Updated: We asked them about it, and they simply linked us to their previous update on it with a "more info soon" message.
Update 2: Someone involved with Larian took to reddit anonymously to mention a few things. Linking to our comment here in case it is later removed.
Update 3: The comments on reddit from the Larian employee have been deleted, but they did include such things like:
And (this one is edited to bleep out a naughty word)
The plot thickens.
I imagine this is going to upset a lot of people waiting on the promised port of Divinity: Original Sin. Larian Studios are working on a new game.
The saga of waiting for some games on Linux seems like it will never end, and the latest possible casualty might be Divinity: Original Sin.
Back in March of this year, they did detail why it was taking so long to port, and they were supposed to be working on a big new update which needed their focus, but it seems they have also been working on a new game that will be shown off at E3 this year.
We haven’t heard from them since that post on their forum, and with a new game being worked on with a Publisher it’s quite hard to imagine them diverting resources back to giving Divinity that promised Linux version.
It’s a nice reminder to not back things on Kickstarter to save some heartache. I imagine people are getting a little annoyed after nearly a year of waiting.
What say you?
Source Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
@gamingonlinux This is an update posted on our forums http://t.co/xtB9ZYNsll - we will have more information soon and will share it asap.
— Larian Studios (@larianstudios) May 6, 2015Update 2: Someone involved with Larian took to reddit anonymously to mention a few things. Linking to our comment here in case it is later removed.
Update 3: The comments on reddit from the Larian employee have been deleted, but they did include such things like:
And (this one is edited to bleep out a naughty word)
The plot thickens.
I imagine this is going to upset a lot of people waiting on the promised port of Divinity: Original Sin. Larian Studios are working on a new game.
The saga of waiting for some games on Linux seems like it will never end, and the latest possible casualty might be Divinity: Original Sin.
Back in March of this year, they did detail why it was taking so long to port, and they were supposed to be working on a big new update which needed their focus, but it seems they have also been working on a new game that will be shown off at E3 this year.
We haven’t heard from them since that post on their forum, and with a new game being worked on with a Publisher it’s quite hard to imagine them diverting resources back to giving Divinity that promised Linux version.
It’s a nice reminder to not back things on Kickstarter to save some heartache. I imagine people are getting a little annoyed after nearly a year of waiting.
What say you?
Source Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Well I don't see anything wrong with a new project, what else should they do. They can't let 2 devs work and the rest of the studio sits behind them watching. They also said in the last update that they had to start from zero again and all because of third party software :/
Devs should really check that before they confirm something. But at least they port it in house.
Same here :(
Devs should really check that before they confirm something. But at least they port it in house.
Still waiting for Skullgirls port here.
Same here :(
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To be fair, Larian did expand after their recent success to where they now have 2 locations. It;s entirely possible that this game is being made at the newly opened location that would have nothing to do with the Linux port of D: OS.
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I'm one of those that fell pray to the promise of a Linux version on Kickstarter, although I knew in the back of my mind this might happen. I also figured if it did happen, then I would never donate to a "promise" on kickstarter ever again. I'm just glad that Steam has early access now which is much like kickstarter. This way we can at least see when a version of Linux is released and get early access reviews on the state of the game so we can make informed decisions about purchasing the game.
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I'm more than fine that they are working on new games already. They have to keep the company up and running to survive. I guess it is quite clear that only porting D: OS for Linux wouldn't bring enough money.
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When a game is promised to have linux support the GOL community has to ask if the game renderer will be OpenGL. D3D is a no go for us.
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I asked them about it here. No idea if they'll answer, but I have low expectations. See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_Home_Interactive
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At the end of the day, I hope we all have learned that Kickstarter is just another form of pre-ordering, which by itself is stupid and very pointless in the digital age, except with the added risk of having paid real money for vaporware. Especially when we're talking about a Linux version. Stop paying for games before they're done! This is the the only lesson to take home from this and other situations like it. The sooner we realize this, the better. Crowdfunding seems like a good idea in theory, and when it's done by responsible parties, it is good. But there are all too often projects like this that fail to deliver or delay delivery for so long that you may as well have never contributed in the first place, and just waited for one of the twenty bargain-bin sales that passed between the Windows release and the Linux port, and you can never tell which company is going to fail you and which will hold up their end of the rather sweet deal they got, until it's too late.
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No, it's not stupid and pointless. Crowdfunding is not pre-ordering. It's like comparing investment and a loan. They are different, even if they appear similar on the surface (i.e. you give money in advance).
Investment means you support some project you are interested in and without you (the investor), that project is not going to be made at all. Investments have risks (i.e. projects failing, not delivering the expected result and so on). That's what crowdfunding is - collective investment of interested people into some project.
