No Man's Sky runs very nicely on Linux with Steam Play, huge online feature update and VR support coming

I'd like to know if they changed the graphics API. Before it was OpenGL for sure, which worked great on Linux with wine and later with proton. But for VR I guess they had to change to a more recent API. I guess it's Vulkan, but couldn't find anything so far. Well, I bet it'll still be working fine with Steam Play.

I'm a No Man's Sky fan from the beginning. Space games are my very genre ;) And it's so cool how far they've come with their updates. And it's impressive they still release those huge updates for free.

This is my worry, as well, although if they move to dx11, dxvk will likely have us covered. We'll see, though. Maybe Liam or someone can reach out to Hello Games?

I'd like to know if they changed the graphics API. Before it was OpenGL for sure, which worked great on Linux with wine and later with proton. But for VR I guess they had to change to a more recent API. I guess it's Vulkan, but couldn't find anything so far. Well, I bet it'll still be working fine with Steam Play.

I'm a No Man's Sky fan from the beginning. Space games are my very genre ;) And it's so cool how far they've come with their updates. And it's impressive they still release those huge updates for free.

This is my worry, as well, although if they move to dx11, dxvk will likely have us covered. We'll see, though. Maybe Liam or someone can reach out to Hello Games?

Just sent them an email to find out.

No, thank you. There are tons of native and/or Steam Play compatible game that I can spend my time rather than wasting it with this scam.

I don't think gaming on Linux is going anywhere, and I don't think we should worry about buying a game on Steam Play causing developers to be lazy and avoid Linux. Don't forget, Linux is everywhere. All Android games are running on Linux, and using OpenGL. Google's Stadia will further bring Linux game development to the forefront.

If a developer doesn't want to develop for Linux, buying their game for Steam Play is not likely going to influence them one way or the other.

We've covered all sorts of things for years including Wine and Emulators and no one complains about when we do. Yet Valve come along, improve things for us dramatically in a short time, enable us to show developers we're actually here and a thing.

Well said, Liam. Ten years ago, “gaming on Linux” meant “hacking around trying to get Wine and emulators to work”.

I suppose if you want to put a positive spin on this argument, it shows how far Linux gaming has come that we're having it at all. Me, I just want to play videogames.

I personally enjoy Proton for things like Skyrim which I've had since I was on Windows but I still try to stand by no tux no bucks as I think it's a bit of a slippery slope.

I personally enjoy playing games. I've been on Linux since 2007, I'm not going to only play Windows games released before then. Generally I buy Linux games I want to play on or around the day of release and Windows games I want to play when they're at least 50% off, so I guess my policy is "No Tux, Less Bux".

I've been on Linux for 4 years so not quite nearly as long but before Proton existed I only played native titles and was perfectly content with that. Even still the only game I play in Proton is Skyrim because my love for that game runs deep. Even playing anything at all in Proton was a huge deliema for me when it first came out but if I already own the game it doesn't really matter if I play it. Outside of proton I've never touched wine or a VM or any means of running Windows software.

If we let the purists have their way, Linux would have no GUI. Nobody is forcing you to play Windows games on Linux. I believe in the utilitarian approach - if it works then it's good. Liam should probably add some filter on the home page, so the "no tux, no bucks crowd" can only read about native games and then all will be happy. For too long the Linux community has been held back by having to cater to OS hardliners and their politics. The more Linux can do - the better.

That's what OS/2 thought until that went the way of the dodo. I don't think Linux will die like that but back in the day one of the reasons for OS/2's demise was devs built windows software with the mentality of "OS/2 can run it too so we're targeting both." I personally think wine is a double edged sword, always have, always will.

Even still the only game I play in Proton is Skyrim because my love for that game runs deep.

Skyrim was released four years after I started using Linux full time, so according to your rules I'm not allowed to play it and should be content with that?

Even still the only game I play in Proton is Skyrim because my love for that game runs deep.

Skyrim was released four years after I started using Linux full time, so according to your rules I'm not allowed to play it and should be content with that?

I would be.

I don't think Linux will die like that but back in the day one of the reasons for OS/2's demise was devs built windows software with the mentality of "OS/2 can run it too so we're targeting both."

That's a myth. OS/2 was several times more expensive than DOS/Windows and didn't support 386 CPUs, the lack of native commercial software was a consequence of the lack of market share not the cause of it.

I don't understand all the fuss. When we buy a Windows game that plays through proton, we pay valve, we contribute to proton development and it even shows as a Linux sale to the developer, supposedly helping leverage linux gaming mindset. Why are people complaining? I thought we already established that we are an almost meaningless minority in the gaming universe, and proton seems the best way to increase our importance -- voting with our wallets, and at the same time making developers notice linux.

