Don't want to see articles from a certain category? When logged in, go to your User Settings and adjust your feed in the Content Preferences section where you can block tags!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Sunless Skies [GOG, Steam], the next game from the developer of Sunless Sea has released with day-1 Linux support. The title is still in-development, so it's not yet a complete game.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

Disclosure: My key was provided by GOG directly. Thanks again to GOG for supporting us with keys so that we can cover games in a timely fashion, good show 'ol chap (I know, I need to work on my old fashioned Londoner lingo).

As always, a full review will be reserved for when the game leaves development. For now, I've given it a few thoughts to ensure it works correctly.

The game currently only has one of the four planned game regions, named the Reach. Each region will have new stories, game mechanics, enemies and so on you get the idea.

GOG include both a 32bit and 64bit version of the game, so no need to hunt down various 32bit libs thankfully! The game also loads and runs just fine! It does revert my fullscreen setting on each run though, making me put it back into fullscreen each time, but that's a minor niggle.

Since the game isn't finished, they give you a starting gift of supplies to get you started, as they claim it's harder to earn money right now than it will be when it's finished. Likely due to the game not having as many ways to actually earn money as it will in future.

I have to admit, the idea of a steam-powered spaceship sent from 20th century London has totally blown my mind. I'm a massive science fiction nerd, I love everything to do with space and the totally unknown! Sunless Sea didn't really speak to me in the way I was hoping it would, but replace the Sea with Space and suddenly a new world has opened up for me. I think what really helps, is that the pace of the game seems quite a lot faster when compared with the previous game, so it doesn't feel so gruelling to play.

The game is an absolute joy to play already, seeing your little ship blast out steam as you chug along, it's really quite beautiful. I often enjoy the simple things, but seeing steam burst out of your sides when turning — magnificent.

I've already had a pretty close shave with an asteroid that could have resulted in an early death. There I was, casually eating a chocolate muffin, powering away with one hand (whilst forgetting Cruise Control exist) and this little number appeared rather suddenly:

Some slick manoeuvring and a keyboard covered in muffin and I was safe.

Honestly, for a game that has just released, which isn't finished, I was surprised by how well it runs. I only saw one real issue, which was were some sort of fog/smog just appeared instead of fading it. Another minor niggle, but it didn't really affect my enjoyment.

As expected, the writing is fantastic and engrossing. Lots of little stories to find and passengers to chat to (if you decide to chat, that is). The only thing I haven't engaged in yet is the combat, as I've only come across two other ships. I'm not too eager to try out the combat yet either, as I'm already rather fond of my steamy friend. I have just had a chat with a gentleman over a brandy and agreed to hunt down some lowlifes, so we will see what happens.

Try not to run out of fuel and please don't keep crashing into everything. Remember to keep those logs up to date, or no one will believe a bloody thing you've seen. Now go and stake your claim!

Space Trains, beautiful style and presentation, what's not to love?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
8 Likes
About the author -
author picture
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.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
11 comments
Page: «2/2
  Go to:

buenaventura Aug 31, 2017
Quoting: JudasIscariotThe system requirements are out on both the GOG and Steam pages for the game :)

Of course, for some reason I thought since it was early access they wouldn't be there, but you are right!

Minimum system requirements - Linux: Ubuntu 14.04, 16.04 or later
Processor: SSE2 instruction set support
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 support
Storage: 700 MB available space
Sound Card: Any

Those are LOVELY system reqs :D
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.