A reader asked me to reach out to Stardock about their Linux plans, specifically for Galactic Civilizations III as they said they would port it with Vulkan. I didn't get an answer on that specifically, but Vulkan has put them in a better position to port.
I asked a simple question "I noticed your developers stated GCIII would come to Linux when Vulkan was available, just wondering if this is still happening or if the Linux version is now not happening?" and here's the answer:
It's sadly a bit of a non-answer, but the good news is that Vulkan is keeping the possibility of porting their games to Linux.
They aren't the only developer taking a closer look at Linux thanks to Vulkan and this year we will see a few Vulkan releases. Don't go nuts though, it's going to take time, we aren't about to explode with Vulkan games this year. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I asked a simple question "I noticed your developers stated GCIII would come to Linux when Vulkan was available, just wondering if this is still happening or if the Linux version is now not happening?" and here's the answer:
Brad Wardell, StardockHi Liam,
With Vulkan's arrival we're in a position to do more with our games being on Linux in the future. We don't have any date when that might be however.
Thanks for your interest,
Cheers
It's sadly a bit of a non-answer, but the good news is that Vulkan is keeping the possibility of porting their games to Linux.
They aren't the only developer taking a closer look at Linux thanks to Vulkan and this year we will see a few Vulkan releases. Don't go nuts though, it's going to take time, we aren't about to explode with Vulkan games this year. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Mountain Man 
Mar 10, 2017
Quoting: femtomaticI played a lot of GalCiv2 when Windows was all I knew and would really love to have GalCiv3 under linux, but I'm not holding my breath.From what I understand, Stardock's widgets for Windows make up the vast majority of their income. Game development is something Wardell treats almost as a hobby.
Part of Stardock's business model is to sell customization softwares for the Windows desktop, I don't know how it compares to their game sales but I'm pretty sure it has increased significantly since Win8... So to be realistic, I doubt they would spend a significant amount of money and energy cater to linux users unless they see a potential for meaningful profits.
Or they could see us as potential customers for their other products "Look, we made Windows as customizable as KDE! All you have to do is pay us a fee to be able to modify a software that you already paid for..." God I'm glad I switched to linux!
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Mountain Man Mar 10, 2017
Quoting: stretch611I am not happy that Stardock has not supported linux at all yet. The company was started in niche markets.To be fair, Brad Wardell didn't intend to cater to a niche market. OS/2 was supposed to be the operating system at the time, a partnership between IBM and Microsoft, two of the biggest names in the computer industry. That is until Microsoft screwed IBM, pulled out of the partnership, and then used anti-competitive practices to force OS/2 out of the market which resulted in Windows rising to dominance. So it wasn't that Wardell was trying to cater to a niche market, he just bet on the wrong horse.
Originally, Stardock catered to the OS/2 market. The original Galactic Civilizations was OS/2 only when it first came out before the company expanded to the windows world. I still remember Process Commander from Stardock which was a must have utility for OS/2 back in the day. (Honestly, it has been so long, I forget the details on what it did; but I did buy/have it :D )
Last edited by Mountain Man on 10 March 2017 at 9:31 pm UTC
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Quoting: Mountain ManThey've been promising to support Linux for years. [Brad Wardell at one point all but promised that GalCiv 3 would get a Linux release](http://steamcommunity.com/app/241990/discussions/0/613937942951572333/?ctp=5#c613937943144071447), but we're still waiting for that one, so I'll believe it when I see it. Stardock used to be one of my favorite developers, but I've pretty much written them off until they show they're serious about supporting Linux. I'm surprised they haven't jumped on it already, to be honest, because being a small, independent developer selling niche games, they would benefit the most from supporting Linux.
Yeah. Stardock seem like a very Windows-and-DirectX shop, despite any occasional comments to the contrary, so I won't hold my breath. Pity, I like GalCiv2 and would like to give GalCiv3 a shot, but no Tux no Bux (I acquired 2 before that was a remotely viable strategy).
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Quoting: Mountain ManQuoting: femtomaticI played a lot of GalCiv2 when Windows was all I knew and would really love to have GalCiv3 under linux, but I'm not holding my breath.From what I understand, Stardock's widgets for Windows make up the vast majority of their income. Game development is something Wardell treats almost as a hobby.
Part of Stardock's business model is to sell customization softwares for the Windows desktop, I don't know how it compares to their game sales but I'm pretty sure it has increased significantly since Win8... So to be realistic, I doubt they would spend a significant amount of money and energy cater to linux users unless they see a potential for meaningful profits.
Or they could see us as potential customers for their other products "Look, we made Windows as customizable as KDE! All you have to do is pay us a fee to be able to modify a software that you already paid for..." God I'm glad I switched to linux!
There's an irony there . . . Stardock largely ignore Linux but near as I can figure it, their widgets basically exist to allow Windows to do some of the things Linux does.
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TheRiddick Mar 11, 2017
Basically it seems any game that works with Vulkan will work mostly flawlessly under Wine/Vulkan with a 1:1 performance ratio if Doom4 results are to be considered the norm. The only issue would be copy protection perhaps? I think it would be great if developers just bundle up a wine wrapper with their vulkan releases and put it on steamos/linux in such case. (given the parity in performance).
Last edited by TheRiddick on 11 March 2017 at 11:41 pm UTC
Last edited by TheRiddick on 11 March 2017 at 11:41 pm UTC
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