Doom 2016 supports Vulkan and at GDC this year developers from id Software talked a little about it, including how easy a Linux version could have been.
In response to this question from Alon Or-bach (Samsung) around 45:40 in the below video: "One of the hot topics around Vulkan in terms of cross-platform and how much benefit do you find of having one API that's targetting both mobile and desktop platforms".
Dustin Land, a developer at id Software said this in reply:
"So we did Linux dedicated servers for Doom 2016 and a few of us who are Linux heads in the studio decided, let's take it the full way. All we had to do was change the surface that we are creating for the Linux version and it just ran, out of the box and performance was equivalent. Having a small driver actually helps a lot there."
This does beg the question: Why isn't it actually on Linux, if it worked as well as it sounds? Most likely a management decision from someone within id Software or ZeniMax Media. However, it's also possible the developers didn't pitch it of course. We just don't know, either way it's a real shame.
You can see the full video below:
Direct Link
What are your thoughts? I would absolutely buy a copy of Doom if it was on Linux.
Slightly related, on the topic of Vulkan: In these slides from Khronos Dev Day: The Vulkan Sessions, when showing off games using Vulkan a bunch of them are actually from Feral Interactive. It even includes the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider as well as their previous Linux ports which have Vulkan support. It's pleasing to see Feral get more recognition for their hard work both in terms of Linux gaming and using Vulkan.
Thanks for the tip mirv!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: GuestHi Liam,
Have you tried contacting John Carmack or anyone from id Software and ask why they are so anti Linux? Doom runs great on WINE and has performance parity with Windows when using Vulkan.
Linux gaming has improved a lot since Feb 2013.
Carmack left id a long time ago, and that's pretty much when they stopped caring about Linux. Id is now owned by publisher Zenimax which has shown absolutely zero interest in Linux, so don't get your hopes up. Even if id wanted to bring games to Linux, Zenimax probably wouldn't allow it.
Last edited by Brisse on 24 March 2018 at 2:29 pm UTC
slaapliedje Mar 24, 2018
Quoting: BrisseQuoting: GuestHi Liam,
Have you tried contacting John Carmack or anyone from id Software and ask why they are so anti Linux? Doom runs great on WINE and has performance parity with Windows when using Vulkan.
Linux gaming has improved a lot since Feb 2013.
Carmack left id a long time ago, and that's pretty much when they stopped caring about Linux. Id is now owned by publisher Zenimax which has shown absolutely zero interest in Linux, so don't get your hopes up. Even if id wanted to bring games to Linux, Zenimax probably wouldn't allow it.
ZeniMax is all about taking a successful game of theirs and re-releasing it again and again (look at how many editions of Skyrim there are). They could do that with doing Ports too. Not sure how Valve would like that though :P
Quoting: slaapliedjeZeniMax is all about taking a successful game of theirs and re-releasing it again and again (look at how many editions of Skyrim there are). They could do that with doing Ports too. Not sure how Valve would like that though :P
The problem for us is that they only go where the short term money is (just like Bethesda, EA, Activision, Ubisoft etc.), which is why they are currently porting games like Skyrim to the Nintento Switch which has been very successful. Games sell really well for the Switch right now, but like most consoles it will probably become obsolete within the next decade. I think those investing in Linux like Valve, Feral, Square Enix, Aspyr, VP etc. are in it for the long run. Linux as a platform will never go obsolete like a console will, and it's a good insurance policy in case M$ decides to do something foolish with Windows like locking out traditional apps in favor of UWP and Windows Store.
Mountain Man Mar 24, 2018
Words like that are the ones who make me open my veins.
If is that easy... why don't you do it??!?!?!?!?!
Last edited by tony1ab on 24 March 2018 at 11:46 pm UTC
What a shame really... :(
Last edited by Spyker on 24 March 2018 at 5:07 pm UTC
Projectile Vomit Mar 24, 2018
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