I got the 291 and 292 builds and I don't see a a UE4 Houdini Engine option in the installer. Which platforms are supported? Is Linux supported at the moment? If not, what is the status?

Cheers,
Vlad

Is there official version of UE4 for Linux? I see only Win and Mac ready for download on www.unrealengine.com [unrealengine.com].

Yeah, I know that you can play with compiling some branch, but this is for people who likes to get dirty with insides if UE4.

It's as simple as cloning UnrealEngine repo from github and running /Setup.sh
You may need to install extra dependencies, but nothing fancy. I know nothing about UE4 internals, yet have no problems running it on my laptop.

Yes, I understand. But there is no option to download Linux ready UE4. You NEED to compile it YOURSELF. While for Windows and Mac you can just download working engine.

Houdini Engine is marketed as a artists tool, not programmers tool. And then there is a problem of not many game studios or architects using Linux (there is a song in my country called “Less then zero” ). And then there is problem of game tools from which around 99% is Windows only. And then there is problem of a lot worse graphic cards support. And so on… All those things are not something artists would like to bother with.

So from my perspective, it seems kinda logical to not support platform which is not important. And just because someone can compile it for Linux doesn't change that. I can compile many Mac things on Windows too, but that doesn't mean that Mac stuff will automatically gets supported on Windows.

But lets wait what SESI guys will tell about it. Maybe they will add this possibility later on, when they will (hopefully) publish source code for UE4 plugin like they did for Unity & Maya plugins.

Cheers!

You NEED to compile it YOURSELF.

Look, from the user perspective, there's no difference between compiling and installing binaries. All it takes is running a setup script. Done. Nothing else: no messing with Visual studio, linker or compiler options. It is completely opaque on the user side and requires zero insight into what is actually happening in the background.

And then there is a problem of not many game studios or architects using Linux

Your argument about “less than zero” and 99% of game-development tools being windows-only is debatable and does not preclude support for UE4 HE on Linux.

Houdini Engine is marketed as a artists tool

I doubt that. It is a quick-prototyping framework for tool-makers. It happens to be so easy to use, that even artist, without special training, can grasp the basics and start making tools for themselves.

Considering how easy it is for non-technical people to install UE4 on Linux these days, as well as use both Houdini and Houdini Engine, I don't see why it should not be supported on Linux.

Look, from the user perspective, there's no difference between compiling and installing binaries.

I think that for artist that uses Zbrush + some other modeling tool + texturing tool there is a big difference between installing DLL vs compiling yourself. If there wasn't, people would move to Linux long time ago.

Go to https://www.unrealengine.com/dashboard [unrealengine.com] and show me where it says that you can download Linux version? I can't see it there. That tells me that editor on Linux is still not officially supported.

From what I know there is one Epic dev working on Linux version and that there is a working version of editor for Linux is because of community effort.

It's like with Unity 5 64-bit editor. We didn't get access to HEngine version for it till there was official version of Unity 5 available for everyone.

I doubt that. It is a quick-prototyping framework for tool-makers.

In all GDC movies I have seen they mention artist many times, not tool makers. That's why I assume that it's targeted as artist tool.

Now, to finish this talk before I will get on your nerves even more , I think that once UE4 HEngine will go out of beta, SESI will release plugin source code with instructions and you will have possibility to compile it for whatever you want. Actually, if you are so impatient, you can go to:

$HFS/engine/4.7/HoudiniEngine

Source code is there. Readme.md is there. Maybe you will have luck installing it.

And as I said in previous post, lets wait for SESI guys. I'm sure they will have better explanation of why there is no HEngine for Linux than my assumptions.

Peace!

I think that for artist that uses Zbrush + some other modeling tool + texturing tool there is a big difference between installing DLL vs compiling yourself.

I don't understand what you mean by “installing DLL vs compiling yourself.” As you could read above, all you need to do is go to a directory, where you downloaded Unreal Engine, and run Setup.sh, which will install everything you need. There is no difference for the user whatsoever.

It's like with Unity 5 64-bit editor. We didn't get access to HEngine version for it till there was official version of Unity 5 available for everyone.

I am guessing the same thing, but it would be nice to hear developers perspective on this.

In all GDC movies I have seen they mention artist many times, not tool makers. That's why I assume that it's targeted as artist tool.

Marketing people can say whatever they need to say. Together with my colleagues, we are using HE in real production, both tool-makers and artists for a little over a year now, so no assumptions are necessary.

MADjestic
Together with my colleagues, we are using HE in real production, both tool-makers and artists for a little over a year now, so no assumptions are necessary.

You are a naughty dog

EDIT: Wrong company, Guerrilla Games. I always mistake those two companies. Don't know why.

MADjestic
I don't understand what you mean by “installing DLL vs compiling yourself.”

Lets assume that I have zero coding knowledge. Can I just install OpenSuse, run Setup.sh and it will work? Or do I have to use make files? Will I have to bother with installing some other libraries? Are there no problems with building a game?

Looking at this =>
https://wiki.unrealengine.com/Building_On_Linux [wiki.unrealengine.com] I think that non technical guy may encounter problems that he/she may not solve. Based on this, I think from user perspective it's a lot easier to just get Windows/Mac version of already officially supported UE4.

For example, some time ago there was a problem with building a game from custom compiled UE4. You could solve this but you had to mess a little the engine. On the other hand there was no problem with building a game on compiled version of the engine.

Those are the problems I'm thinking about when I say it's easier to install DLL of the HEngine than build it from source.

BTW. Is there

$HFS/engine/4.7/HoudiniEngine

in Linux version of Houdini?

Hello guys!

We haven't tried UE4 on Linux (as it is not supported officially, yet) and of course haven't tried building UE4 Houdini Engine plugin on Linux. If you have UE4 working on Linux you can try building the plugin from source yourself.

If you want to do that, grab the latest plugin source from our Github repo:
https://github.com/sideeffects/HoudiniEngineForUnreal [github.com]

and patch HoudiniEngine.Build.cs (build file for our plugin used by Unreal Engine's UBT) - you would need to add Linux logic in there and of course make sure corresponding Houdini version and paths are correct.

If you have any questions regarding the process - I would be more than happy to help. We will also gladly accept a pull request, should you have this added