Bloodstained Runs Just Fine on Linux

I just want to play!! No PS4 code yet!

Thank you for posting, and I'm glad that it works. I know that this still isn't a native version of Linux and I appreciate the efforts of the community help out. I can only apologize again for all the hassle around the lack of support for this platform.

I will direct other Linux users here for advice and discussion.

Sadly, I can't confirm this on my setup, with Wine 4.9, DXVK 1.2.2 (or with just native Wine 4.9) without Lutris doing per-game stuff. 

Whilst Bloodstained certainly runs, there seems to be an odd issue with it properly detecting the display resolution - the 3d rendered parts are always pixellated, as if they're being rendered to a much lower resolution viewport and then upscaled. If it helps work out where this is happening, the "sprite" overlay parts (the UI parts) are always perfectly sharp and the correct resolution for the display.

I have a two monitor setup, with both monitors having the same native resolution (900p).

Debugging attempted:


trying fullscreen/borderless fullscreen/windowed - (without a virtual desktop in Wine, without DXVK) - Bloodstained continues to be pixellated, but the degree of pixellation increases in borderless-fullscreen significantly (looks like it's rendering to something tiny like 240p) compared to fullscreen (rendering to 640x480?).  the "display mode" selector is completely empty at all times - it does not show any resolutions whatsoever.

trying fullscreen/borderless fullscreen/windowed (with a virtual desktop, without DXVK) - Bloodstained still pixellated, but choosing fullscreen mode significantly improves matters (looks like its at no worse than half the actual virtual desktop resolution) making it actually playable, but still nowhere near the quality level browren sees. The "display mode" selector shows exactly one resolution - the exact resolution of the virtual desktop - regardless of fullscreen/windowed settings.

trying fullscreen/windowed (without a virtual desktop, with DXVK) - on startup, the game tries to change the resolution of both displays to the last resolution picked, not just the display it's fullscreen on, which is annoying. Despite this, the "display mode" selector remains completely empty, showing no selectable resolutions; and the game remains as pixellated as it is without DXVK.

EDIT: using DXVK and virtual desktop has identical results to just using DXVK.

Any ideas, other than disabling the second monitor in the assumption that there's no proper handling for "ultrawide" apparent desktop resolutions (versus actual display resolutions) like those X11 reports?

Second EDIT: quickly testing with just one monitor, and DXVK, I confirm that unfortunately, this does not fix the problem. Behaviour is identical to the above, with Virtual Desktops and without them. I didn't test without DXVK because that seems redundant at the moment.
Interestingly, trying to select "fullscreen" in this situation resulted in the display mode being set to a non-native, and lower-than-native resolution - probably around 720p or so - but the "display mode" option selector continued to be completely empty.

Given that I've seen various reports of oddness from people running on native Windows with either v high-resolution displays (there's a bug in the bug thread about Bloodstained having issues starting up initially on systems with native resolution above 1080p) or multiple monitors (there's a few bugs on the Steam forums from people unable to get Bloodstained to use the "correct" monitor to fullscreen on, when there's more than one available), I'm reluctant to consider this a Wine bug at present. It seems that Bloodstained's display support needs a bit of work in general...




Edit three: I've fixed this now, but it required manual editing of the config file. [and using DXVK and Virtual Desktop enabled in winecfg]

For reasons still not understood, Bloodstained set my sg.ResolutionQuality setting to 50 . This UE4 setting causes exactly the effect I was seeing - the 3d engine renders to 50% of the actual display resolution, and then upscales it, resulting in the pixellated effect. This seems to be auto-set by the engine on initial startup (if the config file doesn't exist yet), and based on the output of the logs I can see, it seems to be because Bloodstained is unable to properly determine the display resolution, panics, and defaults to the lowest-possible-setting in order to guarantee things will work. 

Manually setting ~/.wine/drive_c/users/<uour username>/Local Settings/Application Data/BloodstainedRotN/Saved/Config/WindowsNoEditor/GameUserSettings.ini to have sg.ResolutionQuality set to 100 fixes the issue (and apparently Bloodstained does not try to override the value again).

My experience has not been so positive. I can get it to run with some versions of WINE, but even the functioning versions will crash when I enter certain rooms. Specifically, that first tall room in the cathedral, with a save room in the lower left, has exits in the upper part of the room to the left and right. The left exit will crash immediately. The right exit will let me continue until I get to the corridor with the cat. When I pass that corridor, going to the right, it will crash.

I have Pop os as a dual boot system, playing perfectly through the steam play without any extra tuning. I've made ProtonDB report, but it has disappeared somehow.

I feel it worth stating here that despite WINE/Proton working for many at the moment, it should not be seen as equal to a Linux client or "close enough" to the point the former is not necessary.

Wine, its associated programs (ie DXVK, Winetricks, PlaysOnLinux, Lutris etc) and especially Valve's "Proton", an impressively upgraded, pre-configured variant of Wine (also open source and contributing back upstream), are incredible applications. Their use has allowed many users of Linux (and sometimes, Mac) to have a chance of running non-native software made for Windows. Even with the myriad improvements in recent years and expansion of Linux gaming, these tools allow users a chance (and remember it is a chance - not all programs, or versions thereof, work via Wine at any given time, some being more obtuse than others) to run something not made for their OS, but in terms of both performance and compatibility a native application is preferable.

Speaking specifically of gaming, a title that is compatible to some degree with Wine et al will NOT be listed as a Linux game. In fact, all automated metrics will show the game being played on Windows by nature thanks to how WINE works. It is notable that only exception is Proton because Valve specifically crafted it to be compatible with their metrics, showing the title being played on Linux. Furthermore, potential players will not see the game as being supported for Linux (or Mac) on storefronts or clients like Steam, missing the Linux/SteamOS icon. Wine et al are heroic attempts to expand the gaming options on Linux, but they're strictly unofficial. Sometimes a developer will thoughtfully take time to help confirm their game is playable via Wine, an always appreciated occurrence, but given the complex nature of interaction between the programs an update on either side can render what was previously functional erroneous or vice versa.

Besides the technical there is the philosophical or principled element as well. A great many backers, myself included, pledged in part because of the advertised Linux support during the crowdfunding campaign. The announcement years into development that Mac and Linux would be dropped was met with considerable disappointment and frustration, some expressed constructively and others less so; I won't reiterate the minutia on how things were handled and the responses thereof, but many backers (and potential buyers) left with a negative impression of certain entities involved. Fast forward to the present and Bloodstained (both Curse of the Moon and Ritual of the Night) have released with very positive response to the titles themselves. Finding out the game is generally compatible with Wine/Proton is indeed a benefit, with pragmatic Linux users pleased the option is available while still desirous of the originally promised native clients. Some regard the success of Wine/Proton adding skepticism to the necessity to drop Linux support in the first place, but I think there is a better way forward.

The viability of Wine/Proton is commendable and perhaps an indicator of ease toward an eventual native port. Along with other technical elements (ie the underlying UE4 engine's Linux compatibility),perhaps it helps illustrate a port could be made feasible, especially alongside the existing roadmap features scheduled post-launch. Working towards a native Linux client will not only make existing backers happy and more likely to recommend the title, but potential buyers newly aware of the game who prefer non-Windows OSes. In addition, doing so will rehabilitate reputations among the Linux gaming community who wrote off the title as "yet another broken crowdfunding promise", commending the developers and publishers for delivering.

While I do not know the current openness to a Linux port, I do think that illustrating the viability of Wine/Proton from the right perspective can help to make the case for doing so in showing the limited impediments to the process. Hopefully something like this could end up mutually beneficial to all involved.