Quoting: "Hyeron, post: 5837, member: 223"The same is valid for Windows, if you want to go down that particular path. The games are still DRM-free (mostly).
Anyway, no surprise, and their Interplay deal is still sweet.

Interplay you say?
http://www.desura.com/company/interplay-entertainment/ [External Link]

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Quoting: "Vadi7, post: 5831"And the disappointment was confirmed. Ideals they stand by my ass. You can't really talk about DRM-free and Mac in the same sentence, now can you?

I lol'd, even though that sentiment is a tad too bitter. ;)

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There are a few points I would like to add to this thread. First off, I think it would be better to just avoid selling Windows games to Linux users entirely. There are good reasons why this is not supported by a large swath of the Linux community, and Wine/CrossOver bundled builds have a bad history of being hard to maintain and hard to optimize. In this instance, I think it is much better to just let the users themselves get the games working on their own with Wine if they so wish to play them.

Dosbox enabled titles are a different manner, as they are much easier to maintain and it would not entail getting second class treatment compared to Windows users as Wine/CrossOver bundled builds necessarily would. This would obviously seem to be the easiest to get working, and the one that I think GoG should originally focus on if they ever truly do commit to supporting Linux.

As for native Linux games, these would also be fairly simple I think. For example, they already have Frozenbyte and RWS selling their titles on the service, and they could easily pick up the Linux versions of their titles and start selling them just as Desura is doing now. I certainly disagree that out of the three options Bumadar listed that native ports would "bring the biggest challenge". More than the Dosbox builds, probably, but not much more work.

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The thing is, this obviously can be done; Desura is already doing it in fact. But I do agree that just saying "the community will solve all problems" is a bit of a misnomer. I also think that it is actually not that difficult to get support ready on Linux, but at the same time you have to be realistic and handle it in a proper and professional way. What we need now more than anything is for a proper professional to step in a show them how it should be done, rather than just the screaming of the community.

Tim Schafer's words come to mind:

Linux was like a party that sounded fun [but] we were afraid to go to because we didn’t think we’d know anybody there, and the HiB guys were like your socially fearless friend who says, “Don’t worry, we’ll go together.” When he gets to your house he says: “Is that what you’re wearing?” and you say, “uh…” and he says, “Don’t worry. I know a guy.” And he lends you a cool leather jacket and you go to the party and when you walk in there’s a needle scratch and everybody turns to look at you and your friend gives a cool nod and then everybody goes back to the party. So kind of like a John Hughes film. Hope that helps explain things. That’s about as technical as I can go. I just hope I don’t accidentally knock over a beer can pyramid that some tough guys are building. Oh and also, if you want to be cool at the party, stay away from wine. (haha! Linux joke!)

http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/06/humble-bundle-devs-talk-gaming-on-linux [External Link]

I think that basically sums everything up quite nicely. Just replace HIB with whoever has the knowledge and experience to step in and fill this particular void.

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Yes, I certainly agree to that. As I said, I agree with most of what you are saying. But I did feel I had to point out, in fairness, that the system does work. Of course you have to provide support, and they have been doing that for years on Windows (and have sometimes had to jump through quite a few hoops to get things working there to). The same can be done on Linux, and it is not all that much harder to do on Linux compared to Windows. We just have to make it worthwhile for them to do so.

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Quoting: "Hyeron, post: 5777, member: 223"I can understand the disappointment, but it still requires QA, it still requires packaging (unless they go with .tar.gz, but then you can be sure there'll be some whining from people who'd prefer .deb/.rpm and to hell with other distros), it still requires support, if they want it to run from the get-go it requires a standalone dosbox (and then say hello to problems in the long run, Loki and LGP have proven it more often than not)... Asking is the FIRST step in a LONG process if they want to give the same quality for GNU/Linux as for Windows.

Mostly agree with what you are saying - however, the fact that Loki games are having trouble running for some users (personally never had that many issues myself though) over ten years after release does not really indicate a problem with their methods. GoG was founded because of compatibility problems on the Microsoft end, so I do not see this as being a real bane for Linux.

If they could get the rights to Loki's old games (not that I ever expect that to happen, but I would be so happy if they did) they could easily take the ports and rerelase them in the manner that liflg already does (only this time actually being able to sell the game data!) without much effort - but what little effort they would invest would certainly be much appreciated.

