Welcome to Elk readies up for the Steam Deck and Proton

They claim they added Linux support (but it means using Proton), so the wording and the actual support are little bit questionable. SteamDB shows that the game has Linux support, and the Windows build depot shows both windows and linux as target platform, which is something I haven't seen yet. But it is unclear what is actually supported and mostly what kind of support it implies.

They claim they added Linux support (but it means using Proton), so the wording and the actual support are little bit questionable. SteamDB shows that the game has Linux support, and the Windows build depot shows both windows and linux as target platform, which is something I haven't seen yet. But it is unclear what is actually supported and mostly what kind of support it implies.

I suppose it implies the same level of support they offer their non-Linux customers. For many developers, that doesn't amount to much, but at least they won't be able to reject your support request for not playing on a supported platform. And we should be able to expect them (or their testers) to at least launch new versions of the game on Linux/Proton as part of their QA process.

They claim they added Linux support (but it means using Proton), so the wording and the actual support are little bit questionable. SteamDB shows that the game has Linux support, and the Windows build depot shows both windows and linux as target platform, which is something I haven't seen yet. But it is unclear what is actually supported and mostly what kind of support it implies.

Well, support doesn't imply a native build, just that it's being tested working and issues are being fixed. In this case, they're clearly supporting Linux through Proton.

They claim they added Linux support (but it means using Proton), so the wording and the actual support are little bit questionable. SteamDB shows that the game has Linux support, and the Windows build depot shows both windows and linux as target platform, which is something I haven't seen yet. But it is unclear what is actually supported and mostly what kind of support it implies.

Well, support doesn't imply a native build, just that it's being tested working and issues are being fixed. In this case, they're clearly supporting Linux through Proton.

Nowhere I am mentioning native build, it never meant that, clearly this is about Proton, you are putting words in my mouth. I am just trying to get objective information. You saying it's clear and that they are testing is something you actually know and haven't mentioned in the article, or are you just guessing?

They are making release that makes it work on Proton better, but is Proton now part of their testing and release process? What kind of level of support? Maybe they fixed the most obvious issues and now they expect that Valve will make it work. I am also trying to understand if what SteamDB says has any potential deeper implications, is that a way how Valve intends to let devs mark their support of Proton? So far that did mean native build (or rather specific Linux depot), so my question is... what does it mean now? What are the minimal responsibilities that dev has to support and are there any? Is it all just ethical? Not even No Man's Sky has that and they are known to be fixing stuff for Proton.


Last edited by Solitary on 14 February 2022 at 8:18 pm UTC

Nowhere I am mentioning native build, it never meant that, clearly this is about Proton, you are putting words in my mouth.

There was really no need to be so defensive.

I don't know the exact specifics of what they're doing, no, because they haven't given that out. My point was more that if they've announced Linux support with Proton (which they have), along with fixing issues with Proton and Steam Deck (which they have) - that is support. I don't see a need to debate the specific level of support, when they're already making it work well.

Edit: and to be clear, what Valve said before still stands - if there's a problem with a game they believe it's on them to fix with Proton. Outside of making things better specifically for the Steam Deck like input and text sizing, it's largely up to Valve. I'm happy to see developers jump in like this though, I think it's great to see more pay a bit of attention. So really on the subject of what level of support - no matter what it remains the same with Proton - bugs go to Valve and main support goes to Valve.


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 14 February 2022 at 8:40 pm UTC

Such a convoluted/confusing way though: mark the game as supported on Linux, label a Windows depot as both Windows/Linux (while there is absolutely no Linux specific file contrary to some Ren'Py games packing Windows/macOS/Linux versions together e.g.), launch the Windows executable on Linux and last but not least ask Linux users to enable Proton manually to play the game... I don't mind if they check their game against Proton from time to time or get their game as Steam Deck verified but this, is a bit borderline for me (the red line would be the SteamOS+Linux icon/requirements on store page).


Last edited by BloodScourge on 14 February 2022 at 10:23 pm UTC

Edit: and to be clear, what Valve said before still stands - if there's a problem with a game they believe it's on them to fix with Proton. Outside of making things better specifically for the Steam Deck like input and text sizing, it's largely up to Valve. I'm happy to see developers jump in like this though, I think it's great to see more pay a bit of attention. So really on the subject of what level of support - no matter what it remains the same with Proton - bugs go to Valve and main support goes to Valve.

They've said that they'll fix bugs in Proton by fixing bugs in Proton. They aren't taking over all game support like they did with the whitelist. They expect developers to test their games in Proton and give instructions on how to do so.

