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Garry Newman from Facepunch Studios has put out a new blog post detailing their final plans for the Linux version of the survival game Rust.

It's quite an open and honest post about the state of things, noting that they didn't really do a good job of actually supporting the Linux version. The post mentions how they never routinely tested it, unless they knew something was wrong. Newman also mentions how the "quiet majority" of Linux gamers accept that they're often a second-class citizen but we shouldn't be as we are paying the same. Which is why they made the decision to stop supporting Linux originally in July last year.

Their plan for the Linux version going forward is to split it away from Windows and Mac, along with getting no new features but it will see "maintenance patches". So Linux owners can still play it and play online together, but not with Windows and Mac players.

Facepunch will also not work on any future Linux games, as they "can't/won't properly support it".

A shame this happened, but nice to finally draw a line under it and know exactly what's happening.

If you are after a survival game that's supported on Linux, I can recommend 7 Days to Die which is really good fun [Humble Store - Steam]. Our livestreamer, Sin, regularly shows it off on our Twitch Channel.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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ElectricPrism Aug 10, 2019
So facepunch is admitting they cant hack it and suck ass. Sad.
[email protected] Aug 10, 2019
Too bad I can't get a refund.
ageres Aug 10, 2019
1. Abandon Linux support, no longer sell the game for Linux;
2. "Nobody plays the Linux version! See? Only 0.1%!"
3. Segregate Linux players, so they won't ever find a populated server.

Сause-and-effect relations are strong with this Garry.
Dragunov Aug 10, 2019
I bought Rust way back in 2014 when it was still in early Alpha stages and it was a lot of fun back then, but they kept making changes and the game got less and less fun to play. The last straw for me was when they added permanent Gender and Race Locked characters based on your Steam ID. I won't ever play again until they remove the Gender and Race locks and bring back Linux Support. Linux players should be able to play on the same servers as their Winblows and Mac counterparts

I don't really have the time for this type of game anyway.
1xok Aug 10, 2019
One more thing that comes to mind: I've hardly played Rust so far, because I was always immediately attacked by an angry mob. It's almost impossible for a novice to get into the game. I would have played Rust a lot more if I'd met people like XPander.

The problem has now been solved. ;)

But joking aside: Linux players are often much more cooperative than the average gamer. A game like Rust can benefit enormously if the cooperative players are separated. Sure, it's bad for people who like war. I like war too. I love to play CSGO for example. But what happens in Rust is often just unfair and complete coincidence. This is no fun in the long run. I'll try Rust again when the crossplay is gone.
Whitewolfe80 Aug 10, 2019
Quoting: LinuxwarperAnticheat working with Proton will be the next big thing. As much as I want Linux ecosystem to grow, I really can't justify the expectation of a linux port. It may not popular opinion but developers can probably make more money instead of supporting Linux. FURTHERMORE many of the supposedly native Linux ports are lacking. What good is the game running on Linux if it's not properly developed and optimized for the platform?
Proton is as far as I see it a great solution for developers who have modest interest in Linux but can't justify supporting the platform.

And in chosing Vulkan to ensure the game complies with Proton, indirectly it will pave the way for a future where crossplatform software are used. This will inevitably lead to native ports for all platforms and the optimization will be largely the same for them. The way I see it the important issues for Linux gaming, at this point in time with our 1% marketshare, isn't native support but anticheat working with Proton or/and Proton being further polished (D9VK maturing more for example).

Quoting: Whitewolfe80It is interesting how accepting/resigned to the fact that proton is the best way to game on linux these days. When it first came out many said as long as native ports dont suffer well lets be brutally honest if its not from Feral vp or nightdrive its not coming natively to linux. Proton is the reality of linux gaming dont get me wrong am not down on it think its a great investment by valve and a sensible business decision vs windows and Epic store. But back to my original point we kind of all got to the point of meh what you going to do very quickly.
The reason for this makes perfect sense. Linux has 1% marketshare. In my opinion, with some exceptions, making a Linux port is not worth it. Because of that I am content playing games through Proton as long as it runs well.
But if ever the time comes where Linux gains 10% marketshare, I will no longer be happy with Proton and demand native port. Because at that point developers will have little to no excuse for doing a native release, and I will consider it a big negative if developers rely on Proton.

Oh I know i get it but it went from being a big do not want to this is the future. I am hoping the number of liunx gamers increases as much as its not always been a brilliant vocale for linux gaming linus video annoying entitled gaming on linux doesnt suck now and windows should be worried if nothing else have the potentinal to be seen by 9 million people that are subbed to linus. But even with that and the funding valve continue to pump in we are sitting at 1 percent still.
DrMcCoy Aug 10, 2019
Quoting: KimyrielleYou mistakenly assume that the average game dev knows how to install Linux. Or use any development tool not called Visual Studio.

That also goes the other way round. While I'm not a game dev, I am somewhat game-dev adjacent. And I've been doing C and C++ on Linux for nearly 20 years now.

During that time, I've, from time to time, tried to set up Visual Studio on VMs, to make my FLOSS projects compile there and offer an easy way for contributors using Windows to jump in. And I've found it a profoundly dev-hostile environment.

On my day job (again not game dev), I've been put into a project that uses C# (with a whole set of stuff on top). I had less problems with acclimatizing to C# from my C++ knowledge than the absolute uncomfortableness of the Visual Studio glob.

Really, it's more about the fact that the concepts, assumptions and foci of Windows development vs. Linux development is completely different. They attack the problem from opposite angles and arrive at different solutions. So if you're accustomed to one, it's difficult to change to the other.

I wouldn't even necessarily say that one way is better than the other, although I do have my own opinions and existing workflows edged into my brain.

Yeah, some of that because Microsoft desperately wants to not follow standards, to leverage its monopoly to keep developers trapped in Windows-land. But some of that is a consequence of history. And some of that is just pure coincidence, two solutions being developed at the same time.
Mountain Man Aug 10, 2019
Seems like every time these guys make an announcement about Linux, they live up to their name.
TheSHEEEP Aug 10, 2019
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Quoting: Mountain ManSeems like every time these guys make an announcement about Linux, they live up to their name.
Well, it's kinda unlikely we'll ever hear about them again. At least here.
Liam Dawe Aug 10, 2019
Quoting: TheSHEEEP
Quoting: Mountain ManSeems like every time these guys make an announcement about Linux, they live up to their name.
Well, it's kinda unlikely we'll ever hear about them again. At least here.
Correct. Unless they suddenly support us again in future, this is likely the last ever post about them :)
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