Linux Game Publishing...are alive?

Sounds good, was wondering about them recently, especially with the sale on Tux Games.

It better be Disciples 2

I would much prefer a more up to date game, most of their games are so old you cannot change screen resolution which looks aweful on my 24" monitor.

Then again it's just nice to see them active again, i want it to be bandits really, game looks cool.

Off course LGP are alive, I see Michael updating his Facebook status every day ;)

The sad thing is that I gave up on old games and I sin by buying many games from GOG.com that work on Linux.
It's not something that I'm proud of, and not something I want to publish on LGN - but that's the truth.

@Brandon Smith :
Couldn't resist and bought Disciples 2 Gold from gog.com .
Sorry but there is a limit on how much I can wait for a game, and if I get it without the expansions at higher price (x4) - it's not worth it for me.

Michael updating his facebook means nothing for LGP unless they are LGP related though. It just means he is alive, since others do the work for LGP not just him.

Phoronix have posted their own comments on the blog post:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTQwNQ

Hehe, good on ya MaximB!

@liamdawe : well except his Wii fit updates and calories gained afterwards he also says sometimes about how hard he works.

I really hope it's unannounced title and not too old one.
Sacred 2 + Expansions, I will buy for the right price.

Sadly there is no chance they will ever port "The Witcher", but the sequel does have *some* chances to be ported someday.

Well i doubt it would kill him to post something in public once now and then, if he's doing it in private then it could be because he isn't doing much and just making himself look good to his friends on FB. Not to bash the guy but until we see what they are up to people will think that.

Sacred 2 would be a pretty cool port, i honestly as well hope it is a newer game and not one of their older in-porting for x years games. But then it would prove to their customers they can finish stuff if they did finish up their older ports.

Just to throw my hat into the ring, how about Majesty 2? :D

@Hamish : Although many gamers love Majesty, I didn't like the game at all, so I'm not too thrilled about the sequel.
Also imo games to be ported need to not work with Wine as if they already runnable then wasting 4-5 years just to have a native Linux client for a game that runs fine with Wine is a waste.

I would prefer porting games that do not run on Linux, like Gothic 3, 4 , Risen etc...

And about his Facebook, as he updates his status for the "common folks" who do not even know what is Linux, he can't be technical - so he says "worked all night, time to get some sleep..." sort of things.

But sure he can update his LGP blog more.

Hey, well, I appreciated Majesty. It is not my most favourite game in the world but it can be fun, and it is Michael Simms favourite game FYI. Although I do not know how good the second game was, I would not mind trying it out, but would only be willing to do that if it has a native port. I do not "care" if it runs in Wine; for me the game does not exist unless it goes native.

I also disagree with your comment that porting games that work in Wine is necessarily a waste. Saying that something does not need to be ported because it works in Wine is giving the project too much legitimacy. Wine should be respected as a amazing technical feat, but it should not be treated as being equivalent to native applications. This is based on the fact we have to make the Linux ecosystem respected under its own merits, and the fact that I have only rarely had a game which ran flawlessly in Wine, and then when you are lucky enough to have one it gets screwed up in the next Wine release. Wine can never be trusted as providing official support for applications.

As for porting games that "do not run on Linux", if it has to be ran through Wine it does not run on Linux. It runs on virtual Windows, that is all Wine is. So Majesty 2 is just as much fair game as Gothic 3, 4 , Risen, and all of these other games I have never heard of. That is another thing, once I switched to Linux full time, I basically came to the conclusion that a game (well, at least any modern still commercially viable game) only really exists if it has a native port. If it does not, then it is not real. It is just some Windows fantasy.

Call it a bit of a twisted reasoning if you like, but it is that kind of stubroness that has gotten us this far, where you can game only on Linux and still play more games than you ever would want to. But until we are treated with respect, we must continue not to give them any. They must earn our respect, and our acceptance, by giving us the consideration of a port. And we in return, must be grateful. So I will be grateful to LGP for whatever they give us in the next few months (years?).

@Hamish
Sure, I understand your view as I used to think the same.
I would never have bought a non Linux native game - but now my line is drawn elsewhere.
For me if it's cheap and old enough (gog.com) and runs on Wine - then I'll consider paying for it.
Because once the games get this old - the developers usually do not care so much about them.

Some people will only play free source games.

It's all a matter where you draw the line.

But my line still says "No Wine games on LGN" ;)

I am not actually against your view entirely, as GOG is a wonderful service in many ways, and if the games are old enough to be on GOG they are not really commercially viable. I personally would still hesitate to buy for them at the moment though, but I do consider what you are doing to just be an acceptable compromise.

What I was many referring to is people who will spend their time buying Windows games developed in the last five to eight years and play them through Wine, and they turn around and say "it is all right, it works on Linux!". Majesty 2 would count as that, so I put that clearly in the "no" checkbox. But if you really want to play the original Baldurs Gate or Tomb Raider through Dosbox or Wine or whatever, I am not really that upset.

And sorry if my post was little spirited, I am just a little grumpy and irritated because it is May 8th and my pipes are still frozen meaning I do not have running water. :mad:

At first I thought you were angry that people were playing games under WINE at all, but now I see you just don't want it considered on par with playing the game natively. I agree with that. WINE is impressive, but it's not the same as a native build.