Ryan "Icculus" Gordon is looking for new games to port to Linux, pay not required

to bad so many titles are on steam these days;
i dont need any additional single player game anymore; only mp titles for me; i can play every single player game from the past 30 years; but actual mp titles are spmewhat rare.

Doom 2016 would be good if we are talking about AAA's but let's be realistic , Ryan Gordon talks about indie games for sure.

AAA port would be so hard for one man.

It's a matter of time. Since he is not constrained, why not? Józef Kucia implemented a huge bulk of DX11 support in Wine, which essentially "ported" games like The Witcher 3. Surely it took quite some time, but the progress is obvious. Ryan Gordon can do something similar, and for example implement high quality FOSS DX11 → Vulkan translation layer, that would make it even better.


Last edited by Shmerl on 21 August 2017 at 4:53 pm UTC

Doom 2016 would be good if we are talking about AAA's but let's be realistic , Ryan Gordon talks about indie games for sure.

AAA port would be so hard for one man.

It's a matter of time. Since he is not constrained, why not? Józef Kucia implemented a huge bulk of DX11 support in Wine, which essentially "ported" games like The Witcher 3. Surely it took quite some time, but the progress is obvious. Ryan Gordon can do something similar, and for example implement high quality DX11 → Vulkan translation layer, that would make it even better.

It isn't impossible of course but that would require very long time.

I think he wasn't mentioning big publisher/producers when he is saying these words ; which is pretty obvious.

Linux friendly but small teamed dev groups and their games will be a realistic target.

I don't think Cdpr ans Bethesda like big companies allow him to do that.

I don't want to bash the guy, since he is one of the most important names on Linux gaming, after all he has done (witch I am very grateful BTW), but I remember Ryan before Steam landed on Linux, and the guy have a certain fame of... not finishing projects he started.

So I would suggest 3 things:

1- Something with finished development, no more patches on sight;
2- Something small, since he will be doing it on his free time and I did not see him wanting to digging up a mountain like a GTA V or Skyrim;
3- Something from a company friendly towards Linux.

The name is Alien Swarm. 1- It is long finished; 2- It is a small game from a familiar engine; 3- It is a fine game from a Linux friendly company, that somehow did not get a port while Valve was porting their entire catalog for Linux.

Knowing Ryan skills, it probably will be a quick port, something he can do with no pressure and that will fulfill that itch for porting he is having.

I don't think Cdpr ans Bethesda like big companies allow him to do that.

I don't think he needs to ask them (see Wine example above). But even if he does, what do they have to lose if he isn't charging them? Flying Wild Hog were OK doing it for first Shadow Warrior, and it were just a few people working on it (sequentially). Edward Rudd and Aaron Melcher if I remember correctly and Ryan himself was involved too.


Last edited by Shmerl on 21 August 2017 at 5:02 pm UTC

I don't think Cdpr ans Bethesda like big companies allow him to do that.

I don't think he needs to ask them (see Wine example above). But even if he does, what do they have to lose if he isn't charging them? Flying Wild Hog were OK doing it for first Shadow Warrior, and it were just a few people working on it (sequentially).

Wow , wow , wow.

These titles are their IP's and of course he is talking about a legit port , not some kind of Wine wrapper. Because of that , he need to ask.

Otherwise , why he would ask this in the first place? He would join to that Wine Josef guy for Witcher 3 or Dx 11 implementation crew.

These titles are their IP's and of course he is talking about a legit port , not some kind of Wine wrapper.

What's not legit in the Wine wrapper? It's not modifying the original. So it's completely legit.

Shadow Warrior 2, or maybe Bioshock 1 and/or 2. In a perfect world, maybe Arkham Asylum.

I'd recommend "Legend of Grimrock 2". It is a fantastic game, from a small studio. Legend of Grimrock 1 came to Linux, but they "never got round" to porting Number 2 to Linux.

LOG2 Steam Link

LOG2 GOG Link

These titles are their IP's and of course he is talking about a legit port , not some kind of Wine wrapper.

What's not legit in the Wine wrapper? It's not modifying the original. So it's completely legit.

I'm saying that , he ments something can sell on digital stores with Linux banner. This needs a permission.

Not that third party thing solutions.

Well, I mean if we're shooting for the stars here, I'd knock on CDPR's door with a whole big box of apology and ask/beg is there's any way they'd consider The Witcher 3 being ported to Linux by this fine fellow.

I'm not about to apologize to CDPR or VP for anything, I didn't threaten anyone and all my feedback (to VP) was respectful and meant to help fix issues. I won't presume to speak on behalf of the bad eggs.

As for games I'd like ported, Nier: Automata will always be right at the top of my list until it does get ported.

A hat in time please. They were having trouble with a linux version I believe.

Not that third party thing solutions.

Fine, but since he isn't doing it to get paid, what's the difference? As long as it works well.

Not that third party thing solutions.

Fine, but since he isn't doing it to get paid, what's the difference? As long as it works well.

Because ( at least i think ) he wants to help Linux gaming a little bit more.

That can be provided with ports have Linux sign near them on stores , not with Wine development.

Wine is John Carmack's solution offer for Linux gaming. Playing games with various hacks.

But Linux needs standart " click and install " people even more , since you can't be a competitor without them ; because they're the market.

Because ( at least i think ) he wants to help Linux gaming a little bit more.

Making a high quality FOSS DX11 → Vulkan wrapper can help Linux gaming a lot more than porting a single title. In result, it would be easier to port games for those who can't rewrite the engine. With all the downsides of John Carmack's solution, Feral and the like aren't much different in what they are doing. They don't rewrite engines, they just wrap them. Could be on source level, but it's still a wrapper, and it's an OK solution as I said for those who can't rewrite the engine.

I don't expect Feral to make such wrappers open, but development funded by Patreon sounds like the perfect opportunity for it.


Last edited by Shmerl on 21 August 2017 at 5:53 pm UTC

Well, I will say it again. I'm not into League of Legends or any Blizzard games, but if some of those games got a Linux port, I'm sure a lot of people will start playing on Linux, that would be very good for increase our community of gamers.


Last edited by gustavoyaraujo on 21 August 2017 at 6:03 pm UTC

I would not suggest a special game, but maybe he can help all those unreal engine games which have trouble with their linux version. For example "Ark survival" which often has horrible graphics glitches.

No, these people are big boys and girls and they should be responsible for their own work which they already started. It would be a shame to normalize the attitude that the Linux community will automagically fix every lazily crafted software.

@Liam, sharing is not working, is it? (Via Twitter) Looks strange in FF at least.

Skyrim and Elite Dangerous :-). More realistically can we get duck game and scrap mechanic please?

I would love to have Gothic 3 and the Risen series ported :) Since its Singleplayer and works pretty well with Wine it shouldnt be too hard to do something like a wine port or a layer