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PayPalPeople keep asking me to highlight this issue, so I will. There is a growing number of games that have at some point said a Linux port will happen and then we wait and nothing happens.
We have a wiki page setup for a while that is need of some love to keep it up to date, but not many people even realise we have a wiki so an article to highlight some is a good idea.
I'm only going to highlight a few, as to be honest, there's a lot and the wiki page doesn't even cover half of them right now.
This is the status of a few choice picks and what we currently know about them.
The one that is really getting on my nerves personally at the moment is Carmageddon: Reincarnation. It released into Early Access on March 27th 2014, over two years later the developer is still claiming we will one day get some sort of announcement. Their level of commitment to Linux has been a bit shocking.
My next annoyance is of course The Witcher 3. It was announced by a big homepage image on Steam and then included in the big SteamOS sale. Over two years since the initial image on Steam and they still aren't confirming anything. My emails go completely unanswered too. We have a forum post that has been going for a while talking about it, where some people do seem to get replies. I fully believe they at one point intended to, and they changed their minds on it. Considering the developers never publicly confirmed it, I'm leaning more towards Valve acting without gaining absolute certainty on the port as they wanted another big name for SteamOS.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is another annoying one. It was promised in Humble Indie Bundle 11, then it was due in 2015. They then took the port in-house and most recently (April 2016) they said they still want to do it. Looks like it just went to the bottom of their list when they took it back for themselves.
Mad Max is another odd tale that was announced in a Press Release in March 2015, but since then we have heard nothing. However, it February this year it was spotted on SteamDB and still in the last week continues to show progress according to the SteamDB page.
Total War: Warhammer was confirmed to be coming to Linux in April of last year, as it listed SteamOS as an official platform on the official website. Then in March of this year it was stated Linux was still a platform, but probably not at the same time as the others. I've seen lots of posts asking for a status update over the last few months, but no developer has been replying.
An "honourable" mention to the always delayed Rocket League. It has blown way past all the previous release windows and still no sign of it. Most recently, 16 days ago (30th of June 2016) a developer noted it was still nearing a release window.
Edit, Rocket League have since sent us a message on twitter
@gamingonlinux For sure. Saw your article. We're working on getting it optimized and will send out an update when we have a firm date.
— Rocket League (@RocketLeague) July 19, 2016
It's always frustrating when developers just don't deliver, but always remember to be respectful. You are talking to humans after all and being rude is a good way to get ignored. There was a game a while ago that was delayed due to abuse/trolling towards the porter, so don't be a fool about it. Being frustrated is only natural, but you need to think about how you come across, get your wording right before posting a message to a developer.
I say it time and time again: If you genuinely care about playing games on Linux and want to support Linux gaming, never buy a game until the Linux port is actually out and confirmed to be playable.
I personally don't fund and will never fund anything on services like Kickstarter unless they have a working Linux build and even then I remain sceptical. It would have to be truly amazing to get my support.
Feel free to comment about others, and remember to help keep the wiki page updated. Keeping that updated and letting others know that page exists should help keep track of this growing port-mess we have.
Valve giving up on SteamVR for SteamOS and pretty much giving up on SteamOS, at least for now, sure does seem like they decided to not power through and fix/try again after a poorly received Steam Machine release.
But, at least Valve has started things rolling for gaming on Linux, they are not taking away anything - the Linux client is still seeing regular patches - which I suppose of all of it, is the most important thing as a Linux gamer.
We have way more than we ever would have had before, and there are still games being ported for Linux. My only real thought is AAA titles will likely remain largely Windows only titles, if Valve never tries to make Steam Machines running SteamOS a more attractive option than they are today. Which certainly won't happen if Valve doesn't work on it.
Interesting that I don't find Overlord in the wiki anymore.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/overlord-overlord-2-coming-to-linux-two-more-virtual-programming-titles.6041
was that one cancelled?
Overlord stay very active this days
https://steamdb.info/app/11450/history/
Them add ./overlord-config
Maybe this title can appear in any moment
^_^
Last edited by mrdeathjr on 18 July 2016 at 12:54 am UTC
That kind of practice to led someone think the game will have a linux port pisses me off.
Regarding Witcher 3, at this point I'm not expecting them to do anything anymore. Our best bet is for Wine developers to make it playable. If I'll hear anything new from them, I'll update the TW3 thread though.
Last edited by Shmerl on 18 July 2016 at 1:35 am UTC
MrTennessee17 Jul 18, 2016
Gas Guzzlers Extreme!
Yep, this one burned me bad too. After that one has become vaporware for Linux, I learned my lesson to wait till the Linux Port actually shows up before dropping coin on a piece of software.
It should appear to the penguins soon.or I'm gonna have to spank those lazy ass minions.Interesting that I don't find Overlord in the wiki anymore.
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/overlord-overlord-2-coming-to-linux-two-more-virtual-programming-titles.6041
was that one cancelled?
Overlord stay very active this days
https://steamdb.info/app/11450/history/
Them add ./overlord-config
Maybe this title can appear in any moment
^_^
(BTW. im no technical overlord aka the devs.Just the 1st Overlord)
Last edited by Overlord on 18 July 2016 at 2:36 am UTC
boltronics Jul 18, 2016
Unfortunately under Wine the graphics glitch out making it unplayable for the moment, but I'm quite sure it'll be working 100% under Wine before the game gets a native GNU/Linux port. But maybe that was the plan all along - so they can just wrap it in Wine and ship it?
