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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Linux Support For Alpha2 (and possibly launch)
Archy_Pelago
Member, Alpha Two
How many votes does the community need to get for Intrepid to consider linux support for AoC?
I give my vote +1
I give my vote +1
13
Comments
https://intrepidstudios.com/careers
Having no Linux support is generally fine. There are many games that don't offer official support, but they work fine, and often times better than on Windows. We tend to get screwed over by Anti-Cheat.
From what I understand, their own Anti-Cheat isn't functional yet, so they are using EAC. Whilst EAC is an absolute cancer, it has options to allow Linux.
Additionally, in Windows only games. Mac users also tend to run the game via compatibility layers.
I don't think intrepid ruled linux support out but it would be nice and assuring if we get a response from a team member and in the process maybe we can create an official poll.
I bet there are a lot of linux users in the AoC community.
P.S
I just hope I don't need to install windows to be able to play AoC D;
There is no official news outside AoC being playable only on Windows platforms
You want bots? Cause this is how you get bots.
From the interweebs.
"EAC has (and has had for years) a native Linux client. That native Linux client is userspace only and has zero kernel access. Before, it was only for native Linux games that had EAC, like War Thunder, 7 Days to Die, Rust (before they abandoned Linux), etc. Epic refused to allow the Linux native EAC to work with Windows EAC games through Wine/Proton. That changed last fall, when Epic made the announcement.
Now, EAC games that work in Wine/Proton use the LINUX NATIVE EAC client, which communicates with a Linux EAC binary that each game that enables support ships, alongside their Windows EAC binary. The Steam Proton EasyAntiCheat Runtime is also required. This runtime allows the NATIVE Linux EAC client (which again, is 100% userspace only and has no kernel level access) to communicate with the Windows userspace EAC binary, to allow for a less-secure but still better than nothing EAC functionality for Windows games running in Wine/Proton.
The exact same situation is true for BattlEye. BattlEye has had a native Linux client for years, but it was userspace only, and didn't work with Wine/Proton games. Now it does, in the same way EAC does.
This is also why so many games are refusing to enable it. Because it's inherently less secure against cheaters than the kernel-level EAC/BattlEye Windows implementation. And I (and others) said from the beginning when it was announced last fall that many games would in fact refuse to enable EAC/BE support because of the less secure nature and increased risk of cheaters. And I was right."
That's what I want to find out, what percentage of the community are regular linux users (isn't ashes a niche game too, not meant for everyone?). Plus Intrepid said in the past they are thinking of making their own anti-cheat system, a poll would benefit them too.
This post illustrates why the Linux share of gamers is less than 1%.
Like it or not, on Windows, WiFi just works. You dont even need a driver (though it is recommended).
Even more so than game compatibility, this aspect of Linux is what Steam are trying to fix. You buy a Steamdeck, it has a working install of Linux that is able to run games (already dozens of hours of effort for someone not familiar with the Linux world), and all hardware on the device works (another dozen or more hours).
Trying to get that same level of functionality on an existing computer could take literally months, and depending on hardware, may literally not even be possible.
As I have said in other threads, the barrier to Linux gaining any more market share than what it has now is ease of use. Until it becomes as easy as Windows, its market share will remain 1%.
An example of the issues involved with making Linux more user friendly though, is in distributions. If I am considering installing Windows, I have one real option. If I am considering installing Linux, I have what, 15, maybe 20 options? And if I get the wrong distro, I could get months in and realize I need to start again.
I do agree @Noaani that there is a learning gap and much more space for error in linux (because there is more freedom than in windows!) but tbh if you update your machine on time seldom does something wrong happen.
Like regular users don't know how to use powershell, not speaking about as the terminal in linux. Having the possibility for users to enjoy mmorpg's on linux pushes the world to a more of a "web3" environment.
Would still be nice to see Intrepid push for other OS integration, even if its after launch.
The reason servers often use Linux is because Microsoft charges a lot of money for Windows licenses
As more people move to Linux to save money, then Linux gets more support, which makes it a better option, and so on. Unfortunately, gamers aren't installing Linux to save money on a Windows key, so the user base remains small, so there's no incentive to improve Linux support for games.
While this is true in terms of how things stand now, as Valve has pointed out with the Steamdeck, it is on Linux developers to be the first to move - not on players or game developers.
The reason servers have linux is due to security increase. Windows is leaker than an open window thanks to the netscape purchase which didn't cover the initial security codes.
I mean there are many reasons, but on average none of them compare to the C-Suite saying "Yeah, yeah, but what does it cost?"
Agreed. Generally, developers build for the platforms that customers gravitate towards, not the other way around. "Pushing" people to anything is generally done for some external reasons where you want to influence behavior when it's not happening naturally. That push comes at a cost. One that game developers have no external reason to take on. So if Linux has any desire to become a gaming platform, they'll have to be the ones to take on that overhead, which clearly they haven't been able to justify yet.
None of what Valve has done has any impact on making Linux a suitable platform for competitive games.
Casual/single player games perhaps, but not any game with any form of competition.
Additionally, Steam Deck existing has not really added many Linux first gamers - almost everyone that has one uses it as their secondary or tertiary gaming device.
Not saying people don't use it and wouldn't, but the numbers are simply not there to make it worth the hassle. If data shows they had a few servers worth of people that use Linux I could see that as enticing.
Heck they could just do a poll in their discord; Asking who uses linux? Results would likely be less than 5% of the discord community.