Update: They changed their minds on this, they've put the native version back up. See here.
Original article below:
It seems Transhuman Design have removed the Linux version of BUTCHER after users reported issues, opting instead to ask Steam to add it as an approved Steam Play title.
Announcing it on Steam, they said this:
Sadly, BUTCHER spontaneously stopped working on Linux. The most likely cause seems to be some incompatibility between the old Unity 5.6 Linux builds and new GPU drivers.
Since moving the codebase to a newer Unity version is potentially a titanic task (including testing, debugging, and hair-pulling) and the sole programmer of the game is tightly involved in another project to keep him afloat, we decided to request the game to be whitelisted as fully compatible with the new Steam Play feature.
Before it's officially accepted, you can try it now yourself and hopefully enjoy your game working on Linux again!
After digging into the Steam forum, I came across this forum topic started in August, where four users mentioned trouble starting the game. That doesn't seem like a lot of people to make such a big decision, but it's understandable that with a tiny team and little time they're trying to make it so Linux gamers still have a good experience. Probably a good case for Valve to allow people to have a choice between native and Steam Play's Proton.
Obviously the problem with them doing this, is that it no longer shows up as a Linux game on Steam, that is until Valve decide what they're going to do about showing Steam Play on store pages (if anything).
I'm pretty curious to know what the actual issue is here. Is it Unity once again messing up in their older builds, is it a driver update that broke it? We know so little.
Worth noting this is only on Steam of course, the native Linux builds are still available from Humble Store, GOG and itch.io.
What do you think about such a move? Keen to see some thoughts on this.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: GustyGhostAnd so the cancer begins to spread...I don't see it this way. First of all, developer was actively describing the issue they're facing. Secondly, I don't feel Steam Play is a cancer in this case. If a developer don't have resources, I would rather see him ensuring that his game works good on Steam play than have an old build that is not actively supported by dev.
Of course that's my perspective, but take a look for example at Torchlight. There was a build for Humble, but it was done so long time ago, that almost nobody is able to play it. If a game is QA'ed and approved on Steam Play I am fine with that approach. Even if it means, that developer won't be able to support the game - I know that Valve will support it. One way or the other.
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Quoting: appetrosyanThe resulting "native" binary ran worse than through wine: it was crash-happy, it gave about 1/3 framerate, and half the graphical options didn't work at all. Naturally everyone was outraged [...]I wasn't outraged. I waited for a while until VP put out a few patches and smoothed out the worst kinks. I enjoyed playing it just fine. It was still not perfect, but after the fixes it wasn't the worst port I'd seen, wrapped or not. You can easily see the progress they made by searching for articles on the game here on GOL.
I think Witcher 2 was VP's first properly demanding port and they might have simply been too optimistic with the schedule. You seem to only remember the drama and forget that we eventually got a decent port of a great game. VP did their job.
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qptain Nemo Sep 22, 2018
Guys I've started a thread on a similar issue, where I'm considering to ask another developer to do the same thing. I'd appreciate all input.
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appetrosyan Sep 22, 2018
Quoting: tuubiQuoting: appetrosyanThe resulting "native" binary ran worse than through wine: it was crash-happy, it gave about 1/3 framerate, and half the graphical options didn't work at all. Naturally everyone was outraged [...]I wasn't outraged. I waited for a while until VP put out a few patches and smoothed out the worst kinks. I enjoyed playing it just fine. It was still not perfect, but after the fixes it wasn't the worst port I'd seen, wrapped or not. You can easily see the progress they made by searching for articles on the game here on GOL.
I think Witcher 2 was VP's first properly demanding port and they might have simply been too optimistic with the schedule. You seem to only remember the drama and forget that we eventually got a decent port of a great game. VP did their job.
I don't think so. VP did more damage by exaggerating the outrage. They did a Virtual job, pushed it out half-baked instead of simply delaying launch, and instead of facing the music, they started pointing fingers. It's not the first, nor worst botched port they have produced. It's a company with next to no responsibility and discipline, two shifted the blame onto an easy target (me did hone it coming, but still).
Result? Witcher 1 has no Linux port, neither does Witcher 3. I doubt that this is the only reason, e. g. we still don't have Shadow of war, and there was no mess.
