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Comment by op03 | Hacker News Reader

Anything good on Linux these days?

https://store.steampowered.com/linux

If a game is going to support Windows + macOS than it isn't much more work to also support Linux these days. There are many games released on Linux every year.

That's right, Proton is amazing. I've been playing classics like Rome Total War on my Linux setup

Beyond that, most game devs today use established engines like Unity or Unreal, which typically have one-click build buttons for all major platforms. The level of abstraction has been raised, which affects not only game logic but even things like graphics APIs (DirectX vs Vulkan vs Metal) and packaging (installer, icons, etc). The bar has never been lower to throw in Linux support, even if you don't expect a huge market.

I've seen it argued that releasing a Linux version (even using Unity/Unreal) is worse than releasing a Windows version that runs on Proton, because the Windows API is stabler and the Linux version will inevitably bitrot without continual updates.

There's a serious rumor that this is what actually killed rocket league on Linux. Why maintain a fork if proton is better anyway?

Proton is good, but in no measure 'better'. Linux isn't as unstable as everyone makes it out to be. Quite the opposite. Proton still has to work on linux, afterall. If Linux support bitrots quickly, then so does everyone dependent on proton.

Better controller support, especially vibration, and higher frame rates count as measures in my book. Have you tried it?

Yes absolutely. Proton is a great product. But underneath, it's still Linux. So saying 'Linux support is terrible, Proton is better' makes absolutely zero sense.

While Linux might not be as unstable as everyone makes it out to be, your argument doesn’t support that at all. The point is Valve maintains Proton so that everyone and their mum doesn’t need to maintain their own Linux fork that’ll bitrot. Without an entity maintaining Proton it could stop working in a few months for all we know.

Yes, and nobody knew how to deploy or use Linux applications until Docker came along and saved us all.

I for one knew how to deploy Linux applications long before Docker but know nothing about the GPU/graphics stack on Linux which is crucial to game devs, and FWIW I ran into graphics problems when I tried Ubuntu Desktop (yeah, just the vanilla Desktop, not gaming) on my Nvidia GPU last year, so again your snarky response contains no relevant info at all.

That's really interesting, I hadn't heard that

It's sad that the CEO behind Unreal, Sweeney, bought Rocket League, which uses Unreal, and promptly removed Linux support.

Also https://itch.io/games/platform-linux

Factorio. One of the best games I've ever played. It's also one of the most addictive experiences in recent memory.

I'm playing Civ 6 pretty frequently. Cross-platform multiplayer as well!

Lots. I only game on linux, i've got more games on my steam library than I have time to play and plenty on my wishlist, both released and forthcoming.

I don't tend to play the large AAA type games though, I don't know how well those work if that's your thing, but I find them to usually be more style than substance anyway.

I've been playing terraria. they just came out with the final update but I had never played it before

I would check out game streaming services if you have decent internet. I’ve been playing on Google Stadia over the last few months, and it’s rekindled my love for gaming after years of not being able to play the latest games on my Mac. The age of hardware not being the limiting factor in your selection of games is close upon us.

Every game I've tried so far works either out of the box with Steam's Proton (even ones without official linux support) or through Lutris, or requires you to tweak a config file which you can find by googling. Some have minor glitches but nothing gamebreaking.

Depend what game you like to play, I think. (I play some games that are DOS or NES/Famicom and they work just fine on Linux; they do still make games for old systems, including Gruniozerca and others.)

Steam. Many native AAA games such as Total War Three Kingdoms, Age of Wonders 3, Civilization 6 and you can play most Windows-only games with Steam's Proton.

I recently lost roughly a week to Caves of Qud.

Path of Exile's recently added a vulkan renderer, makes for smooth wine experience

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