[This is a direct copy of the news posted originally on Steam]

This post is regarding Valve recently introducing a new version of Steam Play.

In short the main take of that news is “Windows games with no Linux version currently available can now be installed and run directly from the Linux Steam client, complete with native Steamworks and OpenVR support.”

Previously I’ve heard Wine (Steam Play uses a modified distribution of Wine, called Proton) users having some luck running Gun Bombers. Now an active player (thanks Miikka!) told me that Gun Bombers works very well indeed through the new Steam Play.

Miikka was initially experiencing slowdowns but got over them after using the following Steam Launch Command: PROTON_USE_WINED3D11=1

As a developer this is great news because typically a separate Linux version would have to be tested and compiled in order for the game to be played on Linux.

I’m interested to hear from others too that have tried Gun Bombers on Linux and/or the new Steam Play and how your experience was.

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while after seeing a few people struggle to host a game. This quick guide should make it relatively straightforward to do so.

Why the need to port forward?

I think it’s important to first note why we need to do this. You’ve probably hosted many other games without needing to do port forwarding so why now? The reason is that these games typically have centralised servers that you are connected to at all times. These servers help to automate some tasks such as port forwarding. Gun Bombers on the other hand doesn’t have hosting servers. You are the host and others join your game. As a security measure you need to tell your network that it’s okay for these people to connect and send packets to you.

Let’s open some ports

I should note that these instructions probably apply to about 95% of you. Some are lucky not having to port forward at all and some might not have the possibility to do so.

1. Find the required information

You need to know your local IP and the port that the game uses. Luckily both of these can be found when you host a game, see below. If you need to change the port this can be done from the settings page found on the main menu.

There is also a Test button to see if you’re ready to host. If it says that the port is not open then you need to continue with the next steps.

2. Log in to your router

You need to tell your router to port forward i.e. send packets that arrive to the specific port to your computer.

Typically the address to your router is https://192.168.0.1 or https://192.168.1.1. The default login is also typically u: admin and p: admin but if not you may need to Google and seek your router manual.

 3. Configure port forwarding

This is probably the most time-consuming part – You need to locate the port forwarding page on your router. You’re faced with many menus and the location and names are not universal. When you do find the appropriate page enter the port and ip details you gathered on Step 1. Below is an example of my router page.

If you did everything correctly running the Test button mentioned on Step 1 should come up with a message saying the port is open. Now you’re ready to invite your friends to your game!

Yes indeed, Gun Bombers was Greenlit last night! Thanks to everyone who contributed. I’ll be now working on getting the game ready for Early Access.