Unreal Engine 5 editor quietly gets a proper Linux version

Finally!
I promised my self back in 2018 to never (compile, use or learn) UnrealEngine until they give us proper Linux support and a native build

Quietly is better than not at all! Let's just hope they keep it updated.

Finally!
I promised my self back in 2018 to never (compile, use or learn) UnrealEngine until they give us proper Linux support and a native build

Godot still got your back anyways ;D

Finally!
I promised my self back in 2018 to never (compile, use or learn) UnrealEngine until they give us proper Linux support and a native build

Why? If you want to do anything reasonable with Unreal, you'll need to set up a build environment for C++ scripting anyhow (yes, there is Blueprint, but as soon as your project grows beyond "game jam" size, Blueprint scripts become so large and convoluted, that they are hard impossible to read/maintain). After using Unreal for a few days, you'll find yourself in the situation that you'll want to modify the engine because your project gets blocked by a bug in it. That's then the point where you uninstall the precompiled engine, compile it from source, and ask yourself why you thought it was a good idea to waste time on the precompiled build in the first place.

(Edit: Please take this with a grain of salt. I'm currently working with Unreal professionally, and had enough opportunities to get frustrated by it.)


Last edited by soulsource on 20 July 2022 at 10:12 pm UTC

About time.

Another great example of the kind of small changes that come as a result of small increases in Linux marketshare that should make life considerably easier for game devs to port their games.

I think sometimes the more technically skilled developers (or Linux users for that matter) forget that even among developers, there are those who are certainly capable of writing a bit of code and running a python script or clicking compile in an IDE, but struggle with something like compiling a complex piece of software through a build system like cmake, resolving dependency issues, etc.

Having to compile Unreal Engine's Editor just to work on Linux was a real barrier for entry that potentially could have prevented many ports from indie devs as a result. Glad to see that resolved.

any chance of getting this running into SteamDeck/steamOS ?

I think sometimes the more technically skilled developers (or Linux users for that matter) forget that even among developers, there are those who are certainly capable of writing a bit of code and running a python script or clicking compile in an IDE, but struggle with something like compiling a complex piece of software through a build system like cmake, resolving dependency issues, etc.

worse, they forget that there is a magic thing called "learning curve"

I guess I better start learning UE5, along with Godot. Honestly the levels of procrastination I go through is staggering!

Another reason to get the HP Dev One laptop since it runs the Ubuntu 22.04 based Pop!_OS. 😎

I think sometimes the more technically skilled developers (or Linux users for that matter) forget that even among developers, there are those who are certainly capable of writing a bit of code and running a python script or clicking compile in an IDE, but struggle with something like compiling a complex piece of software through a build system like cmake, resolving dependency issues, etc.

worse, they forget that there is a magic thing called "learning curve"

Too right!

Even for the technically proficient, it takes an investment of time to learn how to use something, and the more complex / less documented / less user friendly that thing is, the bigger the time investment required.

In the case of porting some UE games from Windows to Linux, for some indie devs only really looking at the prospect of perhaps 10,000 sales total across all platforms, that time investment required to figure out how to obtain, compile and correctly configure UE, on top of all the 'first time user' learning required just to correctly setup and use Linux, wouldn't be worth it, for what would amount to possibly only a few hundred potential customers.

So anything that reduces the barrier for entry, is definitely a good thing.

any chance of getting this running into SteamDeck/steamOS ?

Maybe! I think the minimum required RAM is 32GB on Linux, but the editor runs ok on my machine with 16GB. I don't see why it wouldn't work on the SteamDeck. Storage would be the biggest barrier.

Better use O3DE Linux Foundation 15GB+/~, its easier than UE5 60GB+

Since they had introduced proper linux version of editor, maybe one day they'll introduce linux version of epic games store?

any chance of getting this running into SteamDeck/steamOS ?

Your biggest barrier would be read only filesystem. Honestly I would just use container / VM for installation, if Unreal needs to modify system directories like /opt. If it installs anywhere under /home, you can install it perfectly fine because /home isn't read only.

Considering all the issues with Unity lately from joining with ironSource, their CEO calling some game developers "fucking idiots" and when that made the news that same CEO said on Twitter it was "Clickbait" only to then later apologise, this might be a good time for Epic Games to push their way through to pull in even more developers into their ecosystem.

The apology is worth reading.


Last edited by Eike on 21 July 2022 at 9:08 am UTC

It only took 8 years...
I don't know if I get this blog post confused with another one but I quite remember another one of that type stating that QoL improvements on Linux would be a priority circa 2017...
Yet, nothing happened and still no linux native epic launcher in 2022.

I thought one of the biggest pros of the engine was the asset and plugin marketplace that integrates well within the launcher, that and the project+version manager. I guess it's still too early for us penguins, I'll stick to godot, Tim already broke my heart once.


Last edited by a0kami on 21 July 2022 at 11:29 am UTC

When i clicked the link https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/linux in the article it brings only:

"Authentication required

Please login in order to access the requested page.
Log in now

Don't have an Epic Games account?
Sign up Go back"

Why must Epig be like this in every turn

Finally!
I promised my self back in 2018 to never (compile, use or learn) UnrealEngine until they give us proper Linux support and a native build

Why? If you want to do anything reasonable with Unreal, you'll need to set up a build environment for C++ scripting anyhow (yes, there is Blueprint, but as soon as your project grows beyond "game jam" size, Blueprint scripts become so large and convoluted, that they are hard impossible to read/maintain). After using Unreal for a few days, you'll find yourself in the situation that you'll want to modify the engine because your project gets blocked by a bug in it. That's then the point where you uninstall the precompiled engine, compile it from source, and ask yourself why you thought it was a good idea to waste time on the precompiled build in the first place.

(Edit: Please take this with a grain of salt. I'm currently working with Unreal professionally, and had enough opportunities to get frustrated by it.)

I was thinking about the same, but have a bit of frustrations with (custom) forks since UE development occurs so fast that i was bitten more than once by breaking changes in the APIs, even with what were supposed to be small point releases. Lighting and shading, BxDFs in particular come to mind. But back to the discussion, the lack of binary releases for UE is a non-issue since the target users are developers anyway.

It only took 8 years...
I don't know if I get this blog post confused with another one but I quite remember another one of that type stating that QoL improvements on Linux would be a priority circa 2017...
Yet, nothing happened and still no linux native epic launcher in 2022.

I thought one of the biggest pros of the engine was the asset and plugin marketplace that integrates well within the launcher, that and the project+version manager. I guess it's still too early for us penguins, I'll stick to godot, Tim already broke my heart once.

I used UE(4) for years, and now am using UE5 and had no issues whatsoever with plugins or assets ever really. Godot is amazing, don't get me wrong, but i'm a bit befuddled by some of the comments here. UE has been usable and stable professionally for years. I cannot be the only one lucky enough to have a stable experience, though some occasional API changes imply a bit of work to keep custom forks.