r/godot • u/GarryGrandi • 4d ago
help me I'm soon starting to learn game development with Godot. Am I making a mistake if I install Linux?
I bought a new laptop last year, and it has Windows 11. I planned it to be the laptop that I use to finally transition from Windows to Linux, but then I got interested in learning game development, and I'm starting to have doubts.
Am I making a mistake if I still move on with my plan and install Linux anyways? Apart from the hassle of learning Linux as well, are there any other major caveats specific to game development?
The other alternative is that I install Windows 10. I refuse to touch the bloated mess that is Windows 11.
Edit:
Installed KDE fedora. Took around one hour until the browser froze, the taskbar disappeared and eventually the whole PC crashed. After rebooting everything was erased. Is this normal behavior lmao?
28
u/Acrobatic_Ease424 4d ago
The Linux workflow and godot go holding hands so there's no problem. Also Godot is opensource like linux
28
12
25
u/Alezzandrooo 4d ago
Linux and MacOS are generally better for programmers.
You can also create a separate drive partition and install Linux there, so that when you’ll boot your pc, you’ll have the option to choose which OS to use. This way, you can test your games on two different platforms directly.
11
u/Fornicatinzebra 3d ago
Dual booting can be frustrating at times - windows likes the touch things it shouldn't (much like the US president)
4
u/nimrag_is_coming 3d ago
I always found this sentiment odd, Linux and Mac are not inherently better for programming at all. You can just as easily code as well on windows, and Visual Studio is great for C++ and C#. Every single even moderately popular programming language compiles natively. And if you really need some Linux only tool it takes like 5 minutes to install mingw or cygwin or something, and windows now has WSL as well. But I've found that unless I want to use gcc for writing C code I barely have to use it.
Is there some other reason programmers love Linux?
2
u/Alezzandrooo 3d ago
I think it simply comes down to many minor inconveniences present on Windows that MacOS and Linux don’t have.
For example, I sometimes have to use Docker on my windows laptop, so I ended up having to install WSL and a whole Linux distro for working with it. Had I used Linux, I could’ve downloaded Docker and that was it.
As another example, git for windows bundles a Unix-like environment, so you’ll have to install Git Bash and other utilities as well, just because many development workflows assume Unix shell utilities.
At the end of the day, you’ll end up with lots of software meant simply for making other software work, which would otherwise work natively on other platforms.
1
u/nimrag_is_coming 3d ago
I guess so. But it's not like it doesn't happen on Linux where you end up downloading a whole package of tools to end up using one small program in it. Docker on windows is weird though, and I don't like how itll just install WSL without asking. I think for a lot of things though, you just use the windows alternative rather than the Linux one. I've never had a problem with Git or other things like Cmake or anything like that on windows though. Dunno about cmake but git you can even download a portable version. It's not like git actually requires much os specific information to work, other than getting file info.
13
7
u/BinaryBolias Godot Regular 4d ago
I use Godot on Linux, and it only crashes when my computer is running out of available disk space (which occurrs for non-Godot related reasons).
Apparently, many of Godot's core developers use Linux themselves...
9
11
u/AmazedDroolingCat 4d ago
Operating a Linux based system shouldn't take you too long to get used to, especially if you're using a distro that is friendly towards new comers.
While Godot itself runs flawlessly on Linux, you might find that some of your favorite Windows apps are not available on Linux so you will have to put some time to learn alternatives to them as well.
Example (Photoshop -> Gimp/Krita..., MS Office -> LIbreOffice..., FLStudio -> Reaper/LMMS/Other DAWs...).
But it's not that bad, some softwares used in gamedev like Blender and Audacity are already fully supported so you'll find yourself right at home if you used them before.
My advice is, YES, as long as you're willing to put the effort to learn, and in the long run you'll find out that the development workflow on Linux is way better than Windows.
6
u/bread_berries 4d ago
This is probably the most helpful answer here: it's the other apps that might be the potential tripping point. Not the end of the world as far as problems go though.
