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Now and then I come across a game on Steam where I ask in the Steam forum about possible Linux support, Marble It Up! is one such game but the developer has decided to let Valve handle it with Steam Play.

I’ll get something out of the way first: I think Steam Play is great, I do use it but I appreciate it’s a complicated subject for many reasons and some people don’t want to use it. This is meant to highlight some issues facing future Linux support as a gaming platform and as a talking point. Now, onto the topic at hand…

After the developer suggested the use of Steam Play, one user said “OK but that's not Linux support” and mentioned how they won’t buy it for that. This seems to have caused this particular developer to go on a little rant, where they gave some reasons why.

“Steam Beta includes Proton out of box. I guess technically the game is not Linux native but if you can play it with one click, I'm not sure there's a lot to argue about. You can refund it no questions asked. I think you'll like the game and there is no risk to you. Why not try it?”

Note: On ProtonDB, the unofficial website where people can rate how well Windows games work on Linux with Steam Play, Marble It Up! has a “Platinum” rating. This means it should be click and play, like any other game. To be clear though, that’s only from four tests so far.

The developer goes on to mention how Unity games aren’t technically native “no Unity game is able to run as fully native code”, how Feral Interactive (made a lot of AAA Linux ports) have their own graphics emulation layer, games like Curious Expedition that use Electron and so on. They also directly mentioned Tropico 6 too, which apparently works better with Steam Play/Proton than the native version, although ProtonDB only has one report to say so. They mention plenty more types of games and how they could package it up with Proton themselves and all the points are very interesting.

One part I found particularly interesting was this statement: “Is a truly native Linux worth it you that you would pay 15-25% more for games that had it? I've seen a lot of people say that but when it came down to it they just really wanted it to be free like Linux. So - would you really? Would you switch to a different Linux distro if yours wasn't supported?”

For me personally, it’s not a case of a game needing to be “native”, I’m so long past caring about the internals of a game. I want a game that both works and is supported. The latter obviously being extremely important, since if a game update breaks the Linux version then as a paying customer I would expect something to be looked into and fixed up.

Support is the biggest problem, we still don’t really know how things will go down in future when games stop working. The support with Steam Play is supposed to be on Valve’s end, although technically only for titles that are in the Steam Play whitelist which hasn’t seen an update since December last year and Marble It Up! Is not on that list.

You may end up waiting a day, a week, a month or perhaps longer if a game update or a Steam Play update breaks a game. Being realistic here, it’s not like a game developer is going to go and help fix up Steam Play themselves when part of the reason a developer is even using Steam Play, is so they don’t do the Linux side themselves. There’s also the idea of vendor lock-in here, Steam Play is all open on GitHub which is fantastic but again, how many are likely to go and pull it themselves for their games to put them on other stores for Linux? I’m betting about zero.

I don’t want to seem like I’m being a “debbie downer” (remember my starting statement, I really do like Steam Play) but it’s already happened with multiple titles that stopped working due to changes with Easy Anti-Cheat like Darwin Project, Paladins and Pandemic Express. That might not be an issue forever though but you get the idea, it can and will happen.

To the credit of Valve/CodeWeavers and Steam Play here, they did get a fix out for RAGE 2 into a Steam Play release the day RAGE 2 became available which was impressive, but that’s likely a special case due it being a bigger release.

As for the developers comment about people wanting things for free like Linux, I had an entire paragraph dedicated to debunking that but 99% of our readers know such a statement just isn’t true. It’s not worth any argument or time on, it’s silly and has been proven wrong time and time again.

They end their post with “Linux gaming has never been better than it is today in large part thanks to WINE and investments like Valve is making. Why not embrace it however it comes?”

I will absolutely agree that right now, Linux gaming is a fun place. Thousands of games supported and plenty more available to play with Steam Play, I’m certainly never bored! However, I'm interested to see how Valve and game developers handle issues as they come up in future before putting down a lot more money into games played with Steam Play.

So, what do you make of all this? What are your thoughts? Has Steam Play changed things completely for you, are you using it purely for old games or games both old and new?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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naegling23 May 30, 2019
Quoting: MohandevirAll I would like to see is the studios' commitment to Steamplay in an official way.

Kind of: "This game will be Steamplay certified following the guidelines supplied by Valve."

This could be a good start.

