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Game over for Roblox on Linux / Steam Deck as it's now blocked

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Well, there it is, the update for Roblox has arrived that now forcefully blocks it from working with Wine on Linux systems (like Steam Deck).

It's been a bit of a saga hasn't it? Roblox has always been somewhat iffy to play on Linux, at times being broken while people working on the likes of Grapefruit and Vinegar repeatedly kept up with changes to make it work. The Roblox developers then introduced Hyperion anti-cheat software, although they continued to make it work unofficially with Wine but that wasn't to last as a developer explained that it has caused cheating.

Now if you try to run it, you will simply be told "Wine is not supported.":

This is an intentional change by the Roblox dev team, to block Wine, as noted in the previous article linked above where a Roblox developer clearly replied to note it wouldn't work in future.

Despite what you may think of Roblox (and it's historically had plenty of problems) as one of the biggest gaming platforms ever, it's certainly a shame to see it go. There's plenty of people out there that have Roblox as their main thing, and so not being able to do it on Linux is quite a loss.

Any game that intentionally prevents it from working on Linux is a loss as it just increases the uphill battle Linux has as a gaming platform. There's not exactly many accessible alternatives to it for Linux fans.

Know any alternatives for people looking? Let readers know in the comments.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Anti-Cheat, Misc, Wine
17 Likes
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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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62 comments
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Nocifer Mar 3
Quoting: poiuz
Quoting: Nociferthe way they chose to express their opinion would still be rude as fscking hell.

Goddammit, why is it so hard for people to be kind to each other?
Nice joke. Why are you rude now? Stop being a morale apostle if you can't uphold your own standards.

What's this, a schoolyard debate? This is not me being rude, this is me being exasperated by your own rudeness.

Quoting: poiuzI still don't see my initial post as being rude.

And that's the real issue here. You don't see it because you actually don't have a clue about what "being rude" actually means, and what it feels like to those on the receiving end of uncalled-for rudeness. I think you're overdue for some serious social reeducation.
poiuz Mar 3
Quoting: s01itudePerhaps there's a bit of pedantry/semantics in what I'm about to say, but frankly that's the importance of it anyway.

"we had to disable many antitamper checks to make Hyperion run on wine" actually (I'll be honest that I didn't read the article nor do I care to) that sentence in and of itself does not disprove Pengling's statment about using the same anti-cheat and allowing it through wine. In fact it lines up with what he's saying.

Saying they had to disable functions to make it run on wine actually implies it's the same anticheat (again I dont know if Hyperion is the same software they were using before, just going off your specific quote), and furthermore shows they had to do things to allow it to work with wine which is further in line with what Pengling states.

Now to my point about the importance of semantics, I suspect that your definition of "same anti-cheat" is probably different than Penglings, otherwise you wouldn't have use a quote that actually supports their statement in order to counter their statement. Given how your previous discussion went, as well, I'd suggest coming to equal terms with others on what you specifically mean with each term because otherwise you end up in meaningless discussion that will come to no resolution other than frustration.

Discussion is unproductive if the people involved cannot agree on the definitions of the core terms being discussed.
They use less checks in the Wine version. This is what I'd call different anti-cheat. Just because it's the same software doesn't mean it's the same code running. Especially in the context of its domain (preventing cheats), what's running in Wine is, according to the developers, a worse version.

It's like the Linux kernel: It's always the same software but based on the build (or in case of specialised builds even the system it is running on) it behaves differently (e.g. missing drivers). Up to the point to which the versions may be incompatible (e.g. Android vs GNU/Linux).

Quoting: NociferWhat's this, a schoolyard debate? This is not me being rude, this is me being exasperated by your own rudeness.

And that's the real issue here. You don't see it because you actually don't have a clue about what "being rude" actually means, and what it feels like to those on the receiving end of uncalled-for rudeness. I think you're overdue for some serious social reeducation.
It's just too funny. Just stop lecturing people, you're just really awful at it.

