2 was marked as gold, but the game ran with 15-20 FPS, which is totally unplayable in practice. It also crashed -much- more often compared to running it in Windows.

With the release of the 64bit client GW2 crashes much less (although after 4 straight hours of gameplay it will fill 6GB of ram usage). I've been playing it on Wine for the past 2 years (which was before the 64bit client surfaced) and I've found a very good balance between good looks and performance.

A few examples:

Lion's Arch - 35-45 FPS Screenshot
Dungeons/Fractals - 60-90 FPS in the majority of cases
Large group events - anywhere from 20 - 30 FPS, sometimes dips between 20fps but heck, even Windows users have that issue.

Sometimes comes with a few random issues such as TP crashing but it's nothing compared to the gazillion problems Windows users report on the official forums, kinda ironic since it's a Windows game to begin with.

If anyone needs help setting it up just let me know :-)


Anyways - Sorry I didn't mean to derail or go off topic. This game kept me bound to Windows for a while until I found a good working setup.