Aspyr Media have quite clearly proven themselves at porting to Linux with a port that works this well, but the bigger news is that they may have more to come.
For those living under a rock, they ported Civilization V to Linux.
There's a fair bit of fun information here, so get your reading glasses out and a beer.
There was this from the Steam forum:
Source
Well now that's quite a big statement to make and I have no doubt they will delivery on it. They also did an "Ask Me Anything" on reddit about it which gave out some important info like cross-platform cloud saves may come:
This is one of the reasons I like these guys as they use something decent in the porting process:
That's why it works with my two monitors happily then...
They love SteamOS (who doesn't!):
When asked about the reception to the port:
This is probably one of the most important bits. The fact that 2K and Firaxis were supportive of bringing it to Linux just shows how big Linux is in developers minds now.
They also did some work related to the game on SteamOS directly:
The port was also mostly done by 2 people:
See the full AMA on reddit.
It's really fantastic of them to not only port the game natively, but to reach out to the community like this and actually speak to us directly. I hope other developers are looking and taking note on how to do it right.
If you need support with the Civ V Linux port then go to their support site here.
If you haven't seen it yet watch Samsai take on the world in the lastest GOL Cast on Civ V. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
For those living under a rock, they ported Civilization V to Linux.
There's a fair bit of fun information here, so get your reading glasses out and a beer.
There was this from the Steam forum:
QuoteA thread just to thank us for the port?! With comments?! We are floored you guys. Is there a smily face that has tears in it?
We honestly had no idea we would get this type of response and we cant thank you all enough for the support. Keep this up, and I can promise you will be seeing more AAA Linux work from Aspyr in the future :)
Source
Well now that's quite a big statement to make and I have no doubt they will delivery on it. They also did an "Ask Me Anything" on reddit about it which gave out some important info like cross-platform cloud saves may come:
Aspyr_BlairOnce the product is totally "finished", we will likely get steam cloud saves in. The problem up to this point is that if there is a version difference (say on the day of a patch), that save game could become corrupt.
You can still do it manually of course. I don't have the file path on hand right now, but you can do a search in the Linux gaming reddit area and find it easy enough :)
This is one of the reasons I like these guys as they use something decent in the porting process:
AspyrIanYes, we used SDL2.
That's why it works with my two monitors happily then...
They love SteamOS (who doesn't!):
Aspyr_BlairWe have a great relationship with Valve and are more than excited for the future of SteamOS!
When asked about the reception to the port:
AspyrIanI've never seen anything like it in my 17 years of programming. You are all awesome.
Aspyr_BlainTo your first question: We absolutely believe in the future of SteamOS and that is what drove us to explore its potential and "chase" the project. While I cant comment on specifics, I will say that 2K and Firaxis are AMAZING partners and has been very supportive of this whole effort.
This is probably one of the most important bits. The fact that 2K and Firaxis were supportive of bringing it to Linux just shows how big Linux is in developers minds now.
They also did some work related to the game on SteamOS directly:
AspyrIanIf we detect you're running SteamOS we turn off the option to select windowed mode to provide a better Big Picture experience (as in, windowed mode doesn't always work).
The port was also mostly done by 2 people:
AspyrIanThe Linux team is two engineers and we worked on this for months. We also had help from the Mac team, they laid preliminary groundwork. I can't get any more specific than that because I wasn't involved from the beginning.
See the full AMA on reddit.
It's really fantastic of them to not only port the game natively, but to reach out to the community like this and actually speak to us directly. I hope other developers are looking and taking note on how to do it right.
If you need support with the Civ V Linux port then go to their support site here.
If you haven't seen it yet watch Samsai take on the world in the lastest GOL Cast on Civ V. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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philip550c 13 Jun 2014
And here I am still prefering SimCity 2000...Same here, I bought the gog version and I run it in wine (works fine) and I am having just as much fun playing now as I did when I was a kid and the game was new.
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It would be amazing if Linux not only received the same games that Mac OS receives from now on, but all past games as well. I would certainly buy them. People may argue that it hasn't helped Mac OS attain more market share, but that is really because of the financial barrier and the hardware barrier that Apple imposes, aspects that Linux fortunately does not suffer from.
+1 !!!!
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I want Duke Nukem Forever.... <3 haha i'm a fan of Duke Nukem XD
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Wait, DrMc Coy is the founder of the Xoreos project? I've been meaning to ask them where I can donate because I really want to see that project succeed.
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Wait, DrMc Coy is the founder of the Xoreos project?
Yes.
I've been meaning to ask them where I can donate
I rather still need someone with OpenGL knowledge to donate their time and experience to the project, not money.
EDIT: Thanks for the offer, though.
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"two guys for month" is actually less than I expected, because I'd put out the guess it was less than half a year. If they manage to get 50k out of it, they should have made profit. And I'd guess - almost everyone gaming in linux bought this title(s) in the steam sale.
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Old?!? KotOR isn't old! It uses 3D graphics!
Now get off my lawn, you young whippersnapper!
Yeah, damn kids... :P
Personally I would be more interested in some of their older titles than most of the new ones, although I doubt we will ever see an Aspyr release outside of Steam.
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Does anyone else here only play the game using the top-view hex mode (via F10)?
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LowEndGeek 15 Jun 2014
I'm surprised that they are surprised at the support and all the thanks. Linux gamers are like a kid who all they want is an action figure for Christmas. Well now we are getting our action figures and couldn't be happier. Besides for a lot of these companies porting to linux can be a risk and when they do take that jump (especially when the port is this well done) they need to know how much we appreciate all their hard work and...you know, don't forget about us in the future lol
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Personally I would be more interested in some of their older titles than most of the new ones, although I doubt we will ever see an Aspyr release outside of Steam.
I'll be waiting for a Humble Aspyr Bundle. :S:
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And that would change what exactly anymore? :S
Right. Hoping it's a bundle with DRM-free versions. My hope for games going DRM-free is the HB, it's been more successful at that than others.
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And that would change what exactly anymore? :SRight. Hoping it's a bundle with DRM-free versions. My hope for games going DRM-free is the HB, it's been more successful at that than others.
I don't have any inside info, but that doesn't seem to be a big priority for them anymore. There are still a good number of DRM-free titles in the bundles, and I'm grateful for that, as always, but seeing "Windows only" or "Steam only" is more common than not anymore.
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