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Rocket League did actually arrive on Linux while I was asleep last night and my lovely team popped the article out for me. I am awake, I have played it and here are some thoughts.

Note: While it is in Beta, there is no need to opt-in to anything. It will install as normal.

It turns out the port was done by both Ryan "Icculus" Gordon (mr porter man) and Timothee Besset (previously worked for id software):

@RocketLeague is now available on Steam for Linux/SteamOS. Huge props to @icculus and @TTimo for doing the heavy lifting!

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) September 9, 2016


First thing, it is already better than a lot of ports due to one simple fact: It works fine with more than one monitor. Seriously, too many games screw that up, but Rocket League displays perfectly fine on what is set as my main monitor ‒ woohoo!

Steam Overlay works fine as expected, since they are only technically supporting SteamOS right now during the beta, it would be incredibly weird if it didn’t. I’ve seen a few ports recently that don’t work with the Steam Overlay so it’s worth mentioning.

I tested it with my Nvidia 980ti with the 367.44 driver and it has been fine, BTRE also tested it on his Radeon 7870 and Mesa git which also mostly worked fine in his tests (some stutter). For me it's almost silky smooth, I haven't noticed any stutter at all!

I’ve seen people say the Options menu takes a while to load up, but luckily everything in the menu system is instant for me.

Interestingly, the SteamOS/Linux system requirements on Steam are actually lower than what Windows requires. I do wonder if this is intentional or not, but it’s amusing to see, as it’s the first I’ve seen like it.

Here’s a random video of me scoring in two different games (taken from replays):

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I’m especially fond of the second goal, where the opposing team tried to save it, but ended up just helping me score even more.

Even without VSYNC on anywhere, the game on Linux seems to be locked to 60FPS, I adjusted the frames slider to 150FPS to be sure, but it didn’t seem to do anything.

I have come across the bug where the game will crash to the desktop when you exit a match, this was listed in their known issues they put out before release. A little annoying to have such an issue after it was delayed for so long, but it is in beta and it will get fixed eventually.

This is definitely a game for a gamepad/Steam Controller, it feels far more natural. One thing I like in particular is that I don’t need to go into Steam Big Picture for the Steam Controller to work. I started off in keyboard and mouse mode, turned on my Steam Controller during gameplay and all the prompts properly switched over ‒ fantastic.

As for the gameplay, wow. I had no idea we were missing something this incredibly fun for so long. I obviously knew we were missing something, but I have utterly fallen in love with the game already.

It's extremely simple to pick up and play for a few minutes, but it will take a lot of hours to really get to grips with it. This is what I truly love about the game, even in my limited testing I have been able to score goals, defend my own goal and generally have a really awesome time.

I breezed through the basic training, but wow the Rocket Flying I have found to be quite difficult. This is where you jump, hold your rocket boosters down and it tells you to pitch up to hit the ball, my car just seems to want to glide a tiny bit and then fall to the ground. I’ve spoken to a number of others with tens of hours of playtime and they also state it’s rather hard to figure that part out, so I am glad it’s not me being me.

The customization options are fun, so naturally I had to do this:
image
I later unlocked a Fez hat for my car, so now I'm even happier.

Normal matchmaking works perfectly well. I have enjoyed a little while in the game now, and I think a lot of you who haven’t picked it up before are going to seriously enjoy this one.

My first ever online game ended in a 6-2, my side being the loser (of course). I was one of the goal scorers for my team, and it was absolutely amazing. Three of my team all racing for the ball, a clear goal, but only I seemed to have boosted, so naturally I boosted in front and smashed that bad boy into the goal. Never have I felt so truly happy playing a game.

I also tested a 1on1 versus a GOL community member while they were on Windows, every time I was the party leader and tried to make a game it crashed to the desktop. It seemed to work when they were the party leader.

The different types of game modes are certainly a way to keep the game fresh, after only playing 1 or 2 quick football style games (or Soccer to some of you) I played what was essentially Basketball and it was quite a bit harder. Just as fun and I seriously can't wait to play more of all of the game modes. Usually in games like this I tend to only really like the main mode, but Rocket League seems incredibly fun in all different modes.

On top of the seriously fun gameplay, it has a pretty damn good soundtrack with lots of variety!

I’m seriously impressed by the performance, the gameplay and everything. Go buy it.