To conclude: If I'd say I was exasperated by the comment I could simply claim I wasn't rude? I mean, that's exactly what you're doing.
s01itude Mar 3
Quoting: poiuzThey use less checks in the Wine version. This is what I'd call different anti-cheat. Just because it's the same software doesn't mean it's the same code running. Especially in the context of its domain (preventing cheats), what's running in Wine is, according to the developers, a worse version.

It's like the Linux kernel: It's always the same software but based on the build (or in case of specialised builds even the system it is running on) it behaves differently (e.g. missing drivers). Up to the point to which the versions may be incompatible (e.g. Android vs GNU/Linux).

Well thanks for explaining that to me, but this is exactly what I was alluding to. To you the same software isn't the same software if it's been changed, but to Pengling the same software-but-changed is the same software. And frankly I'd side with Pengling because what they explained in that quote doesn't sound like some repository fork, but rather just changing flags to off (again I'm going purely off that quote, if that's not what they actually did I have no point of reference for that).

And if you have problems agreeing on that kind of term I'd warn you that you probably don't agree with others on terms such as "rude" or "exasperated". And at this point it really doesn't matter who is using the words right, you're still going to be wasting your time arguing over semantics.

And frankly if you find it more important to be precise and correct than to be polite or take the high ground and apologize (even if you don't think you did something rude) you're kinda showing yourself to be rude, and this is why people are calling you rude.
Suffering succotash, folks! Put the knives away! You're arguing a moot point!

As a man who looks in the mirror and notices less hair than ten years ago, I don't particularly care about some game that seems like Second Life for kids and if it supports my preferred OS and/or kernel or not. Particularly since it's in the news every few weeks for being a scam disguised as a game or a hive of predators. Deserved or not, again, much like Second Life. I don't know enough about it to have an opinion.

All I know is that my kids, should I be blessed enough to have them, will touch Roblox over my moldy-rotten-festering corpse.

Might I suggest Toontown Rewritten as an alternative MMO for young'ins? It even has a flatpak (doesn't use flathub) for its launcher and just introduced controller support. It even got former Toontown Online design director Jesse Schell's approval.
Are there any cloud streaming services that provide access to Roblox? If so, perhaps that should be the recommendation from now on for anyone wanting to play it on Linux.
Quoting: Xaero_VincentRoblox still runs on Linux with Waydroid. The Performance isn't great, however, but playable on a fast enough computer.


Is there a "how to" guide for getting this setup?
You can install all Android games with Waydroid? It's an Android emulator?
doragasu Mar 4
Quoting: legluondunetYou can install all Android games with Waydroid? It's an Android emulator?

Gave it a try and it works, but mouse control does not properly work in some games, maybe a configuration issue?
Quoting: legluondunetYou can install all Android games with Waydroid? It's an Android emulator?

Actually no, it allows you to run Android apps on your native kernel. All you need is a Wayland compositor and an Android image of your choice. It's not a compatibility layer, either. It uses Linux namespaces to run Android apps in a container, without being a full VM.

The official docs are a good place to start. The ArchWiki has a decent write-up too.


Last edited by redneckdrow on 4 March 2024 at 6:56 pm UTC
poiuz Mar 5
Quoting: s01itudeWell thanks for explaining that to me, but this is exactly what I was alluding to. To you the same software isn't the same software if it's been changed, but to Pengling the same software-but-changed is the same software. And frankly I'd side with Pengling because what they explained in that quote doesn't sound like some repository fork, but rather just changing flags to off (again I'm going purely off that quote, if that's not what they actually did I have no point of reference for that).
As explained, the same software produces different anti-cheat based on the environment. That's like the same image or video encoder producing different results/compression based on user configuration. And as quoted, it was confirmed by the developers that it was different (less & therefore worse). And if you re-read the rest of the previous news you'll find out why Wine is or will be blocked by the anti-cheat: They'll remove or disable the special handling because it's a maintenance burden.
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