Quoting: ElectricPrismSomehow I just take this as Microsoft porting to covertly try to collect data about Steam Console users.

It's not the first Microsoft game to come to Linux. Dust: An Elysian Tail is also a Microsoft title. It was a very strange feeling to boot up a native Linux game and see the Microsoft logo.

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Eh... I lost a lot of respect for Double Fine after the Spacebase DF 9 fiasco.

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Quoting: neowiz73I blame the Mac vs PC commercials for starting the paradigm of calling all windows based systems "PCs".

It started long before that. "PC" has been synonymous with Microsoft in one way or another for decades.

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Quoting: darkszluf

Quoting: Mountain ManStill waiting for a good naive Linux alternative to Diablo III. Maybe this will finally be it?

so i assume you don't have Victor Vran or Torchlight 2?

I own both, and they're good games, but neither one really comes close to Diablo in my opinion.

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Quoting: STiATReally cool is that one to read, mentioned in the original article (I seem to have missed it):

https://icculus.org/~icculus/dotplan/SeriousSam-CHANGELOG.txt [External Link]

Daily log updates of the SeriousSam port of Ryan (icculus) Gordon, but writing not what has been done but what he's planning to do. Expect a lot of disappointment, and less "yyeeey" moments ;-).

Another interesting part is:
> Porting Is Not Software Development

porting is like fixing a huge mess of a bug with a code structure you don't like, but you have to focus on rewriting as little as possible. Which is the usual bugfix procedure (if fixing the bug of somebody else). Changing less means less possibilities to break. Had to experience that the hard way, "that's done bad, this could be done better" ending up in fixing what i "fixed" or "beautified".

I didn't port games yet, but I did port some more-or-less complex applications from Windows to Linux (codebase between 50.000 loc and 300.000 loc) knowing that very well, especially if you do know windows and are crazy enough starting to touch the windows implementation because you think you can do better with almost no effort than the windows guys who were paid for it. Never do that. Ever. Seriously. Get some fuel and a lighter, will be less pain and a faster end.

But really cool article to read, great that this one was shared. Thanks!

I've read that professional code is often messier and more poorly commented than open source code because unlike hobbyists and people coding in their spare time, professionals are paid to make things work, not to make it beautiful.

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Still waiting for a good naive Linux alternative to Diablo III. Maybe this will finally be it?

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Why do developers bother with even asking? There are millions of people playing games on Linux, so of course there's interest in a Linux version. Why wouldn't there be? It's not like "Linux gamer" is a monolithic subset of the gaming community. It makes as much sense as asking, "Is there interest in a Windows version?"

Whenever I see a developer ask this, it tells me they're really not vested in Linux and are looking for an excuse not to support it (i.e. "We didn't get enough positive response to our thread." ).

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Quoting: Guest

Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: GuestI really don't understand why developers don't do more research to find a publisher that allows them to put the game on any platform they want, or just publish it themselves through GOG or Steam!

I'm pretty sure it's not as trivial as you make it sound.

I'm listening?

Well, just think about it. First you have to find a publisher who's actually willing to take a chance on your game, but what if you can't find one who is also open to the idea of supporting multiple platforms? Self-publishing is always an option, but that also means giving up the support of a publisher.

It's really not an easy nut to crack for a small developer.

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Quoting: Eike

Quoting: SamsaiHopefully they don't suddenly "forget" about Linux during the development process and end up with a massive amount of incompatible Windows-only middleware that destroys all chances of a Linux port in the end.

Fortunately, they are totally aware of this:
[In Unity, building for those platforms can be done with a click of a button, but unless we have the resources to build on those platforms on a regular basis, supporting those platforms will be incredibly difficult. ](http://steamcommunity.com/app/482400/discussions/0/351660338713339416/?ctp=7#c358417008716066949)

It's still possible to wind up with incompatible modules even when using a cross-platform engine. I'm thinking of Pillars of Eternity with its non-existent capes for Linux and OSX because the developers used a Windows-only plug-in for rendering capes.

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Quoting: GuestI really don't understand why developers don't do more research to find a publisher that allows them to put the game on any platform they want, or just publish it themselves through GOG or Steam!

I'm pretty sure it's not as trivial as you make it sound.

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