I’ve seen the other questions and answers on here. Using Windows is not an option. I don’t have it installed and expecting users to install it just to access the marketplace is not a valid solution. I understand Linux support is still a work in progress, and I don’t mean to sound over critical. I truly appreciate your outstanding work.
The marketplace is already accessable from a web browser, but trying to DL wants to launch the launcher. The editor builds and runs, but I have no way of accessing marketplace content. Why is there not a way to DL from the browser and import into the editor? Is that really too much to ask?
Linux Launcher is already in the works and it’s only a matter of time when it is released. We were told it might make it for 4.8 release, otherwise anytime afterwards is likely we’ll see it.
Because of the way Epic distributes binaries and content, there is no other means of acquiring content but through the Launcher.
Obviously someone from Epic could answer this in more detail why there is no web option, or it could be put as a feature request for the future.
I appreciate the response, and the launcher would be nice… However, I recall this time last year and the timeline for the editor on Linux. It got pushed back, and pushed back, and pushed back to the point where we were basically told, Epic was primarily leaving it to the community to finish… I’m not quite so optimistic about the launcher faring any better, which is why I think a binary type download from the webpage marketplace to import into the editor would be nice. Not only are we missing out on content, the content sellers are missing out on revenue.
I realize I may sound a little bitter… please don’t take this the wrong way. I love the engine, and I love Epic. I remember UT2k4 and the Linux installer being included on-disc out of the box. Epic has a history with Linux, supporting us, before it was cool. Honestly, if I had the skills, I’d help with the port, but sadly, I don’t.
Edit to add: The Linux editor is still one of the highest voted items on Trello, and yet… I know we’re the minority, but it doesn’t look good from the outside looking in.
Regarding Trello, in one of the community streams they were talking about resetting the votes because, according to Epic, the votes are not accurate and are skewing things out.
I personally believe that is because of the overwhelming Linux Editor votes that clearly show what majority of people who are voting want, and not necessarily what Epic wants.
So it is a disconnect, but that’s why we didn’t sit still for a year and a few of us rolled up our sleeves and look how far we got. We have the Editor up an running, many people are using it already, and it feels like a (almost) finished product.
Issue with the Launcher is that the code is not open to the public, else we would’ve had that done long ago as well.
The alternative was to figure out how the Launcher works in Win/OSX and then write our own to mimic the operation, but that would’ve stepped on some Epic toes and so we backed-off from that idea.
In any case, we’ll continue pushing forward and keep nagging Epic for things Linux related, including the Launcher.
Perhaps an alternative way for downloading content could be a feature request, and if you feel like it, put that up on the Forums and the AnswerHub for Epic to see and for others to comment on.
I missed that stream I guess, but then I dropped my sub around June/July last year and didn’t keep up with it much due to time constraints. I had been playing around with it and getting a feel for it, so that when it did hit Linux, I’d have some familiarity with it. I got rid of Windows in the mean time, expecting said release, then they put it off on the community, so I didn’t bother with attempting it until a month or so ago.
Congrats, btw. You guys are doing a fine job. Like I said, I’d help if I could, but I’d be more in the way, and more likely to slow things down rather speed them up… But, I’ve gotten the Linux editor to compile with Fedora 21 without issue, and more recently, gotten the pkgbuild to compile from the AUR on Manjaro (current system), though there were a couple of issues, but nothing too major.
get the Linux launcher out (with limited functionality)
iterate on it and once #1 works,
get the binary release of the Linux editor.
The major difference between releasing a Linux version of a game/tool back then and releasing it now is the need to integrate Linux in the pipeline - “one-off” port, suitable for inclusion on the CD, would not cut it anymore.
Launcher, marketplace, games is a continuous process that involves several teams - it’s not enough to just compile the launcher for Linux and put it out, it will be broken next time any of the said teams changes something somewhere. Linux should be a part of the pipeline and Linux knowledge should be propagated to all of the teams in order for things to be manageable in the long term; we are working towards that, albeit perhaps our pace is slower than you would like. Filling in remaining missing bits on the code side helps enormously, because it’s obvious that the higher level integration is not possible if things are broken on a lower level and stuff doesn’t work.
As for the original request to download the marketplace content through the web site - I don’t think our server and build infrastructure is prepared for that, but I myself don’t know everything that would need to be changed for that to happen.
There hasn’t been much work on binary release/launcher recently since we have been concentrating on 4.8 issues, so at least the source build should be in much better state than 4.7 was (which in turn was a giant leap from 4.6, which in turn was better than 4.5, and 4.5 was the first release when the Linux editor was buildable from Epic repo at all - so you can kind of see the progression ).
We’re now going to plan 4.9 items and we (Platform team at least) will prioritize things that still need to be addressed for the binary release. The launcher is released on its own schedule, but there’s some overlap with the engine in terms of planning as some bits may be needed from us (e.g. CEF, it’s growing in importance ;/); also Portal (i.e. launcher) team priorities for things we need (particularly on server side) may differ; this will take some cross-team cooperation, but I’m hopeful.
I would expect more progress on it in June as the next couple weeks will be probably still dominated by addressing possible 4.8 bugs that will be discovered after release and planning.
Thanks for being patient! As for being in minority - one of things that is going to be addressed soon will be Linux analytics (Mac/Windows report more info, see *PlatformSurvey classes); this hopefully should help us make more educated guesses in terms of how many users are trying Linux editor, what distro/desktop environment they run, what drivers etc.
Yeah, I understand the differences between then and now. I was just using it as an example of Epic’s long-standing support for Linux. I may get frustrated by the slow pace at times, but as I said previously, I understand being in the minority and not having top priority. I’m patient (mostly
Any idea on the state of the launcher and when we may see the rough version of it? If it can detect our personally compiled builds, and allow marketplace access, I’d think that would be good enough for #1 with limited functionality, and eliminate the need to request downloads from the website.
I wasn’t really hopeful for 4.8, but if 4.9 is still in flux then, a nudge to the appropriate team for a basic launcher would be greatly appreciated! I’ll hold off on a feature request, as from the sound of things, getting such a request implemented would take at least as long anyway.
Thank you for the feedback, and thanks to amigo as well.
But, I’ve gotten the Linux editor to compile with Fedora 21 without issue, and more recently, gotten the pkgbuild to compile from the AUR on Manjaro (current system), though there were a couple of issues, but nothing too major.