Request
Please consider making native Linux game clients for the Grim Dawn original game and the AoM expansion.
Ha Ha… No Way… Un-possible… Cannot be done
One might think that porting to Linux is too difficult, too costly, or doesn’t mesh with current priorities. However, the PC computing and gaming industries have been undergoing lots of changes and evolving. The old reasons for supporting the “no can do” arguments have been eroding for quite a while and we’ve cross the tipping point.
Why should Crate port Grim Dawn and AoM to Linux?
Crate should port Grim Dawn and AoM to Linux because:
1 - Steam is on Linux
2 - Changing trends in computing and gaming hardware (Ryzen)
3 - Microsoft’s handling of Win 7’s extended support, Win 10’s invasive spyware and telemetry
4 - Linux gamers run the same Intel/AMD/nVidia hardware
5 - Rapid growth in the number of Linux games
6 - The affect of OpenGL and Vulkan APIs on graphic hardware performance
7 - Mature Linux desktop experience making a transition easy
8 - A plethora of mature Linux desktop apps to address the needs of most users
9 - The number of game engines available on Linux
10 - Businesses and individual consultants with expertise in porting games to Linux
11 - Diablo 3, PoE and Wolcen (Crate’s competition)
12 - Linux desktop market share and market penetration as a measure of success
Please, allow me to elaborate.
Steam is on Linux
Steam is on Linux because Valve recognized the threat posed by Microsoft with the Windows store. Its a matter of time before MS forces all installs through its Windows store. This would end Valve’s Steam platform.
Changing trends in computing and gaming hardware (Ryzen)
AMD’s Ryzen CPUs/APUs offers a large amount of computing power at a relatively inexpensive price (below Intel), which is enticing many to join the Ryzen camp. Yesterday’s high end enthusiast CPUs are today’s mainstream CPUs. The current price spike in video cards has made building a new PC difficult. However, with the release of competitively priced Ryzen APUs (CPU with on-chip Raedon graphics), AMD is skewering both Intel and nVidia, and easing the pressure on the DIY PC builders.
Microsoft’s handling of Win 7’s extended support, Win 10’s invasive spyware and telemetry
Microsoft announced that they won’t be supporting AMD Ryzen and Intel Coffee Lake CPUs on Windows 7, despite their Jan. 2020 extended support commitment. This is an attempt to strong arm consumers into running Win 10. The invasive spyware and telemetry on Win 10 shocked and angered consumers to the point that some have labeled Win 10 as spyware masquerading as an OS. For many the breaking of the extended support commitment, the strong arm tactics, and the spyware/telemetry are enough to motive them to abandon Windows and adopt Linux. Those who remain on the Windows platform do so because of the time and money investment in Windows software. However, a growing number of unhappy Windows users are looking for alternatives.
Linux gamers run the same Intel/AMD/nVidia hardware
Many people view users through the platform segmentation lens. They classify users as Windows users, Linux users or Mac users. However, this is a flawed perception. We are primarily Intel, AMD, and nVidia users/customers. Linux and Windows users belong to the same pool because they run the same types of hardware, thus they are on the Intel/AMD/nVidia platform. Linux gamers use the same motherboards, video cards, RAM, hard drives/SSDs, flat panel displays, and gaming keyboards/mice as Windows gamers.
Over the Dec. 2017 holiday season I built a new AMD Ryzen PC. Partial specs:
- Ryzen 7 1700X CPU
- Asus CrossHair VI HERO (WI-FI AC) AM4 motherboard
- 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM
- EVGA GTX 1060 6GB (dual fan) graphics card
- ViewSonic XG2401 24inch 144hz Free Sync flat panel
- Samsung 500GB SSD
- G.Skill Ripjaws KM780 MX gaming keyboard (cherry switches)
I’m running a bleeding edge hardware setup with the CPU overclocked at 4Ghz stable. I’m using 64bit Manjaro Linux v17.1.5, a derivative of Arch Linux, with the KDE Plasma 5.12 desktop. I have 119hz refresh at the desktop on my monitor. The install of Manjaro was simple and all of my hardware was recognized without any special effort on my part.
