Gather unknown signals from deep, silent space · By
don't use wine for gaming in general. add the game to steam. Right click the game, properties, compatibility, enable it and choose either proton experimental or, what I would recommend, download the latest GE Proton and use that. I use linux and play votv perfectly fine on it using proton
if u don't wanna add it to steam for some reason, you can do the same using Lutris
It's debatable it's going to be more stable.
I know it doesn't make sense at the first glance, but when you put it through a compatibility layer, the stability is expected to be better because you run it through a well-maintained, immutable software stack which is designed to run Windows games as close to the native environment as possible, and is actively supported by a giant company.
Compare it to making a native Linux build where the indie dev has to account for every distro out there and then support & maintain it on their own, and I think it should make sense why "just compile a .sh executable instead of .exe one" isn't as simple and obvious as it looks like.
Look, I'm not gonna keep running in circles here.
I've made my points on why have a native build would be. Again, I'm not looking at one side on this, I'm looking at multiple different situations. Low-end hardware, compatibility, easier time with bug reports, etc.
I've even said that I'm a developer myself doing these linux builds. Obviously these points aren't getting across.
Instead of talking to a brick wall and having my voice fall on dead ears, I'll just walk away. I stand where I stand on the matter. Enough is enough.
Edit: Look... Proton is stable until it isn't. When a game breaks because of a Proton update or a specific driver/Wayland quirk, the user has no recourse except waiting or digging through GitHub issues. A native build, even with distro fragmentation, puts the debugging path back in the developer's hands, and the user's crash logs actually point to the game, not the translation layer.
Valve has done wonders via proton, but proton can't be used for every single situation. Because in that case, developers will never build native linux apps ever again, just wrap everything in proton. And that causes even more issues.
I am simply advocating that developers look into linux builds for compatibility and to help people with lower end hardware because Proton adds overhead, which takes up precious resources which it turns decreases performance.
If no one takes this into account, then my voice is being wasted. Simple as that. I've stayed calm with people but it's clear this is going no where.
Publishing a Linux-native build is never as simple as just ticking a checkbox. It's a completely different platform with entirely new challenges that require considerable effort on the developers' part. Those challenges extend not only to the game itself but the dependencies and their versions, their availability on various distributions (see the difference in package versions between Debian and Arch for example), and integration into the various desktop environments and window managers, making sure that both Wayland and X11 work.
Factorio has a Linux-native build, which is maintained by *one person*, who wrote an article about their experience: https://factorio.com/blog/post/fff-408.
While a Linux-native build would be nice, VotV works well enough on Proton, and maintaining the Linux platform would inevitably take people and resources away from improving *the game*. Overall, I don't think a Linux-native build is necessary or justified at this stage of the development.
I personally use the Faugus Launcher with either the "Proton-CachyOS Latest" or "GE-Proton Latest" runner, MangoHUD, Gamemode, and Gamescope.
First off, if you read the other replies you would've saw I said that I understand making a linux build takes time. As someone learning how to code I understand all too well how much work it takes to make a linux build.
Secondly, not every has the same specs to run a game at full frames, like me for example I've ran the game in proton after a suggest from another reply, however my specs are nowhere near good enough to run the game.
Thirdly, some people just want the ease of having a game that just runs, running proton and a bunch of other apps takes up resources, can cause potential compatibility issues and more.
I'm not trying to be rude or anything, just kindly asking them if there was any plan to make a build in the future, that was it.
Edit: I want to add also that using Proton and other apps similar to it makes debugging hard for a casual user who just wants to plug and play cause Proton adds it's own issues, resource overhead and more.
I'm sorry, but a native build is just simply far better in the long run, not everyone has the time or patience to deal with Proton, dig through thousands of lines of text for a crash log only to find out it's related to Proton and then have to get frustrated cause it's completely out of their hands.
A native build cuts that out and makes crash logs, bug reports and more so much easier to get through. And it lowers resource overhead for lower end systems cause not everyone has thousands to spend on a high end PC
Chill. No need to immediately get defensive. I've outlined why it's a challenge, nothing else.
I know of one game that dropped its Linux-native build because of poor stability and performance: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/05/escape-simulator-drops-the-linux-build-to-...
Ah, yes. ONE GAME, versus countless others who maintain Linux builds perfectly like Factorio, Valheim, Dead Cells, etc.
I understand you point, but at the same time, my point stands. A native build is objectively better as it removes overhead for low-end systems because you no longer need to run the game through a translation layer for DirectX/Direct3D to Vulkan.
Which means more resources and a smoother experience for users and clearer bug reports and crash logs.
Edit: I'm not defensive, I just disagree. You said it's hard. I agree. But 'hard' doesn't mean 'not worth doing,' especially for lower-end users and long-term maintainability.
