Quoting: DrMcCoyAir Forte
Atom Zombie Smasher
The Binding of Isaac
BIT.TRIP RUNNER
Botanicula
Braid
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Dear Esther
Draw a Stickman: EPIC
Dustforce
Fieldrunners 2
Flotilla
Fractal: Make Blooms Not War
Greed Corp
Hack, Slash, Loot
Incredipede
Jamestomes
KRUNCH
Lone Survivor
Machinarium
McPixel
Metal Slug 3
NightSky
Offspring Fling!
Paper Sorcerer
Papo & Yo
Shadowgrounds
Shadowgrounds: Surivor
Shelter
Torchlight
Trine
Vessel
Windosill
Wizorb

Yeah, it's really getting to me how there's quite a few games out there with Linux versions which haven't been put on Steam. I could add a few more to that list. It's quite strange that a developer would port a game then not upload it where 80% of sales are made, it's like they're trying not to make money.

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I remember a while ago in the Steam forums a dev saying that a game which had not being ported to Linux yet had already received Linux sales. I think if you buy something and don't play it for a certain period of time, then it gets counted as a sale for the platform you bought it from (or possibly the one you use the most). I assume this is a measure taken by Valve, because otherwise there would be lots of money out there around "in limbo" not being assigned to anyone. So, I imagine that when I bought XCOM a few weeks before release and never played it until it came out, Feral got the money (I hope). Either way, this article is right, we should always wait before buying for numerous reasons.

I have been 100% Linux since 2009, so never have the temptation to play a game before release. There are also so many games on Linux that I wouldn't see the point in playing on Windows even if I did have a dual boot available. I only make 2 exceptions in the "don't buy before its ported" rule: the first is if the game is on sale (but I don't do that anymore because I've realized that games always go on sale if they're ported) and the second is a few games I play through wine because I'm 100% sure that they will never be ported:

Skyrim
Final Fantasy 7
SimCity 4
Deponia Trilogy

My question though is whether playing through Wine counts as a Windows or Linux sale? Obviously the Steam client is Windows, but the OS is still Linux (using IE6 through Wine shows up as Linux on Google Analytics, for example). I remember seeing that Valve can distinguish between "pure" Windows and Wine running on Linux/OSX, but that might just be speculation. Still, its pretty funny imagining a guy at EA smoking a cigar and going through sales figures to discover that 1% are from "something called Linucks???". Still, I would never play something on Wine which I know will get a Linux port soon, I just wait (like with Tropico 5, which I'll buy the day its released).

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Yeah, it's actually pretty close. There's still a lot of work to do to get it working and stuff, but after the game's rendering is ported to OpenGL and stuff, most of the job is done.

Thanks for the info! It's good to hear first hand that it's not a huge headache to do.

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Also, Gran, it's super cool of you to use your free time commenting and replying to people like this and setting the record straight!

One of the most common complaints I have seen are "omg you ported to osx first and the linux port isnt out yet wtf theyre almost the same".

I see that kind of comment a lot (I make it too, but obviously to inform in a nice way and not demand like an idiot). I'm quite curious to know from your first hand knowledge, how much extra work it is to move a game like The Stanley Parable from OSX to Linux (compared to say Windows to OSX)?

There's that "90% of the work is done after porting to OSX" figure (from the Ryan Gordon talk at Steam, Dev Days) but want to know how accurate that is and to have some perspective on it if it is true (because that 10% could be months of work for one person).

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I don't know how your company actually works, but why would they have you working on it in your free time in the first place? They can expect some considerable revenue from a linux port, so they should really assign (and pay) a developer to do this full-time...

If you read Gran's post, he was doing it in his free time because he enjoyed it. He is also being paid to do it during office hours, that's why its delayed but not canceled. That's probably the worst thing about this - not only were people trolling a dev, but a dev who was doing a nice thing and who clearly enjoys his work.

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Quoting: FutureSuture

Quoting: Gran PCwhen you are trying to cater to an userbase that seems to mostly hate you

That really isn't a fair assessment. That's generalization. Also, it is unwise to single out Linux users here when I am quite sure that not all fans of this game who are Windows or Mac OS users are goodie goodie two shoes either. Not pleased with the degenerates who brought this about, but the reaction isn't welcome either.

To be very fair to Gran, he is still working on the port (like he said in the post). What he is no longer doing is using his FREE TIME to do so - something which he has no obligation to do.

The short story is that people harassed to him, which took away enjoyment from porting it, so he now only does what is required of him. That's exactly what I would do in his situation.

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