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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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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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Mohandevir Jun 6, 2019
Quoting: kompressorHey guys,

Dev who made the post here.

Support is IMO the best metric. I totally agree. If it runs well, doesn't crash, gets regular updates - those are the things I think are vital.

Proton and Wine have done an incredible job making Linux gaming bloom like I've never seen before. Talented porters have always been around but they have a really tough hill to climb - they have to hand port, test, and release each title individually. This is really high friction! Proton isn't perfect, of course, but for zero cost, zero effort I'd submit it is INCREDIBLE. I didn't even realize there WAS a Linux port until I looked into Proton.

I can't overstate that. This is, by far, the game with the most positive feedback on the Linux port that I've ever worked on. That's inclusive of the comments in the forums and here, many of which are obviously critical in one way or another. And that includes games that did ship with hand-built Linux support!

In my eyes, shipping hand-built Linux releases means giving you a product that is updated less often, tested less well and which takes more effort/money all around. Games can get dropped on the floor - we see it all the time. But Proton is a lot more likely to have good Unity support and be updated for many years to come. I'd bet on Valve over the average longevity of an indie studio every time.

You can take away from this what you will - either that I'm dismissing the key issues or that I'm being pragmatic - but what I see is Linux support that is easy for us and that works well for our users. And that makes me happy.

Thanks for reading.

Nice to see a dev post on this forum. #Thumbsup

Curiosity... Is officially supporting Proton, for future games, something that you may consider?
mylka Jun 6, 2019
Quoting: kompressorHey guys,

Dev who made the post here.

Support is IMO the best metric. I totally agree. If it runs well, doesn't crash, gets regular updates - those are the things I think are vital.

Proton and Wine have done an incredible job making Linux gaming bloom like I've never seen before. Talented porters have always been around but they have a really tough hill to climb - they have to hand port, test, and release each title individually. This is really high friction! Proton isn't perfect, of course, but for zero cost, zero effort I'd submit it is INCREDIBLE. I didn't even realize there WAS a Linux port until I looked into Proton.

I can't overstate that. This is, by far, the game with the most positive feedback on the Linux port that I've ever worked on. That's inclusive of the comments in the forums and here, many of which are obviously critical in one way or another. And that includes games that did ship with hand-built Linux support!

In my eyes, shipping hand-built Linux releases means giving you a product that is updated less often, tested less well and which takes more effort/money all around. Games can get dropped on the floor - we see it all the time. But Proton is a lot more likely to have good Unity support and be updated for many years to come. I'd bet on Valve over the average longevity of an indie studio every time.

You can take away from this what you will - either that I'm dismissing the key issues or that I'm being pragmatic - but what I see is Linux support that is easy for us and that works well for our users. And that makes me happy.

Thanks for reading.

lets see how stadia will change it. i guess wrapping proton around games like assassins creed costs to much performance. google has to pay for every WATT, so i think they want real native linux games on stadia
flesk Jun 7, 2019
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Unless the game is whitelisted by Valve most Linux users won't even be aware that there's a Linux "port" though. I personally wouldn't even have heard of the game if it wasn't for this article, since it doesn't show up on Steam for me, with my preferences set to display only Linux games. I also prefer a native* port over a Windows version with Proton any day.

* And a Unity game with a Linux version is no less native on Linux than its Windows version is on Windows.
kompressor Jun 7, 2019
I think Stadia will fail to make a meaningful impact.

Being whitelisted is on our list.
mylka Jun 7, 2019
i think stadia already has a pretty nice library

especially ubisoft using VULKAN is a big step i think

bethesda already does it, enix lets feral do the work

there are a lot of VULKAN games and why would they use DX in the future, when they have to use VULKAN for staida.... and maybe PS5?

when i see how smooth rage2, doom and wolfenstein works on my PC i am looking forward to more AAA vulkan games
Whitewolfe80 Jun 11, 2019
Quoting: kompressorI think Stadia will fail to make a meaningful impact.

Being whitelisted is on our list.

I have to agree personally the pricing and advantages of each model/tier seem very left field. I have visions of onlive all over again impressive tech however the broadband penetration just isnt there yet until everybody can get fibre even in the middle of nowhere this going to be a toy for tech enthusits just like vr and 3d tvs. Personally a game dev willing and open to linux is a good thing. I totally understand the benefits of steamplay for a dev no outlay no support costs i get that I would ideally like everything to be native but i am also a realist and know where the market share lies but if it was proton or nothing i would go with proton.
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