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Well known (and basically a legend) Linux game porter Ryan 'Icculus' Gordon is looking for new titles to port to Linux.

After recently porting the revamp of Turok to Linux and with him hinting (practically confirmed in his latest post…) that Turok 2 is also coming to Linux, he recently posted a new update on Patreon and this bit caught my eye:

Also: I need more games to port. I have a bunch of maybes floating out there, but pretty soon I'm going to need definite yeses to work on. If you know someone in need, send them my way please.

For those who aren't too clued up, Icculus has ported so many games to Linux and other platforms it's really hard to keep track. He's worked with Valve, Epic Games, Activision, EA and many other big companies over the years. He's also helped port quite a number of indie games, so he has a long and beautiful track record.

He's also one of the people working on SDL2, something used by a lot of games across many different platforms. Honestly, I could go on all day about things he's either made, helped maintain or ported to other platforms.

If you're a developer and want to see your game on Linux, it's probably worth getting in touch, especially as he's funded by his own Patreon so he's not likely to eat into your sales. Find him on Twitter, Patreon and his official site with a proper email link.

Note: To be clear, this is not the time to spam him directly asking him to port specific games. A better option, would be to speak to developers directly and send them to him. Also, try to be realistic with who you speak to, but you never know…

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc
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DrMcCoy Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: no_information_hereKOTOR 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQcmo4atic
qptain Nemo Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: rea987- Anachronox
I mean I'd love for it to happen, but... seems... rather unlikely right now.
Nezchan Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: rustybroomhandleHow about the entire Spiderweb Software back catalogue?

Oh god yes, and he'd only have to do it once because they all pretty much run the same engine. He'd probably have it all done in an afternoon.
bradgy Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: DrMcCoy
Quoting: no_information_hereKOTOR 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TQcmo4atic

Coming along really well! Great work.
Aryvandaar Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: Geppeto35I would move on step beyond: It's important as a community to discuss within GOL our wishes and aggregate a clear message for the developers, one or two games that would make the consensus (vote in Liam award session? something like "Best desired port") to be argued in lobbying sessions. A sort of kickstarter backward: people would like to see this and that, and deposit a promise to purchase if this is done.

Sure, but seeing the amount of ports people want it would be a ton of options in a ton of rounds to get down to a few popular winners.

Speaking of The Witcher 3. I was quite surprised to see how much WINE has progressed sine I last ran pure Linux, and I didn't know there was a library to translate dx11 to vulkan. Getting TW3 to start was a simple to install the gog version (wine64 bottle), patch the wine bottle with dxvk, csmt and windows 10.

I haven't tested running the game beyond the menu, but other people using the same method have reported little fps drops from Windows, although some options should be toned down or turned off, like hairworks and no ultra settings.

I have to see if I can install at least one mod, one that removes lvl restrictions, or I won't have some equipment equipped.

Quoting: rea987Well, there needs to be some sort realism and rationalism in terms of Linux port expectations. First of all, there are certain companies that reject to support Linux at all due to financial or contractual reasons. Because of that, forget about ZeniMax, Bethesda and id Software related titles like Skyrim, Doom

Doom runs great in WINE. You just gotta enable vulkan in the launch options.


Last edited by Aryvandaar on 11 June 2018 at 4:15 pm UTC
Nezchan Jun 11, 2018
I think pushing the idea that Gordon should be doing AAA games because that's what Linux needs is really not thinking clearly. That's something a team should be doing, not a soloist. As mentioned already, his work on Rocket League was enough to convince him that it's not a good use of his time or passion, and he is far more effective porting medium and small games. That way he can do a lot without burning out or losing his passion for the work, both of which would likely happen if you saddled him with big AAA projects.

Not to mention, the idea that porting good games that aren't necessarily the kind of stuff Feral ports is a waste really misses how good some of the stuff he works on is, and how appreciated by Linux users who aren't necessarily into big budget flash.

Sure, Linux needs more AAA games. But the right tool for the job, people.
Aryvandaar Jun 11, 2018
Quoting: EhvisSince nobody asked for wishes, it's not relevant at all. Relevant would be to discuss how to get porters like Ryan Gordon in contact with developers that might show interest in having their game porter. Wishing for skyrim has been done a thousand times and adds nothing to the subject of this article.

People sharing their wishes is relevant, it shows what Linux gamers want. It may not be as relevant, but it is a bit relevant.
tpau Jun 11, 2018
Hearthstone, it is Unity Engine already
World of Warcraft (yea unlikely, but still). Rumor has it the basics were done internally already once.
This War of mine. Small Company , nice game and rendering errors in Wine still ;)
Eike Jun 11, 2018
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Quoting: tpauThis War of mine. Small Company , nice game and rendering errors in Wine still ;)

I can fulfill the last wish...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/282070/This_War_of_Mine/
scaine Jun 11, 2018
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There are plenty of indies out there that would probably benefit from a pro like Gordon, but can they pay? I have no idea of the costs involved in freelance porting work like this. I'd say that Gordon's best bet is to leverage an outfit like Humble to hook him up with the indies that have a project they can use him on, and publicise his fees up front.

Would love to see him getting involved in some of the smaller indies with the bigger titles - Subnautica, Scrap Mechanic, A Hat in Time, They Are Billions or The Solus Project.
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