Pre-ordering is simply giving loan for nothing. I.e. you give your money to someone who doesn't depend on it for development, but can use that money for duration between your pre-order and release (for instance they can profit from that money in any way they want during that time). So why pre-order? Because you like those developers so much that you want to offer them a loan? May be, if that's how you view it, but otherwise - it's a weird practice.
Investment means you support some project you are interested in and without you (the investor), that project is not going to be made at all. Investments have risks (i.e. projects failing, not delivering the expected result and so on). That's what crowdfunding is - collective investment of interested people into some project.
Pre-ordering is simply giving loan for nothing. I.e. you give your money to someone who doesn't depend on it for development, but can use that money for duration between your pre-order and release (for instance they can profit from that money in any way they want during that time). So why pre-order? Because you like those developers so much that you want to offer them a loan? May be, if that's how you view it, but otherwise - it's a weird practice.
3 Likes, Who?
How about we all wait and see? Last year when the devs of Starbound announced they're working on a new game there was a wave of howling that there hasn't been an update for ages and the Steam forums were full of silly little trolls that b*tched how the game was a scam and they wanted they money back. 8 months and 2 big winter/spring updates later it's actually "a great and feature rich" game. So, everybody calm down. If you thought the Linux port was high on the priority list - then you were overly optimistic. I for one am positive Larian will deliver sooner or (rather) later.
1 Likes, Who?
No, it's not stupid and pointless. Crowdfunding is not pre-ordering. It's like comparing investment and a loan. They are different, even if they appear similar on the surface (i.e. you give money in advance).
Investment means you support some project you are interested in and without you (the investor), that project is not going to be made at all. Investments have risks (i.e. projects failing, not delivering the expected result and so on). That's what crowdfunding is - collective investment of interested people into some project.
Pre-ordering is simply giving loan for nothing. I.e. you give your money to someone who doesn't depend on it for development, but can use that money for duration between your pre-order and release (for instance they can profit from that money in any way they want during that time). So why pre-order? Because you like those developers so much that you want to offer them a loan? May be, if that's how you view it, but otherwise - it's a weird practice.
^ This.
Crowdfunding does come with inherent risks though. And as Linux users we take bigger risks when pledging money to a project. I still think it's absolutely worth it for the reasons Shmerl mention, and because Kickstarter, and other crowdfunding sites, are new platforms where we can make ourselves noticed with our enthusiasm and help in spreading the word. We're not yet at a point where profitability alone is reason enough for most developers to support Linux.
2 Likes, Who?
At the end of the day, I hope we all have learned that Kickstarter is just another form of pre-ordering, which by itself is stupid and very pointless in the digital age, except with the added risk of having paid real money for vaporware. Especially when we're talking about a Linux version. Stop paying for games before they're done! This is the the only lesson to take home from this and other situations like it. The sooner we realize this, the better. Crowdfunding seems like a good idea in theory, and when it's done by responsible parties, it is good. But there are all too often projects like this that fail to deliver or delay delivery for so long that you may as well have never contributed in the first place, and just waited for one of the twenty bargain-bin sales that passed between the Windows release and the Linux port, and you can never tell which company is going to fail you and which will hold up their end of the rather sweet deal they got, until it's too late.
Without crowdfunding, we wouldn't have excellent games like Pillars of Eternity or Shadowrun Dragonfall. So no, I'll keep donating to projects I find interesting.
2 Likes, Who?
When a game is promised to have linux support the GOL community has to ask if the game renderer will be OpenGL. D3D is a no go for us.Then you'll remain with no games at all as all developers target D3D in first place. There only two games from Kickstarter that using OpenGL on Windows: Broken Age and Planetary Annihilation.
And yeah problem with Larian's wasn't OpenGL, but shitty Audiokinetic Wwise middleware. So you better ask developers if they using any middleware without source code and Linux support.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm worn out "being fair" for negligent developers that renege on their promises of Linux ports. Indeed, I've developed an attitude of bitter suspicion about any promised Linux port. I've had to develop a mindset that NO game is ever COMING to Linux. It is either available on Linux, or it is not. It is simply infuriating and belittling the glibness with which developers promise ports and then walk away from their promises. It is simply wrong.
I fully understand that "things happen" in a project, but common decency, basic human interaction dictates that if you make a promise, you better explain yourself when you fail to deliver on that promise. By making excuses on behalf of silent developers that fail to deliver on their projects, the Linux community condones and validates the abuse it receives. I don't see how the Linux gaming community benefits at all by enabling the shoddy business practices of what amounts to, at best, negligence and the silent treatment, and at worst mismanagement and poor planning or an utter lack of play-testing or quality control.
