Well, the writing was on the wall for some time but this confirms it - it seems Feral Interactive aren't likely to do more Linux ports with the official port of A Total War Saga: TROY for Linux cancelled.
It was announced today that TROY would be finally seeing a Steam release on September 2. Feral did their usual thing on Twitter of quote-tweeting, mentioning it would be on macOS soon after the Windows release. A mention of Linux was totally absent.
Feral replied to a user on Twitter to say:
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to Epic, and we are not resuming development for the Steam release. We will continue to assess the feasibility of porting games to Linux, but there is generally less demand for native titles since Valve’s launch of Proton.
Considering there's a chance that Steam Play Proton might be able to play it from day-1, it's not overly surprising to hear this from Feral considering the cost of porting bigger games with it being far easier for indies. Worth also noting, that TROY was free on Epic Games Store when it first launched, so it would have already eaten into plenty of possible sales.
Part of the problem though, is how most Feral ports lack cross-platform multiplayer with Windows and that type of thing simply won't fly on the upcoming Steam Deck. Add into that issues with saves between the Windows version and Feral ports, that could cause more confusion if they don't sync up. Not only that but since the Steam Deck is basically a PC in handheld form, seeing bigger titles launch for it officially months or years later also wouldn't be a good look.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: subQuoting: MohandevirQuoting: subQuoting: GuestI guess I should point out that Valve have never said anything they do is intended to lead to more native ports. Quite the opposite actually - they've officially said not to bother!
So just like Google never said that Stadia would encourage native desktop GNU/Linux game development and people kind of assumed it would happen, Valve have never said it either and it probably won't happen.
This was one concern long ago about the approach VP did, but at least they supported the title running under GNU/Linux. There's not even that here, and native development (and support) is being discouraged - the result of which is this news. I can't see it ending well for GNU/Linux desktop gaming.
It would make more sense to me to encourage devs/publisher to provide native builds and have Proton as a fallback.
Best would be to establish in-house know how and awareness for nativ ports. Doesn't happen this way.
Just think Microsoft comes up with a Direct3D 13, completely incompatible and there is no such working Proton channel.
No way they could pull off something reliably working within months.
Proton (and Steam Deck) will gain compatibility at a similar time frame than other consoles on the market. Consoles usually play catch up with PC, anyway.
But console builds ARE native builds.
They are fine in this picture.
All I wanted to highlight is, you're creating strong unhealthy dependencies on MS.
You can't expect devs/companies to change habits without a strong position in market.
If Steamdeck can provide that even a bit+ChromeOS Steam project eventually happens; devs might start to consider more cross platform alternatives in their builds.
Such as using Vulkan, instead of using Media Foundation Platform using VP9, using SDL2 etc.
Without a market; even with best tools+apis they will just keep their Windows focused development.
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you got to understand since proton has gotten bigger there really is no reason to even have linux ports because 9 times out of 10 the game will probably work and with valve putting even more effort into proton with there steam deck this is only gonna be good things for linux. i know some want ports and those will never go away from the indie developers but when it comes to the AAA stuff we can usually run those titles anyway. with anti cheat being worked on it will get even better so this is not all doom and gloom.
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For me is good news! the day that we dont need ports anymore is closer! And linux gaming wont have limitations to grow. And if it grows enough publishers will care a lot that game runs pretty well on linux also :P
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Quoting: vipor29i know some want ports and those will never go away from the indie developers but when it comes to the AAA stuff we can usually run those titles anyway. with anti cheat being worked on it will get even better so this is not all doom and gloom.
I remember a statement by the DXVK developer that games with a lot of different shaders (I think it was Tomb Raider) are difficult for DXVK. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p53sVKwSqZ4
Has anything changed in this regard? After all, it's these games that will push the Steam Deck to its limits. I'm hoping more that with the Steam Deck and Proton the Gordian knot will now be cut. And that there will be many more ports for Linux in the future. Preferably day one releases.
It's not just about the renderers, but ultimately also about the middleware, which is still different under Linux. It also reduces dependencies. Of course, they have to be high-quality ports. But that is precisely what Ferral is known for.
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Quoting: Liam DaweWeeeeelll, they had a lot of people leave
Which, considering the pay and working conditions at Feral, is not exactly surprising, unfortunately. While I never worked at Feral, I did interview with them, and well, it was not a hard decision not taking their offer.
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Lets just hope, Total War: Warhammer 3 still gets a Linux port for those who already purchased the first two.
Guess otherwise that player base will have to run proton for all 3 for the big map.
Guess otherwise that player base will have to run proton for all 3 for the big map.
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Quoting: 1xokQuoting: vipor29i know some want ports and those will never go away from the indie developers but when it comes to the AAA stuff we can usually run those titles anyway. with anti cheat being worked on it will get even better so this is not all doom and gloom.
I remember a statement by the DXVK developer that games with a lot of different shaders (I think it was Tomb Raider) are difficult for DXVK. See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p53sVKwSqZ4
Has anything changed in this regard? After all, it's these games that will push the Steam Deck to its limits. I'm hoping more that with the Steam Deck and Proton the Gordian knot will now be cut. And that there will be many more ports for Linux in the future. Preferably day one releases.
It's not just about the renderers, but ultimately also about the middleware, which is still different under Linux. It also reduces dependencies. Of course, they have to be high-quality ports. But that is precisely what Ferral is known for.
Difficult as in it will stutter like crazy.
Steam has Fossilize for this very reason. It works in multiple ways:
-If a user with same hw, same driver combo cached those shaders on their gameplay client collects them and ships to other users matching those criterias.
-Steam client also creates Fossilize pipelines. So even if you are on newest driver before anyone else, Steam client will compile shaders for you at background/before going into game. By default background caching uses 1/4 of your threads, when you still have pending compile work and press play it will go full blast which will use all of your threads.
-Steam client will also ship transcoded video files with that system. Ones that you are currently seeing a test screen when you encounter such videos where it is not possible for Valve to transcode them on runtime due to licensing issues.
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I still think if Steam Deck is successful we will see more native Linux games targeted towards the hardware. Proton is fantastic for what it does, but it's far from perfect.. It's really ideal for older titles that have stopped receiving updates long ago.
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slaapliedje Jul 27, 2021
So... if Feral isn't porting it for Linux due to Proton... that just means they make no money on the sale of the game, right? As it is published by Sega. Sega gets that money. Sounds like Feral is going to give in and try to survive off the Mac? Most macs can't even run the total war games...
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I'm assuming they're doing other contract work outside of porting and/or outside of games
Like, the company I work for is in the automotive industry, with VW previously being the major customer. VW has been scaling back on external contracts (not just, but also because of the panini), so we had to pivot quite a bit. That's business
Like, the company I work for is in the automotive industry, with VW previously being the major customer. VW has been scaling back on external contracts (not just, but also because of the panini), so we had to pivot quite a bit. That's business
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