You want to see a lousy port, look at Eador:Masters of the Broken World, which shipped with a plain wine wrapper. It doesn't run at all for many, and, for those for which it does run, graphical glitches galore. Witcher 2 is a joy to play in comparison.

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Steam Forum trolls? I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you.

I bought Democracy, and then read post after post on its forums about how its economic engine didn't agree with people's preconceived notions about The Way Things Really Are In The Real World, mostly from people who think Paul Ryan and Ron Paul are cool guys, who think that poor people deserve to be poor, and who don't want to hear that Ayn Rand collected Social Security. When I dared to question some of these people's "theories," I got slagged up one side and down the other, and finally unsubscribed from the thread.

RedProjekt released a wrapper for Witcher 2, and I've seen "RedProjekt doesn't care about us" posts on this website as well as on Steam, over and over.

I wish Linux users would show a bit more gratitude...

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Bought it some time last year on sale for Windows, so, as far as Steam is concerned, I own it. I'll be looking for the Linux version. It is a good game. No, it's not Witcher 2, X-COM or CIV V, but it's a good game nonetheless.

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Interesting thread here. My 2 cents' worth is that, yes, when I was a Windows gamer, I pirated game after game. Since I started using GNU/Linux with Ubuntu 8.04, I have paid for every program or game that has had a price attached to it. There are times when Steam's necessity to be online is a pain, but it's something I can live with, if it means that programmers aren't being ripped off (I'm speaking mostly of indie games, not those from Big Companies).

I'm among those who think that Steam for Linux has been good for our beloved OS. Gabe Newell's evangelization for Linux on the desktop has had some pretty far-reaching influence, more than (gasp) Linus Torvalds or RMS has, in fact. I have heard some complaints about indie crappy games being far too prevalent in Steam's Linux offerings, but listen to a Windows gamer complain about indie crappy games. The bitterness!

Oh, and yes, there were some amazing games that came out in the so-called Golden Age of Gaming, and most of them seem to available on GOG.com, and many are very playable using (usually) PlayOnLinux. When GOG rolls out their Linux collection, I'm sure that there'll be DOSBox wrappers and SCUMM, just as there are for Windows games which require them. It maybe that those games that they sell that do have Linux clients will offer native versions. GOG is owned by RedProjekt, which promises zero DRM, even with their upcoming online service.

Enough rambling, I guess!

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:D:D:D! Boy, has the last four weeks been a great time to be a Linux gamer! Being a long-time fan of turn-based games, I bought this for Windows ~16 months ago. Would have played it more, but that would require booting into the annoyance that I found Windows 7 to be. Now, I don't have that excuse!

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The CIV V port took, according to the devs, a LOOOONG time and a lot of work. I have no idea how long VP worked on their wrapper, but at least they are trying to make the customers happy.

As I've mentioned already, look at Eador:Masters Of The Broken World, which was foisted on us with a plain wine wrapper, not even tuned for the game. After pages of complaints about said wine wrapper, there has not been a peep from the devs. And none are expected, either.

And, Liam, thanks for the website, your level head, and all the other things you do for the Linux gaming community!

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If you go to the CIV V Steam forums (linked several times above), you'll see post after post of rapturous thanks from grateful Linux users.

Originally posted by oldrocker99:
To the Devs:

This is how a Linux port should be done, and I congratulate your team for their hard work. It is apparently running well on a variety of distributions, which is what Steam for Linux games should do.

Now. I saw on your website that you have among other games you've successfully ported to the Mac two that I wouldn't mind seeing ported: Bioshock Infinite and Borderlands 2. If this is something that (a) your team could port, and (b) is economically feasible for your company, you have heard a suggestion.

I hope that you make a goodly profit from this, and, hopefully, continue porting games for our platform. You may have noticed that we Linux users are HUNGRY for great games...

Thank you so much for the support! We've been doing native ports for a good long time (over 17 years) and I can honestly say we have never recieved this kind of positive community reaction. We are ear to ear at the office....seriously.

So with that said, you've hit the nail on the head. If its economically feasible, we would be proud to bring more AAA Linux titles to a community that is this positive and engaged.

If you go to the Eador:Masters of the Broken World Steam forums, you'll see post after post of complaints for releasing the game with only a wine wrapper, and no replies (yet) from the devs.

If you go to the Witcher 2 Steam forums, you'll see that the dev responsible for the much-criticized wrapper collecting bugs, on Github yet, in a sincere attempt to fix the problems.

Three games, three kinds of responses from the devs. There are bound to be wild and wooly times with Linux gaming; it's still early days. However, two of the stories are happy ones.

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It's for sale for Linux on Steam as I type.

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OK, there was an update this afternoon, and the game now loads and plays with a wine wrapper. Out of curiosity, I installed EMOTBW in my wine-powered Windows Steam and tried it out. The results were identical, with some really fugly battle screen graphics, but completely playable so far, after ~45 minutes.

It isn't at all a bad game; the GameSpot reviewer gave it a 40%, owing probably to early game bugs which have been fixed, along with some free extra content. TBS gamers should check it out.

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The thing that I found interesting is this: Back when "Limbo" was released on the Humble Bundle, it had a wrapper produced by CodeWeavers, who sell Crossover, and who are also the people who develop, maintain, and improve Wine. As I recall, the Crossover-wrapped "Limbo" didn't run very well. Eventually a native Linux version of "Limbo" was released.

This may have something to do with RedProjekt's decision to search elsewhere for a wrapper. For all the haters, bear in mind that the company owns and runs GOG.com, and, for the past three years, all their entertainment programming efforts have gone toward W3, which, I predict, will have a native Linux port. Their new Steam-like service will also most likely have a native Linux port.

This Polish company knew that gamers hated DRM, so they are anti-DRM. They are learning that Linux gamers are particular about ports and wrappers.

Since the first Humble Bundle back in 2009, it has not escaped the notice of developers that Linux users want games, or the largest average payment for EVERY Humble Bundle (featuring Linux games) wouldn't have been higher than average payments from Windows and Mac users. There are a lot of games with native ports on Steam, and, personally, I'll take my game wrapped if it means that I can play it.

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