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Latest Comments by scaine
If you want to see the rhythm-music platformer Runner3 on Linux, they need to see demand for it
15 May 2018 at 10:47 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: nox
Quoting: Avehicle7887I really dislike this idea of having to prove I want to see the game on Linux though, Mac aren't far off and they get it without question.
I agree with you in a sense, but remember that mac is close to 3% steam market share, while linux is currently at 0.55%... It is going to be easier to justify dev and qa on mac than linux with those number :(
You're talking about the Steam hardware survey. Urgh. Actual dev sales are usually anywhere between 1% and 10%, depending on the game. Those figures come from this site actually asking devs for direct sales figures, not statistically neutered rounding errors from a random survey.

Some actual figures:
Helium Rain (interviewed 2018): 11%
Deep Sixed (2018): "More than 5%"
Shovel Knight (2018): 1.1%
Rise to Ruins (2018): 2.4%
Maia (multiple interviews, latest 2018): 4.9%
Planescape Torment (2017): 2% on Steam, 2.5% on their own client
Midboss (2017): 1.9%

Some titles are less than 1%, however. The most worrying is probably Stellaris, whose devs are usually very supportive of Linux, but who sounded pretty downbeat about the failure of Steam Machines and the Linux market as a whole.

The developer of rogue-lite metroidvania action-platformer 'Dead Cells' is working on the Linux version
11 May 2018 at 5:35 pm UTC

Nice! It was tough to find, but now that you say, tuubi, it's in their Early Access call out on the main steam store page too:

All of this takes place in hand designed levels that are proceduraly assembled each run, meaning you never know where the secrets are or exactly where you're going.
Interesting!

Portal puzzler 'Portarius' is now available on Linux
11 May 2018 at 5:26 pm UTC

This looks like it will be epicly awesome and utterly infuriating in equal measure. Provided they've tuned the difficulty/frustration level to non-godlike levels, I'm pretty interested.

The last time I played something like this though, there were 10 good levels out of a hundred, then the difficulty and precision level went through the roof and I lost interest in minutes.

Looks really slick and engaging through. Fingers crossed.

The developer of rogue-lite metroidvania action-platformer 'Dead Cells' is working on the Linux version
11 May 2018 at 5:19 pm UTC

Quoting: tuubiNo proper metroidvania should have randomly/procedurally generated levels. Or permadeath if you ask me. Subjectively speaking, I like a properly designed experience with a clear progression and the repetitive aspect of roguelites almost always just ends up boring me and driving me away.

Dead Cells does look nice despite these drawbacks and I'm definitely interested.
It has procedural levels? Is that new, or are you making assumptions based on the roguelite description? My understanding, might be wrong, was that the roguelite, in this context, referred only to weapon progression. The Metroid piece refers to unlocking capabilities (only two currently) that allow for new routes through existing levels. Finally the "Vania" piece refers to weapon variety and beautiful, interconnected levels.

Unless it's all changed of course. Been a while since I got excited about this, as I'd kind of given up on it a bit. Great to hear it's all back on the radar.

The developer of rogue-lite metroidvania action-platformer 'Dead Cells' is working on the Linux version
9 May 2018 at 9:04 pm UTC Likes: 4

One of those rare games that I won't read reviews on - I'll just buy it the minute it becomes available for Linux. I need something to fill my Salt & Sanctuary pangs!

Steps we're taking as a site for GDPR compliance
21 Apr 2018 at 7:20 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: serge
Quoting: TheSHEEEPThis is the reason for a great deal of websites showing that little bar at the top/bottom of their page informing you that they use cookies and that you should leave if you do not agree with that (or something along those lines).
Those site are not compliant to the law because they have to let you access to the website even if you refuse their cookies, it is up to them to take all the step required for not storing cookies in your browser.
No, those sites are entirely compliant if they let you use the site without clicking on the banner. That particular (infuriating, useless) law is only focused on storing a cookie on your computer. Provided you don't click the banner, they won't (or at least shouldn't) store a cookie. You can continue to use the site and ignore the banner if you want.

Not all sites take that approach though, of course. If not storing a cookie breaks their site, they might not use a banner, but instead force you to accept the cookie before continuing. That's quite rare though I think.

