After 12 years, InterAction studios decided to discontinue all games for Linux
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gbudny Dec 6, 2021
Hi

After 12 years, InterAction studios decided to discontinue all games for Linux.
The company that created the Chicken Invaders series and Christmas Eve Crisis decided to give up on Linux games:

Chicken Invaders: Cluck of the Dark Side (Halloween Edition)
Chicken Invaders: Cluck of the Dark Side
Chicken Invaders: Ultimate Omelette
Chicken Invaders: Ultimate Omelette (Christmas Edition)
Chicken Invaders: Ultimate Omelette (Easter Edition)
Chicken Invaders: Revenge of the Yolk
Chicken Invaders: Revenge of the Yolk (Christmas Edition)
Chicken Invaders: Revenge of the Yolk (Easter Edition)
Chicken Invaders: The Next Wave
Chicken Invaders: The Next Wave (Christmas Edition)
Christmas Eve Crisis

You can read about it on their website:

QuoteLinux games have been discontinued. You can still download their final released versions, but as of November 2021 they are unsupported and will no longer be updated.

http://www.interactionstudios.com/linuxgames.php

Last edited by gbudny on 6 December 2021 at 12:52 am UTC
PublicNuisance Dec 6, 2021
I had never heard of these games before but this just reinforces my option to try to spend the majority of my gaming money on FOSS games instead. They don't drop Linux Support or make me beg for Linux support nearly a smuch as closed source developers do.
gbudny Dec 6, 2021
Quoting: PublicNuisanceI had never heard of these games before but this just reinforces my option to try to spend the majority of my gaming money on FOSS games instead. They don't drop Linux Support or make me beg for Linux support nearly a smuch as closed source developers do.

Well, everyone has a choice about how to spend their own money.

The availability of a source code is one of many factors that decide about availability of an application for a specific platform. For instance, MorphOS users have a better source port of AVP than Linux users.

Shadow Warrior is another example of when a company published a source code in 2005, and nobody created a playable version for Linux. Luckily, they decided to release a new version of this game in 2013 for Linux on Steam.

I can give you more examples, but every project should be treated as an individual case.

I want to point out that Christmas Eve Crisis is a freeware game.

Chicken Invaders is a popular game series that have started in 1999, and Linux users don't have too many games developed by so many years.

This is another obstacle for users that go back to using Windows or Mac instead of Linux.

Last edited by gbudny on 6 December 2021 at 1:07 pm UTC
damarrin Dec 6, 2021
Thats my next youtube video right there, I’m going back to windows because Chicken Invaders Easter Edition is no longer supported on Linux.

Last edited by damarrin on 6 December 2021 at 1:24 pm UTC
eldaking Dec 6, 2021
Quoting: gbudny
Quoting: PublicNuisanceI had never heard of these games before but this just reinforces my option to try to spend the majority of my gaming money on FOSS games instead. They don't drop Linux Support or make me beg for Linux support nearly a smuch as closed source developers do.

Well, everyone has a choice about how to spend their own money.

The availability of a source code is one of many factors that decide about availability of an application for a specific platform. For instance, MorphOS users have a better source port of AVP than Linux users.

Shadow Warrior is another example of when a company published a source code in 2005, and nobody created a playable version for Linux. Luckily, they decided to release a new version of this game in 2013 for Linux on Steam.

I can give you more examples, but every project should be treated as an individual case.

I want to point out that Christmas Eve Crisis is a freeware game.

Chicken Invaders is a popular game series that have started in 1999, and Linux users don't have too many games developed by so many years.

This is another obstacle for users that go back to using Windows or Mac instead of Linux.

Yeah, I think this is a point that FOSS activism often misses: source code (and the legal permission to change it) is a necessary* but not sufficient condition to actually do stuff with software. Add enough loops to jump through and you can make the source code useless on its own - which is a prime strategy that megacorps such as Google use to control platforms while pretending to give people "freedom".

