Released back in 2015, UnderRail from Stygian Software is an old school turn-based isometric indie role playing game that focuses on exploration and combat. Now, they're trying to get it looking good on a Steam Deck.
In the latest update, the developer mentions an update coming next week that "will be focused around making the game functional on Steam Deck and Proton in general". However, it's not going to be quite perfect yet as an improved UI and gamepad controls are to come later. Still, even some fixes are better than nothing for those who want to try it out. The developer said for now it will "still be completely functional on Steam Deck" and they've already fixed some performance issues with Proton, along with getting an on-screen keyboard to appear when needed. UnderRail will also be getting Steam Cloud support.
Direct Link
These are the kind of updates from developers we were hoping to see. While it may not be "native", this sure to me looks like a good level of attention and support. More like this please!
You can buy UnderRail from Humble Store and Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Perkeleen_Vittupää Feb 23, 2022
This looks like a game that could easily be ported nowadays to Linux native..Ethan Lee would be able to help them with that, maybe even for free.
kaktuspalme Feb 23, 2022
This looks like a game that could easily be ported nowadays to Linux native..You can't tell that by how it looks. If they have an old engine relying heavily on the Win32 API then it's probably harder then a new game which's engine supports Linux ootb.
:)
Edit to say: I'd consider an officially supported native port to be an upgrade.
Last edited by pageround on 23 February 2022 at 3:10 pm UTC
This looks like a game that could easily be ported nowadays to Linux native..You can't tell that by how it looks. If they have an old engine relying heavily on the Win32 API then it's probably harder then a new game which's engine supports Linux ootb.
SteamDB suggests that it's XNA. So it would likely work with FNA. With the added bonus that it's actually still supported.
But... but. That was mainly because there was no support. It was Valve doing all the heavy-lifting and I could still have been left out on a limb if those developers had changed enough of their game that Proton broke. Then what? Complain to Valve? Not worth it. Complain to the dev? They don't care, and worse, Windows fan boys will pile in to condemn the "Linux zealots".
Now though, with Deck inbound, Valve is still doing the heavy lifting, but they've got developers on board with the idea of directly supporting their titles to be compatible with Proton.
So, yeah, this is a tipping point for me. If that continues to be the direction of travel, I'm not going to have much of the same resistance I have right now. I might still wait for sales on Proton titles, whereas native titles are bought on release, but it's definitely going to foster a change in attitude, for me.
Interesting times ahead.
TheRiddick Feb 24, 2022
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me