Are Linux Distros that are good for gaming good for those who want to 3D model, animate/develop games?

Iamgeese

Iamgeese

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No idea if you will be able to help me here, I came across Linux at the start of the pandemic for the first time when I randomly felt compelled to purchase a raspberry pi (maybe it was a sign!). I am a windows refugee. I 3D model, I use Blender, ZBrush and 3D Coat, also some video editing, sometimes I do VR on my Vive headset. I am fed up with Windows antics and now they have jumped onto the stupid A.I fetish wagon I want nothing to do with, now to top it all there is stupid adverts on my landing page, I dont want that crap on my nearly £2000 computer, no thanks. At this point its like you do not own your computer.

Since there is just so many distros I am not sure which one would suit me better to replace my desktop, I do know that I will have to use Wine to run some of my Windows locked software as there are no alternatives.

My Linux experience is, Debian for the Raspberry Pi, Kali (the occasional dabbling), Mint Cinnamon and Zorrin OS.
 


You can game on any Linux distribution, the different Linux distribution that advertise to be "Gaming distributions" only have all the gaming tools installed during the installation so that you don't have to install and set those up yourself. I don't know what tools for 3 modeling and gaming developing you use but generally speaking those can be installed on any Linux distribution as well.

So the question is do you want to just keep using Linux Mint or Zorin and install those gaming tools manually yourself or do you want to use a distribution that installs them for you? I don't know any Linux distribution that is focused specifically on 3D modeling and game development so those tools you will have to install yourself anyways which I would think anyone that uses those tools would know how to do.
 
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Most open source programs such as blender are cross platform, so there is blender for Linux as well.
And for 2D design, instead of Photoshop you can use GIMP.

Programs which are Windows only don't work on Linux, search for Linux alternative, there is alternative for almost every program you just have to search for it.

For gaming, my working combo is Lutris + staging wine + latest Nvidia driver.
To develop games on Linux, the best solution is Unreal Engine, but I suggest it because it's future rich and based on C++, unlike some others comparable with UE like Unity which is based on C#.

Many game engines suck for many reasons so my favorite is UE.
 
CaffeineAddict said:
Most open source programs such as blender are cross platform, so there is blender for Linux as well.
And for 2D design, instead of Photoshop you can use GIMP.

Programs which are Windows only don't work on Linux, search for Linux alternative, there is alternative for almost every program you just have to search for it.

For gaming, my working combo is Lutris + staging wine + latest Nvidia driver.
To develop games on Linux, the best solution is Unreal Engine, but I suggest it because it's future rich and based on C++, unlike some others comparable with UE like Unity which is based on C#.

Many game engines suck for many reasons so my favorite is UE.
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I did just found Unity for Zorin OS havent tried it though. Literally just got Zorin running on my laptop
 
Iamgeese said:
I did just found Unity for Zorin OS havent tried it though. Literally just got Zorin running on my laptop
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Do you really want to learn corporate MS bloatware language called C#?

It's perhaps Mono on Linux, equally bloatware.
 
Iamgeese said:
No idea if you will be able to help me here, I came across Linux at the start of the pandemic for the first time when I randomly felt compelled to purchase a raspberry pi (maybe it was a sign!). I am a windows refugee. I 3D model, I use Blender, ZBrush and 3D Coat, also some video editing, sometimes I do VR on my Vive headset. I am fed up with Windows antics and now they have jumped onto the stupid A.I fetish wagon I want nothing to do with, now to top it all there is stupid adverts on my landing page, I dont want that crap on my nearly £2000 computer, no thanks. At this point its like you do not own your computer.

Since there is just so many distros I am not sure which one would suit me better to replace my desktop, I do know that I will have to use Wine to run some of my Windows locked software as there are no alternatives.

My Linux experience is, Debian for the Raspberry Pi, Kali (the occasional dabbling), Mint Cinnamon and Zorrin OS.
Click to expand...
Nobara sounds like it's for you. It is built with a special Kernel that increases gaming performance (marginally), and has a easy to use NVIDIA driver installer, also has some provisions that make Blender much easier to install.
 
At the risk of sounding redundant; just pick your poison. Linux is Linux brah. Doesn't matter if you're using bleeding edge Arch Linux or farting dust with Ubuntu, both can do the exact same thing. The only real difference any common user will notice between distro's is the syntax used to interact with the package manager, and that's about it. Most people won't even notice the difference in repository because most major distro's all have access to the same packages.

The "this distro's best for this" is the goofiest debate within linux by a long shot; usually argued by people that don't actually know anything about Linux; they just picked a distro and it worked for them so they shout at the rooftops about how great it is.

Arch is great, Debian is great, Fedora is great; and by default most fork distro's like Ubuntu,Mint,Manjaro,Nobara ect are all good distros.

The appropriate question is not "what distro is best for X" but rather "Which distro comes prepackaged with the drivers and software I need for X".

That's what makes distro's "Good" for "X", nothing more than convenience for the systems intended purpose.

Distro's like Garuda and Nobara are "built" with the intention of having all the drivers and software you'd want on a "gaming" system which makes it convenient (not better) for the intended purpose. But that's literally a small hand full of packages you could install on literally any Linux distro worth its salt.

I'm an Arch Linux user but you'll never hear me say that it's better than any other distro out there simply because I could do the exact same things I do on my Arch rig if I went with say Debian/Fedora.

The whole "Distro>Distro" arguments are pretty dumb. Anyone that actually uses Linux knows that the average user will never notice the difference between distro's. Heck half of the people out there using Linux think that their desktop environment is Linux |X_x|.

Just pick one, install your AMD/NVIDIA drivers, ensure you've got your CPU's ucode installed and enjoy. Problem solved.
 
Hell, even Puppy will do what you want.

Many turn their noses up at it 'cos it looks late 90s/early noughties in appearance, and is by design intended to keep old hardware functional......but she flies on modern hardware like the bats of hell are after her.

It can be a bit more fiddly installing stuff, since by its very nature Puppy doesn't use some of the accepted, standard utilities most mainline distros come with - like standard package managers! - though modern Puppies are now beginning to come with Synaptic, OOTB.

But truthfully, the stuff we've got running with our Pup over the years is quite astounding. Our small but enthusiastic community includes some incredibly proficient coders; often, somebody will make a package request....and within a couple of days at most, there's more often than not a custom package built for whoever requested it originally.....and then made available for any who want it.

The Linux community at large considers Puppy to be little better than a toy......but behind the scenes, you'd be astonished how many folks keep a Puppy-on-a-stick handy (just for emergencies, like!) :D

@Iamgeese :-

Just FYI, when you run the Linux build of Blender, you're running it in its original native environment. Here is where it was conceived & developed; the Windows port came later.....much later. And, just like the Windows port of the GIMP, the Windows port of Blender is "glitchy". You'll find it's faster, smoother and more responsive over here.


Mike. ;)
 
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the best (in terms of performance) is Clear Linux. Even though it is optimized for Intel it works better than anything else on AMD too. (check out phoronix site for relevant benchmarks - good although bit oldish benchmark: Phoronix benchmark 2022). Clear Linux will save you the need to compile custom kernels.
If you decide to get custom kernel, from my experience xanmod is best performer overall but:
you need to enable/disable disable a lot of stuff and patiently test best config for your needs. Nevertheless, even with your distro default kernel there are options that can help to achieve good performance.

Of course your hardware must be supported and drivers must tun top notch.
If you want to tinker, then install Gentoo, next would be Arch.
Iamgeese said:
I am fed up with Windows antics
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I hope that this is not the main reason, otherwise Linux may not be really for you.

Good luck with your plans.
 
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