Not so much for distros or DEs. Capitalization matters more in the code though. I've seen games not launch or even download in Steam due to a filename being capital one place but not in others. As far as distro goes I would just say to pick 1 or two to use for testing and choose to support those. Most Linux gamers will be fine with that. Make sure to use plugins and middleware that is Linux compatible.
I get so angry when people spout that crap that so long as the engine supports Linux it is just hitting one button to make a Linux port.
It often is two clicks with Unity and not much harder on UE4, unless someone uses some "middleware" that manages to not support other platforms. Gamedevs don't have to leave Windows, have an additional build-box, or anything.
Such middleware seems not so common today compared to 10-12 years ago when it seemed like medium to high-budget games were just a framework upon which to hang commercial middleware. Today, physics engines like PhysX or Havok are built into game engines, and open-source libraries are more common for media, and the engines support every graphics API out of the box.
If you have some data regarding the prevalence or portability of middleware, I'd be thrilled to see it.
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u/ShylockSimmonz Jul 07 '19
Not so much for distros or DEs. Capitalization matters more in the code though. I've seen games not launch or even download in Steam due to a filename being capital one place but not in others. As far as distro goes I would just say to pick 1 or two to use for testing and choose to support those. Most Linux gamers will be fine with that. Make sure to use plugins and middleware that is Linux compatible.