Rapid growth in the number of Linux games
Valve and Steam have helped to spur the rapid increase in the number of Linux games including AAA rated titles. The quality and polish in Linux games is on par with their Windows counterparts. Have a look:
http://www.feralinteractive.com/en/linux-games/
and…
http://www.aspyr.com
on Steam…
http://store.steampowered.com/linux
and GoG.com
https://www.gog.com/games?system=lin_mint,lin_ubuntu&sort=popularity&page=1
The affect of OpenGL and Vulkan APIs on graphic hardware performance
OpenGL has a long history as an open standard and was the API used to make 3D Windows games before creation of Direct X. In Feb. 2016, The Khronos Group announced the release of the open standard successor to OpenGL called Vulkan. The Vulkan API is enabling higher performance on existing hardware through a better API design. There are dramatic performance improvements on both AMD and nVidia hardware thus bringing back competition in the GPU market. Both the Khronos Group and Microsoft borrowed ideas from AMD’s Mantle API. The outcome is the release of Vulkan and the creation of Direct X version 12 (DX12). The difference is DX12 is proprietary, limited to only to Win10, controlled by Microsoft, and has been shown to deliver lower performance than DX11 in some AAA rated games. The following Youtube video compares OpenGL to Vulkan in DOOM 2016 (AAA rated game) on nVidia and AMD graphics cards:
This is an important comparison because DOOM 2016’s game engine, id Tech 6, is fully OpenGL based. It doesn’t make Direct X calls no matter the version of Windows the game runs on. Vulkan support was added to DOOM 2016 and the game engine a short time after the game’s release. Since DOOM 2016 is only available on Windows, one would expect the performance of the game to degrade significantly, if played through WINE on Linux. However, the work of the DOOM 2016 dev team shines when run on Vulkan:
Mature Linux desktop experience making a transition easy
The above video doesn’t do justice to how much the Linux desktop environments have evolved. There are many easy to install Linux distros that come with desktop environments that are very similar to Windows and the Mac OS. This makes picking up and learning a Linux desktop environment so easy that the learn curve ranges from flat to a very soft incline. The outdated perception that Linux is some obscure text mode only playground for uber nerds and super geeks no longer applies. Users still have access to a robust command line but it isn’t required for most everyday casual use. I encourage anyone interested in Linux to visit distrowatch.com and look up 2017/2018 review videos on Youtube for the various distros:
https://distrowatch.com/
Here is a review video of the distro that I’m using:
A plethora of mature Linux desktop apps to address the needs of most users
In most cases the casual user will have access to free Linux apps that are equivalent or near equivalent to their Windows/Mac apps. Only niche apps like Adobe’s Photoshop present a challenge. Otherwise one has access to:
- Firefox, Chrome and many other browsers
- multiple office productivity suites
- multiple email and news reader clients
- Skype
- multiple movie and music players
- multiple photo viewers/editors
- multiple PDF readers/creators
- multiple BitTorrent clients
- multiple instant messaging apps
- multiple desktop recording apps
- a plethora of programming tools
- a plethora of utility apps
Netflix works in Firefox/Chrome on Linux the same as it would on Windows.
The number of game engines available on Linux
Searching Google for “game engines on linux” reveals a multitude of available game engines making the job of porting/developing a game much easier. Here are just a few well known game engines on Linux:
- Unity
- Unigine
- Cryengine
- Unreal engine 4
- Quake engine
- id Tech 4
- Source engine
Businesses and individual consultants with expertise in porting games to Linux
There are organizations and individual consultants who make a living by porting games to Linux. Feral Interactive, linked above, is a publisher/developer of Linux games and they offer their expertise in porting games to Linux. If your team lacks the expertise bring in professionals and get projects completed quicker.
Diablo 3, PoE and Wolcen (Crate’s competition)
Blizzard is very resistant to porting their games to Linux. Their current business strategy involves porting their games to consoles and pursuing e-sports. GGG seems to be trying to follow Blizzard’s example by porting PoE to XBox One. Wolcen, an ARPG formerly known as Umbra, is being developed on Windows. Their project is still in the early stages but they have a working version on Windows available via early access on Steam. The Wolcen team launched their project via kickstarter and has plans to port their game to Linux. The 3 mentioned here are competitors to Crate, they are on Windows, and none of them have Linux ports of their games. This presents an opportunity for Crate to get ahead of the competition.
Linux desktop market share and market penetration as a measure of success
The idea that Linux only commands a tiny fraction (1-2%) of the desktop market share is a flawed perspective. Any conclusions based on a flawed perspective will inherit those flaws. Market share and penetration cannot be accurately measured because Linux is free of charge and does not depend on the sales and licensing business model that MS and Windows depend upon. Linux users do not need a client license and have no need to register their “copy” of the OS. A single distro download can be used to perform an unlimited number of installs.
A real measure of success for Linux on the desktop is how long its been kept alive, flourishing, and evolving (since the mid 1990s). A massive international community of users, developers, contributors, and distro. maintainers have been using and improving Linux on the server and desktop since its inception. Steady progress and improvements have come even with limited support from independent hardware vendors. The Linux community is vibrant and active.
Multi-national, publicly traded corporations all want to be in bed with Linux and this includes Microsoft. Its not just the server side and embedded Linux that have their attention. These corporations have their eyes on the Linux desktop as well. See for yourself: