The 2015 GamingOnLinux GOTY award is now over, here's the results!

Since when is Unreal Tournament an open source game?

The confusion might come in because technically the source is available for the engine, but yeah it's definitely not Freely licensed.

don't get me wrong. its a nice game, but imo apart from the amazing city, the story wasnt anything special to me, pretty much same as previous bioshock games in general. though i have only 5 hours into the game or something like that, but it didnt pull me in because of being nothing special.

I guess there's a point where a game (movie, book, whatever) has lost and cannot pull someone in anymore if it hasn't already done, so maybe Bioshock Infinite won't succeed on you anymore. But it's story really should only be judged after playing (not watching) through the whole game. It's a deserved clear win to me.

This was so much fun, and thank you so much on behalf of Feral for your votes! It's awesome being up there with some very exciting Linux games and porters. Here's to 2016 being another big ole year for Linux gaming.

\o/

I must say I'm surprised about Cities: Skylines receiving that many votes. Apart from that it all looks fine although only one of my favourites won. :)

Me too, I recently bought the game, made a large city, and grew really bored; the game has close to no difficulty as is really just a sandbox. Oh well, to each their own.

Here's to 2016 being another big ole year for Linux gaming.
\o/

Please make it a year with lots of great ports!

BTW, when are you porting Deus Ex: Human Revolution for us? ;-)

First of all congrats to the winners :)

don't get me wrong. its a nice game, but imo apart from the amazing city, the story wasnt anything special to me, pretty much same as previous bioshock games in general. though i have only 5 hours into the game or something like that, but it didnt pull me in because of being nothing special.

I guess there's a point where a game (movie, book, whatever) has lost and cannot pull someone in anymore if it hasn't already done, so maybe Bioshock Infinite won't succeed on you anymore. But it's story really should only be judged after playing (not watching) through the whole game. It's a deserved clear win to me.

I agree with Xpander here. If you have played Bioshock 1 and 2 you expected a generic shooter with a good story and a twist at the end. So Bioshock had a good story but SOMA was kind of mind blowing compared to Bioshock. So best story was SOMA, nothing came even close this year imho ;)

Edit: And yes I played through Bioshock 1,2 and Infinite + DLC 1 and 2. Also finished SOMA 2 times.


Last edited by coeseta on 13 January 2016 at 11:03 am UTC

Since when is Unreal Tournament an open source game?

The confusion might come in because technically the source is available for the engine, but yeah it's definitely not Freely licensed.

Yeah my bad with that one, will make sure it's not in there for next year.

Next time around we will do things a little slower, and get the community in after nominations to point out stuff in the wrong places before voting opens.

Not bad for our second attempt!

Eike

Xpander
don't get me wrong. its a nice game, but imo apart from the amazing city, the story wasnt anything special to me, pretty much same as previous bioshock games in general. though i have only 5 hours into the game or something like that, but it didnt pull me in because of being nothing special.

I guess there's a point where a game (movie, book, whatever) has lost and cannot pull someone in anymore if it hasn't already done, so maybe Bioshock Infinite won't succeed on you anymore. But it's story really should only be judged after playing (not watching) through the whole game. It's a deserved clear win to me.

I agree with Xpander here. If you have played Bioshock 1 and 2 you expected a generic shooter with a good story and a twist at the end. So Bioshock had a good story but SOMA was kind of mind blowing compared to Bioshock. So best story was SOMA, nothing came even close this year imho

Edit: And yes I played through Bioshock 1,2 and Infinite + DLC 1 and 2. Also finished SOMA 2 times.

I think the problem here is that much more people that played Bioshock voted than people who played SOMA.
Edit: Also Bioshock is much more famous game than SOMA so people that didn't even play it could have voted for it.
(I doubt everyone that voted, played all the games they voted for, could be wrong though)


Last edited by BOYSSSSS on 13 January 2016 at 12:06 pm UTC

@BOYSSSSS yes I think you're right. I'm at least one who's played Bioshock but not SOMA, although I hope to rectify that in 2016!

I'm glad Divinity got at least some recognition, despite being so late in the game - it's absolutely fantastic. I'm surprised people love Cities Skylines so much to be honest... I really felt like it sucked all the character out of one of my favourite genres and replaced it with drab and dull northern European "regeneration" type city planning. It was possibly the biggest let down of the year for me, but then I knew I was going to be hard to please with a city builder.

Also, I'm glad someone took the job from removing Broken Age from every single category - apparently someone's idea of a sick joke.

Also, I'm glad someone took the job from removing Broken Age from every single category - apparently someone's idea of a sick joke.

I liked it. Not a "GOTY" like, but a "got entertained" like.


Last edited by Eike on 13 January 2016 at 9:06 pm UTC

I must say I'm surprised about Cities: Skylines receiving that many votes. Apart from that it all looks fine although only one of my favourites won. :)

Me too, I recently bought the game, made a large city, and grew really bored; the game has close to no difficulty as is really just a sandbox. Oh well, to each their own.

It's a city builder. Surely it's supposed to be a sandbox. If people like city builders at all in the first place, surely most of them won't be put off by it being a sandbox.

Since when is Unreal Tournament an open source game?

The confusion might come in because technically the source is available for the engine, but yeah it's definitely not Freely licensed.

Actually there is an argument to describe Unreal Tournament as an Open Source game, since it uses an Open Source development model. It is certainly not Free Software though, because as you say, it is not freely licensed, which also conflicts with the generally understood meaning of the term Open Source, but not the development model.

Which is why both terms are terribly muddled. Free Software has the gratis connotation in English, while Open Source describes a development model that not all Free Software has to adhere to, as it is perfectly possible to develop a Free Software program in a closed fashion as long as the end result is freely licensed. Or as we see in this case, the opposite is also true.

Semantics are fun. Game of the year fun?


Last edited by Hamish on 13 January 2016 at 5:46 pm UTC

As others have said, I had a hard time voting because I have not played all the games that got nominated. I don't think there is any easy way to avoid that kind of bias. We buy the games that appeal to us and can only compare them as we have experienced them.

Initial takeaway: Axiom Verge got robbed, and too many people use Wine.

While Axiom Verge is one of my favourite games of 2015, I recognize that Metroidvania games only appeal to a subset of gamers. I can't fault people for liking other games more! But, damn, Axiom Verge was really good...

One remark: The major category of such a vote IMHO is "Best game". I would put this result at the end of the article, not somewhere in the middle. Create some tension, some step-up! :)