Feral Interactive are being sneaky, as they have given a little hint towards their next game, and it's quite obvious it's for Linux.
It's time to get excited folks. Feral Interactive ported XCOM: Enemy Unknown to Linux not too long ago, so we are all eager to see what they have up next. Luckily, we may not have to wait for long at all.
Considering the excellent job they did with XCOM they have already proven themselves to me.
The clue is this picture:
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Along with "(Clue: genus and species)".
Anyone want to try figuring out what game they are talking about? Looks like a pretty big nod to us for the fact of it being a penguin.
Source: tumblr article and their twitter.
For those that somehow missed it, we interviewed Feral Interactive back in June, so be sure to give that a read. In that interview Edwin did say this about future Linux ports:
Oh Feral, you sneaky developers!
It's time to get excited folks. Feral Interactive ported XCOM: Enemy Unknown to Linux not too long ago, so we are all eager to see what they have up next. Luckily, we may not have to wait for long at all.
Considering the excellent job they did with XCOM they have already proven themselves to me.
The clue is this picture:

Along with "(Clue: genus and species)".
Anyone want to try figuring out what game they are talking about? Looks like a pretty big nod to us for the fact of it being a penguin.
Source: tumblr article and their twitter.
For those that somehow missed it, we interviewed Feral Interactive back in June, so be sure to give that a read. In that interview Edwin did say this about future Linux ports:
QuoteThat's the plan! Although I can't give you any clues about what's next in line, I can say that the coming year should be a good one for Linux gamers!
Oh Feral, you sneaky developers!
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Any hint that links to the feral radar is Mac only.
Come on guys that page even says "Upcoming Mac Games".
Come on guys that page even says "Upcoming Mac Games".
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Aptenodytes patagonicus is their genus and species. Interesting... I have no idea what that means.
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Any hint that links to the feral radar is Mac only.
Right, I noted that earlier.
So we can assume that since that page was given as the second glue to the game that it's NOT a game they are porting to Linux, or it's a game they are also porting to Mac?
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Alternatively it could mean that it's one of the games on the radar that's already confirmed for Mac but not yet for Linux. So either Total War or the LEGO Movie Videogame. I'm personally hoping for the LEGO game.
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Batman: Arkham City - Game of the Year Edition
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389714/Happy-birthday-old-bird-Worlds-oldest-penguin-turns-36-thats-108-human-terms.html
King penguins - Aptenodytes patagonicus in Latin - are only expected to live up to 26 years in captivity, much more than the 15-20 years life expectancy in the wild.
Missy spends most of her time with her partner of 18 years, Seth, who is thought to be 34 years old and had a starring role in the 1992 film Batman Returns.
Detective Wolfyrion - Marking this as solved!!! :D
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2389714/Happy-birthday-old-bird-Worlds-oldest-penguin-turns-36-thats-108-human-terms.html
King penguins - Aptenodytes patagonicus in Latin - are only expected to live up to 26 years in captivity, much more than the 15-20 years life expectancy in the wild.
Missy spends most of her time with her partner of 18 years, Seth, who is thought to be 34 years old and had a starring role in the 1992 film Batman Returns.
Detective Wolfyrion - Marking this as solved!!! :D
3 Likes, Who?
"Lego Batman 3" features Penguin, a character called Condiment KING and it's a game that a Feral team have recently been working on for OSX, unlike Arkham City which they finished working on two years ago.
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OK then, half port it is. I just wish we had more.But I wish this port would be done by Aspyr or by any other company.
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Here we go again...
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Here we go again...He is clearly trolling. He even admitted to advising people who come to him for help to ask Feral to stop porting games to Linux altogether. Quite a vile attitude.
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What's wrong with the X-Com port? I know I've only spent a few minutes playing it but I haven't had any game stopping bugs or performance issues, so what's wrong with it?
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What's wrong with the X-Com port? I know I've only spent a few minutes playing it but I haven't had any game stopping bugs or performance issues, so what's wrong with it?Astro is disappointed by the lack of 32bit support for X-Com. This is a valid and rational disappointment (although some of the ways in which that disappointment has been expressed are a bit uncool).
If I remember correctly, the X-Com store page didn't state that it was 64bit only, which resulted in some 32bit users purchasing a game that they couldn't play (which sucks, but these things happen).
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What's wrong with the X-Com port? I know I've only spent a few minutes playing it but I haven't had any game stopping bugs or performance issues, so what's wrong with it?Astro is disappointed by the lack of 32bit support for X-Com. This is a valid and rational disappointment (although some of the ways in which that disappointment has been expressed are a bit uncool).
If I remember correctly, the X-Com store page didn't state that it was 64bit only, which resulted in some 32bit users purchasing a game that they couldn't play (which sucks, but these things happen).
Yes he is disappointed but it does not mean that he need to be so childish and show his disappointment all the time. I am just amazed how log one person can keep grudge.
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Sadly, it would be one more half-ported game by Feral.
You keep bringing this up whenever Feral is mentioned. You're a troll who beyond help.
4 Likes, Who?
What's wrong with the X-Com port? I know I've only spent a few minutes playing it but I haven't had any game stopping bugs or performance issues, so what's wrong with it?Astro is disappointed by the lack of 32bit support for X-Com. This is a valid and rational disappointment (although some of the ways in which that disappointment has been expressed are a bit uncool).