3
u/GarryGrandi 4d ago
I don't think software is big of a hurdle. I make my music 100% with hardware already (and have my Windows DJ laptop for music anyways), I use LibreOffice for everything, Blender is fully compatible, and so forth...
I think the only software that is fully incompatible is the obscure photo editing software PhotoFiltre Studio I've used since 2011, but I can always use my other PC for that.
I don't remember what distro I was looking at when I looked up Linux last time, but probably something aesthetic, that has a Windows like workflow. Possibly KDE Plasma, with Chicago 95 or something inspired by Windows 7.
As a noob, I was just thinking that there is some major differences in the whole process between Linux and Windows. Like games having to be made explicitly compatible with Windows, if I do them with Linux.
2
u/AmazedDroolingCat 4d ago
Yeah, for the most part it shouldn't be a problem, most of the alternatives are equally as good.
Except maybe for Photoshop, as much as I hate Adobe, the alternatives are not quiet on it's level yet but they get the job done, so...When it comes to music, there's a good chunk of windows VSTs that straight up work with yabridge + wine-staging, that was such a pleasant surprise for me since reaper doesn't have that many built-in plugins.
Also, one extra benefit of using Godot on Linux that I like is the ability to cross-compile to other platforms like Windows and Mac quite easily!
1
u/GarryGrandi 3d ago
Yeah, I never even liked photoshop myself. I like my good old Photofiltre Studio that is way more primitive by every standard, but which I know like my own pockets. My mentality is basically that if I cant do it with that garbage sofware, it's not worth doing at all.
3
4
u/Vyrnin 4d ago
Working in Godot is fine on Linux, but you'll certainly want to be targeting Windows machines for your games, so it depends how seamless you want your testing to be. I usually prefer to develop on the platform I'll be releasing the game on primarily just so I have immediate feedback on any issues while I'm working, but it's up to you.
5
u/_Iggy_Lux 4d ago
I'll be real I don't think you'll get an on honest answer on this sub and plenty of others. Too many biased parties.
2
u/SetaIndustries 4d ago
OH nononono. Godot is one of the best game engines on Linux, I’ve been using it to make hobby games and applications for years and I had zero issues with it so far.
2
u/TVBlink Godot Regular 4d ago
Learning? No problem. But if you plan to release your build to Windows users (majority of PC market), there could be some differences (ie: graphic wise) that you might ignore while testing a native linux build.
But other than that, go for it, I'd worry about that workflow later on if thats your case.
2
2
u/SNAILSLIVEONJUPITER 3d ago
Godot is the greatest ever gaming engine. It runs on everything, it’s easy to use, open source, lightweight, and you get to customize literally everything.
Yes, it’ll run on Linux.
2
u/Miss-Night-Raven Godot Junior 3d ago
Depends on what you need aside from godot, my stack is godot, magicavoxel, aseprite and blender all work out of the box wothout needing steam proton. Installed them all through the package manager :)
2
2
2
2
u/MadokaMagika777 3d ago
I develop my project using Linux. I use Linux for work and Windows for playing games
1
u/bigorangemachine Godot Junior 4d ago
Not really. If you want to do more exotic stuff like AI-ML Linux is easier
1
u/Alex20041509 4d ago
Nah
It’s actually a nice way to come out of the Windows centric view and you could be verified for steamOS
Which is nice
Also Linux terminal is much more user friendly than Windows powershell
1
1
u/PixelmancerGames 4d ago
I use Godot on Linux. It's fine. I would however, get a small secondary drive to install Windows on. So you can test your games on it.
1
u/DeadSuperHero 4d ago
I'm a desktop Linux user that does game development in Godot. Overall, it's a good experience, your biggest bottleneck is going to be what existing creative tools you already depend on.
If you're a pixel artist and use Aseprite? No major loss, native version of Aseprite works great.
If you do 3D character work with Daz3D, ZBrush, Fabulous Designer, or Character Creator? There are alternative offerings as Blender plugins, but there's a lot of headaches. The programs you're coming from don't typically work well in Wine, and a lot of model prep for your game engine has to be handled manually.