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qptain Nemo Sep 22, 2018
Quoting: appetrosyanThis idea of damage is entirely hypothetical as no official reasons were given by CDPR. Meanwhile the port is real.Quoting: tuubiQuoting: appetrosyanThe resulting "native" binary ran worse than through wine: it was crash-happy, it gave about 1/3 framerate, and half the graphical options didn't work at all. Naturally everyone was outraged [...]I wasn't outraged. I waited for a while until VP put out a few patches and smoothed out the worst kinks. I enjoyed playing it just fine. It was still not perfect, but after the fixes it wasn't the worst port I'd seen, wrapped or not. You can easily see the progress they made by searching for articles on the game here on GOL.
I think Witcher 2 was VP's first properly demanding port and they might have simply been too optimistic with the schedule. You seem to only remember the drama and forget that we eventually got a decent port of a great game. VP did their job.
I don't think so. VP did more damage by exaggerating the outrage. They did a Virtual job, pushed it out half-baked instead of simply delaying launch, and instead of facing the music, they started pointing fingers. It's not the first, nor worst botched port they have produced. It's a company with next to no responsibility and discipline, two shifted the blame onto an easy target (me did hone it coming, but still).
Result? Witcher 1 has no Linux port, neither does Witcher 3. I doubt that this is the only reason, e. g. we still don't have Shadow of war, and there was no mess.
This is going to be hypothetical too, but I find the idea that CDPR of all people are those sensitive does, who were completely stopped in their tracks and scared away by some typical gaming drama, caused by objective failings of their business partner no less, amusing. I understand though that this narrative is more appealing to swallow than the bitter version of reality where they simply don't care enough. You doubt it's the only reason, I doubt it's a reason at all and if it is, it's the least significant one.
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Avehicle7887 Sep 23, 2018
Quoting: wojtek88but take a look for example at Torchlight. There was a build for Humble, but it was done so long time ago, that almost nobody is able to play it. If a game is QA'ed and approved on Steam Play I am fine with that approach. Even if it means, that developer won't be able to support the game - I know that Valve will support it. One way or the other.
The Linux build of Torchlight still works quite well. The most common problem with that game is that it requires the libSDL2 library it came bundled with the installer to work correctly.
Some freshly baked screenshots:
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As for Butcher, I understand the devs tried to do the right thing here and to give Linux users a working game, in a way it's like showing they care for the little penguins. I'm just hoping Proton doesn't become the easy way out.
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ObsidianBlk Sep 23, 2018
Quoting: appetrosyanI think you shouldn't be outraged over the fact - they pulled the game, as much as why they pulled the game. Essentially, they had a dev. team consisting of one person. One person to write the code, one person to test, one person to debug and one person to maintain. You complain about a people not wearing safety glasses when picking uranium. Don't you see the massive leap here?
One person or one thousand... doesn't matter. They go public, they're promising they can support what they release. If the one guy they have couldn't handle it, they should not have tried. In this case... it seems "they changed their minds" so the argument for this game, for now, is moot.
Quoting: appetrosyanQuoteI give developers who pull stunts like this no quarter.
Then don't buy games from small studios. Don't buy games with proprietary source code, and actively tell game developers that you expect them to have done their research, before buying the game.
Or... you know, you call studios out for any crap they pull (whether the studio is large, small, one person, or one thousand plus). They're trying to make money on their products, and we're spending money on these products. I'm not saying we should be calling the devs names, or sending them death threats... but I feel we really need to stop this "well, at least they tried" crap.
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Quoting: appetrosyanQuoting: dvdHopefully people who bought the game for linux can get a refund. A wine script is just not as good as a native game.
In my experience, a wine script can be objectively better than a half-arsed port. Just take Doom 3, Return to castle Wolfenstein and a few older native games.
I can list 1 or 2 games that work flawlessly. But i can list way more with random crashes, screen hangups, broken audio etc... And these are all games on platinum/gold list. Modding TES games with wine is a nightmare as well. And good luck guessing the DRM :p
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hardpenguin Sep 23, 2018
The update about developers changing their mind is really worth a separate post :)
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Quoting: GuestSo has it been confirmed yet that Butcher is 100% broken for everyone using the steam version? because my GOG copy works just fine on a fully up to date systemSee the update at the top of the article. The game was only broken for some users and the native version has been restored.
It does seem to rather irk me, because while I don't mind the option to run the game on Proton instead, linux users should ALWAYS continue to have the option to run a native build
Removing that native build altogether is a stupid move, as there might be a lot of people out there who can still play it just fine on thier linux machines dispite the developer claiming it as "broken"
Really want more clarification from the developer.
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