So yes, I fully support a "wall of shame," not for games, but for their would-be Linux developers. If they fail to release on time and also fail to explain why and offer a new expected time, then up on the wall. If they push out some stillborn, broken port, then up on the wall. No one is going to hold these snake-oil salesmen accountable for their lies and shoddy products, not Steam, not the Windows community, nobody but us. If we learned nothing from the recent Steam reversal regarding selling mods, we learned that businesses respond to the slings and arrows of an outraged community.
I'm done begging. I'm done going with hat in hand to these developers and thanking them for even deigning to bless us poor Linux users with the even the possibility of a port. If a person is only as good as their word, then many developers are simply bad, bad people.
I fully understand that "things happen" in a project, but common decency, basic human interaction dictates that if you make a promise, you better explain yourself when you fail to deliver on that promise. By making excuses on behalf of silent developers that fail to deliver on their projects, the Linux community condones and validates the abuse it receives. I don't see how the Linux gaming community benefits at all by enabling the shoddy business practices of what amounts to, at best, negligence and the silent treatment, and at worst mismanagement and poor planning or an utter lack of play-testing or quality control.
So yes, I fully support a "wall of shame," not for games, but for their would-be Linux developers. If they fail to release on time and also fail to explain why and offer a new expected time, then up on the wall. If they push out some stillborn, broken port, then up on the wall. No one is going to hold these snake-oil salesmen accountable for their lies and shoddy products, not Steam, not the Windows community, nobody but us. If we learned nothing from the recent Steam reversal regarding selling mods, we learned that businesses respond to the slings and arrows of an outraged community.
I'm done begging. I'm done going with hat in hand to these developers and thanking them for even deigning to bless us poor Linux users with the even the possibility of a port. If a person is only as good as their word, then many developers are simply bad, bad people.
3 Likes, Who?
EagleDelta 6 May 2015
I'm worn out "being fair" for negligent developers that renege on their promises of Linux ports. Indeed, I've developed an attitude of bitter suspicion about any promised Linux port. I've had to develop a mindset that NO game is ever COMING to Linux. It is either available on Linux, or it is not. It is simply infuriating and belittling the glibness with which developers promise ports and then walk away from their promises. It is simply wrong.
I fully understand that "things happen" in a project, but common decency, basic human interaction dictates that if you make a promise, you better explain yourself when you fail to deliver on that promise. By making excuses on behalf of silent developers that fail to deliver on their projects, the Linux community condones and validates the abuse it receives. I don't see how the Linux gaming community benefits at all by enabling the shoddy business practices of what amounts to, at best, negligence and the silent treatment, and at worst mismanagement and poor planning or an utter lack of play-testing or quality control.
So yes, I fully support a "wall of shame," not for games, but for their would-be Linux developers. If they fail to release on time and also fail to explain why and offer a new expected time, then up on the wall. If they push out some stillborn, broken port, then up on the wall. No one is going to hold these snake-oil salesmen accountable for their lies and shoddy products, not Steam, not the Windows community, nobody but us. If we learned nothing from the recent Steam reversal regarding selling mods, we learned that businesses respond to the slings and arrows of an outraged community.
I'm done begging. I'm done going with hat in hand to these developers and thanking them for even deigning to bless us poor Linux users with the even the possibility of a port. If a person is only as good as their word, then many developers are simply bad, bad people.
I still think this is a overreaction just b/c they are working on a new game before D:OS is on Linux. As I said earlier, chances are that they have a very small team of Linux specific Developers/Engineers working on the Linux version, they are not going to continue paying the entire company to do nothing while the Linux team completes their work. They are working on several Mac and Windows fixes and enhancements as well that I highly doubt are going to be thrown out either.
As for the length of time, unless you are working at Larian (or any company), do NOT blame the Developers/Engineers. It is never that simple. I'm speaking from experience here as a Linux Systems/DevOps Engineer. There are times when we have to do things we know are not the best option because mgmt requested it done a certain way, or times when we had to push back releases of major projects/features due to simple realizing the project as bigger more complicated that originally thought, and even times when we simply did NOT have the resources (either time or money) to focus on more than 2-3 major issues and other projects got put on hold.
All of the above is normal in business. If Larian has any sort of Board or Investors (outside of the crowdfunding), they may even be facing pressure from them to focus on the issues/tasks where they could lose the most money. I don't like how long it is taking either, but I've been in the tech industry long enough to know that it's never as simple as it seems. And they are still a business first and foremost. Linux Developers/Engineers are expensive, far more expensive than Windows devs are due to their relative scarcity and high need these days in the Corporate world. Face it, if Larian doesn't make money, we don't see a port anyway.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm worn out "being fair" for negligent developers that renege on their promises of Linux ports. Indeed, I've developed an attitude of bitter suspicion about any promised Linux port. I've had to develop a mindset that NO game is ever COMING to Linux. It is either available on Linux, or it is not. It is simply infuriating and belittling the glibness with which developers promise ports and then walk away from their promises. It is simply wrong.