And Witcher 3 (by the people who own GOG.com)... OMG the devs knew when starting development that there was a GNU/Linux version of Witcher 2 (either released or in development) and they still willfully ignored GNU/Linux-compatible technologies completely. Really speaks volumes for how much GOG cares about GNU/Linux - especially when factoring in the Galaxy delays on top of delays on top of delays!
I think GOG only decided to add GNU/Linux "support" at all because they were afraid Valve was going to create a large GNU/Linux market for which GOG.com would not have anything to compete. Then when the market wasn't massive (no strong GNU/Linux sales for Witcher 2 on Steam - which was late and slow and buggy on launch anyway) and Valve didn't really push the platform as much as they could have, GOG.com just decided to quietly ignore it.
I never buy from them again - unless they have a GNU/Linux game that's exclusive to them (such as the Star Trek titles that came out late last year). But otherwise, GOG is dead to me after that fiasco. If anyone was going to care about GNU/Linux support outside of Valve, you would think it would have to be GOG, right? Pathetic.
Honestly, I would have more respect for GOG if they just came out and said "we've reevaluated our business strategy and decided that GNU/Linux isn't a priority for us right now" instead of the "coming soon" message that will probably be on the Galaxy page for a few more years before anything changes.
ported.....................................................................................
Last edited by Overlord on 18 July 2016 at 3:13 am UTC
[email protected] Jul 18, 2016
Count me to the ones waiting for Street Fighter V. At least I have not yet bought it but I would love to give them my money as soon as the Linux version is out.
Capcom officially (on Twitter?) confirmed that a SteamOS version is in the works so I don't think they can talk themselves that easily out of that. What makes me somewhat worried though is that Sony is the main sponsor of Street Fighter V (apparently with out their money it would not have been made). Since SteamOS can be considered a console-like experience, maybe Sony does not want it to be ported after all...
Waiting on them too. They get it out, i'm buying.
I am still upset about The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing. It was already in beta when suddenly it just... stopped.I suspect on that one, they released the beta thinking everything was more or less done, and they'd just have to make a few minor fixes. Then when the feedback was that everything was completely broken, my guess is that they decided not to invest in fixing it.
slaapliedje Jul 18, 2016
Witcher 3 was the most disappointing for me. Both a really good AAA game I want to play, and a game that looked in the bag for a Linux port, for a while.
Valve giving up on SteamVR for SteamOS and pretty much giving up on SteamOS, at least for now, sure does seem like they decided to not power through and fix/try again after a poorly received Steam Machine release.
But, at least Valve has started things rolling for gaming on Linux, they are not taking away anything - the Linux client is still seeing regular patches - which I suppose of all of it, is the most important thing as a Linux gamer.
We have way more than we ever would have had before, and there are still games being ported for Linux. My only real thought is AAA titles will likely remain largely Windows only titles, if Valve never tries to make Steam Machines running SteamOS a more attractive option than they are today. Which certainly won't happen if Valve doesn't work on it.
How has Valve given up on SteamVR for SteamOS. From what I understand a full third of people at Valve are working on SteamVR. I see get constant updates on Linux for SteamVR (still doesn't actually do anything though).
I kind of funny that we have a list of a few games that haven't come out or are being canceled for Linux. I lived through the days of the Atari Jaguar, where there were a ton of incredibly potential games coming out for it, and then it just died. Some developers had taken Atari's money and ran. Some were left in almost complete states and then completed many years later.
So while I'm bummed that Mad Max hasn't made it's way to Linux yet (I've stopped playing it on Windows after finding out they decided to port it again... but then I think by the same publisher, tried Batman Arkham Knight earlier and couldn't even get it to recognize the steam controller or xbox 360 controller...)
I've got so many great games now to play under Linux, I don't know if I'd ever get around to playing Witcher 3 anyhow (I do have it already, but haven't even had time to beat the first Witcher)
I kinda believe that the story behind Mad Max is the lack of Denuvo on Linux...
Wait, you're telling me the reason of a lack of a port is a totally superfluous piece of crap DRM software? You know, the reason number one that some game does not work on some machines (or on wine)?
No sympathy at all in that case.
With Witcher 3 getting a GOTY edition I'd assume since it's (witcher 3) is pretty much final code it'd be easier to port to Linux . . . .Porting is exactly when you find all the bugs, even ones that also affect all other platforms. Because porting is also quality assurance. So no, "final code" is what you'll have after porting. See Neverwinter Nights, they fixed hundreds of bugs in the Windows version they found while porting to Linux
Last edited by cprn on 18 July 2016 at 8:37 am UTC
boltronics Jul 18, 2016
it freaking annoys me when PR people misuse technical terms.I blame Apple's old "I'm a Mac... and I'm a PC" television adverts. I'm sure they were just trying to call out Windows(tm) directly, but it sucks. Macs are a type of PC too.
I was telling somebody about RockSmith 2014, which officially supports Windows, OS X, and a bunch of consoles). The chap apparently thought it was console-only, so I told him it was on PC too. He said "I don't have a PC", which I found to be quite shocking. It took a minute for me to realize he was only talking about Windows. :/
We just need to keep directing people to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer
With Witcher 3 getting a GOTY edition I'd assume since it's (witcher 3) is pretty much final code it'd be easier to port to Linux . . . .Porting is exactly when you find all the bugs, even ones that also affect all other platforms. Because porting is also quality assurance. So no, "final code" is what you'll have after porting. See Neverwinter Nights, they fixed hundreds of bugs in the Windows version they found while porting to Linux
There is nothing like final code. Just code you are not willing to maintain anymore.
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