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Now that Aspyr Media have ported Civilization VI [Steam] to Linux, it’s time to publish our interview! Grab a coffee and come learn some things.

I would like to start off by thanking Michael Blair for his time, as I know he's very busy!

Q&A with Aspyr Media

Q: It’s no secret that you guys were having some issues bringing Civilization VI to Linux, care to shed some light on it?
A: Every port is challenging, but for Civ VI specifically, we committed to not shipping something that couldn't meet our (and our partner's) standards. It simply took time to get the build to a state that we were comfortable showing to stakeholders and then green-lighting the project.

Q: How did you guys feel about the reception from Linux users when you guys broke the news that you guys were still evaluating the port? Did it help things, or make it worse?
A: Honestly, cookies matter ;). I know we all had a fun time with "cookiegate", but the outpouring of support seriously kicked the game into high gear. It was VERY clear to us how important a native Civ VI was to the Linux audience, and our resources internally responded. Our goal was always to do the project, so the gamers that were disappointed that we were still evaluating didn't bother us. I think there was some confusion as to what "evaluation" means. Its not like we were trying to decide whether it was worth it to do the project. We were head down working to prove we could meet our goals.

Q: Do you plan to officially support Mesa drivers with Civ VI in future?
A: Mesa 12.0.1 will mostly work at launch, but only on Ubuntu 16.10 or higher, and only on supported chipsets with OGL 4.3 support.

Q: Will the Linux port of Civ VI see cross platform multiplayer in an update?
A: Oh for sure! We plan to have both Mac and Linux in sync with Windows once the update schedule dies down a bit. For a game where multiplayer matches can last quite a while, we don't think its a good user experience to only have cross platform for a week or two in-between patches. Linux will go out able to play with their Mac friends however :)

Q: Were there any tools on Linux in particular you found helpful with the porting process?
A: Frankly the fact that we started with an OGL code base for our Mac version is the primary reason Civ VI Linux exists. I'm not saying we wouldn't have done the project without it (we could have obviously targeted Vulkan), but it certainly wouldn't be releasing this quickly.

Q: How do Aspyr Media feel about the state of Linux gaming right now? How have things changed since your earlier ports like Civilization V and Borderlands 2?
A: Its no secret Steam machines haven't taken off as well as the Linux community had hoped, but that doesn't prevent us from considering titles for the platform. It does however make us be more selective as to which titles we chose to port. That said, with better engine support for Linux, we are seeing a lot of exciting stuff coming to the platform from the indie scene. Layers of Fear is a great example of that, and you will continue to see more of those projects coming from Aspyr and its publishing partners.

Q: How have you found the reception to be from bigger publishers when you talk about Linux right now? Has it changed from when you ported Borderlands 2 in 2014?
A: I'd say they are almost always open to the conversation of a Linux version, but we rarely get approached for just the Linux version. I think the work we and Feral have done has placed a high level of confidence in the big publishers that the ports will be done right, and will not be a distraction from their brand focus. I see that as a big step forward for the platform.

Q: Do you plan to start using Vulkan in future? What are your thoughts on it?
A: Vulkan continues to be actively researched and tested in our pipeline. As to when we implement is really down to a project where its a good fit. Our Development team sees a lot of promise in the tech, for sure.

Q: Do you see the Metal API as being problematic for future Linux ports?
A: No, but it would split our development pipelines if we were to switch our Mac work to exclusively Metal. Currently however, Metal is not in a state where we would consider doing that.

Q: Do you have any other Linux game ports planned currently?
A: We have several original IP's that we will be bringing to the platform in 2017!

Q: What do you look for when teaming up for a port?
A: Good partners! The game quality obviously comes first, but we really strive to find partners that care about what we want to do in the Linux space.

Q: When looking to port a game to Linux, what do you mainly look for?
A: We always have to consider engine support, and more importantly middleware support for our starting point. Having to custom write those functions generally makes a project not worth it on Linux. Obviously graphics API's have to be considered as well. I'll circle back to a previous question however, and say that the partner is key. If they are willing to better integrate us into their content pipeline, that's a huge first step.