If you don’t hear from me for a while, blame this game. I will be doing our usual weekly livestream tonight where Rocket League will be featured, so be sure to follow us on Twitch.

Final note, check out the awesome video by the very talented Jakejw93 where he shows off Rocket League across his triple screen setup.

Find Rocket League 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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51 comments
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neowiz73 Sep 9, 2016
I started to try and play this today, but saddly I'm having a few issues with how the game assigns the controls.
at the startup screen where it says press any button to start I can press my steam controller button and it goes to the title screen. which it shows the controller buttons next to the menu items showing that it detects the controller just fine.
But If i try to navigate with the steam controller there is absolutely no response. I can only use my mouse and keyboard to select options on the menu.
If I press the play/start button on the controller it assigns the steam controller to player 2.

If i try to play the tutorial with only 1 player I'm only able to use mouse and keyboard, there is absolutely no response from the steam controller.

is anyone else having this issue?

I think it could be my Roccat mouse, since I've notice in other games where the roccat is actually detected as a "controller" sometimes. which I think the game auto assigns my mouse as Player 1 and my Steam controller is considered an extra input. does anyone know a way to switch primary inputs for the game?

I may bring this up with the game devs to see as well.
HadBabits Sep 9, 2016
I've had no problems playing on my rig, fortunately (GTX 760 Driver 367.44). As another user said, my 144 hz monitor doesn't seem to have problems going past the 60 fps (it actually started on 62 frames, I think) up to the 100s. I wonder if the monitor could have something to do with it?

I've played quite a bit with my girlfriend in the past on PS4, and it seems the practice has stuck with me. Almost feels like cheating to be a rookie again :B The Rumble mode is really really fun, if a bit more random and less skill based :P
paasisti Sep 9, 2016
Is anyone else suffering from terrible load issues in multiplayer? More often than not, I spend the first half a minute of a match stuck in a freezed frame or some serious stuttering. This doesn't happen in Windows, so I doubt it's a network issue.
paasisti Sep 9, 2016
Oh, and another thing. When I first started the beta, I was a rank 1 rookie. After playing on Windows and then returning to Linux, I got my rank 18 back with all of its unlocks!


Last edited by paasisti on 9 September 2016 at 8:48 pm UTC
Beamboom Sep 9, 2016
I've got rock steady framerate, smooth as butter on my good old gtx680. Not that it's the most graphics intensive game, but still.

And man, is this game fun. It was great fun with the first one on my PS3, and just as fun this time around. :)

A good candidate for the GOTY this year!
Edmene Sep 9, 2016
I already put 3 hours in the game, a very fun game offline and online, with good performance and as a test also run well in intel hd 4000 with low settings and hd resolution(1280x720 Max:60fps-Minimum:52fps).
Schattenspiegel Sep 9, 2016
Quoting: neowiz73...
If i try to play the tutorial with only 1 player I'm only able to use mouse and keyboard, there is absolutely no response from the steam controller.

is anyone else having this issue?
...
See this discussion, pls.
meaning: either unplug all other controller/joysticks/wheels before starting the game or try the approach given here


Last edited by Schattenspiegel on 9 September 2016 at 9:38 pm UTC
N30N Sep 9, 2016
Is Anti Aliasing working for (any of) you guys? The in-game settings have no effect. Nor is trying to override it. :S:
[center][[/center]
I'm using the Nvidia v370.28 driver under Arch.

Edit: While I wait for a reply. It seems DSR works and helps a little bit with the jaggies. To enable, use the -ResX & -ResY launch options to double the width and height of your screens native resolution.


Last edited by N30N on 10 September 2016 at 1:18 pm UTC
Madh Sep 9, 2016
I'm very happy to enjoy this game in GNU/Linux. However i'm dissapointed about performance in my computer. I'm playing with maximum settings at 1080p@60FPS, but i feel the game is not running smoothly (maybe stuttering issues). Any with the same problem?

Specs:

Distribution: Manjaro 16.08 Ellada
Desktop: Cinnamon
Kernel: 4.7.2
GPU: GTX 970
Drivers: 367.44
Sephsplace Sep 10, 2016
My game is locked to 60fps, and if i move the slider higher i get awful input lag and weird camera/ car model behaviour, but at 60fps game runs great!. if anyone is like me and is playing on windows and linux, you can create a symlink between your SaveData folders and your level car presets and stats will work together :)
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