Having said that, X4: Foundations is still superior to No Man's Sky... (I know, I know, like comparing apples to oranges) Being that Liam is a space games fan, I wonder why I feel him not too enthusiastic when speaking about X4. Or am I the one who's overly enthusiastic? :P

Note: if Liam implemented a filtering system, I would definitely skip articles with "retro" or "pixel art"...

In my opinion voting for Linux with your wallet through proton is kinda like sending mixed messages. "I'm here give me games" but also "I'll take non-native games so don't bother porting."

Just to add my $0.02 to what others (including Liam) have posted with which I agree, No Man's Sky is one of those "big" titles (along with things like Witcher 3, the GTA series, etc) that people wanted to make sure ran on Proton in the beginning. I think it for a while was in the top tier of ProtonDB reporting numbers, so the interest is there. For those people who say, "I wouldn't consider Linux for gaming unless [fill in the blank] runs," NMS is probably one of those big titles and, happily, it does, and I see nothing wrong with highlighting that...

BTW: Now that things like Elite Dangerous, EA Battlefront, and Star Citizen can run on Linux, I was racking my brain thinking of what titles I'd even put on my wishlist anymore that *can't* be made to run on Linux. The only one I could think of was Planetside 2... Quite terrific progress has been made...


Last edited by iiari on 26 Mar 2019 at 6:39 pm UTC

Having said that, X4: Foundations is still superior to No Man's Sky... (I know, I know, like comparing apples to oranges) Being that Liam is a space games fan, I wonder why I feel him not too enthusiastic when speaking about X4. Or am I the one who's overly enthusiastic? :P

Honestly, they really are completely different.

Note: if Liam implemented a filtering system, I would definitely skip articles with "retro" or "pixel art"...

You will soon be able to do so.

Note: if Liam implemented a filtering system, I would definitely skip articles with "retro" or "pixel art"...

Haha, now that's one filter I'd use too! I'd rather 100 emulator/Proton posts than a single pixel art article :) :P To each their own...

It reminds me of a trend in auto fandom online. There's a car aftermarket trade show called SEMA and many of the vehicles displayed run towards the, ah, garish. Each year, all the major car blogs, websites, etc dutifully cover the many SEMA intros, and for a solid 4-6 days we're all inundated by photo after photo and article after article about these garish SEMA creations. It's soul killing. I'd estimate a solid 60% of car readers just check-out for that SEMA week and come back later, and there's always a big argument on site forums about whether these sites should cover SEMA at all, with passionate pro and con debaters every year...

I guess Proton is our SEMA (or maybe it's pixel art)...


Last edited by iiari on 26 Mar 2019 at 7:28 pm UTC

In my opinion voting for Linux with your wallet through proton is kinda like sending mixed messages. "I'm here give me games" but also "I'll take non-native games so don't bother porting."

It's voting against Linux support, really, because you're showing them that you're on Linux but will pay them regardless for a Windows game and regardless of the fact they aren't supporting Linux, like you said.

Paying for Proton games directly hurts you by not giving you support like normal gamers get, and it sends the exact wrong message and discourages future Linux support because you're decreasing the number of gamers willing to pay for Linux support by paying for Windows support instead.

May be in the short term, but think in the long term. If gaming on Linux wants to go anywhere it needs visible market share. You may say what you want about the Steam statistics and its flaws, but I think it holds more truth than one might think. The position of the bigger studios towards Linux may start to change only when we reach ~ 5% or more. How do you get there? By offering simple solutions that allows people to take your favorite (present and future) games with you from Windows to Linux. Proton is that tool in my opinion (*). Purchases for Proton finances the Steam Play tooling and tells developers that Linux should be worth a consideration in the future, even if they don't consider it now.

I don't mind how I play a game on Linux, but I want to be certain that my money is seen as money from a Linux user.

* I still think that Proton users are also the beta testers for Valves upcoming streaming platform, which is absolutely fine for me, win-win for both. I could be very wrong though ;).

* I still think that Proton users are also the beta testers for Valves upcoming streaming platform, which is absolutely fine for me, win-win for both. I could be very wrong though ;).

I think (more like hope?) that you're right as well. A Stadia like streaming service that also happens to include your entire existing library is super appealing to me...

If we let the purists have their way, Linux would have no GUI. Nobody is forcing you to play Windows games on Linux. I believe in the utilitarian approach - if it works then it's good. Liam should probably add some filter on the home page, so the "no tux, no bucks crowd" can only read about native games and then all will be happy. For too long the Linux community has been held back by having to cater to OS hardliners and their politics. The more Linux can do - the better.