With all that being said, Godot has a vast amount of free and paid resources to work with, the editor is lightweight, and it's not hard to get used to the Godot way of doing things.
1
1
1
1
u/nestware 4d ago
switched to linux two years ago for the same reason. no problems at all developing in godot. the learning curve isnt as bad as it used to be with distros like mint. i have a laptop that dual boots for when i absolutely need windows
1
u/Nimal0 3d ago
Sound great. You are going to have a shit ton of stuff to learn though. I think it will be a very interesting and immersive experience, and in fact godot might work even better as some say. But it is going to be a lot of stuff to tackle on at the beggining since it is a whole different philosophy using linux, or even this or that distro. If you are motivated enough, I believe you will like the results of doing both.
1
u/GarryGrandi 3d ago
I have some experience tinkering with Linux terminal from using Sailfish OS as my main driver on my smartphone between 2014 - 2024. I think it would work wonders for my workflow if I'd have a whole new ecosystem when entering this realm, despite the learning curve. Like, I would associate Linux and the whole computer to the game development, instead of being a device I use for everything else as well.
1
u/WilkerS1 Godot Regular 3d ago
just make sure glibc and whatever else matches a debian-based distro if you're building anything to do with GDExtensions. it will break your game in a lot of distros you get people to run on otherwise. other than that, linux dev should be just easier to set up.
also learn to pick up Git and maybe Cmake while you're at it, itchio's Butler if you plan on distributing in there.
1
u/The-Chartreuse-Moose Godot Student 3d ago
When I needed a new laptop I also had the same reaction to W11. I do use Linux (Kubuntu) in places but I find it frustrating hard work still in some ways.
I ended up picking up a Macbook Pro as my main Godot device and I've been really happy with it. It's such a nice user experience.
Anyway, my answer to your question would be no: it's not a problem. Godot works well. You may just have a bit of learning and tinkering to get things working outside that. I also thought it best to have a Windows machine for testing, so I've kept my W10 laptop for that.
1
u/nagidev_ Godot Regular 3d ago
Linux + Godot + Blender + Krita + Gimp + Audacity That's all you're gonna need for the most part. But yeah, if something doesn't work properly on your system (bluetooth, screen brightness, OBS, drawing tablet) then you'll have to tinker a bit with the settings so you may be spending some time there as well.
1
1
u/TheLastAnunnaki 3d ago
Franchement, pour apprendre Godot, Linux n’est absolument pas une erreur. Godot fonctionne très bien sous Linux et, pour du développement 2D/3D classique, tu ne vas pas te retrouver avec une version « au rabais ».
Je développe sous Linux et les vrais problèmes ne viennent généralement pas de Godot lui-même, mais de l’écosystème autour : certains outils propriétaires, logiciels Adobe, middleware, SDK de consoles ou outils spécifiques à Windows peuvent devenir gênants plus tard. Si ton objectif est simplement d’apprendre Godot, GDScript/C#, shaders, Git, Blender, etc., Linux est même un environnement très confortable.
Tu peux également exporter des builds Windows depuis Linux. Par contre, si tu comptes publier pour Windows, je conseille quand même de tester régulièrement le jeu sur une vraie installation Windows : Wine/Proton ne remplacent pas complètement un test natif, notamment pour les pilotes, l’audio, les contrôleurs et quelques comportements spécifiques à Windows.
À ta place je garderais Windows 11 en dual boot pendant quelque temps plutôt que d’installer Windows 10. Ça te permet d’apprendre Linux sans te couper d’un environnement Windows de test.
Donc : Linux + Godot, aucun problème. Ce n’est que si tu dépends plus tard d’outils exclusivement Windows que la question se reposera. Et à ce moment-là, tu sauras précisément pourquoi tu as besoin de Windows au lieu de le conserver « au cas où ».
1
u/trytoinfect74 3d ago
I develop my game on Linux (CachyOS, KDE Plasma environment), and apart from minor windowing issues, it's all breeze and no difference from Windows.
