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Neil deGrasse Tyson's Space Odyssey apparently will come to Linux

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Confusing as always, it seems Neil deGrasse Tyson's Space Odyssey will apparently come to Linux after the developer claimed it wouldn't be.

For those not keeping up: The initial website setup for Neil deGrasse Tyson's Space Odyssey clearly mentioned Linux as a release platform. Now that website is no more and simply redirects to their Kickstarter, which only mentions Windows & Mac.

I spoke to the developer last week with this question:

GOL: "Hello, when your website originally launched it listed Linux support. This has now been removed since the Kickstarter was put up. It now only says Windows & Mac.

Is there a reason Linux is no longer mentioned?"

Their reply was this:
QuoteHey Liam,

Thank you for your message! Sadly, there are currently no plans to support Linux. I'll check in with the development team about this. Aside from Mac and Windows, the plan is to release complements to the game through VR and mobile.

Please let me know if you have any more questions!


I was a bit confused about it, so I poked further with another question and pointed out how they did claim it was on their site:

GOL: "Then why did the official site (before it redirected to Kickstarter) very clearly list Linux as a platform?

See an example here from Google's cache: http://imgur.com/a/pTWsa"

Their reply now:
QuoteHey Liam,

I checked in with the team, and I have too apologize for speaking too early. The game will also be released for Linux. Apologies for the inconvenience.


I've asked them to clarify it in an update on the Kickstarter page.

I still have a lot of concerns about the project, although they did release an update to clarify some points. Part of my issue, is that Neil himself apparently doesn't want to promote anything. His name is attached to it though, so he should be part of it, so giving even a single tweet or Facebook post to confirm it's real would give it some more credibility.

It's not just that, it's the fact that this is clearly something still in the early stages of prototyping (maybe even earlier) as they have literally nothing to show for it. Considering how grand a game it sounds, with nothing to show for it right now, it screams risk.

To me, it just seems too risky and the developers lack of proper confirmation in public about Linux is concerning. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Crowdfunding
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About the author -
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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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8 comments

heidi.wenger Jun 19, 2017
Train has gone. My interest was brought down for this. Better informing practice next time, Neil!
scaine Jun 19, 2017
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Hmmmm. Nope.

And goddamit, I'm such a huge fan of NdGT... gutted that the messages coming from this project are so weak and confused.
Tiedemann Jun 19, 2017
I think I'll be an old forgotten man in a rocking chair somewhere before this land on my disk, but I pledged anyway :P
QUASAR Jun 19, 2017
Good to know!, I'll wait for final product to confirm and buy this =)
razing32 Jun 19, 2017
QuoteTo me, it just seems too risky and the developers lack of proper confirmation in public about Linux is concerning.

To me the lack of any proof of concept or a tech demo seems much more of an issue.
Even if Linux wasn't my platform of choice I would still be worried.

Will wait and see.
Liam Dawe Jun 19, 2017
Judging by this comment, it seems they plan to update the project to mention Linux:
Quote@Rance Justice thank you for the comment! You make a stunning case for Linux, and we are more excited than ever to support the platform. You make many great points and you are absolutely right that you should not have stumble upon the comment. We will be updating the kickstarter and the FAQ to be clear about this. Best of luck to you as well!
Still, I'm not in the habit of spending money on something that clearly doesn't exist. The team also sound rather inexperienced. I have a very bad feeling about it.
Kimyrielle Jun 19, 2017
It's generally unsafe to hand money to a development team with no proven track record. People doing that need to acknowledge that there is a very strong chance that such a project will fail. There might still be grounds for doing it anyway if people -really- want that project to happen, but they should treat it like the subprime investment it is.

Personally I have backed quite a number of projects, but my personal rule is never to give money to a team unless they have a proven track record as game developers in general AND can show me convincing evidence that they are able to deploy on Linux.
TheRiddick Jun 20, 2017
Being cool is not enough to make a game of this caliber, sadly. Expect feature trimming to the point that it becomes a 2d side-scroller :/
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