Linux issues

An upcoming game about Electricity, Magnetism, and Cephalopods
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IpomoeaMarc
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:25 pm

Linux issues

Post by IpomoeaMarc »

Hi!

I found this game about a week ago, and it's pretty great! A really charming educational game. The Windows version works great!

That being said, I haven't been able to run the Linux version of the game.
I'm on Ubuntu 14.04lts 64bit; using some proprietary drivers from AMD(but, approved by Ubuntu). It's for my AMD Radeon HD 6950. I have other Unity3d games that run fine, but this one seems to be giving me issues.

From the troubleshooting I've been trying; it seems to be a graphical issue. I've found sites with other Unity apps having similar errors:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/since- ... up.370920/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/327880/d ... 880478470/

And, while the linux version using my default drivers fails to start; crashing almost instantly. It gives out errors like "GLContext: failed to activate", and "WARNING: Shader Unsupported: 'Hidden/BlitCopy' - Setting to default shader."
I did try various other drivers. The latest from AMD(unapproved) made the game load 2 instances, both black screens. While unplayable, it didn't crash on its own.(The drivers did bork my system later so I had to revert.)
I also tried/am still attempting to fiddle with the open source drivers. However, the game is requiring an OpenGL version greater than 1.4, which the open source drivers are currently defaulted to. And, I might have to upgrade a lot of other things just to fix that. Which is quite a bit when the proprietary drivers work fine for everything else.

I noticed though that if I try the Windows version on Wine(32bit) in Linux I get the following:
Forcing the game to load with 'Direct3D 9' gets me to the game's main menu. And, seems like it's about to work perfectly before crashing due to a 64bit issue.
However, when I force it to use OpenGL. I get past the Unity splash screen, and I hear the main menu music, but the screen is black once again. It'll crash in Wine regardless due to the 64bit game, but it seems to lend credence to the graphical issue for the native linux binary.


Any help appreciated!
Thanks!
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testtubegames
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Posts: 1148
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:54 pm

Re: Linux issues

Post by testtubegames »

Sorry to hear the game is crashing for you. Thanks for passing that along -- and for testing it so well, too!

I took a look at the links you sent along, and there were two tiny scraps of hints (a) something about anti-aliasing being a problem... though perhaps not *THE* problem... and (b) someone seems to have fixed the problem with an updated version of unity?

So, as a first step, I disabled anti-aliasing in the latest Linux update to TES (0.9, which is now up on the Humble page for you to download). Wasn't really that necessary, frankly. That might fix the problem?

If not, I'll try making a build with the latest, beta version of Unity. I'm a bit hesitant there, just since the beta build may well introduce more problems than fixes, but hey, it's worth a shot!

That's all to getting the game fixed on Linux -- though if it's helpful to you at all, I could also try sending you a 32 bit Windows version of the game, which might play better with Wine?
IpomoeaMarc
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:25 pm

Re: Linux issues

Post by IpomoeaMarc »

No worries; glad I could help with a bit of troubleshooting! :D

The fix you sent out worked perfectly! The game loads, and I tried out the first 10 levels, level editor and menu settings; and it all seems to be running without flaw now on my Linux system!! Thanks, I really appreciate it!

Also, just wanted to add real quick. I really love the updated art!! It's really nice. And, I voted the other day for your Steam Greenlight; so good luck!! It'll definitely be nice to have another really cool educational game over there on Steam.
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testtubegames
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Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2012 7:54 pm

Re: Linux issues

Post by testtubegames »

IpomoeaMarc wrote:The fix you sent out worked perfectly!
Yay! Phew - that's a relief. I'm no expert on Linux, so I'm glad the simple change fixed it.
IpomoeaMarc wrote:Also, just wanted to add real quick. I really love the updated art!! It's really nice.
Thanks! After reading the feedback I got from GL - I tried to make the game a bit less bright-and-cheerful... so it matched a bit more with the hard-as-nails gameplay. Just some small changes, but it really changed the feel of the game.
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