Linux client satisfaction

In the past two days I've been testing the Linux client on a wide variety of machines at my office, and I must say it runs perfectly well on almost all of them.

From modern low power embedded systems to older but higher end desktops, SotA has been running on about 14 different CPUs, 6 low-mid range graphics cards, 7 motherboards, 3 laptops, 4 different Linux flavours, and I have not had any problems (except for a laptop with NVIDIA Optimus, which is poorly supported under Linux anyway).

But the most interesting thing is that it runs out of the box from a Ubuntu Live 14.04 LTS USB stick (with SotA pre-installed)!!!

Here it is:




My power analysers on this particular run showed a maximum consumption of about 74W using integrated graphics and 100W with a Radeon HD 4830. Good stuff.

 

I am using Linux as well. There was an in game lighting issue that stopped players from accessing certain areas which was fixed during the last release. I noticed since then, whatever they did, everything seems to work now, it looks better and runs smoother. (Just wish they'd take the starch out of the clothing and make things flow like in the windows client)

Overall I have been very happy with the Linux client on my end since the fix. Kudos to the Dev team.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

What is the best way for me to set this up? Just go to Ubuntu's site and follow the directions?

 

After first testing sota in windows, I've found that (for me anyway) it's actually more stable under Arch linux.

 

There are many different and equally effective ways, but assuming that you have another PC already running Ubuntu, I would create a bootable USB from there using this method: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu
Then create another partition in the same stick and either download SotA there or copy your pre-downloaded "StandaloneLinuxUniversalPatcher" folder over.
I could actually make a pre-installed image to make it super-easy, but I haven't got anywhere to upload it on the web.

 

Thank you! Sounds like fun.

 

Couldn't you also use unetbootin (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/) that way you could install it on any OS and have the same files on the usb stick? That way you could use whatever dist you want

 

I like Unetbootin, and as I said there are many ways of achieving this
On a side note, my favourite distro is Debian but unfortunately SotA does not run out of the box in the official Wheezy live CD/USB on many recent machines (you need to install a few extra packages). Same thing for Ubuntu 12.04.

You know, it would be very cool if we could make our own customised boot media with SotA logos and whatnot, and make it run the launcher from a minimal desktop.

Actually you don't need another PC with Ubuntu already installed. You can do the same from another live CD/USB.

 

Update time. I created the USB stick from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu (the create from windows one) and the "try me" button works - but I have to download SotA every time into the home directory. If I try to save the SotA folder on a different drive I cannot run the executables. Every time I try the "try me" approach everything is cleared off of the Home directory. I created a new admin user but that won't save my changes either from boot to boot.

So I followed a Bing search to HowToGeek.com and created a USB flash drive with Ubuntu 14.04 installed (the whole thing). It won't boot all the way.

Any ideas or new approaches to get this stick working? I appreciate any help!

The Laptop is a Lenovo W540 with an i7 and Nvidia Quadro graphics (2GB of VRAM).

 

The problem with running it from another drive is that you are using a Windows-formatted drive.
You would either create a second partition on your USB stick, or use a second, Linux-formatted stick where you install SotA.

I'm not sure, but you may be able to create an additional ext4 partition on your USB stick from the running Ubuntu using gparted (I'll try that later if I can), and then install SotA there so it will stay after you reboot.

P.S.: Avoid the "persistent storage" option when you create your bootable USB stick; it uses FAT32 and you cannot run SotA from there.

 

I will try partitioning my USB stick and format it as ext4 for SotA and see if it runs. Thanks.

 

Cool! Good luck with that.

Actually, I'll show a way to do it.
Disclaimer: if you are not sure and don't want to risk losing data, simply don't try this.

STEP 1
Download Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Desktop (64-bit) from here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/alternative-downloads
You are looking for a file called ubuntu-14.04-desktop-amd64.iso

STEP 2
Download and install Pen Drive Linux: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

STEP 3
Plug your USB stick and go to the Disk Manager (right-click "Computer" then "Manage" in Windows 7; if you are using Windows 8 or 8.1, you can try this guide: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/a/disk-management-windows-8.htm).

As you can see, I am using a brand new, unformatted drive. If you have any partitions in yours, right click and delete them. Make sure you are working on your designated USB stick!

STEP 4
Create a FAT32 partition for the live system.


Note that I am using a 16GB stick: if you've got an 8GB one, choose a size of 2048 instead of 4096.



Here's the end result:


STEP 5
Run Pen Drive Linux Universal Installer and choose "Ubuntu" from the menu, then browse for the ISO file you have previously downloaded in step 1.


Review the options and press Create.


If you are using a USB3 device, this should be very quick.



I will write the rest in another post to avoid an image overflow in here

 

STEP 6
Almost there: now you can boot from your USB stick into Ubuntu Live.

Click on the Dash button and look for GParted, then launch it.


If you have a hard drive attached, the program may whine about GPT partitions in there. Just click "No" and select your USB drive instead.


STEP 7
To create a new partition, simply right click on the "Unallocated" space and then click "New".

I would suggest you use all the available space (which is the default so don't touch anything), select ext4 as the file system and give it a nice label. Then press "Add".


Again, if you've got a USB3 stick, this should be very quick.



STEP 8
Unfortunately you cannot write in your new partition yet.
Open a terminal window (CTRL+ALT+T) to give yourself access using the commands you see in this screenshot (replace "Game" with whatever label you have chosen in step 7):


STEP 9
Download the game in the newly created "SotA" folder (or copy it over if you already had the full Linux version downloaded elsewhere).


STEP 10
Double-click Launcher.x86_64 and have fun! No need to reinstall the game after reboot: it stays in your "Game" partition.
If you update the game, the updates remain as well.

Here it is, running on a low-power Core i3-4150T:


Wow! Only 56W, and decent frames per second (fast settings and windowed mode). I think this is a new record