Serious Sam VR: The First Encounter is now officially on Linux

I will talk about my experience with vive on linux, its really fustrating.

Thanks alot for that report, Bubexel. I really hope others with the gear can keep me posted too - I'm very very eager to hear the progress on this work.

Personally I'm aiming for a purchase when the SteamVR package runs well on Linux (as it will eventually, that I am sure of) and when there are at least a handful interesting games to play.
But in my estimation that may already be this summer. Let's hope for a rainy cold summer season this year :)

But yeah, hope to hear from more Vive owners about their experience! Eventually in a DM if you don't want to spam the comments here.

Another anecdote here:

It's buggy but functional. Right now Destinations and Serious Sam VR: First Encounter are the two game I'm aware of that are confirmed working (dota2 VR works, but is for spectating only). Destinations has some performance challenges from what little I've tried so far (compared to windows). Serious Sam was working great. Full functionality and good performance. Croteam seems to have their shit together.

Given the current state of things I suspect that we've got at least 6 months of buggy (yet playable) beta before we're in a stable state.

Vive is working on Linux NOW? How's the experience, technically? How is it compared to Vive on Windows? The hardware requirements, are they the same for Linux too? Are there other VR-games that runs on Linux too, to choose from on Steam?

I'll describe my own SteamVR experience so far. It arrived in beta for Linux just 3 days ago. For about 1.5 days I could not use it because there was an issue that had a simple solution (apt-get remove libvulkan1). Then it worked, and the performance is great. I only have Linux, so I cannot compare it with Windows, but everything feels smooth. This is with an i7-4770K and GTX 1060 6G. Room scale setup was a very easy process. [Destinations](http://store.steampowered.com/app/453170/) is surprisingly entertaining in multiplayer. [Serious Sam VR: TFE](http://store.steampowered.com/app/552450/) is fun too. The latter doesn't have the SteamOS store icon because it is in "beta", but its single player campaign plays like a finished product. Two crashes in a combined 3 hours of SteamVR gaming, one of which required a reboot. Most VR games in my library do not yet run on Linux, but the few that already do will keep me busy until more arrive. Like most users, most developers just recently got the tools to start testing with SteamVR for Linux. Game engines have already made good progress. Linux actually has a front-row seat this time. Personally, I'm wondering if Oculus will have any Linux-related news on 28 February, during the VRDC. If not, we'll still have SteamVR, Vrui, OpenHMD, libsurvive, the Mozilla folks, maybe OSVR; things look pretty good. It just takes time, that's all.

Thank you both very much for your feedback! Will be very exciting to follow the progress over the next months. Thanks again!

Will there be a non-VR version?

ha ha, Yeah, it's called Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD.

From what I understand, they're planning on updating all of the games to their new engine (was it called Fusion?) and that'll allow Linux ports for all.

Croteam are my heroes.


Last edited by slaapliedje on 25 February 2017 at 1:36 am UTC

I can't help but think the next big VR technology push though is going to have something to do with sex toys...

These kind of VR is already existing in Japan.

View video on youtube.com

Of course they are....

Vive is working on Linux NOW? How's the experience, technically? How is it compared to Vive on Windows? The hardware requirements, are they the same for Linux too? Are there other VR-games that runs on Linux too, to choose from on Steam?

I'll describe my own SteamVR experience so far. It arrived in beta for Linux just 3 days ago. For about 1.5 days I could not use it because there was an issue that had a simple solution (apt-get remove libvulkan1). Then it worked, and the performance is great. I only have Linux, so I cannot compare it with Windows, but everything feels smooth. This is with an i7-4770K and GTX 1060 6G. Room scale setup was a very easy process. [Destinations](http://store.steampowered.com/app/453170/) is surprisingly entertaining in multiplayer. [Serious Sam VR: TFE](http://store.steampowered.com/app/552450/) is fun too. The latter doesn't have the SteamOS store icon because it is in "beta", but its single player campaign plays like a finished product. Two crashes in a combined 3 hours of SteamVR gaming, one of which required a reboot. Most VR games in my library do not yet run on Linux, but the few that already do will keep me busy until more arrive. Like most users, most developers just recently got the tools to start testing with SteamVR for Linux. Game engines have already made good progress. Linux actually has a front-row seat this time. Personally, I'm wondering if Oculus will have any Linux-related news on 28 February, during the VRDC. If not, we'll still have SteamVR, Vrui, OpenHMD, libsurvive, the Mozilla folks, maybe OSVR; things look pretty good. It just takes time, that's all.

Sadly I still am unable to get mine to work. The base stations refuse to stay connected. Do you have your sync cable connected between the two?

Sadly I still am unable to get mine to work.

Possibly you already did, but make sure to report your issue here:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues

Sadly I still am unable to get mine to work.

Possibly you already did, but make sure to report your issue here:
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamVR-for-Linux/issues

Yeah, I actually created a github account and even saw you reporting on an issue!

I haven't tried it since they released another update. And now I see nVidia released 375.27.13 to fix some SteamVR stuff, so I'll try to get some time tonight to test again.

I think I may have mine set up weird, because there should be ways to smoothly run and jump, but I didn't see the option for that.

I think the teleporting is how it is supposed to be! People get nausea from "being" a character moving aroung smoothly while their body is sending signals that it's just sitting/standing around. That's one (the major?) problem with VR.

Oops, I somehow missed this post. I've had the Vive since the first batches were being delivered. Many games end up with the teleportation mechanism for the reason you stated. Windlands doesn't play around, and it's certainly weird standing up and playing it. I tend to sit down for that, and even Serious Sam.

My point was more that the level designs I think are the same as the original game, which means there are places where you need to run/jump to get to because the teleportation won't reach, unless I'm completely doing it wrong...

Also there seems to be a 'quick' teleport, where you tap on the touchpad and you just sort of jump a step or two, which seems to be a bit odd as well, and probably a smooth movement would be better.

I'll see if I can get it working in Linux, then post a video somehow.

Looks like the Market agrees with me, regarding VR...

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608257/another-price-slash-suggests-the-oculus-rift-is-dead-in-the-water/

... 4 months after this GOL article on Serious Sam VR.

And here:

https://arstechnica.co.uk/gaming/2017/07/oculus-rift-touch-discount-price/

And here:

http://news.sky.com/story/oculus-rift-price-slashed-again-amid-concerns-over-sales-10943409

Oculus is having trouble shifting VR units, so has done massive discounts in recent months.

That's quite possibly because everyone is buying the Vive or other headsets? Or (even more likely) a lot of people are waiting for 'gen 2'. Notice that HTC Vive has not done a price drop except for going on sale for holidays.

There is this too;

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/6mjs6w/oculus_rift_sold_out_on_amazon_and_best_buys/


Last edited by slaapliedje on 11 July 2017 at 6:03 am UTC