Well, the writing was on the wall for some time but this confirms it - it seems Feral Interactive aren't likely to do more Linux ports with the official port of A Total War Saga: TROY for Linux cancelled.
It was announced today that TROY would be finally seeing a Steam release on September 2. Feral did their usual thing on Twitter of quote-tweeting, mentioning it would be on macOS soon after the Windows release. A mention of Linux was totally absent.
Feral replied to a user on Twitter to say:
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to Epic, and we are not resuming development for the Steam release. We will continue to assess the feasibility of porting games to Linux, but there is generally less demand for native titles since Valve’s launch of Proton.
Considering there's a chance that Steam Play Proton might be able to play it from day-1, it's not overly surprising to hear this from Feral considering the cost of porting bigger games with it being far easier for indies. Worth also noting, that TROY was free on Epic Games Store when it first launched, so it would have already eaten into plenty of possible sales.
Part of the problem though, is how most Feral ports lack cross-platform multiplayer with Windows and that type of thing simply won't fly on the upcoming Steam Deck. Add into that issues with saves between the Windows version and Feral ports, that could cause more confusion if they don't sync up. Not only that but since the Steam Deck is basically a PC in handheld form, seeing bigger titles launch for it officially months or years later also wouldn't be a good look.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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jarhead_h 31 Jul 2021
Can we also note here:
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to EpicEpic's complete lack of Linux support means games don't get ported to Linux as well (Because why would you port a game to Linux if there is no way to ship the build or launch it, due to contractual obligations that says distribution must go through EGS which doesn't support that).
Steam's solution sucks for Feral (and anyone doing porting) but at least we get the games running on Linux.
I'm at the point where I just won't buy a game that was an Epic exclusive. I've still got half of my Steam library never installed, so I'm not lacking for new games. If they are going to block me from even playing it, the hell with 'em.
slaapliedje 3 Aug 2021
Well, I guess it's time to reinstall Windows on my main gaming PC again. With Ethan Lee and Ryan Gordon raising concerns, Feral cancelling ports and many other developers bailing out of Linux gaming, I don't see any reason to stay. I don't want to mess with custom Proton runtimes, DLL overrides, env variables and many subtle bugs that plague even the games with "Platinum" rating on ProtonDB - I just want to click and play, like a normal person.If you legitimately find games that have Platinum Rating and you're using the same OS / Proton version as the report, then you should report with the problems. Platinum should be 'you click install, it installs, you click play and it plays just like on Windows'. There is no 'subtle bugs' that should be affecting it. Unfortunately if people don't make reports, people won't know of the problems.
Also, people need to rate things correctly. Platinum should literally mean 'push button, play game'. If you have to do custom dlls, side scripts, etc. Gold is the best it should ever get. So yeah that's probably a good indicator that someone marked it wrong if they say 'works flawlessly... after I did this.' That is NOT what Platinum rating is for!
Unfortunately ProtonDB is a community effort, and I think there probably needs some better oversight for it. Like say... Valve should pay some people or something :)
slaapliedje 3 Aug 2021
ha, I gave in and bought Mechwarrior 5 on EGS... then realized I didn't need it right then... so waited until it was on Steam... only time I've ever installed EGS.Can we also note here:
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to EpicEpic's complete lack of Linux support means games don't get ported to Linux as well (Because why would you port a game to Linux if there is no way to ship the build or launch it, due to contractual obligations that says distribution must go through EGS which doesn't support that).
Steam's solution sucks for Feral (and anyone doing porting) but at least we get the games running on Linux.
I'm at the point where I just won't buy a game that was an Epic exclusive. I've still got half of my Steam library never installed, so I'm not lacking for new games. If they are going to block me from even playing it, the hell with 'em.
Has anyone tried Proton for "outside Steam" with Launchbox / BigBox game launcher? We need a utility of this caliber on Linux. This is your "UI for Steam Deck that works with all the stores / emulators" check out videos on YouTube. There is a thread on trying to get it working with Wine...
https://forums.launchbox-app.com/topic/56154-running-launchbox-and-big-box-on-linux/page/8/?tab=comments#comment-387462
Proton runs perfectly fine from console. I do it with a script
#!/bin/sh
mkdir -p $(pwd)/wineprefix
export STEAM_COMPAT_CLIENT_INSTALL_PATH="$HOME/.steam/steam"
STEAM_COMPAT_DATA_PATH=$(pwd)/wineprefix ~/.steam/steamapps/common/Proton\ -\ Experimental/proton run MonolithBay/Binaries/Win64/MonolithBay-Win64-Shipping.exe
you also can add
export PROTON_NO_ESYNC=1 PROTON_NO_FSYNC=1
when you get out of files
Nice, I'll see if I can get that to work... I attempted to add Launchbox in as a non-steam game, got as far as it asking to have .Net Core installed...
Also if you try to run UE4 games which have launcher which installs dependencies (and does not work) try running other exe
usually having "Shipping" in it, usually under GameName/Binaries/... directory. I have managed to run many games this way.
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