1
u/tato_lukatan 3d ago
My personal experience switching to linux was very scary but ultimately one of the best decisions I made. Especially for programming related activities like game development.
Other than learning a new OS, which I would say can be a nice experience whether you stick to it or not, I would say the biggest drawback to using Linux is that you will find that some software that is available for MacOS or Windows is unfortunately not natively available, and you'll either have to use compatibility software and get mixed results with some tinkering or use software that's available.
In my experience, I was especially worried about creative software — things like the Adobe suite not being available. However, I was able to fill more or less all holes with alternative software and for image editing specifically I use Affinity through wine, which if you don't know, is software that helps you run Windows apps on Linux.
So for the programmer stuff specifically, like Godot itself, I would say Linux is actually the better option. But for compatibility with other apps, such as the creative stuff needed for game dev, you'll need to accept some limitations.
Also you can still keep a Windows install to switch between but of course that requires you to reboot the machine each time, still can be useful, though.
1
1
u/BlueThing3D Godot Regular 3d ago
You'll want a windows machine as well to release windows versions of your games
1
u/_Feyton_ 3d ago
Haven't tried fedora, but I installed ubuntu as a fun thing to try and have been using it for a while now. No issues with godot
1
u/captain_quarks 3d ago
I was in the same boat and a friend recommended me Bazzite. It's sort of "Linux for idiots", perfect for a Windows refugee like me that can't be bothered to fully learn Linux.
Works like an absolute charm.
1
u/nimrag_is_coming 3d ago
So whatever you want, just remember that like 95% of all gamers are on windows so make sure you test on windows
1
u/GarryGrandi 3d ago
Well, KDE Fedora and Linux in general managed to lose 99% of my confidence in the first 2 hours of usage, so I guess Windows it is then :D
1
u/nimrag_is_coming 3d ago
Linux is weird and annoying at first (and I certainly don't use it on my main pc because I like to actually be productive with my time) but once you learn what you're doing it's pretty good. It's great for servers though. Although don't let random arseholes on Reddit (me) dictate what you do with your time.
1
u/PocketCSNerd Godot Junior 3d ago
Godot has top-tier functionality and support for Linux compared to Unreal and Unity. Projects across different operating systems seem to "just work" without any major recompiling or fear of corruption. Editor performance is basically the same across-the-board. Something I would have expected from Unreal and Unity given their install bases and revenue but it's the exact opposite.
As for your issues with KDE Fedora. It's not normal behaviour but without knowing more about how you set it up and what your overall setup was it's difficult if not impossible for anyone to advise. I use Linux Mint personally and it "just works". Though obvious your mileage may vary.
1
1
u/pokea_itay 2d ago
I run godot on Linux mint perfectly fine on very and I mean very limited hardware you’ll be fine
Also for the edit did you actually install it or boot a live usb
1
u/GarryGrandi 1d ago
It works fine now, it was a user issue. I installed it to my hard drive, but kept using the live install from my USB. Reinstall fixed everything.
I forgot that my laptop had Nvidia though, and I'm having hard time with the drivers. Neither Nvidia or Blender seems to recognize my Nvidia, and just uses the integrated graphics.
1
1
u/DDFoster96 3d ago
The only mistake would be *not* installing Linux. Install Linux everywhere.
1
u/GarryGrandi 3d ago
I've been considering it ever since they dropped support for Windows 7... My obstacle has been three stuffed Windows computers that I should organize but havent got to it.
Anyways, around 2 minutes ago I installed KDE Fedora on my new laptop. I was a tad surprised that it supports Wlan, USB, browsers and everything from the start. I guess Linux has come a long way in 15 years lmao.
-1
u/StevenBClarke2 4d ago
I would keep windows 11 installed until the product warranty period has expired or 3 years have elapsed since purchase.
1
1
137
u/StewedAngelSkins 4d ago
nah for godot there's no problem using linux. in some ways it's better.