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inXile entertainment have provided an update on the Linux version of The Bard's Tale IV: Barrows Deep, the good news is that it's still coming and it will release in June this year.

They're currently working on a huge update, which was originally going to be patch "2.0" however, they're instead making it a little bigger into a Director's Cut and this is when the Linux version will be released.

Here's the gist of it:

We’ve seen your comments and hear you. The Mac and Linux builds are making great progress in co-development and parity to our main version with our development builds and current feature production pipeline. We have a full-time dedicated team for each platform (Mac & Linux), and those teams are working concurrently with our main features dev teams.

The issue we have as developers is that we are unable to finalize the Mac and Linux versions of the game and continue to simultaneously make such sweeping changes to it. We wanted to resolve the issues that affected the PC launch before we shipped Mac and Linux and this dovetailed directly into the work we began doing for the Director's Cut, effectively becoming one continuous effort since September. This is why these versions need to go live the same day as the PC version of The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep - Director’s Cut.

It sounding like it's going to be a seriously big update for the game, hopefully one that solves a lot of issues people had with the current version. The upgrades will include a new dungeon and story line featuring new enemy types, new items, inventory filtering, a new intro video, more game balancing work, Unreal Engine 4 upgrades, improved performance, a reworked main menu and more.

You can see their update about it here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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17 comments Subscribe

Shmerl 18 Feb 2019
That's good. I wonder if they are going to use Vulkan in UE4 on Linux.

Another game still pending is We Happy Few.
scaine 18 Feb 2019
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That's good. I wonder if they are going to use Vulkan in UE4 on Linux.

Another game still pending is We Happy Few.

Good shout. I'd happily buy both when they're available.
Shmerl 18 Feb 2019
Good shout. I'd happily buy both when they're available.

I backed both, so I'm surely interested in them not failing to release for Linux, even if they are delayed :)
eldaking 18 Feb 2019
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Frankly, not impressed. Their excuse is "we would have to update it later so why bother", which to me raises the question of how bad their support for the Linux/Mac versions will be. And after their optimistic (but obviously non-commital) messages in the past, this doesn't sound encouraging - still not even a release date.

I hate the cliche argument that games are released "unfinished" or "incomplete" (bad games happen for many reasons and they can improve after release), but in this case I think it has merit. This was a crowdfunded game that "released" a year late, and six months after is still cleaning up the messy release. It finally froze development so they could actually port it to the platforms it had promised. This isn't just patches and good DLC, this is the game finally leaving Early Access and getting a real release.

Also, their crowdfunding campaigns talked so much about how being an indie studio meant they could do amazing things that their new talk about how being bought by Microsoft is the best thing ever makes me cringe.
Salvatos 18 Feb 2019
The issue we have as developers is that we are unable to finalize the Mac and Linux versions of the game and continue to simultaneously make such sweeping changes to it.
You'd think inXile would know to make their code cross-platform from the get-go by now. This ain't the first title they release on Linux.
Ketil 18 Feb 2019
The issue we have as developers is that we are unable to finalize the Mac and Linux versions of the game and continue to simultaneously make such sweeping changes to it.
You'd think inXile would know to make their code cross-platform from the get-go by now. This ain't the first title they release on Linux.
Wasteland 2 and Torment were unity, this is their first UE4 game supporting linux. Maybe it was easier to export those two games to linux, or maybe the developers who were the most familiar with linux on their team transitioned to wasteland 3 instead of bards tale IV development. I hope this is a one time mistake, and won't become a habit, but we will see.


Last edited by Ketil on 18 Feb 2019 at 10:06 pm UTC
Shmerl 18 Feb 2019
Comment from inXile:

With the engine update, we're going to be looking into Vulkan.
Shmerl 18 Feb 2019
You'd think inXile would know to make their code cross-platform from the get-go by now. This ain't the first title they release on Linux.

It pretty much is cross platform, their issue is basically supporting release cycle for all versions at once. They decided to concentrate on Windows one, and release for Linux only once it reaches major feature level ("Director's Cut"). Annoying for Linux users, but saves them quite a lot of resources.

As I backer, I surely don't like it. But I understand what's causing it. The annoying thing is, that in the past inXile somehow managed to avoid these kind of delays for Linux users.


Last edited by Shmerl on 18 Feb 2019 at 11:11 pm UTC
Kimyrielle 18 Feb 2019
June, eh? Oh well, that will put it just shy from its 1st anniversary of its Windows launch. So when it will be on Linux it will be just an old game, not an ancient one.

That's...something...I guess?
STiAT 19 Feb 2019
Oh, loved the others. Looking forward to it :-).
drmoth 19 Feb 2019
While it's probably going to lame, I'm still planning on getting this anyway, the nostalgia of the originals still runs strong!
TheRiddick 19 Feb 2019
If they get Vulkan going, that be fantastic. I don't care if its UE4 Beta code.
TheSHEEEP 19 Feb 2019
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Oh, loved the others. Looking forward to it :-).
While it's probably going to lame, I'm still planning on getting this anyway, the nostalgia of the originals still runs strong!
TheSHEEEP 19 Feb 2019
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Oh, loved the others. Looking forward to it :-).
While it's probably going to lame, I'm still planning on getting this anyway, the nostalgia of the originals still runs strong!
![](https://media.giphy.com/media/lk0TFUdop2JTW/giphy.gif)
Seriously, this game is nothing like the old games, different in almost every aspect. Which is, besides the desastrous launch state, the number one complaint about the game.

If you want something that is like the old Bard's Tale, play the remakes, those are really good. And run fine in Wine, at least when I tried.
theghost 19 Feb 2019
The Mac and Linux builds are making great progress in co-development and parity to our main version with our development builds and current feature production pipeline. We have a full-time dedicated team for each platform (Mac & Linux), and those teams are working concurrently with our main features dev teams.

I wouldn't wonder if they call off Mac/Linux ports for their future games after reading their development approach. They have one game split across 3 different platform teams, which seems to keep their changes in their own branches. If the game doesn't sell super well they can easily say: "See it's not worth to develop for Linux, the team was more expansive than the copies sold."

I don't know but if I would develop for multiple platforms I would keep my code in one base and have only different pipelines for game compilation, qa and release. Also I think using Unreal engine for cross-platform was a major mistake.
Nevertheless 20 Feb 2019
No use to think about future implications. I think they will faithfully release Bards Tale 4 and Wasteland 3 for Linux and on Steam/GOG, and then do UWP Apps on the Microsoft store alongside Obsidian.
Eike 8 Jun 2019
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["Targeting late summer"](https://steamcommunity.com/games/566090/announcements/detail/1592499698877642570), but the reviews are a mixed bag...
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