Edit: and to be clear, what Valve said before still stands - if there's a problem with a game they believe it's on them to fix with Proton. Outside of making things better specifically for the Steam Deck like input and text sizing, it's largely up to Valve. I'm happy to see developers jump in like this though, I think it's great to see more pay a bit of attention. So really on the subject of what level of support - no matter what it remains the same with Proton - bugs go to Valve and main support goes to Valve.

They've said that they'll fix bugs in Proton by fixing bugs in Proton. They aren't taking over all game support like they did with the whitelist. They expect developers to test their games in Proton and give instructions on how to do so.

They did say very clearly in an official video, that if something doesn't work they consider it a bug in Proton. Yes they do want devs to test as well of course, but Valve are still largely taking on the support burden.

Developer docs even tell developers to log bugs directly to Valve too FYI https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/proton under "Reporting Issues".


Last edited by Liam Dawe on 15 February 2022 at 7:32 am UTC

Such a convoluted/confusing way though: mark the game as supported on Linux, label a Windows depot as both Windows/Linux (while there is absolutely no Linux specific file contrary to some Ren'Py games packing Windows/macOS/Linux versions together e.g.), launch the Windows executable on Linux and last but not least ask Linux users to enable Proton manually to play the game... I don't mind if they check their game against Proton from time to time or get their game as Steam Deck verified but this, is a bit borderline for me (the red line would be the SteamOS+Linux icon/requirements on store page).

In this case I don't think they're doing it entirely right. For Steam Deck, verifing is up to Valve who then set what it uses, for desktop Linux, Proton has so far been opt-in by users outside the old whitelist that no longer exists. So far we've not really seen developers manually set it to run with Proton like this - will be interesting to see how Valve handle it.

They did say very clearly in an official video, that if something doesn't work they consider it a bug in Proton.

What they said was "something that we said earlier on is that we really want the entire library to work... and if it doesn't work we see that as a bug and we want to fix it."

Of course there aren't games that they don't want to work, and of course they want to fix Proton bugs.

Developer docs even tell developers to log bugs directly to Valve too FYI https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamdeck/proton under "Reporting Issues".

They want developers to test their games in Proton, and to report Proton bugs to Valve so they can be fixed. They'll take bug reports from the community, like they always have, and fix Proton bugs. They are not taking over support, and if a game hasn't been tested by the developer and breaks in Proton then Valve will (eventually) patch Proton (if they can), or redo the validation tests and take away its Validated status (and potentially issue refunds) and they absolutely don't want to have to that.

Valve aren't bothered if a game is native or runs through Proton, but it's the developer that needs to test and support it, not Valve. Valve's customer support is for the sales - "we think it works enough for you to buy it" - and their developer support is providing tools to make it easier and a communications channel.

I think you're largely missing the point though. Apart from a few notable exceptions, Proton is supposed to run Windows games out of the box - the point being that if something doesn't and it's not in the known list - that's a bug for Valve to solve. Game developers cannot realistically be held liable for support with Proton IMO.

I think you're largely missing the point though. Apart from a few notable exceptions, Proton is supposed to run Windows games out of the box - the point being that if something doesn't and it's not in the known list - that's a bug for Valve to solve. Game developers cannot realistically be held liable for support with Proton IMO.

And Valve can't change anything about the game, nor pre-emptively test every update for every game before it's released. Game developers can, and do, do that, and now they'll need to do it in Proton too if they want to be sure of getting or keeping their Verified mark. And report Proton bugs to Valve if they find some.

I think you're largely missing the point though. Apart from a few notable exceptions, Proton is supposed to run Windows games out of the box - the point being that if something doesn't and it's not in the known list - that's a bug for Valve to solve. Game developers cannot realistically be held liable for support with Proton IMO.

And Valve can't change anything about the game, nor pre-emptively test every update for every game before it's released. Game developers can, and do, do that, and now they'll need to do it in Proton too if they want to be sure of getting or keeping their Verified mark. And report Proton bugs to Valve if they find some.

Sure, it's a bit of mix and match absolutely :) but unless it's very game-specific, it's probably a bug for Valve to solve.

Sure, it's a bit of mix and match absolutely :) but unless it's very game-specific, it's probably a bug for Valve to solve.

If everyone does their part it should all work really well in the expensive and iterative workflow that Valve like, and which the open source model is really good for.

There will be developers that don't bother to test at all - Valve are supporting my game now! - and break things willy-nilly (which we've already seen happen with half-arsed native builds) and that's going to really suck for everyone.