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Developer of Deadnaut: Signal Lost requests Linux testers

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Deadnaut: Signal Lost from Screwfly Studios is an upcoming fast-paced sci-fi roguelike with a pretty unique style. The developer got in touch, as they want plenty more Linux testing.

More about it: "From the developer of cult hits Deadnaut, Zafehouse Diaries and Fear Equation comes Deadnaut: Signal Lost. In this slick, fast-paced roguelike you’ll take control of a single Deadnaut, unlock suit upgrades and abilities, fight cosmic horrors, and investigate drifting wrecks and abandoned moons. But remember: your Deadnaut is not your friend – earn their trust, do your job well, and they might return the favour."

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You can direct-download their Linux build here, and comment your thoughts either here in GOL comments or on their Steam community. Keep in mind the Linux build offered is quite limited, as they're just after reports from various systems on how it runs (and a bigger demo will be released later on). So it's your chance to give an indie developer a little helping hand. They did mention some already known issues like:

  • The 3D location render on the navigation screen between missions does not display correctly. It is currently disabled in the Linux version while we work on a fix, however, it can be re-enabled via the command line switch "--disable-default-workarounds" (as it might work in some configurations).
  • Screen resolution and related settings are locked during missions due to a bug in Unity 2019.4 where some render textures are not correctly reinitialised. These settings can be freely changed at any other time. Again, you can disable this lock by using the "--disable-default-workarounds" switch.

The game is built with Unity, so hopefully it won't have too many issues.

Game Feature Highlight:

  • FAST ROGUELIKE GAMEPLAY - Equip your Deadnaut with a wide array of weapons and gear and lead them through a series of procedurally generated missions, fighting where you can — and running when you must.
  • TRUST ISSUES - Your Deadnaut may not like the idea of being torn apart by unknown horrors. If you do a good job, they'll happily accompany you. If not, pay them off or turn them into a mindless space golem. But remember: everything has a price.
  • FIVE DISTINCT SUITS AND PLAYSTYLES - There are many ways to play, from weapons and sensors, to shields and hacking. Will you take the heavy duty Labour suit and slice your way through the ship, or will you slip through the shadows in the ghostly Sensor suit? Maybe you prefer you manipulating gravity, placing drones or sniping from long-range? Play the way you want.
  • HOSTILE ENEMIES, DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTS - Encounter dozens of enemy types, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Avoid — or exploit — the security system in each level, from the Watchers that roam ships to the malfunctioning security Towers and Sentinels that guard settlements.
  • TACTICS, UPGRADES AND CUSTOMISATION - Tailor your armour and damage potential, develop your Deadnaut, and discover powerful combinations and synergies among over 180 upgrades.

Like what you see? Wishlist it on Steam.

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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13 comments
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Eike Mar 22, 2023
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Quoting: LoganBooker
Quoting: detrout"Application is not responding" message showed up when an application was too busy with something else
I came to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, it looks like this is an issue with the Unity version we're using (2019.4.38f). It might be a matter of letting users know about the workaround in terms of increasing the timeout while we continue to look for a better solution. Simply upgrading the Unity version isn't feasible -- we have built a lot of custom tech (including a hybrid SDF/raymarching renderer for the in-game console) that would require a lot of work to refactor for newer versions.

But if the user just waits, the game does start up, right? So, if nothing else can be done, have some message, so the user knows it's alright?
HamishTPB Mar 23, 2023
Tried it out on my Arch desktop system:


OS: Arch Linux x86_64
Kernel: 6.2.7-arch1-1
Uptime: 3 days, 2 hours, 1 min
Packages: 2133 (pacman)
Shell: zsh 5.9
Resolution: 1920x1080, 2560x1080
DE: Plasma 5.27.3
WM: KWin
WM Theme: Breeze
Theme: [Plasma], Breeze [GTK2/3]
Icons: [Plasma], breeze-dark [GTK2/3]
Terminal: kitty
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (16) @ 3.700GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
Memory: 9179MiB / 15921MiB

And it ran flawlessly as far as I can tell. I still have to try it on my Steam Deck.

I need to RTFM a bit but so far I like it a lot!


Last edited by HamishTPB on 23 March 2023 at 10:57 am UTC
Paul Mar 24, 2023
Quoting: LoganBooker
Quoting: PaulWhen trying to run as a native Wayland client I get a SIGABRT and the game doesn't evens start.
Interesting. We had another Arch user report the same issue, but didn't go into much detail about their configuration. We also had someone on our Discord install a fresh copy of Arch and didn't run into the issue. They kindly took a screenshot, which might help: https://imgur.com/a/MaA1XBA

I have a suspicion it might be the game forcing single instance, but haven't been able to replicate. Regardless, we'll disable it for the Linux version as I believe it's problematic anyway. It could also be the use of Vulkan -- you can force the game to use OpenGL via the `-force-opengl` command line.

Hi Logan,
I tried to run it with '-force-opengl' and I think it infinite looped somewhere since my CPU usage on 1 core went up to 100% but it never opened.

I ran it using strace (without '-force-opengl'), once with SDL_VIDEODRIVER="wayland":
https://teddy-kun.com/index.php/s/CFsBDXJcnMDBL5S

and once with SDL_VIDEODRIVER="":
https://teddy-kun.com/index.php/s/GnWWP4mx7Wo3eTR

Hope the output helps
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