Quoting: SkullyJust because a game uses steamworks api doesn't mean you need steam to play it.

Steamworks has many features for developers to plug into, as I said in my reply.

Quoting: SkullyEven your beloved Amnesia Games can be played without steam after downloading them (haven't tried a machine for pigs tho)

You know, if you had actually read my article, you would have realized that it was primarily done as a criticism of Amnesia and Frictional, but obviously you have not done that...

Quoting: SkullyShow me some links that show steam promoting drm that really is drm

I suggest you RTFM before going into such hysterics:

Quoting: Valve CorporationSteamworks provides a host of features and solutions for your game. The following overview highlights each of the core features and how they are implemented ...

Steamworks Digital Rights Management wraps your game's compiled executable and checks to make sure that it is running under an authenticated instance of Steam. This DRM solution is the same as the one used to protect games like Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source. Steamworks DRM has been heavily road-tested and is customer-friendly.

In addition to DRM solutions, Steamworks also offers protection for game through day one release by shipping encrypted media to stores worldwide.

https://partner.steamgames.com/documentation/api

Quoting: SkullyIt isn't off topic at all this is about a drm free version of the game right?

It is about the game being released on GOG.com which makes a policy of having no DRM. The subject of Steam is only tangentially related at best.

Quoting: Skullyyour answer to me which is full FUD is what was unhelpful to anyone. Not only are you some sort of anti-drm fanatic, but your a misinformed one too. And very rude too I might add.

Well, I think that quote there speaks for itself... holding up a mirror and all that.

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First off Skully, it is certainly not FUD to point out that Steam both provides and promotes a DRM layer for developers to plug themselves into through their Steamworks API, in among its other features. Secondly, your rant here is both off topic and unhelpful. The last thing we need is another off topic barney about this issue.

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While I do intend to buy it as I really should play a Bioware title at some point considering they are supposed to be the local golden boy developer from where I am from, paying $20 for a game is a bit too steep for my blood at the moment.

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Quoting: SXXLet's say fair there is several other projects that reimplement exist games where programmers are really needed..

Oh, certainly, but that was not exactly my point; most free software game projects have a lot of trouble getting art assets, while 0 A.D. is drowning in them while always needing more code.

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0 A.D. has got to be one of the only free software game projects in history where getting art is not a problem but getting coders is.

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Quoting: tmtvlIf we have to select a distro to be the "default", I'd like to suggest Gentoo. We tend to be more aware of what can cause problems on our systems and how to fix it compared to people who run, say, Ubuntu and don't know half of what's installed on their machines.

I think you are missing the point of what a "default" distro is supposed to accomplish though - it has nothing to do with the kind of users that it attracts, but rather whether or not it provides a stable, common baseline to target for. Either Gentoo or Arch would be an absolutely deplorable choice in this regard, and I am saying this as an Arch user who for the most part dislikes Canonical.

In this respect, even though I am not really on board with Valve's whole project either, I do see some value in SteamOS, as it could provide a dedicated gaming baseline on Linux for developers to target which is independent from most of the standard desktop Linux vendors.

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I do feel I need to intercede here with respect to one point, as I am more than a little concerned at the implication being expressed here by some that Linux deviancy from the norm is something that needs to be rooted out and stifled in order for acceptance by a mainstream majority. If such a view is to be taken then I could not help but feel that the existence of Linux gaming as a whole would then become utterly pointless, as by accepting one marriage of convenience we might as well all just become betrothed to the greatest of them all, namely restricting ourselves to playing our game titles on Windows or one of the larger established Console platforms.

With that being said, I do not actually dispute the idea that game developers can set certain limits for themselves with regards to what platforms or setups they are willing to support. If a developer does choose to only offer support to certain distributions or drivers, then as long as that fact has been clearly communicated to the buyer beforehand, that is within their right. By taking the road less travelled one does admittedly also have to take on the burden of isolating themselves from many of the established and traditional forms of support as well.

I game from an Arch Linux setup and only use free software drivers. Whenever I have encountered a problem I have often found community solutions to solve those problems; there are plenty of resources available that are independent from the original game developer, provided by proud statistical outliers like myself. During the few times that I have had problems with my graphics driver I have also gone to the trouble of reporting them to the freedesktop.org bug tracker, and have found the developers there to be very quick and helpful in responding to my complaints. There are independent support structures available for those of use who do not want to fall in with the crowd.

The fact that the burden is on us to solve our own problems in these cases I do not dispute. What I do find offensive is the idea expressed by some that people such as myself are harming the platform or need to be expunged for the sake of their own narrow conveniences; such a sentiment betrays such an utter lack of solidarity that those expressing it should be immediately ashamed of themselves. The strength of Linux comes from its diversity; there is a reason that we are not all happily using Windows to play our games. If we are ever to forget that we might as well just write off the whole thing as one large sick joke; the success of Linux as a gaming platform would then cease to have any meaning to anybody.

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Quoting: edoPostal 1 never worked in my case, I killed everyone and then I couldn't access to any map :( Thats was annoying, because I tried several times on linux and windows.

Yet another person bit by the infamous “F1” key design problem:
http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/gamingonlinux-reviews-postal-classic-and-uncut.1114

And when it comes to using UE4 for the game, considering the fact that all of the developers at RWS are now familiar with using UnrealScript and have extensive experience with the Unreal tools, not to mention the need for proper cross-platform support, I can see why UE4 would be very attractive for them.

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Well, I can still definitely say that I got my money's worth when I purchased the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle for Trine and Shadowgrounds alone, but this is still rather disappointing.

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Thanks for the clarifications. :)

I will however say that when it comes to GG my impressions do not really come from the mainstream press but rather from my connections in the Indie gaming industry, although I do admit to not really following the matter all that closely so I may indeed be missing out on some of the subtleties.

Still, I can assure that you that none of this has affected my support for RWS as a developer.

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