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Mantis Burn Racing needs more support if it is to come to Linux

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The developers of Mantis Burn Racing [Steam] are still willing to port the game to Linux, with enough demand. Sadly, current demand isn't strong enough.

I asked the developer on Steam what type of response they were looking for on Steam with this question:

What sort of demand are you wanting to see and how can it be shown? We have 10 pages here and most of that is people requesting it for Linux.

To which a user replied with:

10 pages equals 150 comments and if you subtract dev comments and people who posted more than once you have maybe 140 individuals. I would love this game on Linux but to demand a developer port a game that costs $16.99 CAD for 140 people is not practical. Even if everyone here paid full price that's $2378.60 CAD before Valve takes their cut. All we can do is request a port and hope for the best. Spread the word, make sure GOL knows of thos page, that Phoronix knows of it, that Reddit knows of it, share it on your social media. Hopefully more people come by to lend their support.

It's hard to argue against that and I won't of course, that's not a lot of money to port and support a game on another platform. For really small developers it may be enough, but realistically it's not a large amount of money considering support alone can take a long time. The developer said this in reply:

Yes, as you correctly point out, those kinds of numbers are not sufficient for us to develop a Linux version of the game, unfortunately. We would definitely like to, but we are a small indie team and just dont have the resources to take too many financial risks. We are listening and hope to see more and more people wanting a Linux version. Thanks for all your comments, and keep them coming!

So if you want to see Mantis Burn Racing on Linux, we need to show our numbers. The easiest way right now is to post in this linked forum topic to give your support. Obviously, don't post if you wouldn't actually buy it - as that will only inflate numbers and make Linux look bad in the end.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Racing, Steam
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29 comments
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Nezchan Nov 9, 2017
Quoting: ArdjeIt would be nice if there was a kind of escrow service on steam.
Something like kickstarter:
You can buy the game, the money stays at steam, until there is enough incentive for the developer to act on it. The developer then builds and delivers, and the money is now delivered to the developer.
Or better:
You have money in your steam wallet, with which you can pledge with a 2 or 3 fold over commit.
If the developer decides there is enough pledged, the pledges turn into a commit.
Which means the money in your wallet is reserved and not spendable.
If the developer after that time have a working version, they can pass on the money.
I hate all these fake promises.
But then again, that system will probably going to be abused somehow.

Can't see a lot of users getting on board with that, honestly.

But how's this idea? Steam's gotta have some way to know what platform your client is on. Why not have statistics for how many people have a game on their wishlist, per-platform. That at least gives likely a stronger picture of demand than how many people add their name to a Steam discussion that's already 10 pages but somehow still not enough.
Jarno Nov 9, 2017
Quoting: pbI bought Little Racers STREET at launch and had proper fun with it (worked fine back then, I haven't tested it recently). Mantis Burn Racing looks just as fun, but not at this price and not with that attitude.
Bought Little Racers STREET last halloween sales, I don't remember why but it didn't work.
I was drunk af and didn't have nerves to fix it so I refunded.

What comes to Mantis Burn Racing developers, that attitude is kind of funny if in reality we are speaking developer studio what has 5 (shitty selling) games on steam, totalling 384 positive and 242 negative reviews (~59% positive ratio).
"You need to demand our product." -PooPoo Studios
tuubi Nov 9, 2017
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Quoting: KelsWhy not have statistics for how many people have a game on their wishlist, per-platform. That at least gives likely a stronger picture of demand than how many people add their name to a Steam discussion that's already 10 pages but somehow still not enough.
That would mean I'd have to put games on my wishlist I don't actually wish for unless they get ported...
Ehvis Nov 9, 2017
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Quoting: tuubiThat would mean I'd have to put games on my wishlist I don't actually wish for unless they get ported...

Since steam now filters the "new releases" for Linux, I tend to miss Windows only releases. So I doubt there is an easy solution to find demand. I suspect Valve would be the party best able to estimate demand for a certain game since they have all the store data.
Nezchan Nov 9, 2017
Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: KelsWhy not have statistics for how many people have a game on their wishlist, per-platform. That at least gives likely a stronger picture of demand than how many people add their name to a Steam discussion that's already 10 pages but somehow still not enough.
That would mean I'd have to put games on my wishlist I don't actually wish for unless they get ported...

I already do that, and I've had others tell me they also put stuff on their wishlist that they "wish" would be available, or are waiting to come out of EA, as a way to keep an eye on them. So it's not unheard of behaviour.
tuubi Nov 9, 2017
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Quoting: Kels
Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: KelsWhy not have statistics for how many people have a game on their wishlist, per-platform. That at least gives likely a stronger picture of demand than how many people add their name to a Steam discussion that's already 10 pages but somehow still not enough.
That would mean I'd have to put games on my wishlist I don't actually wish for unless they get ported...

I already do that, and I've had others tell me they also put stuff on their wishlist that they "wish" would be available, or are waiting to come out of EA, as a way to keep an eye on them. So it's not unheard of behaviour.
I don't see the point. There's plenty of interesting stuff that's actually available. Enough that I don't waste time on games I will probably never play.
Mohandevir Nov 9, 2017
16$ for a fighting racing game, local multiplayer with splitscreen... Count me in.
Nearer to Blaze Rush, imo. Little Street Racers.... Nah! Not the same. (I own both).


Last edited by Mohandevir on 9 November 2017 at 6:03 pm UTC
Luke_Nukem Nov 12, 2017
Quite simply, if they don't port it, I won't buy it.

Those threads are all well and good, but how many people who purchase games actually bother to go to those threads to register interest? It's a losing game that. I used to try and show interest in those threads, but I just don't use steam as much these days.

If devs would just port their games regardless of the interest shown, we'd all be a lot better off instead of having to make trade-offs in our OS choice. FFS...
slaapliedje Nov 13, 2017
It really is hit and miss. I think Astrokill was ported due to people requesting it on Steam. Sounds like they plan on eventually releasing Star Control: Origins for Linux, at least a developer had responded to the request for a Linux version and stated it was planned after the Mac verion. So I figure it can't hurt to ask.
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