OK, I have no problem with the article, but this is just nonsense. It's intentional nonsense actually--the writer is clearly trying to conflate two groups (people who like command lines and FLOSS people) in order to smear one of them. So, what Aristotle would call false rhetoric, a sophist trick, and what moderns would call dishonest bullshit.
In any case the truth is pretty much the opposite--had there been some way to just emulate the Windows desktop, and the anti-purists had their way, Linux would have no GUI of its own. And then every time Windows changed its GUI, the Linux one would have broken. And then Windows would have regularly made little changes to its GUI that were just enough to fuck us over. It would have been oh so pragmatic.

There is actual practicality in the world, but when people parade their practicality or pragmatism as against ideology or politics, they are generally being neither practical nor pragmatic. Nearly everything that is practically good about Linux is a result of the politics behind Linux--Free, open source, indeed copylefted software and its philosophy. If it were not for that, Linux would phone home, and/or it would be a walled garden, and/or it would get warped to work with only the maker's hardware, and/or it would spy on you, and/or it would come with masses of preinstalled spyware, nagware and general annoyingware, et cetera et cetera. It wouldn't be adaptable or fixable or have spawned the Beowulf cluster or run on Raspberri Pis. Proprietary Linux would not be Linux and would not be nearly as practically, pragmatically useful. That's why all the proprietary Unixes died.

It is foolish and impractical to forget the practical importance of the politics underlying Linux. That's how you lose what we have. So-called pragmatists of this sort are not being pragmatic, just too mentally lazy to think about the implications of their stance, so they go with what's easiest today.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 26 Mar 2019 at 8:14 pm UTC

I understand the importance of Steam Play and Proton, but is this really Linux gaming newsworthy? I personally don't think so, but I'd like to hear other options.

I must admit that was one of the first things I thought when seeing the title. I spend most of my gaming time through wine, but I don't think proton-enabled games should be promoted unless they've been whitelisted by steam, or they've made contributions to the wine codebase, or perhaps comparisons/bug fixes between the proton and native versions.

I love posts about SteamPlay!
Because there was no single title over 6 months released on Linux I had interest.

I also think that googles Stadia will be successfull - they have the money, the resources and manpower. Valve will get hard times soon.

Should google be successful NO one will need a gaming rig anymore... you simply buy a cool and big TV and their "Stadia" client comes preinstalled!!!
This is the future and as long as I KNOW that all this runs on Linux (and Debian) makes me feel happy/comfortable.

These are my 5 cents.


Last edited by johndoe on 26 Mar 2019 at 8:29 pm UTC

In my opinion voting for Linux with your wallet through proton is kinda like sending mixed messages. "I'm here give me games" but also "I'll take non-native games so don't bother porting."

It's voting against Linux support, really, because you're showing them that you're on Linux but will pay them regardless for a Windows game and regardless of the fact they aren't supporting Linux, like you said.

That thought completely ignores the fact that you only pay for the game if it works on Linux.
Nobody would pay for a Windows-only game planning to play it via Steam Play if it doesn't run via Proton. Or they do, notice that it won't run and refund - no money lost in that case.
Either way will show both Valve and the developer that their game is being used (or at least tried) on Linux. Which is an infinite amount more than what would have happened without Wine (or rather Proton), in which case the dev never would have known Linux even existed.

It also ignores that the ONLY way for Linux market share growth (within gaming) is supporting as many titles as possible. And for a user thinking about using Linux for a change, and most already using Linux, it doesn't matter in the end HOW that happens (which is why services like Stadia are an interesting take as well).
Natively, this will simply never happen. There will be the odd natively developed game, as it has always been, and that's cool, but that has never lifted the Linux percentage by any significant amount.

In the end, all that matters is that you get to play the game. Convenience wins, usually.

I'm certain we'll see (hopefully before 2030 in Valve time...) some statistics by Valve showing what effect Steam Play had.
I do not see a single possible negative outcome of it. Even if it resulted in fewer native games, the number would be offset incredibly by the amount supported via Steam Play. The whitelisted games alone would probably already have that effect.

Paying for Proton games directly hurts you by not giving you support like normal gamers get, and it sends the exact wrong message and discourages future Linux support because you're decreasing the number of gamers willing to pay for Linux support by paying for Windows support instead.

That is incredibly theoretical to the point of irrelevance.
What support are you talking about? The vast majority of bugs are game logic related or appear on other platforms as well. The other kind of bugs will give the ProtonDB rating a lower score so only very few people are going to "fall for it" anyway.


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 26 Mar 2019 at 8:32 pm UTC