ELITE on LINUX Please.

ShogunToyo · Jun 8, 2014

Why Linux OS wash forgotten? I was very happy when I knowed the X3 from Egosoft was realese on Linux System. I want to know what Frontier Company can tell me about this topic. You have gain our money. Please, dont forget about Linux. It's very friendly OS and I thing I am not the only one who want this game on other platform.

Greeting.s

Smugallo · Jun 8, 2014

You gave a company money, without there ever being any promise of a copy on Linux?

As far as I'm aware there is no Linux version in the near future. PC --> Mac --> Who knows.

Bumvelcrow · Jun 8, 2014

I would love a linux version but as others have stated FD suggested it would 'be nice', but no promises. Realistically they'll do it if it's not too much of a chore and once the game is finished. There's no reason for them to devote resources to it that would otherwise used for development without anything in return. Simply getting a kiss on the cheek and eternal love from me would not be enough, as phenomenal as that may seem.

B

Andrew Sayers · Jun 8, 2014

ShogunToyo said:
Why Linux OS wash forgotten?

From the Kickstarter FAQ:

Kickstarter FAQ said:
Can you release “Elite: Dangerous” on the (iPhone/iPad/Console/Mac/Linux/Oculus Rift/Raspberry Pi) platform?

Yes. It would be great. The PC version comes first though, and then we will look at the demand for other platforms. If the game exceeds its target, then there will be scope to increase the number of platforms. We will discuss with the backers in the design discussion forum, and how to address the issues that will arise, but I have every hope that we will cover some or all of these platforms.

David Braben is heavily involved in the (Linux-based) Raspberry Pi, so is quite comfortable with it in principle. I wish it had a big enough user base (and low enough fragmentation) to be a priority, but ultimately they made a business decision not to make it so. Hopefully they'll look into it again after the Mac port.

Gildur · Dec 8, 2014

I already preordered Elite Dangerous and will play it on Windows but certainly prefer to have Linux version in the future as I'm using Ubuntu most of the time.

RobinsonUK · Dec 8, 2014

It's a question of opportunity cost.

VictorT · Jan 8, 2015

Andrew Sayers said:
From the Kickstarter FAQ:

David Braben is heavily involved in the (Linux-based) Raspberry Pi, so is quite comfortable with it in principle. I wish it had a big enough user base (and low enough fragmentation) to be a priority, but ultimately they made a business decision not to make it so. Hopefully they'll look into it again after the Mac port.

They will gain a larger marketshare of Linux users than they will Mac users. I hope they do choose to pursue a Linux port, as discovering this will be fun to watch unfold.

Thank you for this information. I've never heard this in larger discussions of potential Linux versions.

Susimetsa · Jan 8, 2015

I don't think it's been forgotten, it is just not very high up on the list of priorities at the moment (they still have a game to make and stuff to add to it). Also, as one who has attempted to play games on Ubuntu for years, there are other problems with Linux that have to be overcome first. One of the most important is good drivers for several varieties of controllers and joysticks. I had to replace Ubuntu on my daughter's computer with Win10 just to be able to play the Lego The Hobbit with her with two controllers.

Fost · Jan 8, 2015

The impression I've always gotten is the game industry believes this about the platforms:

SALES: Win>Mac>Lin

Support headaches: Lin>Mac>Win

I saw some figures that backed this up but that was about 10 years ago.

I think steam machines might be a REALLY good impetus for linux support in the future though! I literally have Windows only for Photoshop and Elite these days...

MJallday · Jan 8, 2015

to be honest they'd (FD) be out of their minds if they did the Linux Port before the Xbox One and PS4 ports

uncle bulgaria · Jan 8, 2015

MJallday said:
to be honest they'd (FD) be out of their minds if they did the Linux Port before the Xbox One and PS4 ports

Definitely. Simple economics really, plus the XBox1 must be an easy conversion as it runs basically Windows 8.

I've used Linux on my Raspberry PI but won't go near it for my gaming PC until the driver support and games specifically converted are much much better. As someone said above if Valve pull off the Steambox well then it could be a huge boost for Linux gaming. I mainly use my desktop PC for gaming and working from home so i need Windows for that.

LARY STARKEEPER · Feb 5, 2015

IMO, there is a lot of hard old-nerds LINUX on ELITE ! Many more than on MAC OS !

kurush · Feb 5, 2015

Anybody managed to run it under Virtual Box? What directX version do we need? I saw some direct-X passthrough in virtualbox for versions 8 and 9, may be it is possible to make it work?

Koen · Feb 5, 2015

There is a petition to request a Linux port:

https://www.change.org/p/frontier-developments-plc-port-elite-dangerous-to-linux-desktop

lefty1117 · Feb 5, 2015

If they would have to divert resources from adding content and fixing things, I would say hell no. Not enough money to be made.

Janichsan · Feb 5, 2015

VictorT said:
They will gain a larger marketshare of Linux users than they will Mac users.

*chortle*

Sorry, I certainly am all in favour of a Linux version, but you can't be serious here. When is the last time you have checked how high the market share of Linux on *desktop* systems is?

robbyp · Feb 5, 2015

What's the point of a Linux version and all the effort that implies. You've got a Pc, dual boot it into Windows and just pay for a basic copy of Windows.

They have bigger things to do than another port.

azdour · Feb 6, 2015

Isn't the issue with Linux that there are so many different flavours and they can have major or subtle differences that could cause issues?

I've developed software for Linux before and what we did was choose specific common flavours of Linux to support, e.g. Fedora, Debian etc...

I see that there are a few posts that say if there is a Mac version then it's only a small step to Linux - but I do not think this is the case in reality or am I mistaken?

Sentenza · Feb 6, 2015

azdour said:
Isn't the issue with Linux that there are so many different flavours and they can have major or subtle differences that could cause issues?

I've developed software for Linux before and what we did was choose specific common flavours of Linux to support, e.g. Fedora, Debian etc...

I see that there are a few posts that say if there is a Mac version then it's only a small step to Linux - but I do not think this is the case in reality or am I mistaken?

Not at all. Mac is relatively "easy" because it is a single, standard platform - you know everything about it. In Linux, there are more completely different distributions than political parties. And then, every box would be different from every other. The biggest problem are the display drivers - in Windows and Mac, you have the OEM-provider drivers, period, you know what you are working on. In Linux you will have people using the official OEM drivers, and people using the "alternative" reverse-engineered open-source drivers - these versions behave differently and the main difference is how they handle 3D acceleration. And guess what's primarily used for games?

I've been using Linux for some twenty years, but frankly, I would not think for a minute about using it for games.

ETA: and Linux display drivers all suck anyway, really.

Dash · Feb 6, 2015

To be honest, if they're doing a port to BSD then I can't see why it would be terribly difficult to port it to Linux.

That said, as the above, the variety in Linux distributions means it could potentially be a support nightmare. I guess it comes down to how many shared libraries are used.