Nightdive have responded to reports of users being unable to play their Wine-bundled Linux build of System Shock 2.
The SteamOS icon to indicate Linux support has been removed from the store page, which hopefully will be temporary. This isn't the usual situation of a developer removing support, since Nightdive have supported Linux quite well with ports. In this case, the game was never actually ported to Linux since Nightdive said themselves they "didn't have the source code for the game".
Speaking about it, they said how they've been aware of the issue for some time now, having spent a lot of time trying to solve it and nothing they've tried has worked. They think it was an update to Steam itself that has caused it, as they've tried older versions and none now seem to work.
At this point, I'm at a loss on what to do. This version of the game was created by a third-party, well known (at the time, we were told) for their excellent WINE ports. We didn't have the source code for the game, so this was the only route we could go in.
A few months ago, we were able to get in contact with somebody who is VERY well versed in porting games to Linux (15+ year experience at this point). I asked them to take a look at the game, and they couldn't work out what the problem was. That also soured things.
They might look into a portable version of Proton and put that up if it's possible. The obvious problem with relying on Steam Play, is they don't get to advertise any Linux support until Valve eventually add Steam Play somehow on store pages.
They said they will try to fix it and they have a few options to explore. It's nice to see them really put effort into it. On that note, user dubigrasu already mentioned a fix they tried still works so perhaps they will look into that too.
See their full post here.
Hat tip to mphuZ.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: GuestAh well, I would like a way to prevent all the games (under Wine or not) from changing the gamma! Don’t touch my gamma!! :p
Hence it would be nice to have as an option that can be enabled/disabled on a per-game basis (and overridden by the user)... display gamma changes are much less of a problem than changing display resolution though. Just use xgamma to restore the original setting & it's all fine, whereas something changing the display resolution can really screw things up depending on the desktop environment, drivers etc.
Currently I work around it in my scripts by having them record the initial gamma settings on startup and then restore it after Wine exits (and for Proton wrappers for games that normally alter the system's display gamma their scripts include an option to preset the gamma to work around the inability to change it ingame).
Quoting: PatolaIs this the old problem with g17_wine which conflicts with fontconfig 2.12 on Ubuntu and other distributions? Because if it is, I've mentioned it a lot of times and it also screws up Enclave, Jagged Alliance, Gorky 17, Two Worlds and a number of other titles.
Do these people fear engaging the linux community for help? For a number of these winewrapped games I tried to help on the forums and ask the developers, and had no responses, like if they weren't even trying. In the case of System Shock 2 there was no FAQ, nothing about that problem, and I was kind of convinced to return the game.
g17 is a version used by GOG and Topware wrappers, System Shock2 is using crossover.
The problem is with a Steam update that rendered it unusable (both original and the patched versions).
They are working on it though, as of right now there's a beta branch that works for me without issues (tried only on Ubuntu 18.04 so far).
TheLinuxPleb Nov 2, 2018
Quoting: ImnotarobotIt works for me after fiddling. I just think it's ridiculous to have a wine game in the store and advertise that as Linux. It's bullshit and think that it only gives Nightdive worse reputation. Kind of a dumb move from them from the beginning if you ask me.Are you using the beta branch?
Quoting: ImnotarobotIt works for me after fiddling. I just think it's ridiculous to have a wine game in the store and advertise that as Linux. It's bullshit and think that it only gives Nightdive worse reputation. Kind of a dumb move from them from the beginning if you ask me.
There's nothing wrong with Linux releases of old games using Wine wrappers; it's little different to old games using DOSBox, or more recent games with some of VP's eON ports. The important things are that it works like a Linux game, runs well and is actually supported.
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