Well, looks like the previous excitement around Back 4 Blood and the Open Beta for Linux users is over, as it appears whatever they tweaked recently now stops Linux players with Steam Play Proton.
As we reported recently, apart from a few issues it actually worked quite nicely. Sadly, this seems to be another example of Easy Anti-Cheat blocking Linux users from enjoying a game on their systems. Even though it's currently only a Beta, it means it's not looking good for the full release in October.
This is a continuing problem for Steam Play Proton, with the likes of Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye usually blocking Linux users. Right now then, it looks like we're back onto the waiting game for whenever Valve releases a build of Proton that works with them, which we know they're working on since they already announced it with the Steam Deck.
It is of course a reminder of what can happen without developer support in some way, regardless of it being a native Linux build or a Windows game run through Proton - unless the developer is testing, there will be times when they break. Less likely for single-player games but quite likely an issue for multi-player. We're hopeful the Steam Deck will really pull developers in for regular compatibility testing.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Needing an anti cheat solution in itself is sad. But instead of relying on a third party solution game developers could build a cheat aware code from the start.
An example of what I mean is, in a FPS, why send the position of all the players to a client, when it could be sent only when in the FOV (visible by the client camera). Back in CS:S it was resource intensive server side because it was a third party addon.
But I fully understand that it is time consuming and out of the mind of studios (I have few friends in the industry and sometimes decisions from above are complete nonsense for the developers like reusing game engine from other games that are absolutely not built for the task).
AFAIK that is not done due to EAC but as to remove the need for heavy servers so that all communication is p2p, the downside then of course that every client have access to the position of every other client.
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Another reason to put your money where your mouth is and support Linux-supporting devs instead of devs that don't care. (Personally, official support for proton is fine too)So you're suggesting we should stop buying games at all, then? As if that would help anything...!
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That's obviously not what they're suggesting.Another reason to put your money where your mouth is and support Linux-supporting devs instead of devs that don't care. (Personally, official support for proton is fine too)So you're suggesting we should stop buying games at all, then? As if that would help anything...!
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TheRiddick Aug 16, 2021
Just because EAC loads, doesn't mean it fetched and verified the EAC hash files correctly. Under WINE the automatically detected EAC URL uses wine64 and NOT win64.. this is where most of the compatibility breaks.
SQUAD has wine64 activated on the EAC servers so wine works.
I also think Mortal Online 2 has EAC disabled on login now thus giving illusion that EAC is working; but its disabled due to development alpha stage. Once it goes persistent that EAC toggle with turn on and it won't work no doubt!
Unfortunately the don't support games that don't support Linux argument has never worked, and in fact has wholly backfired on the Linux gaming community as developers get even colder towards Linux in general.
Last edited by TheRiddick on 16 August 2021 at 3:46 pm UTC
SQUAD has wine64 activated on the EAC servers so wine works.
I also think Mortal Online 2 has EAC disabled on login now thus giving illusion that EAC is working; but its disabled due to development alpha stage. Once it goes persistent that EAC toggle with turn on and it won't work no doubt!
Unfortunately the don't support games that don't support Linux argument has never worked, and in fact has wholly backfired on the Linux gaming community as developers get even colder towards Linux in general.
Last edited by TheRiddick on 16 August 2021 at 3:46 pm UTC
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Unfortunately the don't support games that don't support Linux argument has never worked, and in fact has wholly backfired on the Linux gaming community as developers get even colder towards Linux in general.Of course it's never worked, we're like 1% of the market. There is nothing we can do as Linux gamers that would "work". But the idea that preferentially buying Linux native games has been counterproductive is utterly silly. Really, think about what you're saying here--it seems to translate to "If only the 1% of the market that is Linux gamers had refrained from buying Linux native games, we'd have a much better Linux gaming scene!!!" Uh, sure, that makes sense.
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That's obviously not what they're suggesting.Another reason to put your money where your mouth is and support Linux-supporting devs instead of devs that don't care. (Personally, official support for proton is fine too)So you're suggesting we should stop buying games at all, then? As if that would help anything...!
It's not what they intended to suggest, but is it not really, in practise? When you think about it?
The list of major developers supporting Linux today is... Practically non-existing. There's *no* games that I want to play being released the last year that's pushed by a Linux supporting developer. And I'm not here to play Tux Cart and tiny retro indies for the coming years.
So yes - in *reality* that's the suggestion. And my point is of course that this suggestion is meaningless. If we don't purchase the games from devs that don't care, they won't even notice. The *only* consequence is that we won't be experiencing those games.
Last edited by Beamboom on 16 August 2021 at 7:40 pm UTC
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Tastes differ. I mean, I have a bias towards buying games that are native over using Proton, but it's fairly mild. And yet, so far I've only actually bought ONE game with the intent to play it on Proton (So far, it doesn't work).That's obviously not what they're suggesting.Another reason to put your money where your mouth is and support Linux-supporting devs instead of devs that don't care. (Personally, official support for proton is fine too)So you're suggesting we should stop buying games at all, then? As if that would help anything...!
It's not what they intended to suggest, but is it not really, in practise? When you think about it?
The list of major developers supporting Linux today is... Practically non-existing. There's *no* games that I want to play being released the last year that's pushed by a Linux supporting developer. And I'm not here to play Tux Cart and tiny retro indies for the coming years.
So yes - in *reality* that's the suggestion. And my point is of course that this suggestion is meaningless. If we don't purchase the games from devs that don't care, they won't even notice. The *only* consequence is that we won't be experiencing those games.
Thing is that I happen to be mostly into strategy games or games like Shadowrun with turn-based combat, and Linux is pretty well supplied with that kind of stuff. If your taste is AAA stuff, then yeah, I expect Linux native seems like much more of a wasteland.
