Quoting: ElectricPrismI'm really torn on this because I know how amazing this could be if it's executed correctly and there's no way to know without playing it.

To get a bit of a feeling there's still the old demo available from https://benhickling.itch.io/ex-zodiac [External Link], and the full version is available from itch, too: https://pixeljam.itch.io/ex-zodiac [External Link]

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Quoting: tohurif you are referring to Steam they have said a many times they would work to let you get your games and they continue to work if they did go under.

Believe me: If a company really gets into such financial struggles they have other worries than caring about their promise to eliminate the DRM system.

Apart from that I doubt that would work anyway: What should be the replacement for all the centrally provided services (e.g. the networking layer) if the company doesn't exist any more? In the end the only thing they could do is remove the requirement to connect to Steam every few weeks, so you can play pure offline games at least. If they are not using advances services.

Granted: The likelihood of Steam going out of business soon is quite low. On the other hand I just bought a few games from 1992 recently - and I can still play them. Will it also be possible with games you buy on Steam today to play them in 30 years? (Or even better: Sell them to someone else?)

In the end I just want to emphasize: That promise is most certainly an empty promise. No sane company would just throw away one of their last assets (the gagged player base) in difficult times.

Sorry for being mostly off-topic regarding the original article, but that statement is so wrong I just had to say something ;-) (But who knows, maybe I'm wrong and the management really would be so morally upright to keep that promise? I just don't believe it. Just think about Humble Bundle that promised to always offer Linux versions.)

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I'm not finished yet, but I think I found a new record:

Secret Agent: 29 years

It's admittedly not exactly the original, but a slightly improved version.

Honorable mentions:

• Strife: 18 years
  
• Imperium Galactica II: 18 years
  
• Desperados - Wanted Dead or Alive: 17 years
  

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Quoting: whizse

Quoting: Purple Library GuySweet! Linux is getting games a mere ten years after release! That means the gap is shrinking, right? :wink:

I am curious what the longest gap is between initial release and a Linux port. Noctropolis comes to mind. Released in 1994 for DOS and ported by Night Dive in 2017. That makes the gap 23 years, does any game beat that?

That's a really interesting question!

I tried to come up with a MobyGames API query, but unfortunately the list contains all those GOG DOSBox releases, too, and I guess we're talking about native commercial releases here. Those DOSBox games could be filtered out if all games had the Emulated Only attribute set, but most of them don't contain any Linux system requirements yet :-/

If there's a real interest in answering this question I'll start to systematically submit the system requirements for all DOSBox releases...

Edit:
A few findings already with long gaps, but nothing has beaten Noctropolis so far:

• Turok: 21 years
  
• The Labyrinth of Time: 21 years
  
• Inherit the Earth: 20 years
  
• Silver: 18 years
  
• Broken Sword / Circle of Blood: 17 years
  
• Broken Sword 2: 16 years
  
• Vangers: 16 years
  
• Shadow Warrior: 16 years (for an official Linux port - the game was playable before due to the Build Engine source code release)

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Quoting: CyrilThe game was available on their website DRM-free, but now that's free it seems you can only get it from Steam...
Anyone know or can confirm about this?

It seems so - the Unigine store doesn't exist in its old form any more, and the game is not available to buy via Humble Bundle any more either. The only option left to get a DRM free version seems to be to buy the retail version of the game...

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It's also worth mentioning that this is one of the few Linux games with native Stereo 3D support. Pre-Occulus that is, so you'll probably play this with anaglyph glasses, but maybe "3D Vision" support or the side-by-side view would also work when using an Nvidia Quadro card? (Has anybody tried this?)

In any case, even with just red-cyan glasses the world looks amazing - the graphics are beautiful anyway, but I adore the additional depth. Oh, and the game is fun, too :smile:

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Wow, that demo was impressive...

The game looks so light-hearted, but in the end it also has very dark moments revolving around loss and guilt. It reminded me a lot of Spiritfarer (I haven't played it, but it seems you are also releasing souls there) with the graphical style of Guacamelee. And I absolutely really adore that mix of really funny moments and those tragic events!

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Quoting: NezchanI've honestly never heard of this. Where was it when I was looking so hard for mobile games that weren't awful in terms of both gameplay and IAP?

I don't know when you were looking, but a few years ago the original Pixel Dungeon [External Link] was very popular in the F-Droid store.

I don't know how many hours I spent in this game, it really has that "just one more game" effect. And don't tell me about the consequences of the feature that there are more enemies when playing the game between midnight and early morning (which has the positive side effect that you are leveling up faster, which is quite essential) :tongue:

By the way: there's also a desktop version available (e.g. on itch.io [External Link]). I think I have to stop writing for now...

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Quoting: Migwell

Quoting: WorMzyHuh, not sure how I missed this, it looks a lot like Rust, but with competent developers. Wishlisted.

What do you mean, us Rust developers are very competent! 🦀🦀

And this, my dear children, happens when you overload words multiple times :cry:

But I agree, when you like rust, then this setting with a lot of water is an excellent choice.

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Quoting: kaimanEdit: In this interview [External Link], the developer says the game "is 90% Betrayal at Krondor inspired, but you may find a bit of the old Realms of Arkania trilogy in there, as well as Microprose’s Darklands, Might and Magic VI and other games of the ’90s.". But no specifics given.

Thanks for the find! I'd have wished for a bit more of Realms of Arkania influence, but the aesthetics of the game alone are totally my thing.

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