That is really the point of the service. At least it was - I understand they have branched out a bit from their original goals. But that is what I would really like to see.

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There are never too many games of a certain type - just not enough games of another.

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Quoting: "liamdawe, post: 5742, member: 1"Killing Floor to me personally is a great game, especially since it's one game that used to tie me to Windows.

Looking at it's description page, what distinguishes it from another prominent zombie co-op based Steam offering may I ask?

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Quoting: "Bumadar, post: 5736, member: 93"lots on that list are HiB games, so makes nothing more then sense, I would say 90% of all HiB games come with a Steam Key, they all on my windows steam list so I assume they pop up on the linux steam list as well.

why desurium ? I have yet to find a issue with the default desura client, except maybe playing of flash/movies but I see that more as a linux issue then pure desura

Actually, those are not Flash videos - and yes, they have made them work properly in Desurium.

I was also running into performance problems and issues with file downloads on Desura.

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Do not take me too personally, for I am a cynical bastard, but I can suggest a few points.

Mostly I find your premise amusing, putting these dark little lives on these characters. I mean, I had no idea that I had to be afraid of "meth-heads" and having our place burned down by bandits. In fact, the only real crime we have had committed against us was when some drunk careened off the road and smashed into one of our fences. Then, adding insult to injury, the bastard CUT the wires so that he could get his vehicle out, leaving a gaping hole, and then careened off again. So the next morning our neighbour to the south woke up, hung over from being at a wedding the day before, to see our big Black Angus bull starring back at him from his front door. Thankfully, he took it fairly genially. If you want to add that as an event in your game, you are more than welcome. But the only really druggies we have around here are pot heads running grow-ops. ;)

To me it seems like you are trying to artificially add some drama to a situation - but there is already enough drama in being a family farmer. Have you ever spent an entire weekend trying to save the life of a newborn calf only for it to die on you because it was a dud? Or to actually be able to keep one going? Have you ever encountered a hen being caught by a hawk, still alive, and wondered whether or not you should put it out of it's misery or not? Or just in general deal with a collapsing flock? Have you ever seen the loss of an entire generation of calves due to blackleg? Have you ever had to shoot a cow because it had neurological diseases, like my mother has? And while I am not much of a crop farmer, have you ever thought of the fear of an early frost, or the spread of fungal infections (wheat out our way has been plagued by it this year), or an explosion of locusts? Or getting too much rain or not enough? You do mention predation, and that is a good start, but there is so much more material you could work into this.

But of course the primary fear is always going to be economic. Just take this year for example - because of the United States drought people down south are selling off their herds, lowering cattle prices. Then, to make matters worse, we just had an e-coli scare which has lowered consumer demand, shaken confidence in the beef industry, and has taken one of the largest meat packing plant's out of commission. We do not even know whether or not we are going to be selling our calves this year, as we are quite concerned that we will not get a decent price four our honestly quite excellent calves. Now, we do not depend on the income this brings, but imagine if we did? This can apply to anything sold on an open market. We do however have hay expenses which this eats out of, and that is a problem. The real drama in being a family farmer is that you can net really live off being a family farmer.

Another thing which would be good to add to your game, if you really are intent on telling our stories, is just how capable someone has to be to do this. You have to be a builder, a carpenter, a nurse, an electrician, a plumber, an accountant, and yes, even sometimes a psychologist, as these animals are not as dumb as you may think. In fact, if you want the player to interact with eccentric and interesting characters, all you really have to do is give the animal's themselves their own personalities. Just telling stories about the funny, irritating, or plain bizarre behaviours of our bull Pedro alone could fill up an entire post.

And these are just a few thoughts. I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I do find it amusing and yes, even a bit patronizing, when I see someone go into this and not truly seem to understand all the realities of it. Now, I am not sure of your background, so maybe you know more than you are letting on, but on first brush this seems to be really fanciful, more based on a certain romantic notion than any real sense of understanding. I hope I have given something for you to think about.

However, you are an Indie developer, and it is your game. So have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Only take my suggestions on board if you really want to. But most importantly have fun and make the game you always wanted to make. Do not let us cynical bastards get you down. ;)

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