Steps we're taking as a site for GDPR compliance
21 Apr 2018 at 7:16 am UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: EagleDelta
Quoting: callciferOnly if your "innovation" is based on harvesting people's data without their consent and/or against their will. GDPR simply asks you to:

- have an actual, justifiable use case for using personal data
- obtaining explicit, narrow, opt-in constent (so no pre-checked checkboxes), separately for all use cases
- and disallowing you from refusing service to users who don't consent to your data collection

Basically, the regulation says don't do creepy shit with people's personal data and if your "innovation" depends on doing just that, I'm perfectly happy for it to get out of the EU.

---

All that said, it's highly unlikely for any member state to actively go after mom and pop businesses; compliance is expected from everyone but the fines are mostly aimed at data collecting giants like Google, Facebook, Microsoft etc who will most definitely be complying as none of them want to be made an example of.
That's not exactly accurate yet. The GDPR rules are so broad in their wording with too many questions on what it covers and doesn't could limit innovation. Distrubuted systems that store "personal data" like username/email/etc for history reasons (like Git) could be seen as required to be compliant. The problem is there is absolutely no way to enforce that.

In case readers don't know, Git is a source code control system that is designed to be largely de-centralized. Every user working on a git project keeps their own copy apart from the server. In the case of many FOSS projects, there are also many copies on a server(s). Github, Gitlab, Atlassian, etc could be forced to removed references to names/emails in the git history, but that would break every copy of that project everywhere else AND the forced change could simply be undone by a user with permissions force-pushing to an existing branch to an entirely new branch that still contains the user data (in this case a name/username and an email). Additionally, Github/Gitlab/etc could not force those changes downstream to a developer's Desktop/Laptop/Server without breaking the exact law they were trying to be compliant with.

So, how does GDPR apply to distributed data systems?
Remember that GDPR isn't about "you must not collect personal data". It's about a) having permission to do so, b) having a good (and documented) reason for that collection and c) agreeing to (and documenting) data destruction.

And there's a lot of flex. Need to keep records on people after they delete their account for 10 years? Sure, if you can justify the why, you can do that. Of course, if you can't, you'll be potentially fined millions...

And the whole "right to be forgotten" (or "right to erasure", as it's amusingly known in GDPR) is only a right in certain circumstances. If someone wants you to delete their data, but you have a documented and good reason to reject that request, that's also fine.

Git and its associated front ends will just have to be very clear on what's possible and what's not.

Rise of the Tomb Raider will release for Linux this month
9 Apr 2018 at 10:30 am UTC Likes: 1

I have to finish Neverwinter Nights asap then. And get 7 Days to Die out of my system. And buy, then finish Ruiner. Sheesh!

Great news though.

Timespinner is an upcoming metroidvania that’s looking great and is fun to play
8 Apr 2018 at 12:52 pm UTC

This was the fourth-last thing I ever back on Kickstarter, in July 2014! Glad to see it's still a thing. I tend to just file Kickstarter updates these days - every project estimates two to three years, typically deliver in twice that. I'd given up hope, so this is great news!

[Edit: 20 of my 51 total on Kickstarter have so far failed to deliver. There's still hope for about seven or eight titles, one of which is Timespinners. Five reneged on Linux support:

  • C-Wars (seem to be confused/slightly incompetent)

  • Carmageddon (devs are dicks, who outright lied about support)

  • Project Rainworld (ignorant - no word, no communication, ever)

  • Contagion (hummed and hawed about engine support and bugs, never released)

  • Grave (still talk as if it's a thing, but ditched their effort for a Windows only VR tech demo in 2016 and haven't been heard of since)


I'm luckier than most, was passionate about Kickstarter for years, but even I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole these days.]

Nightdive Studios has released the source code for System Shock
8 Apr 2018 at 12:32 pm UTC

Quoting: wvstolzing... speaking of System Shock, there's an update about the remake in hiatus:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/2135868 [External Link]
That was originally covered here, but back in February:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/development-on-the-new-system-shock-has-been-paused.11249

Great to see an update so soon and it sounds pretty positive!