Cobalt from Oxeye Game Studio is due to go into beta soon, this is four years after being in alpha. The Linux version was due at beta, but they have decided to do it now and delay the Linux release.
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Now I doubt anyone will be surprised about a delay after already waiting this many years and in my personal opinion I will be shocked if a Linux version is ever released despite owning it myself on their promise of a Linux version.
QuoteHowever, the main reason for this blog post is to inform you about a few changes to the release schedule that we feel are necessary. The first change is that the Linux release will be slightly delayed. Instead of being out alongside the beta release it will be out sometime during beta. The simply reason is that we don’t have time to do the necessary porting and build management right now. Thankfully the game should run fine in Wine while you wait.
Source
Sorry but, what? You would think after four years of developing with cross-platform in mind from the start they would have looked into a Linux build properly by now.
Considering we here at GOL have pointed out the many developers claiming how easy it is to port to Linux, it can't be that hard right?
About
Cobalt is a game about cyborgs, weapons and super slow-mo evasive manoeuvres, including combat rolls, rail slides, rocket punches and wall jumps. When your robo is under threat - thanks to incoming bullets, grenades or boomerangs - time slows down, giving you a chance to pull off some super slick badassery without requiring the reactions of a star-nosed mole. You can play in single player, co-op, and local multiplayer for as many players as you have gamepads.
i dont even remember if i own this game or not.. 4 years...thats insane ...
Cheeseness Feb 20, 2014
The only thing I hate more than Wine is developers pointing it out to Linux gamers as a solution.
It's worth recognising that they're not telling people that installing and running Wine themselves is a solution, but instead that it's an option for those who would rather not wait the time it will take for the Linux beta to be released. There's a bit of a difference.
Hi I'm a lazy developer & I want you to be able to play my game in Linux but I really can't be bothered to faff about doing all that simple & easy coding to get it working properly in Linux, you can use Whine till I can be bothered.
Message to Lazy developer
Hi, you can stick Whine up where the sun don't shine & you can also stick every game you make from now on right up there with it.
but that small game has taken 4 years for them and they still havent bothered to bring it on linux is what bothers me.
I think Wine is awesome and I don't use it more than twice a year, never for games.
wine gives us chance to try games that are not made for our platform.. and imo thats a welcome thing.
we have the ability to use it at our own risk.
people dont mind dosbox and similar emulators but somehow always have to complain about wine..
i dont really understand that.
It's worth recognising that they're not telling people that installing and running Wine themselves is a solution, but instead that it's an option for those who would rather not wait the time it will take for the Linux beta to be released. There's a bit of a difference.This time, right now, maybe. But all sorts of devs have pointed to Wine as both an interim and a permanent solution, even back when I was still able to find Loki games on the shelves of EB Games.
In any case, a developer even mentioning Wine is simply pointless. There's not a single Linux gamer out there who doesn't know Wine exists and that "Windows Game X might work in Wine." Hell, even a lot of Windows gamers know about Wine - sometimes they throw it in our face when we ask for a native port, which is only slightly less annoying than a developer doing it. Anyone who doesn't want to wait for a native port of any given game has already given the developer their money and has likely already tried to run it in Wine.
To sum up:
1) You're right, they are saying Wine is an interim solution while we wait longer for a native port. My bad.
2) Mentioning Wine at all is redundant.
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