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Pump-Action Captain Is A Game To Avoid On Linux

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It's not often I tell you to outright avoid a game, but Pump-Action Captain is a game you really need to just walk away from.

I really don't like to put a downer on anything, but this is something that I feel needs highlighting.

I decided on a whim to pick up Pump-Action Captain with my own personal money to test it out, and to see if it's worthy of covering at all. What I found was pretty shocking, and something that needed to be mentioned here. This is the first Leadwerks game that I've tried, and so far it's not leaving a good impression.

The game doesn't really work, at all. The executable is named incorrectly, so it won't even load up. This is a simple case sensitivity issue, which could be forgiven. When I re-named the executable it worked, so that was okay. It wouldn't be so bad if that was the only issue, but that alone tells you enough—it wasn't even tested, not once.

The game loads to a small corner of my screen, locks all input and has to be killed by opening a terminal session (CTRL+ALT+F1).

I queried this with the developer, and the response was this:
QuoteHonestly, what I can tell you is this, the game isn't really optimized for linux, obviously, but we're trying to figure out the issue, since none of these things happen in the windows version.


And even worse is this:
QuoteAs Firebal said before, PAC wasn't built for Linux, and the fact that none of us have Linux (that I know of) made things all the much more harder. If you feel PAC didn't meet your expectations, then a refund is most suggested, I hope as more updates and patches come out with PAC, we can win your favor, and get you to play PAC, one more time. :)


I am really surprised that anyone is still doing things like this, especially with Steam now offering refunds extremely easily. I honestly don't get why anyone would do this, I mean, they have to realise they will get refund requests due to it.

I know Early Access comes with its own set of problems, but even in Early Access the game still needs to be playable to be sold. Otherwise, what's the point? An unfinished game looking to get feedback and work with the community is very different to a game that is completely broken.

If people like getting warnings like this, we can do them more often, as I personally feel it's important for people to know. I don't like to see people waste their money. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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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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14 comments
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Maokei Aug 23, 2015
Let me guess another trashy unity game made with assets from the unity store?


Last edited by Maokei on 23 August 2015 at 7:22 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Aug 23, 2015
It's actually Leadwerks.
wvstolzing Aug 23, 2015
This thing was on Jim Sterling's channel. Never thought I'd see it here.
Liam Dawe Aug 23, 2015
Quoting: wvstolzingThis thing was on Jim Sterling's channel. Never thought I'd see it here.

Oh yeah, I love Jim Sterling, someone who points out all the junk, here's his video on this game which is hilarious as usual:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl4_eqOLtGk

It's terrible.
BillNyeTheBlackGuy Aug 23, 2015
http://steamcommunity.com/app/378280/discussions/0/528398719797560232/

The developers are taking the criticism pretty well. I got to commend them for that.


Last edited by BillNyeTheBlackGuy on 23 August 2015 at 9:04 pm UTC
GNUzel Aug 23, 2015
I appreciate the warnings because money is tight for me, and I want to make sure my money is spent on something that is worthy of the Tux logo.
d10sfan Aug 23, 2015
I believe Steam needs to have some sort of restrictions for the Linux icon and uploading. Personally I feel that to have a Linux icon on the store, you need to prove you've actually launched it and tested it on Linux prior to uploading. Many of these games seem like the devs never actually launch their games on Linux (for example Rust, Garry's Mod, this one, some Unity games, etc), and this could help against that. Maybe if there needs to be allowed for them to upload the depots, to require a large banner on the store page saying that the build is untested, so we can see the difference between developers.

Part of the SteamOS setup seems to be on Valve's part to try and sway console players. One of the things consoles give you, at least in theory, is the idea that patches have been tested at least some before releasing. There really isn't something like that on Steam and while Valve is trying to get away from curating the store themselves, some sort of accountability in terms of actually trying the game on Linux and making sure the basic features work before selling it as a supported Linux game would be very helpful. Refunds help this, but it'd be nice to have something upfront, than just being reactionary.
edo Aug 23, 2015
Its Early-access, the only problem here is than the devs were honest, if they would just have said that they will take a look at it (and they will fix the linux bugs as far as I have read in the forum) this post would not have existed.


Last edited by edo on 23 August 2015 at 10:06 pm UTC
Nyamiou Aug 24, 2015
QuoteIf ponies like getting warnings like this, we can do them more often, as I personally feel it's important for ponies to know. I don't like to see ponies waste their bits.
No, It would give the wrong idea to people about games on Linux to give a special attention to crap. Maybe a full article reporting the good, the bad and the terrible ports to Linux over a period of a month or two.

There is a report button on the store page of every game, you can use it to report to Valve that a game is totally broken, I thing you should use it and report the discussions where the Dev react like they don't even care because if they are contacted by Valve to remove their game from the store (or even just remove the SteamOS logo) they will probably react fast. Also you can write a review before asking for a refund, I don't know for most people but I always read reviews before buying a game (even if cost only 1€).


Last edited by Nyamiou on 24 August 2015 at 12:19 am UTC
Maokei Aug 24, 2015
Quoting: liamdaweIt's actually Leadwerks.

Well ain't that something! At least it's a change from some of the trashy unity titles.
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