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PCGamingWiki Looks At XCOM and Civ V Linux Ports

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In addition to its titular wiki of game quirks, fixes and settings (including Linux games), PCGamingWiki also hosts a series of "PC Report" articles which have for the most part focused on the ways in which games have changed (or not changed) as they've been ported from consoles to desktops.


Recently, PCGamingWiki contributor soeb has been comparing the behaviour and performance of Linux ports, starting with Civilization V (take a look at the Gaming On Linux review and gameplay video), a turn based strategy developed by Firaxis and published by 2K Games. The Linux port of Civilization V was done by Aspyr, a well known Mac porting studio who also ported the game to Mac OS in 2010. The report commends Aspyr for providing a good Linux port, but does highlight some discrepancies, such as the lack of anti-aliasing, GPU texture decoding and Steam Workshop in Linux as well as missing languages.

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Interestingly, the report notes that the Mac version of Civilization V recently received GPU texture decoding support, which offers hope that we'll see this added to the Linux version in the future, which should improve performance and texture popping when zooming/panning.


Following on from the Civ V report, soeb has investigated XCOM: Enemy Unknown, another turn based strategy title from Firaxis and 2K Games. This time Feral Interactive (be sure to read the recent Gaming On Linux interview with Feral's Head of Production, Edwin Smith as well as our recent gameplay video and review), another prominent Mac porting studio who also delivered the Mac version last year, is responsible for the Linux port. The report for XCOM: EU highlights that the Linux version reproduces its Windows counterpart faithfully in almost all areas, and also mentions the presence of bugs which can be seen on Windows.

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Whilst there is a notable performance drop from the Windows version, the report shows that the game is more than playable on most systems. This is interesting in that it brings attention to aspects which may not negatively affect user experiences but are areas for potential improvement (it's also worth noting that Feral have a patch being worked on that includes some performance enhancements, and newer beta drivers may increase performance on Nvidia hardware, so those improvements are already on the way).


As more Linux gamers move away from dual booting and reduce the presence that Windows has in their lives, reports like this can not only help identify which ports have important issues when a first hand comparison is no longer possible. Also of value is the discernment between bugs which appear in games on other platforms which may otherwise be mistaken for Linux specific bugs (which would change how they should be handled/reported).

Though still in their infancy, these articles represent an important type of high level analysis which identifies discrepancies in a way that promotes platform parity. There are still some rough edges (such as a lack of detail regarding video driver versions), and soeb is accepting feedback on these articles to improve future reports, so please consider sharing your thoughts! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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Game developer, Linux helper person, and independent writer/interviewer.

Currently working on Winter's Wake, a first person text adventure thing and its engine Icicle. Also making a little bee themed base builder called Hive Time :)

I do more stuff than could ever fit into a bio.
See more from me
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17 comments
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Half-Shot Jul 2, 2014
Good article. It's easy to forget sources like these. Would be good if we can add driver related performance as up to now I just maintain a spreadsheet on the open driver.
Xylemon Jul 2, 2014
This is great to hear, can't wait for more games to covered this way!
pb Jul 2, 2014
Personally I couldn't care less about pretty textures in Civ5, as I spend 100% of the game in strategic view, but these are fine articles and I'm looking forward to read more of the series. :-)
leillo1975 Jul 3, 2014
I would like to see more games ported by Feral and Aspyr. I'm very impressed with this ports. Now I want to buy DLC's!
Bestia Jul 3, 2014
The performance drop for XCOM is big. Several people in linux_gaming subreddit wrote that they get only half of the framerate of Windows version.

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/29kyxg/pc_report_xcom_enemy_unknown_on_linux_43_drop_in/

One guy posted screenshots comparing Windows (124 fps) and Linux (43 fps).

http://imgur.com/a/44sRZ
rustybroomhandle Jul 3, 2014
Quoting: BestiaThe performance drop for XCOM is big. Several people in linux_gaming subreddit wrote that they get only half of the framerate of Windows version.

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/29kyxg/pc_report_xcom_enemy_unknown_on_linux_43_drop_in/

One guy posted screenshots comparing Windows (124 fps) and Linux (43 fps).

http://imgur.com/a/44sRZ

For this sort of statement there needs to be more detail. I did originally get a huge performance drop, but now notsomuch. I swapped out lightdm for kdm, which for some weird reason caused a huge increase.

What GPU, what driver, what compositor, what wm, etc. etc.
edddeduck_feral Jul 3, 2014
Quoting: BestiaThe performance drop for XCOM is big. Several people in linux_gaming subreddit wrote that they get only half of the framerate of Windows version.

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/29kyxg/pc_report_xcom_enemy_unknown_on_linux_43_drop_in/

One guy posted screenshots comparing Windows (124 fps) and Linux (43 fps).

http://imgur.com/a/44sRZ

Yes, however the drop could be for many reasons, he could have a strange setup, old drivers, a card with a driver bug on Linux etc etc.
neffo Jul 3, 2014
I'm glad you guys focused on stability over performance though. It has been utterly crash free for me.
Cheeseness Jul 3, 2014
Quoting: BestiaOne guy posted screenshots comparing Windows (124 fps) and Linux (43 fps).

Others have highlighted that this could be an edge case rather than the norm, but even if it wasn't, 43fps is still more than playable, and it's better to view that as being "room for improvement" that we can use to positively encourage further development rather than being unacceptable or a poor job.

I don't know what kind of existing Linux experience Feral Interactive had or brought onboard for the project, but as a first port from the studio, it's pretty positive IMO.
Bestia Jul 4, 2014
Quoting: CheesenessOthers have highlighted that this could be an edge case rather than the norm, but even if it wasn't, 43fps is still more than playable, and it's better to view that as being "room for improvement" that we can use to positively encourage further development rather than being unacceptable or a poor job.

I don't know what kind of existing Linux experience Feral Interactive had or brought onboard for the project, but as a first port from the studio, it's pretty positive IMO.

Well I would say that it is norm. Just today someone posted this on Steam forums:

QuoteJust tried the game on windows on the same hardware (i5-3570, gtx660), got ~110 fps at the place where I usually get ~35 on linux.

UPD: nVidia 340.17, linux 3.15.3

That doesn't mean that I consider the port as poor or unacceptable. The port is good, very good but it sure could use some performance boost.

Also the Feral developers are very active and helpful everywhere that I look.

They have a fix in beta patch for crashing after the end of the mission when you are using VPN or ppp0 or other interface which doesn't have MAC address. It only took them two weeks since the first people reported the issue on Steam forums.
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