*Sometimes we can decompile or reverse engineer stuff, so it's more granular than just possible or impossible, but you get the idea.
gbudny Dec 6, 2021
The legal issues with open source games are sometimes complicated. Here is the example for HP-UX:

QuoteAnother recent example was the spate of Tetris clones that we had on our archive. We were contacted by The Tetris Company L.L.C (who hold the copyright on the Tetris concept) and told to remove them. We duly did so of course, even though we weren't the authors or the original distributors of the software.

http://hpux.connect.org.uk/hppd/answers/7-4.html

Last edited by gbudny on 6 December 2021 at 5:57 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Dec 6, 2021
Quoting: damarrinThats my next youtube video right there, I’m going back to windows because Chicken Invaders Easter Edition is no longer supported on Linux.
I can't say anyone will be losing sleep over this. Talk about rehashes...
damarrin Dec 6, 2021
All that said, I see this as a sad trend. Some 10 years ago a number of companies were putting out Linux versions because they were looking for customers and probably hoping Linux numbers would grow, making their investment worthwhile. Those users never materialised and now they're pulling support one by one, especially in light of Proton.

There's a lot of noise around Linux on the desktop but somehow that just doesn't translate to market share ever.
dubigrasu Dec 6, 2021
Gotta say, they're a bit silly, but quite fun :)
gbudny Dec 6, 2021
Quoting: Liam Dawe
Quoting: damarrinThats my next youtube video right there, I’m going back to windows because Chicken Invaders Easter Edition is no longer supported on Linux.
I can't say anyone will be losing sleep over this. Talk about rehashes...

They decided to support Linux in 2009 before HIB and Steam, which was a brave decision. It's terrible that they were forced to drop support for Linux in 2021.

The first Linux version of Chicken Invaders (from 2002) was released in 2009.

Can you give me examples of a game series for Linux that have started in 2002 or earlier and was released for Linux before 2010?

Dominions and Conquest of Elysium are two game series created by the same company that still support Linux. I don't have any other examples.

Quoting: dubigrasuGotta say, they're a bit silly, but quite fun :)

Many people noticed this game series:

QuoteThe Chicken Invaders series has been positively received. CNET gave the first Chicken Invaders 4 out of 5 stars, highlighting the graphics and sound but criticizing the game's lack of features, and repetitive gameplay.[8] CNET also gave The Next Wave 4 out of 5 stars stars, again praising the graphics, but criticizing the lack of a windowed mode.[9] The Next Wave was rated "mediocre" by GameSpot, criticizing the repetitive gameplay and indistinct enemy bullets. However, the colorful, cartoony graphics where highlighted, as were "flashes of understanding of what makes a good shooter".[10]

Shortly after Ultimate Omelette's release, it was included in Adrenaline Vault's "Top Casual PC Games of 2010" list.[11] The reviewer described it as "the most fun arcade space shooter in a very, very long time". The original orchestral soundtrack was also praised as rousing, invigorating, and "simply the absolute best".[12]

Gamezebo gave Ultimate Omellete, a 4 out of 5 stars rating, stating that[13] "Chicken Invaders 4 is fantastic for a first-timer to the series", but criticizing that "for veterans of the games, it will feel a little too samey. The action has improved somewhat over the course of the series, but it’s still really the same ideas and premise that ran through the other games. Hence, those who are not new to the games may feel that paying full price for this latest release is a little too much."

Reception of the fifth game in the series, Cluck of the Dark Side has likewise been favorable. The game currently has "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on the Steam store,[14] and was voted as "Greek Game of the Year" by Greek media and entertainment website GameWorld.gr users in its annual Game of the Year Awards 2015.[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Invaders

Last edited by gbudny on 6 December 2021 at 7:22 pm UTC
Hamish Dec 7, 2021
Quoting: damarrinAll that said, I see this as a sad trend.
See also Frozenbyte and Croteam, which in both cases cited a lack of Linux expertise due to employee departures as their reason for no longer providing support.
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