Q: Are you going to revamp any more classic games? I personally love KOTOR II and was massively happy to see it come to Linux!
A: Absolutely! Reviving timeless classics is a lot of fun, and something we will continue to be open to.

I want to thank Michael Blair again for his time and for bringing Civilization VI to Linux! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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uoou Feb 10, 2017
QuoteIts no secret Steam machines haven't taken off as well as the Linux community had hoped, but that doesn't prevent us from considering titles for the platform. It does however make us be more selective as to which titles we chose to port.

I respect their honesty on that one. They could've hedged/not brought it up.
LinuxGamesTV Feb 10, 2017
Nice, can't wait for all the Aspyr Stuff :)

If they port all his Games to Linux, it will be a great step for gaming on Linux.
uraeus Feb 10, 2017
Which he had gone into a bit technical detail about their porting challenges, especially if there where things we in the community could improve.
poke86 Feb 10, 2017
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QuoteWe have several original IP's that we will be bringing to the platform in 2017

What exactly do they mean by "original"? Stuff they will be creating from scratch, or existing franchises that just haven't made it to Linux yet?
MaCroX95 Feb 10, 2017
Yes unfortunately Valve really dissapointed with Steam Machines. SteamOS would need a huge rework and some time and money invested to provide fully-featured comparable-to-consoles experience in terms of stability and that is where it would really have a huge potential. Only providing entertaining things like YouTube, Netflix, Twitch into the BPM and improving their web browser with resolution reworks it would be huge deal already, the game support and performance itself is actually quite nice and even better than the Console standards are...

It's great to hear from Aspyr Media again and also to hear that they have not abandoned and are not planning to abandon our platform for further development, really great guys!

Would definitely LOVE to see more Classics bringing to Linux like Star Wars Jedi Knight II Jedi Outcast, Jedi Knight III Jedi Academy, Lego Titles!
mrdeathjr Feb 10, 2017
Thanks to aspyr for borderlands and others

However maybe can add PhysX support for borderlands 2

In older games: Kotor I maybe good and see them have star wars force unleashed if can give to linux maybe good (3rd person action games are needed in linux)

^_^
CFWhitman Feb 10, 2017
Quoting: poke86
QuoteWe have several original IP's that we will be bringing to the platform in 2017

What exactly do they mean by "original"? Stuff they will be creating from scratch, or existing franchises that just haven't made it to Linux yet?

Well, normally "original" titles would mean games that they developed themselves rather than ported for someone else, regardless of whether they were already on other platforms or not. I suppose it's also possible that he just meant games that haven't yet been released on any platform, that is, games that are new this year.
poke86 Feb 10, 2017
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Quoting: mrdeathjradd PhysX support for borderlands 2

I discussed this with someone from Aspyr on Reddit a while back, they can't do it because it would break cross-platform play. The version of Physx that supports Linux is more recent than the one in the Windows version of the game, so cross-platform coop wouldn't work anymore, unless Gearbox went back into their old code and updated the Windows version with a newer version of Physx... They wouldn't go to all that trouble just to give eye candy to Linux gamers.
MayeulC Feb 10, 2017
QuoteMesa 12.0.1
What year is it? 2015? :P

Thank you for the interview, Liam, Michael. This sheds some light on the porting process of this title.

As for the star wars titles, One of my personal favorites would be Star wars Galactic battlegrounds
But I'm afraid that it's not going to happen.
It's still a favorite regardless ^^

Edit: Also, regarding SPIR-V shaders, having them in a binary format does not magically removes the need for optimization, as different cards have different architectures. Plus, some optimizations are only available at runtime (video settings, etc). As I see it, most of the optimizations that can be performed on SPIR-V could be done on GLSL as well. I believe that radeonsi benefits from quite a lot of llvm optimizations, however. Then, it's a tradeof with compilation time, but there are some ways to mitigate this, such as asynchornous compilation (First pass without optimizations, then recompile later and change the shader), shader cache, etc.


Last edited by MayeulC on 10 February 2017 at 2:30 pm UTC
rcrit Feb 10, 2017
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Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy both have open source ports that work great (and there are several).

I've used https://github.com/xLAva/JediAcademyLinux and https://github.com/xLAva/JediAcademyLinux
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