Tomb Raider's Linux port from Feral Interactive delisted on Steam

Quoting: AederConsidering that apparently even games with good Linux ports are getting switched to their Proton version it sure feels like Proton killed native Linux ports for the most part.

I don't think it's too far out of the realm of possibility that a single, open-source translation layer being worked on by dedicated devs and a large community with substantial backing and funding (wine/proton) has surpassed a few smaller companys' after-the-fact game porting tools ("after-the-fact" referring to the original game dev's outsourcing of their linux port). Especially when those tools generally also had their own translation layers (especially graphics api's).

On the one hand, I'm very appreciative of Feral's high quality ports. I own almost all the linux ports they've released over the last 7 years, and I hope with increasing marketshare from the steam deck the number of companies looking to make new official native ports will increase (larger studios that require more control over the game and it's ports are unlikely to leave a large playerbase in the hands of a potentially volatile translation layer (proton) that not only has to support their game, but others as well).

On the other hand, that doesn't mean that other games didn't have low-quality ports. If I had to choose between a low-quality port and running the actively-maintained win32 version through proton, I'd take proton any day. And if the lower cost of support/maintenance of proton results in a game being officially tested/supported on linux, I'd call that a win.



Purely speculative, but I wouldn't be surprised if game-porting companies started offering a proton-compatibility service, wherein game studios could pay to have their games vetted through proton and tested with each new version to ensure it remains fully operational. Those services could also partner with Valve to make sure those games only use versions of proton that have been vetted by default, and contribute upstream to proton when issues are encountered. In that way, game devs could still pay to "officially" port their game to linux, but without the overhead, delays, and split project code of creating separate, native binaries.


Last edited by lectrode on 15 February 2022 at 9:18 pm UTC

Quoting: vipor29i mean tomb raider runs miles better in proton than the port. proton has come so far that at this point we can just be happy that a title is fully playable.

I started up a game of Civilization VI recently, and out of curiosity decided to compare the native Linux version to the Windows version in Proton. I was stunned to find that the game performs substantially better in Proton. Using the graphics benchmark, native topped out around 25 FPS. In Proton, it's 70+ FPS!


Last edited by Mountain Man on 15 February 2022 at 9:58 pm UTC

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: vipor29i mean tomb raider runs miles better in proton than the port. proton has come so far that at this point we can just be happy that a title is fully playable.

I started up a game of Civilization VI recently, and out of curiosity decided to compare the native Linux version to the Windows version in Proton. I was stunned to find that the game performs substantially better in Proton. Using the graphics benchmark, native topped out around 25 FPS. In Proton, it's 70+ FPS!

But does it help turns flip over faster? For me the big thing with any Civ is, once I get into the later game, you're like waiting forever for the computer's turn.

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: vipor29i mean tomb raider runs miles better in proton than the port. proton has come so far that at this point we can just be happy that a title is fully playable.

I started up a game of Civilization VI recently, and out of curiosity decided to compare the native Linux version to the Windows version in Proton. I was stunned to find that the game performs substantially better in Proton. Using the graphics benchmark, native topped out around 25 FPS. In Proton, it's 70+ FPS!

But does it help turns flip over faster? For me the big thing with any Civ is, once I get into the later game, you're like waiting forever for the computer's turn.

I don't think it makes the AI run any faster.

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: Purple Library Guy

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: vipor29i mean tomb raider runs miles better in proton than the port. proton has come so far that at this point we can just be happy that a title is fully playable.

I started up a game of Civilization VI recently, and out of curiosity decided to compare the native Linux version to the Windows version in Proton. I was stunned to find that the game performs substantially better in Proton. Using the graphics benchmark, native topped out around 25 FPS. In Proton, it's 70+ FPS!

But does it help turns flip over faster? For me the big thing with any Civ is, once I get into the later game, you're like waiting forever for the computer's turn.

I don't think it makes the AI run any faster.

Oh well.

It seems odd to me that they would have a time-limited license, since the vast majority of the work happens up front, but I suppose they can negotiate lower costs that way, and renegotiate/cancel in the future based on recent revenue.

I got that Tomb Raider port in a sale a few years ago...
Lately I've decided to stick to only buying indie games built with cross-platform engines, and, those seem to run more smoothly.

The native port has some black textures when using the recent NVIDIA drivers, but, other than that, I didn't have a single problem with it. It runs very smoothly on my GTX 1080, and even the multiplayer part works well (though it's virtually impossible to play with anyone, because there is no cross-platform multiplayer).
On the other hand, I understand why Feral don't bother with renewing the license.

Quoting: vipor29i mean tomb raider runs miles better in proton than the port. proton has come so far that at this point we can just be happy that a title is fully playable.

I might try that. Always thought the port ran like ass so I never bothered to finish it or even get the other games.

Myself I don't find much problems running Tomb Raider 2013, it is sad the port is being removed.
It would be nice if these ports continued selling...