A reader asked me to reach out to Stardock about their Linux plans, specifically for Galactic Civilizations III as they said they would port it with Vulkan. I didn't get an answer on that specifically, but Vulkan has put them in a better position to port.
I asked a simple question "I noticed your developers stated GCIII would come to Linux when Vulkan was available, just wondering if this is still happening or if the Linux version is now not happening?" and here's the answer:
It's sadly a bit of a non-answer, but the good news is that Vulkan is keeping the possibility of porting their games to Linux.
They aren't the only developer taking a closer look at Linux thanks to Vulkan and this year we will see a few Vulkan releases. Don't go nuts though, it's going to take time, we aren't about to explode with Vulkan games this year. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I asked a simple question "I noticed your developers stated GCIII would come to Linux when Vulkan was available, just wondering if this is still happening or if the Linux version is now not happening?" and here's the answer:
Brad Wardell, StardockHi Liam,
With Vulkan's arrival we're in a position to do more with our games being on Linux in the future. We don't have any date when that might be however.
Thanks for your interest,
Cheers
It's sadly a bit of a non-answer, but the good news is that Vulkan is keeping the possibility of porting their games to Linux.
They aren't the only developer taking a closer look at Linux thanks to Vulkan and this year we will see a few Vulkan releases. Don't go nuts though, it's going to take time, we aren't about to explode with Vulkan games this year. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
voyager2102 Mar 10, 2017
Last time I asked one of their devs in a GC III Twitch session he said that he hadn't heard anything about them planning to port GC to Linux (about 3 months ago). He suggested to ask Brad (Wardell) though.
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Other than The Talos Principle, is there another game (Steam or GOG hosted) I can try now, not in the future, that has a working Vulkan renderer? I just set up Vulkan on my PC (NVidia card) and want to verify that it works. It's akin to learning to play the piano, without the piano, at the moment :-)
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Quoting: chepatiOther than The Talos Principle, is there another game (Steam or GOG hosted) I can try now, not in the future, that has a working Vulkan renderer? I just set up Vulkan on my PC (NVidia card) and want to verify that it works. It's akin to learning to play the piano, without the piano, at the moment :-)
Well... DOOM? *whisper* It's on Windows, though.
Last edited by Eike on 10 March 2017 at 11:00 am UTC
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Quoting: chepatiOther than The Talos Principle, is there another game (Steam or GOG hosted) I can try now, not in the future, that has a working Vulkan renderer? I just set up Vulkan on my PC (NVidia card) and want to verify that it works. It's akin to learning to play the piano, without the piano, at the moment :-)
Well, DOTA 2 has a Vulkan renderer as well, and I think that's all for now. (There are some games that use the experimental Unity Vulkan renderer, I think, but I don't know which ones, and that's still experimental).
Now, I really like Stardock games. I hope they will start porting them!
I wouldn't mind a wine port for their older games as well. Sins of A Solar Empire runs quite well with it, if I recall correctly.
Could you ask them in a follow-up, Liam? I guess I could also do it myself...
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Quoting: M@yeulCWell, DOTA 2 has a Vulkan renderer as well, and I think that's all for now. (There are some games that use the experimental Unity Vulkan renderer, I think, but I don't know which ones, and that's still experimental).
Ah, forgot about this one. Already downloading and will try it when I get home tonight.
Thanks!
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Mountain Man Mar 10, 2017
They've been promising to support Linux for years. [Brad Wardell at one point all but promised that GalCiv 3 would get a Linux release](http://steamcommunity.com/app/241990/discussions/0/613937942951572333/?ctp=5#c613937943144071447), but we're still waiting for that one, so I'll believe it when I see it. Stardock used to be one of my favorite developers, but I've pretty much written them off until they show they're serious about supporting Linux. I'm surprised they haven't jumped on it already, to be honest, because being a small, independent developer selling niche games, they would benefit the most from supporting Linux.
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And who is the one that claims than vulkan usage isn't a good news for linux? Directly like on this case, or indirectly like on wine, it helps.
Last edited by edo on 10 March 2017 at 4:11 pm UTC
Last edited by edo on 10 March 2017 at 4:11 pm UTC
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femtomatic Mar 10, 2017
I played a lot of GalCiv2 when Windows was all I knew and would really love to have GalCiv3 under linux, but I'm not holding my breath.
Part of Stardock's business model is to sell customization softwares for the Windows desktop, I don't know how it compares to their game sales but I'm pretty sure it has increased significantly since Win8... So to be realistic, I doubt they would spend a significant amount of money and energy cater to linux users unless they see a potential for meaningful profits.
Or they could see us as potential customers for their other products "Look, we made Windows as customizable as KDE! All you have to do is pay us a fee to be able to modify a software that you already paid for..." God I'm glad I switched to linux!
Part of Stardock's business model is to sell customization softwares for the Windows desktop, I don't know how it compares to their game sales but I'm pretty sure it has increased significantly since Win8... So to be realistic, I doubt they would spend a significant amount of money and energy cater to linux users unless they see a potential for meaningful profits.
Or they could see us as potential customers for their other products "Look, we made Windows as customizable as KDE! All you have to do is pay us a fee to be able to modify a software that you already paid for..." God I'm glad I switched to linux!
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Quoting: edoAnd who is the one that claims than vulkan usage isn't a good news for linux? Directly like on this case, or indirectly like on wine, it helps.I imagine that is aimed at me, due to my post about the Switch possibly supporting Vulkan.
There's a big difference between the two. This is an actual developer directly mentioning Linux, not a random platform having support for it.
I say it again to be clear. Vulkan is great, Vulkan is good for Linux, but Vulkan does not mean Linux. I think some people got the wrong idea about what I said because i don't hype every platform possibly using Vulkan.
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stretch611 Mar 10, 2017
I am not happy that Stardock has not supported linux at all yet. The company was started in niche markets.
Originally, Stardock catered to the OS/2 market. The original Galactic Civilizations was OS/2 only when it first came out before the company expanded to the windows world. I still remember Process Commander from Stardock which was a must have utility for OS/2 back in the day. (Honestly, it has been so long, I forget the details on what it did; but I did buy/have it :D )
Originally, Stardock catered to the OS/2 market. The original Galactic Civilizations was OS/2 only when it first came out before the company expanded to the windows world. I still remember Process Commander from Stardock which was a must have utility for OS/2 back in the day. (Honestly, it has been so long, I forget the details on what it did; but I did buy/have it :D )
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