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StalePopcorn Aug 17, 2021
I wait for brave souls to update protondb before I throw money at something. With EAC even remotely involved, I'm pessimistically hopeful.
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In any case, Beamboom is putting words in Termy's mouth, and that's just not nice.Tastes differ. I mean, I have a bias towards buying games that are native over using Proton, but it's fairly mild. And yet, so far I've only actually bought ONE game with the intent to play it on Proton (So far, it doesn't work).That's obviously not what they're suggesting.Another reason to put your money where your mouth is and support Linux-supporting devs instead of devs that don't care. (Personally, official support for proton is fine too)So you're suggesting we should stop buying games at all, then? As if that would help anything...!
It's not what they intended to suggest, but is it not really, in practise? When you think about it?
The list of major developers supporting Linux today is... Practically non-existing. There's *no* games that I want to play being released the last year that's pushed by a Linux supporting developer. And I'm not here to play Tux Cart and tiny retro indies for the coming years.
So yes - in *reality* that's the suggestion. And my point is of course that this suggestion is meaningless. If we don't purchase the games from devs that don't care, they won't even notice. The *only* consequence is that we won't be experiencing those games.
Thing is that I happen to be mostly into strategy games or games like Shadowrun with turn-based combat, and Linux is pretty well supplied with that kind of stuff. If your taste is AAA stuff, then yeah, I expect Linux native seems like much more of a wasteland.
Yes, I realise some people really want to buy and play games that are not available on Linux natively, and I think that's perfectly understandable. It's helping preserve the status quo, but there's few enough of us that I doubt it actually matters that much.
I do hope they buy Linux games as well to actually grow the market for those developers who support our platform, but if they don't even like any of those games, I guess that's too much to ask. At least they're playing their Windows games on Linux, which means that not all of their choices are bad. ;)
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I mean, I have a bias towards buying games that are native over using Proton, but it's fairly mild.
Oh by all means - me too! I would even say I have a strong bias, when there at all is an option. Like, the latest Metro. I waited until the Linux version was there and quite frankly, without that version I'd quite likely not purchase it at all. I have too much in the backlog as it is and those kind of shooters are not that high on my preference list. But since there IS a Linux version of such a game, I bought it. As I have with others too, for the mere reason there is a Linux build of it.
But of the games I actually do play, and invest hundreds of hours in? They are all, sadly without a single exception, run via Proton.
Thing is that I happen to be mostly into strategy games or games like Shadowrun with turn-based combat, and Linux is pretty well supplied with that kind of stuff. If your taste is AAA stuff, then yeah, I expect Linux native seems like much more of a wasteland.
100%. If you're into the genres where Linux is well covered, the reality is entirely different. The indie scene is totally on the ball here. And if smaller games, retro gaming and turnbased is your thing then absolutely - then the reality is almost the exact opposite - you don't need the major/big/AAA (call it what you like :D ) developers at all.
In any case, Beamboom is putting words in Termy's mouth, and that's just not nice.
I was pointing out the practical consequences, and I do not agree it was uncalled for. A ridiculous majority of game developers do not support Linux. If we don't count the small indies, we're left with more or less none. That's just the reality.
And to repeat myself, but to not buy their games won't change a single thing. It will only affect yourself, severely restrict your own options. I don't think it's rude to point that out.
Last edited by Beamboom on 17 August 2021 at 12:04 pm UTC
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Not to beat a dead horse here in regards to Proton gaming, but another thing to factor here is of course Virtual Reality. On Linux it would have been *nothing* without Proton. We got the worlds best VR game running on Linux (Half-Life Alyx), but that's about it.
However most VR games runs great on Proton. Like, really good. That alone saves VR gaming on Linux from being a complete flop.
However most VR games runs great on Proton. Like, really good. That alone saves VR gaming on Linux from being a complete flop.
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I wish developers would be more open to Proton. I'm currently making a game and been testing it with Linux. Originally developed it for Windows but I support Proton and it works well with Proton.
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Is Linux gaming a large market? Because I heard Linux is actually growing. I hope it becomes large enough until then I will run games not working on Linux in windows.
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Is Linux gaming a large market? Because I heard Linux is actually growing. I hope it becomes large enough until then I will run games not working on Linux in windows.
Tiny market comparatively. But given the size of Steam's customer base, it's incredible to think there are over a million active monthly Linux gamers out there.
You can track the stats on GOL's dedicated page: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/steam-tracker/
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There's one mismatch I've gradually noticed: So on Steam, the proportion of PC gamers using Linux is only around 1%. That probably is a good basis for figuring that's how it is for PC gamers in general if only because Steam accounts for such a lot of them.Is Linux gaming a large market? Because I heard Linux is actually growing. I hope it becomes large enough until then I will run games not working on Linux in windows.
Tiny market comparatively. But given the size of Steam's customer base, it's incredible to think there are over a million active monthly Linux gamers out there.
You can track the stats on GOL's dedicated page: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/steam-tracker/
But it seems like the proportion of people using Linux for, say, browsing the web, is like at least 2-3%. I wonder where that mismatch comes from. There are a lot of possibilities (Linux desktop users disproportionately don't game, or those are work computers, or such). But if part of the explanation is that many Linux desktop users dual boot and game on Windows, or do their gaming with consoles, because they see Linux as not a gaming platform, that opens the possibility of a successful Steam Deck also bringing it to existing desktop Linux users' attention that they could do their gaming on Linux as well, and we could gradually get like a .5% or so bump out of that. Which sounds like very little, but it would be a 50% increase.
That's a lot of "what ifs", but it could happen.
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 15 September 2021 at 4:17 pm UTC
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