How's your gaming development experience on Linux?

General
1

Godot Version

4.5

Question

As there are many tools nowaday that are available in multiple platforms, such as Godot, Blender, etc. I would like to ask the following:

  1. Are you using Godot on Linux? (Please also state which distro are you using.)
  2. How does it feel like compared to Windows?
  3. How is the GPU performance compared to Windows?
  4. Anything you feel like it could have been better on Linux?
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2
  1. I use and develop on Kubuntu (24.04 at the moment).
  2. Windows is always a pain for me to use, so I vastly prefer Linux, even after taking (4) below into account.
  3. The GPU performance is comparable to Windows for my games.
  4. The only advantage I see on Windows is that it has the Meta VR driver. I get around it on Linux by developing a desktop version alongside the VR version, limiting the number of times I have to export to the Quest for playtesting.
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3

I use Mint. I never used Godot on Windows, so can’t really compare, but I have no problems at all on linux.

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4

I use Godot on Debian 13, and my experience is really good; the Vulkan renderer is really high quality, and the shaders all work well, also Linux lets you have a lot more control over Godot.

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5

Mind elaborate on this part?

You mean Linux allows you to do something not available on Windows?

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6

I mean Linux makes it much more convenient.
Linux allows you to modify programs’ files a lot easier than Windows does. Windows makes it a lot more difficult to modify files which are “owned” by a specific program (Godot in this case). Windows also often (at least in my experience) requires you to have admin in order to modify programs’ internal files, Windows often does not give people admin at first even if it is their PC.

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7

I run Godot on both Linux(Ubuntu) and Windows and I have never seen this problem you describe here.

OP, the Godot editor used to struggle mightily compared to the Windows version. It felt like you were editing through mud.
In later versions of the editor, I have noticed only very little difference with the Windows editor being slightly faster.
The latest version on Linux seems to be closing itself after sitting idle for an hour or so but only when run via the GUI. If I run it from the command line it never shuts down unless I close it. (This issue may be on my end)
I am also routinely getting this “BadWindow” bug but it does not impact my games or workflow at all. (Its a nuisance bug; as far as I can tell all it does is print 3 error messages to the output window)
I stick to lightweight 2d games however so your mileage may vary.
Since Godot is a single file executable there is no reason not to just give it a go.

8

This isn’t specific to Godot, though. This is the general Windows behavior that you have to fight regardless of what you’re doing.

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9

my Linux Experience with game development is great , i use omarchy 3.0.2 and Linux mint 22.0
omarchy is for development and Linux mint is for personal uses both run Godot 4.5 amazing .

i don’t know how Godot feels compared windows because have only use Godot 4.x on Linux
but i have use other game development software on Linux that i have use on windows like
LOVE 2D . feeling with that it is more snap and responsive and faster. everything feels fast on Linux like Firefox , vs code , and many more

the GPU comparability and performance can differs on what graphic card manufacture you have. if you have a AMD or intel graphics( intel and AMD both have open source GPU drivers for linux and had for a vary long time now ).the development Experience well be great if you have a nvidia GPU the Experience well by mixed
(nvidia only has some what open source there drivers for Linux and only recent they have done this so there Linux divers are not as good you can still have in problems with it )

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10
  1. I dual boot both Windows and Linux so I can probably help you out here. I’m running the latest CachyOS.
  2. Do you mean in GameDev specifically, or in general? In general, Linux feels a lot better. It’s smoother and has less “windows” issues. No annoying notifications, no forcing Edge and OneDrive on you, no spyware, no auto-updates, etc…
    In terms of game development, it’s basically the same. You won’t notice a difference when using Godot.
  3. Similar to Windows, slightly worse if you’re running games through Proton.
  4. App & game compatibility. That’s it. If the apps you want to use are supported on Linux you’ll be fine.
11

I mean in general, including GameDev

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12

not saying you cant modify wins
everything said of course depends on linux flavor you choose, you can choose tiny flavor (small disk size occupied) & build up, in which case you either need to know what you are doing (comes with experience), or be prepared to curse, a lot; simple solution - choose programming / development flavor

only hiccup i had was using godot in vm (virtual machine) on linux (grid lines were totally garbaged, else was fine), but that is vm-related, as it isolates guest (vm) os from host os, solution was simple - dont use vm

@popcar2 #1 - dual boot, check it out, costs you nothing, you only gain some experience & knowledge, but if you are totally new to linux, expect some learning time, as with everything else new

godspeed

13

Hi, I have been working with godot on ubuntu for a few years now.

yes.

better. at least compared to windows 10. though I have a couple custom things, like using dolphin, konsole and krite while on gnome, or having a bottom menu instead of the default. dolphin has tabs and this is very useful when working with files in different folders. windows 11 added tabs, but doesn’t work on older PCs (in case you are migrating due to w10 becoming obsolete).
linux only asks for updates on boot, and might ask again at some point, but it shutdowns when you tell it to (instantly) and boots in seconds.
performance is also better, and windows exports can be tested with wine. it is also safe, as packages are installed from the repositories, and binaries run as local. if some app from the internet asks for a password, you know it’s doing something it’s not supposed to.

as for software, I have blender, krita, image editing from terminal with imagemagick, audacity, musescore 2, and gimp. asesprite should work too.
browser apps also work.

haven’t tested this pc with windows. but linux uses fewer resources and everything is accounted for.

can’t think of anything. microsoft has been on the linux foundation for years now and dotnet and other software is available on linux. the only problem would be office, but I think you can use it from browser.

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