I don't want to drag out the argument at the expense of discussing what we're here to discuss, but is it really a valid disappointment? It's a bit like complaining that they no longer make 8bit games. 64 bit processors and operating systems have been in households for over a decade now, linux having supported it far longer than Windows et al. What possible valid reason is there for still using 32bit? And if using 32bit really is necessary for some reason (aside from ancient hardware), then you can always dual-boot it with a 64bit distro.
The only people I've ever encountered who still run 32bit distros on 64bit architectures are crackpots who talk about 64bit not being ready for production use. They tend to actually know nothing about it because they aren't programmers.
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I don't want to drag out the argument at the expense of discussing what we're here to discuss, but is it really a valid disappointment?Sure it is. How available or how common 64 bit hardware is doesn't negate the validity of disappointment at not being able to run something.
I don't think it's a bad thing that Feral didn't support 32 bit distros with their last Linux title, but I do think it's bad to say that someone isn't entitled to feel unhappy (I am, of course, not referring to the unpleasant nature in which that unhappiness has been expressed in the past - that's uncool).
The only people I've ever encountered who still run 32bit distros on 64bit architectures are crackpots who talk about 64bit not being ready for production use. They tend to actually know nothing about it because they aren't programmers.I was running a 32 bit OS until last year, and I'm a programmer. I might be a crackpot though, who knows ^_^
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The disappointment that something doesn't work on your platform is valid, and something long term linux users will be very familiar with. The disappointment that it doesn't work because you refuse to switch from a 32bit install to a 64bit install (at no cost) isn't IMHO.
I draw a distinction between those not wanting to upgrade because they are happy with what they've got, and those who refuse to upgrade then complain they are missing out on some application or feature.
All the programmers I worked with were among the very first to switch years ago when only the only desktop processors supporting 64 bit were made by AMD, how else do you ensure your code builds and works correctly in 64 bit environments? :) These days there are far more likely to be 32 bit only bugs than 64 bit bugs (narrowing conversions etc).
I draw a distinction between those not wanting to upgrade because they are happy with what they've got, and those who refuse to upgrade then complain they are missing out on some application or feature.
All the programmers I worked with were among the very first to switch years ago when only the only desktop processors supporting 64 bit were made by AMD, how else do you ensure your code builds and works correctly in 64 bit environments? :) These days there are far more likely to be 32 bit only bugs than 64 bit bugs (narrowing conversions etc).
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Well to chip in on this whole thing, the next GOL survey results are coming out in just over a week and so far the statistics make me think that if I was a developer, I wouldn't bother with 32-bit Linux either... I can't fault their decision at all.
Like obviously I love Linux and want to see it supported, but given the TINY percentage of 32-bit users, it just isn't worth supporting at all. I think we should be very happy we have what we have, and maybe removing 32-bit support for gaming from the equation, it would be more tempting for developers to port to and develop on Linux because it just means one less hurdle.
EDIT:
Also, if that's the case then complaints are justified. Not complaints about not supporting 32-bit (I still think beggars can't be choosers), just complaints that games were bought under the impression which it did.
Like obviously I love Linux and want to see it supported, but given the TINY percentage of 32-bit users, it just isn't worth supporting at all. I think we should be very happy we have what we have, and maybe removing 32-bit support for gaming from the equation, it would be more tempting for developers to port to and develop on Linux because it just means one less hurdle.
EDIT:
If I remember correctly, the X-Com store page didn't state that it was 64bit only, which resulted in some 32bit users purchasing a game that they couldn't play (which sucks, but these things happen).
Also, if that's the case then complaints are justified. Not complaints about not supporting 32-bit (I still think beggars can't be choosers), just complaints that games were bought under the impression which it did.
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The only people I've ever encountered who still run 32bit distros on 64bit architectures are crackpots who talk about 64bit not being ready for production use. They tend to actually know nothing about it because they aren't programmers.
I used 32bit until last year when I switched to SteamOS as my main system. Previously I used Mandriva and then Mageia all of them 32bit since around 2005.
I think I kept using 32 bit out of inertia and because of some benchmarks that shown (at that time) some slight advantages in gaming.
So recently I switched to 64bit and I'm glad I did it, I would never turn back now.
But calling people crackpots for their choices is not helping having a sane discussion at all.
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I'm convinced that the game is a Batman game after reading through this whole thread and diving into the links people have provided.
As far as 64 bit goes, the first Linux distro I ever used was Suse 8 64 bit back in 2005 on a custom built PC. Everything worked great except there were no drivers packaged for the GPU... no shock there. :)
As far as 64 bit goes, the first Linux distro I ever used was Suse 8 64 bit back in 2005 on a custom built PC. Everything worked great except there were no drivers packaged for the GPU... no shock there. :)
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But calling people crackpots for their choices is not helping having a sane discussion at all.
As I said before I make a distinction between those who stuck with 32bit out of inertia and those who did so because they think that 64bit is somehow inferior. I wasn't calling people crackpots for their choice, but for the reasoning behind their refusal. As a developer I've heard many people argue why 32bit is 'better' and almost without exception those arguments have ranged from bizarre misconceptions ( "I don't have enough RAM to run 64bit" ) through to loony conspiracy theories ( "64bit is just a way to sell more processors, it offers no advantages over 32bit" ).
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