New to KSP in Linux. 64 bit question.

[Leszek]

I recently attached an old hard drive to my computer and installed Linux on it. WIth some difficulty I was ultimately able to get Linux/Steam/KSP to work.

I have noticed a bit of a performance hit. While the game is still very playable, it definitely doesn't get the FPS the windows version does on my system. Not sure what I can do about that.

But anyway on to my question:

When I run KSP using the x86_64 I don't see anything in the lower right on the start up screen to indicate that I am actually running the 64 bit version. It looks Identical to the default I get when I run from steam. Is this correct or am I getting derped somwhere?

[KerBlam]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/106292-Running-64Bit-in-Steam-with-Linux-Solution

Also check that you're using the proprietary drivers for your GPU..

[sal_vager]

Leszek, it's correct, if you start the x32_64 binary you'll be using the 64 bit version, but there's nothing in the game to tell you this.

The big change is in how much RAM you can use with it, it'll easily go over 4gigs and that's why it's popular with people using a lot of addons.

Speed varies a great deal but making sure your graphics driver is up to date definitely helps

[SPA]

go to the launcher, and go to the settings icon, and disable the log.

[Leszek]

Ok good to know.

About the drivers, I am using the ones that openSUSE used during OS install. Yesterday, I installed the AMD ones and it destroyed my linux, made steam complain, and KSP wouldn't work. It took half a dozen re-installs of the OS to get it working again because well I don't know exactly.

Long story short, I have dual AMD 5770's and I am not sure I want to touch the video card drivers again. I seem to have bad luck with Linux, every time I touch it, the simplest things become a battle.

[cantab]

AMD crossfire setup...yeah, I can see that being a problem. For AMD cards on Linux, the proprietary drivers underperform compared to Windows and don't have a great reputation for stability, while the Free Software drivers perform a little worse still, but are nonetheless enough to handle less demanding games and are much more stable.

You could try a different distribution. The latest version of Xubuntu would be a good bet. Steam recommend *buntu; the X variant has a more traditional interface and uses less RAM than regular Ubuntu. Try the Free Software driver, it might well manage KSP alright especially if Xubuntu has a newer version than OpenSUSE did. If you want to use the proprietary driver, install it using the Ubuntu Software Centre or similar, rather than downloading it from AMD's website.