Don't want to see articles from a certain category? When logged in, go to your User Settings and adjust your feed in the Content Preferences section where you can block tags!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
tagline-image
There was some excitement a while ago about Ashes of the Singularity [Official Site] being ported to Vulkan and eventually Linux. It seems Vulkan is largely complete, but Linux still isn't on their radar.

From the forum post, they say that the Vulkan version should be ready in the Summer, but Linux is still not a priority as they have other things to do. They specifically said:
QuoteThus, in my view, getting the above things done trump getting a Linux version out. That doesn't mean no Linux version, it means it's not yet on the radar.

They've said similar things before, with other things taking a higher priority pushing Linux down. I'm going to be honest here, I really don't think the game will actually come to Linux as it's always being pushed down the list.

A shame, but we have plenty of other games to look forward to. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
3 Likes
About the author -
author picture
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.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
26 comments
Page: «3/3
  Go to:

STiAT Apr 19, 2017
Quoting: KimyrielleI really wonder why they feel making a Linux port from a working Vulkan render path would still be prohibitive? The biggest obstacle for porting a game to Linux is DirectX. Unless they used some really stupid Windows-only middleware, the remaining work should be trivial enough to justify even selling to a smaller audience. One should think.

Platform abstraction not in mind when they developed for windows / no seperate code path for fullscreen / screen / input handling (sdl2) etc, the MSVC compiler of course is an obstacle and within that the whole build system for the engine.
m0nt3 Apr 19, 2017
Quoting: STiATActually, they always said they'll look into it after the Vulkan port. So I'm not surprised, but I hoped they had it on the radar by now.

Though, it will be now quite some time after the full release and some expansions.

What I'm questioning myself: Why the Vulkan port if there is no plan for Linux? Porting from DX12 (which they currently use) to Vulkan if you don't release ashes on linux makes zero sense, except they have some other games in the queue on that engine and want to get rid of Microsofts proprietary API, and probably have plans for using MoltenVK or similar for the Mac Port (okay, they could do Vulkan to be able to have the Win7 user base on the same API as the Win10 user base, which would make sense too). I mean no offence, the more developers gather behind Vulkan the better for the open API, because I still have hope that Vulkan will prevail.

If they ever complete Vulkan support for their engine, there may be a Linux version some day. Though, they'll be using MSVC, thus - there will be porting work because we all know that msvc is sometimes different and away from standards compared to clang/llvm. If they didn't use sdl2 or similar it gets even worse, if they don't had platform abstraction in mind when they started.. uff.

Because DX12 is locked down to Windows 10 and Windows 7 still has the greatest marketshare? Just a thought, since vulkan works fine on windows 7.
Alm888 Apr 19, 2017
Quoting: STiATWhat I'm questioning myself: Why the Vulkan port if there is no plan for Linux? Porting from DX12 (which they currently use) to Vulkan if you don't release ashes on linux makes zero sense...

Ask Bethesda why exactly this is so (see "Doom" ). At this point any assumption that Vulkan support means imminent Linux version is just wishful thinking and nothing else.


Last edited by Alm888 on 19 April 2017 at 10:00 pm UTC
MaCroX95 Apr 19, 2017
Quoting: 0aTT
Quoting: Mountain ManIf they had done their job right, they could have had the Linux version out yesterday. When will developers learn that trying back into a Linux port is the wrong way to do it?

But Doom runs better than most ports. Much faster and more stable. And the steam hardware survey identifies wine. But as good as no one plays under wine. Except it is a wineport.

We have to wait, but it could be that with Vulkan simply no more ports are needed. That would be quite great. Perhaps Valve can automatically port the games in the future.

EDIT: The bad thing though is that the publishers do not provide support. But just by not doing this it could be very attractive for them to publish there games with Vulkan. ;)

Doom performing same as on Windows isn't surprising since the driver is the same...

The guy you quoted wasn't talking about ports, he was talking that if they had written game from the ground up with cross-platform in mind, the game would work very well on all platforms. Simple as that :)
Aryvandaar Apr 20, 2017
Quoting: m0nt3Because DX12 is locked down to Windows 10 and Windows 7 still has the greatest marketshare? Just a thought, since vulkan works fine on windows 7.

Somehow related:

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3190832/security/bypass-microsofts-update-block-for-windows-7-8-1-pcs-with-kaby-lake-ryzen.html
silmeth Apr 20, 2017
[offtopic]
Quoting: AryvandaarSomehow related:

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3190832/security/bypass-microsofts-update-block-for-windows-7-8-1-pcs-with-kaby-lake-ryzen.html

According to that, Windows warns users: “Your PC uses a processor that is designed for the latest version of Windows.” – ROTFL. I’d be glad to see some references stating that Intel purposefully designed their processor for a particular version of this particular operating system.

They could have been just a little bit less insolent and at least write something like “Your PC uses a processor that your version of Windows was not designed for” or sth similar. Microsoft never stops delivering in their marketing trying to form reality into one where everything computers-related happens around Windows.
[/offtopic]


Last edited by silmeth on 20 April 2017 at 9:04 am UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.