Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
There's some activity on the Mesa-dev mailing list with patches that will enable both Dying Light & Dead Island Definitive Edition (and it seems Dead Island Riptide Definite Edition too) to work on Mesa.

You can see the initial Mesa-dev mailing list entry here. From the entry:
QuoteWith this change, both games work on Mesa and render correctly. Note that the games require OpenGL 4.4+, and so it is necessary to launch them with MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE and MESA_GLSL_VERSION_OVERRIDE set to OpenGL 4.4 (GLSL 440) or higher.

Contrary to popular belief, this problem actually had nothing whatsoever to do with compatibility profiles. Forcing Mesa to create a higher version compatibility profile with MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=4.5COMPAT or allow_higher_compat_version results in graphical glitches, so don't use that.

There's been a bit of back and forth between the author and a few other Mesa developers, but another developer has confirmed it does indeed fix Dying Light.

Going by the replies, it seems the games do something with SDL that causes the issues, from this reply:
QuoteIn any case, it's clear that the game functions best with a core profile and there's no obvious intent to use a compat profile, just some silliness with the SDL context creation where they didn't set a couple of variables to tell SDL to get them a specific version. The game's API calls are clearly those of a modern OpenGL application.

It hasn't yet been accepted into Mesa-git, but hopefully it will be so Mesa users can enjoy these games. If you're interested, I do suggest reading the replies to the original post. There's also this patch which is also needed, which sets the 'allow_glsl_builtin_redeclaration' option for the games. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Mesa, OpenGL
14 Likes
About the author -
author picture
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.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
12 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

jsa1983 May 14, 2017
That's great news!! Dying Light is the only game I miss from the time I was using fglrx (about 3 years ago...?)
PublicNuisance May 14, 2017
As someone who owns Dead Island and Dying Light as well as uses Mesa this is awesome news. To be fair I recall both working for me but with terrible FPS. Although even with AMDGPU Pro drivers my RX480 had about 20 FPS on low so not like Mesa could have been much worse.
sr_ls_boy May 14, 2017
That's good. I just purchased an RX460. I will be using Mesa.
obedlink May 14, 2017
There's another games that doesn't run on Mesa; Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition.
I hope it will run soon.
BTRE May 15, 2017
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
Quoting: obedlinkThere's another games that doesn't run on Mesa; Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition.
I hope it will run soon.
It already does. The shim will never and should never be incorporated into Mesa because it's not an actual bug. The developer needs to fix something on their end. But chances are slim of that since Larian really doesn't seem to care for Linux at all, given their track record. Less so for Mesa users since we're a tiny sliver of the already small Linux market. It's also likely they no longer have a Linux developer given their post-launch silence and no mentions of Linux support for their upcoming sequel. But you can definitely play the game if you want to.
sr_ls_boy May 15, 2017
What's the format for steam launch options?

Is it VAR=val @@command@@ ? or %%command%%
Linas May 15, 2017
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: PublicNuisanceAlthough even with AMDGPU Pro drivers my RX480 had about 20 FPS on low so not like Mesa could have been much worse.

Wow, that's quite bad. I was planning to get myself an RX580, but with this performance level, even a modest NVIDIA card would beat it.

Is it as bad with all the games? Would it be possible to run something like Mankind Divided on AMD graphics?
Pompesdesky May 15, 2017
Quoting: LinasWow, that's quite bad. I was planning to get myself an RX580, but with this performance level, even a modest NVIDIA card would beat it.

Is it as bad with all the games? Would it be possible to run something like Mankind Divided on AMD graphics?

I have an RX480 (with MESA) and it works really well with games like Tomb Raider, Dirt Rally or Payday 2. There are plenty of benchmarks on Phoronix for you to check if you want to get reassured ;)
MasterSleort May 15, 2017
Quoting: Linas
Quoting: PublicNuisanceAlthough even with AMDGPU Pro drivers my RX480 had about 20 FPS on low so not like Mesa could have been much worse.

Wow, that's quite bad. I was planning to get myself an RX580, but with this performance level, even a modest NVIDIA card would beat it.

Is it as bad with all the games? Would it be possible to run something like Mankind Divided on AMD graphics?

I think it is. I am able to play DE: Mankind Divided on 4K, almost everything maxed out on my Fury X (with latest stable mesa) with around 30fps. It sometimes drops below, but I am also taxing it quite much :D Right now I don't have it installed, so I can't test performance on 1080p resolution. Also I don't really like the game, but that's another story...
Also Hitman I can play at 4K resolution on everything maxed out with framerates between 30 and 60 fps. Same goes for Mad Max, where it very rarely drops below 45 fps and generally stays around 60 fps at 4k and everything maxed out.

My experience with mesa has certainly been good as of late, and while there still is some hickups here and there, it still is a very nice experience.
drmoth May 15, 2017
Dead Island Definitive Edition is loads of fun. I know Dying Light is better, but don't overlook Dead Island either, it's a blast (the ending sucks but most FPS games are plagued with terrible endings)
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.