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Update: Mentions of a Linux version have now been removed from the Steam store. According to the developer, they will not remove the Linux version and people on Linux did buy a "completed game" but it won't see any more support going forward (source). They also said the Linux version will see updates "but Linux specific bugs won't be addressed" however "gameplay balance, graphical bugs, most game crashes, etc will be fixed regardless of what your OS is" (source).


How about a kick in the teeth with your coffee this Friday morning? Well, that's what I've got for you. Developer HopFrog has announced they will be removing Linux support for Forager and Mac is no longer coming. Forager only released in April this year too.

Buried in their Q&A post on Steam was this:

Unfortunately, both Linux and Mac have proven very difficult for us to work with. Forager will no longer be available for Mac and Linux moving forward. Any plans to bring the game to Mac have now officially been canceled. This is a very difficult choice I had to make, and if you are interested in knowing why I and hundreds of other game developers are ditching Mac/Linux, take a look at this article!

I'm particularly annoyed about this one, since I consider it to be a fantastic game and gave it a very positive look. Not just that but to announce it in such an almost casual way, feels pretty uncaring about all the people that have already purchased and played it on Linux.

To get into what they linked to, it's an article talking about problems with supporting Mac due to a bunch of changes Apple are doing. It doesn't really touch on Linux and HopFrog bundling Linux into this feels quite wrong because no, hundreds of game developers are not ditching Linux that's just false.

What the linked article shows is an image from the developer Robotality for their 2014 strategy game Halfway, showing Linux at 2% sales/Mac at 4% with support requests for Linux at 30%/Mac at 50%. Sales around that mark for Linux are quite normal, any developer expecting more must have done no research. I would like to point out that Robotality themselves do continue to support Linux, with Pathway releasing in April this year.

Now onto the support requests bit. Looking over the Forager forum, the main issues on Linux seem to be the game running too fast and no gamepad support. The first issue was already solved and was a problem in Game Maker, the second is another Game Maker engine problem as YoYo Games seem to be reinventing the wheel rather than just using something like SDL 2 to get awesome gamepad support (and lots of other things not just for Linux). If you release a game on a platform that has two issues you would see if you booted it up even once, you're clearly not testing.

I've reached out to HopFrog to ask about their plans for refunds since it was not mentioned.

Additionally, I've reached out to Valve to see what they have to say about this repeating situation since that's Rust, Natural Selection 2 and now Forager that have all decided to dump Linux support after release. Not a lot of course but even one removing support is not a good look and doesn't look great on Valve either if they do nothing to help their customers out. You can argue "Steam Play" but to go over my previous point on this, the question of actual support arises once again there too and people purchased this on Linux because the developer supported the platform.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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ZigZag Oct 4, 2019
Sad news, I had absolutely no issues with this game on Manjaro, and enjoyed it quite a lot, I actually completed it all the way! So having this few issues being this big of a factor sounds a bit off! :(
[email protected] Oct 4, 2019
Good thing i didn't pick it up.
Klaas Oct 4, 2019
I think it's really insulting that the developer dragged Linux into the “Apple hates developers and end users” mess deliberately giving a wrong impression.
Miles Oct 4, 2019
I wasn't even aware of this game but now that I am... I won't be bothering. Not that I wouldn't buy a wine compatible game but to know they had Linux support and dropped it instead of fixing the very, very few issues it had makes me significantly less interested. Moreover, how hard is it in 2019 to make something cross-platform? If GameMaker can't make games easily work well across platforms, then maybe GameMaker isn't your gig.
Klaas Oct 4, 2019
Quoting: MilesIf GameMaker can't make games easily work well across platforms, then maybe GameMaker isn't your gig.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember that Cook Serve Delicious and its sequel are made in GameMaker and they work without any problems (modulus LC_ALL=C).
ixnari Oct 4, 2019
You would think dropping Mac and Linux support would warrant a separate post, but no, it's better to bundle it in a fucking Q&A session where most people would miss it.
TheSHEEEP Oct 4, 2019
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Quoting: ixnariYou would think dropping Mac and Linux support would warrant a separate post, but no, it's better to bundle it in a fucking Q&A session where most people would miss it.
Yeah, that is REALLY weird and messed up.
grigi Oct 4, 2019
Apple's business practices and walled garden chased me off years ago already (Technically I was never "on" it, despite being given a Mac for work, which I just gave back after 2 weeks as I just couldn't deal with all their shit).
So no surprise there.

But MS is doing striving to be like Apple, increasingly locking down control of Windows, so that article seems a bit self-defeating to me.
kellerkindt Oct 4, 2019
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Refund request has just been submitted...
Let's see what Valve thinks of this
GustyGhost Oct 4, 2019
echo HopFrog >> List_of_cancer_developers.txt

Once again, Microsoft have succeeded in making the cost of migration away from their platform high enough to shackle another user. And, shamefully, they believe the fault lies with the other platforms.
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