I fully understand that "things happen" in a project, but common decency, basic human interaction dictates that if you make a promise, you better explain yourself when you fail to deliver on that promise. By making excuses on behalf of silent developers that fail to deliver on their projects, the Linux community condones and validates the abuse it receives. I don't see how the Linux gaming community benefits at all by enabling the shoddy business practices of what amounts to, at best, negligence and the silent treatment, and at worst mismanagement and poor planning or an utter lack of play-testing or quality control.
So yes, I fully support a "wall of shame," not for games, but for their would-be Linux developers. If they fail to release on time and also fail to explain why and offer a new expected time, then up on the wall. If they push out some stillborn, broken port, then up on the wall. No one is going to hold these snake-oil salesmen accountable for their lies and shoddy products, not Steam, not the Windows community, nobody but us. If we learned nothing from the recent Steam reversal regarding selling mods, we learned that businesses respond to the slings and arrows of an outraged community.
I'm done begging. I'm done going with hat in hand to these developers and thanking them for even deigning to bless us poor Linux users with the even the possibility of a port. If a person is only as good as their word, then many developers are simply bad, bad people.
I still think this is a overreaction just b/c they are working on a new game before D:OS is on Linux. As I said earlier, chances are that they have a very small team of Linux specific Developers/Engineers working on the Linux version, they are not going to continue paying the entire company to do nothing while the Linux team completes their work. They are working on several Mac and Windows fixes and enhancements as well that I highly doubt are going to be thrown out either.
As for the length of time, unless you are working at Larian (or any company), do NOT blame the Developers/Engineers. It is never that simple. I'm speaking from experience here as a Linux Systems/DevOps Engineer. There are times when we have to do things we know are not the best option because mgmt requested it done a certain way, or times when we had to push back releases of major projects/features due to simple realizing the project as bigger more complicated that originally thought, and even times when we simply did NOT have the resources (either time or money) to focus on more than 2-3 major issues and other projects got put on hold.
All of the above is normal in business. If Larian has any sort of Board or Investors (outside of the crowdfunding), they may even be facing pressure from them to focus on the issues/tasks where they could lose the most money. I don't like how long it is taking either, but I've been in the tech industry long enough to know that it's never as simple as it seems. And they are still a business first and foremost. Linux Developers/Engineers are expensive, far more expensive than Windows devs are due to their relative scarcity and high need these days in the Corporate world. Face it, if Larian doesn't make money, we don't see a port anyway.
THIS!
We should be glad that they made the approach of porting it in house.
1 Likes, Who?
It would be pretty bad practice of Larian to NOT be working on another title, they got a company to run.
I did help the KS and am pissed its taking so long, but to make such a big subject about it because they thinking about the future is a bit silly to say the least
I did help the KS and am pissed its taking so long, but to make such a big subject about it because they thinking about the future is a bit silly to say the least
1 Likes, Who?
In-house Linux versions are great but here is something fishy obviously.
Having two developers working on the Linux target and not getting
something to ship in this long time shows that they are either lacking the
required skills (sorry) or that there are serious technical issues with the engine.
I bet Icculus alone would have ported that thing already (or it is practically not portable).
Having two developers working on the Linux target and not getting
something to ship in this long time shows that they are either lacking the
required skills (sorry) or that there are serious technical issues with the engine.
I bet Icculus alone would have ported that thing already (or it is practically not portable).
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Added Larian's reply to the top of the article. I am curious to see what their information to come soon is, and how soon that is exactly.
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The thing that has always bothered me is the lack of updates. Those like me who backed this game remember the update song well, as Larian was amazing at keeping in touch and letting people know what was going on... until they weren't.
Once it was released for Window and Max, Linux port in a state of silence. No updates for a very long time then the middleware issue came to light as well as a branch issue. Delays and issues, while unfortunate do happen but this is a very long wait, and as others have said it has seemed bigger games getting ported by 1 person seem to come out much faster.
I keep holding my breath and do appreciate when updates are given about the Linux port. I just wish they would keep in touch better.
As for as being upset over the time, at this point I am utterly defeated and can't even attempt to get angry I am all dried up over this one.
Once it was released for Window and Max, Linux port in a state of silence. No updates for a very long time then the middleware issue came to light as well as a branch issue. Delays and issues, while unfortunate do happen but this is a very long wait, and as others have said it has seemed bigger games getting ported by 1 person seem to come out much faster.
I keep holding my breath and do appreciate when updates are given about the Linux port. I just wish they would keep in touch better.
As for as being upset over the time, at this point I am utterly defeated and can't even attempt to get angry I am all dried up over this one.
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