BEEP never got an official Linux version. I think it was published on Desura, but that cannot be considered official anymore.

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Do we actually have a confirmation for the Linux support on this one?

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That's weird... I cannot see the store page for the game.

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This does not seem to be a very good survey. They not only lump Windows and Mac together, but also all the smartphones and tablets, while having microcategories such as Apple TV, Apple Watch. Where is Android TV, Android Wear? A tablet running Windows? And a VR headset is a peripheral just like a controller.

I am yet to read the full document, but it feels as if they cannot tell the difference between a platform and a form factor...

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I am still upset about The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. It was already in beta when suddenly it just... stopped.

Another one I was looking forward to was Cortex Command. It had sort of a Linux version on Humble Bundle that never worked that well. Along with quite a few other HB games with broken Linux versions that never went official.

And an dishonourable mention for Jagged Alliance BIA and Flashback. Never finished a Linux port before the game was abandoned. Still carry SteamOS logo on the store though.

And oh yeah, Gas Guzzlers Extreme, what's up with that? Just released a DirectX 11 version. No word on Linux.

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This is epic.



Go ahead, you know you want it.

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Quoting: meraco750$ for a sub-par gaming PC.

In absolute terms, yes. But it is the size of a Mac Mini, $200 cheaper than a top-end Mac Mini, and a much more capable gaming machine than a top-end Mac Mini. Yes, I just compared it to a Mac Mini, and regret nothing.

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Ooohhh... nice! I am totally posting this on my workplace intranet where I run Daily Linux Propaganda. True story.

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Quoting: InverseTelecine

Quoting: LinasThis can lead to all sort of hard to diagnose problems, and imposes limitations on how much you can take advantage of the native system.

That certainly might be a problem, but it also might not be a problem. This is more of a case-by-case issue. Good Wine ports vs bad wine ports.

I honestly think it has more to do with Wines ability to run the game, than the effort put in by the developer. There are not that many Wine ports available, so my evidence is not extensive, but I have several examples:

System Shock 2 - platinum rating. Very old game, and the developer seems to have lost the source code.

Two Worlds - gold rating. An old and hilariously bad game, so it makes no sense for the developer to invest in a proper port.

Eador. Masters of the Broken World - garbage rating. Relatively new game. Sold a Wine port on Steam for a while, but it never really worked for anybody, and the developer dropped Linux support and never spoke of it since.

So Wine seems to be a shortcut solution for old and no longer profitable games that already run fine in Wine. And if the game does not run in Wine, there is very low chance for actually doing a Wine "port", because the complexity of that will very likely be higher than that of a proper port. There is no example of a Wine port known to me that actually took a game that was not able to run in Wine, and made it to.

Quoting: InverseTelecineDoes going native mean ostracizing non-native ports? I'm not be sarcastic or snarky here! That is a legitimate question! I am just hoping the answer is no.

Probably not. I mean, I do understand that porting old games is an investment that makes no sense for most developers. They may be build on old technologies that are really platform-specific, using middleware that is no longer supported, etc. So if the game already runs in Wine, why not just package it and let some more people enjoy it? But in my mind Wine a tool for resurrecting old games, and not a viable porting option for new games.

Sorry if I did not answer all the points, because this is potentially an endless discussion. :)

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Quoting: InverseTelecine

Quoting: Linas

Quoting: JuliusHave been playing this with WINE (platinum support) quite a bit...

As far as I know, it will be a Wine "port", so nothing will really change here.

Um... I take serious issue with this comment. A real Wine port done by professionals is much, much better than just "running a game with Wine."

Was not my intention to sound demeaning. I do think that Wine is an amazing piece of software and I have great respect for Wine developers. Yet I do not consider Wine-wrapped games to be proper ports, just as I don't consider software running in DOSBox to be Linux software. Simply because it still runs non-native code, makes non-native system calls, and generally does not interact with system libraries and services the way native software is expected to. This can lead to all sort of hard to diagnose problems, and imposes limitations on how much you can take advantage of the native system.

That is not why I dislike Wine-wrapped "ports" though. My main issue is that this method is very Windows-centric from the developers point of view, and does not encourage proper cross-platform development practices. That is why so many developers choose to use technologies that are inherently incompatible with Linux, such as DirectX 11, and then write off Linux ports as unfeasible.

Quoting: InverseTelecine1. A lot of people who are inexperienced with Wine configuration (like myself!) will not be able to troubleshoot and hack around problems that come up when running a game in Wine...

That is exactly what projects like PlayOnLinux and Winetricks do. Also we are talking about a game that already has a platinum rating in Wine, therefore I cannot see how it is much more than just running it in Wine.

For the sake of argument let us say that the game really is problematic and cannot simply be run in Wine. Would you not rather have all that effort put into a proper port instead of making workarounds for the non-native software?

Quoting: InverseTelecine2. Most important: A Wine port can be bought on Steam/Humble/GOG and count as a Linux purchase, thereby helping our OS get more games in the future!

That is a fair point. Although I believe that Wine ports will lead to more Wine ports. Which can do wonders for older games, but new games may prove problematic. For example Alien: Isolation has a garbage rating on Wine.

What we really need is more developers getting into Linux as a first-class development platform, and not as an afterthought. And that in my mind means going native.

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