Completely agree. I dont care how the game runs as long as it runs without me noticing or having to configure anything(i.e. I click run, and it well...runs). We all consider the witcher 2 to have a linux version, but my understanding is that its just a wine wrapper. The reason I go with linux native first is that I've been burnt before with games that dont run properly in wine....but I also completely understand that linux ports require resources that many studios just dont have resources for. It would be a lot easier if the developers could support steam play and let valve worry about the linux side of it, but I need to see some sort of icon on the steam store letting me know it will work....protondb is great, but I cant base purchasing decisions on 9 out of 10 random people on the internet say it works. The steam whitelist is a great start, but it has like 15 random games on it at the moment.
Ehvis May 30, 2019
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The dev misses two points. One, leaving it to steamplay means the game will not be in the store for Linux. Two, there will be a substantial number of people that will rank it as a lower importance purchase because of it. And if I look at my own purchasing behaviour, it has a good chance of never making up on the list to a place where a purchase might actually happen. Since TW3 hasn't even managed to get there yet, a game like this would have no chance with me.

And that whole bullshit about native not being native is just weak. That goes exactly the same for any other platform and has nothing to do with Linux.
Mezron May 31, 2019
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I left Windows OS nearly 20 years ago. I had stacks of games that I was saying goodbye to but over the years thanks to WINE all of my library is now playable. As I go forward and continue to support games that I like I would prefer native but if they make a DRM-FREE version that works via WINE and such...I'm good with supporting that too.
edenist May 31, 2019
Quoteif a game update breaks the Linux version

This is one thing which always annoys me about steam [and any game distribution system, really] and it doesn't just apply to Linux. But why on earth don't they give you the ability to roll-back versions?
The closest I've seen is something like Stellaris, where basically they checkout each major version of the game and apply it as a beta branch so you can lock it in or change which version of the game you play. This is mainly for save-game compatibility which usually breaks between versions, but still it's a great idea and I wish more devs did it.
ElectricPrism May 31, 2019
QuoteFor me personally, it's not a case of a game needing to be "native", I'm so long past caring about the internals of a game. ~~I want a game that both works and is supported.~~ The latter obviously being extremely important, since ~~if a game update breaks the Linux version then as a paying customer I would expect something to be looked into and fixed up.~~

<3<3<3 AMEN. <3<3<3

As a Linux Gamer with 350+ games I've purchased it's not worth it to me to buy a game with 0 expectation that it will continue to work in the future. To my knowledge I am not able to download "old versions" of the game on Steam if the new versions break the game.

Also, lets be REAL for a moment. SteamPlay is nothing more than a ~~ Plan B ~~ for gamers like me. It eliminates the need for me as a gamer to go through hoops to play a highly anticipated title (rebooting to windows -- assuming I had a windows, which I don't. Running VGA Passthrough, or streaming from a Windows box in my closet, etc...)

I can probably count the number of games I would be willing to go through the effort to play on one or two hands.

Bottom Line -- If a developer doesn't want to go through the effort of providing support to me, I am unwilling to spend money. SteamPlay is a nice backup or Plan B, but native games will get my money 98 times out of 100.

For example. I recently played Marble Skies on Linux, amazing game, I couldn't give a damn even if the Linux versions cost a premium either, I'll still pay it over buying some half baked bug infested product lazily chucked at me with zero support.

~~ SteamPlay was never a silver bullet and it never will be. ~~

At best it may enable playing some specific AAA games like GTAV, Halo MCC and Final Fantasy XV but even then there are thousands of other Linux games I could buy and not have to dick around getting the damn thing to work.

If I wanted to dick around getting things working, I would have settled for pirating roms and Wii games, but because I'm classy I pay for my games so I don't have to fuck around with technical quirks becuase I want to spend time PLAYING MY GAMES, and not spend time FIXING OR ADMINISTERING MY GAMES.


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 31 May 2019 at 1:54 am UTC
thykr May 31, 2019
I think Kompressor (the Marble it Up! dev in the steam forum) gave a decent and honest comment. They certainly sound like they know what they're talking about. I wouldn't dismiss their comment. :)
ElectricPrism May 31, 2019
Quoting: eldakingHeck, they accuse Linux users of "wanting things for free".

My 2 Linux Gaming rigs each with $950.00 Processors and $600.00 GPUs speak otherwise.

Oh what's that I hear? :O They don't actually gather market research & intel and just parrot narratives and FUD passed down by the dumb IT of the world.




Last edited by ElectricPrism on 31 May 2019 at 2:02 am UTC
mylka May 31, 2019
Quotemultiple titles that stopped working due to changes with Easy Anti-Cheat like Darwin Project, Paladins and Pandemic Express.

thats the point. MULTIPLAYER games can stop working.
i dont know a case, in which a SINGLEPLAYER games stopped working after an update and Marble It Up! is a SP game

maybe valve officially supports anti cheat software within proton soon, then you have less risk buying a MP game
Luke_Nukem May 31, 2019
So... To break it down, this is about whether or not a dev supports Linux, not whether or not it's a native game.

The difference between the dev supporting Proton play, or supporting a native port is all a bit moot at this point if the answer in general is "No" to supporting Linux.
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