Puppygames, a developer who has supported Linux for many years are now making their games free for Linux gamers and they've already started with Basingstoke.
What is Basingstoke? It's a dark and tense roguelike that mixes in stealth and action elements, it's not really like anything else and I'm actually a pretty big fan of it. I livestreamed it on our Twitch Channel around the release and had a huge amount of fun. That said, I'm a fan of basically anything that comes from Puppygames, with Revenge of the Titans being another awesome game they made.
Take a peek:
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They're doing it on itch.io since itch offer more flexible funding models, as well as itch being more generous overall with developers able to give back whatever they want from sales to itch. While free, you can decide to donate money when you first go to claim it if you like the idea.
When they have time, they will be putting their other games on itch and doing the same.
Find Basingstoke on itch now. They also have a Patreon, to help fund their next game, Battledroid, which is "a massively multiplayer asynchronous online strategy war game" and of course that will support Linux too.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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That's huge! 
I love this move, and I'm pleased that I bought Basingstoke on GOG at full price day one.
As of now if I buy their other games, it will be on itch.io with a donation, that's guaranteed!
Just imagine if AAA devs would do that, even for a week...
I love this move, and I'm pleased that I bought Basingstoke on GOG at full price day one.
As of now if I buy their other games, it will be on itch.io with a donation, that's guaranteed!
Just imagine if AAA devs would do that, even for a week...
3 Likes, Who?
Interesting that they would start with the newest one, and also the only one I don't own. I'll treat it as a demo to decide whether to buy it on Steam.
Also of interest, they seem to have struck a publishing deal with Subsoap for their next game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/348910/Faerie_Solitaire_Harvest/
I wonder if that's the reason of Subsoap revisiting the Linux build of Faerie Solitaire Remastered: https://steamcommunity.com/app/583930/discussions/0/1621724915773764309/
Also of interest, they seem to have struck a publishing deal with Subsoap for their next game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/348910/Faerie_Solitaire_Harvest/
I wonder if that's the reason of Subsoap revisiting the Linux build of Faerie Solitaire Remastered: https://steamcommunity.com/app/583930/discussions/0/1621724915773764309/
3 Likes, Who?
Arehandoro Mar 6, 2019
Great move! I also had forgotten about Basingstoke altogether :(
0 Likes
At last! A Linux exclusive!!
I was holding off on buying Basingstoke (on Steam) because the price was just a little too high for me ... but the Puppylords will be getting something from me for sure!
Last edited by Nanobang on 12 March 2019 at 12:08 pm UTC
I was holding off on buying Basingstoke (on Steam) because the price was just a little too high for me ... but the Puppylords will be getting something from me for sure!
Last edited by Nanobang on 12 March 2019 at 12:08 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
stretch611 Mar 6, 2019
I really enjoy Puppy Games. I found out about them (and their linux support) back from one of the first few Humble Indie Bundles, well before Steam for Linux was a thing.
Of course I already have all their games for linux already, so this offer does nothing for me. But it is all the more reason to enjoy the developer, and lets just say if I didn't have them all, I would get them all now.
(I admit that even though I bought it for practically full price, I did not care for Basingstoke; however, that is because I don't particularly care for that genre of games, nothing specifically about that game.)
Last edited by stretch611 on 6 March 2019 at 1:20 pm UTC
Of course I already have all their games for linux already, so this offer does nothing for me. But it is all the more reason to enjoy the developer, and lets just say if I didn't have them all, I would get them all now.
(I admit that even though I bought it for practically full price, I did not care for Basingstoke; however, that is because I don't particularly care for that genre of games, nothing specifically about that game.)
Last edited by stretch611 on 6 March 2019 at 1:20 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Exclamation mark! I very nearly bought Basingstoke on Steam in the Xmas sale. I'll definitely have to give them something now.
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Quite awesome move toward Linux, but why they're doing it ? I didn't read any explanation, unless i've missed them for some reason.
Revenge of the Titans was, is, one of the best tower defense i've played until today.
Revenge of the Titans was, is, one of the best tower defense i've played until today.
1 Likes, Who?
GeoGalvanic Mar 6, 2019
Quite awesome move toward Linux, but why they're doing it ? I didn't read any explanation, unless i've missed them for some reason.
Likely it's to advertise and spread word for their patreon.
0 Likes
Sir_Diealot Mar 6, 2019
Not quite sure it's a game I will enjoy playing, but I bought it anyway (on itch of course).
Unfortunately it crashes on startup. Arch Linux with i3. Can someone else confirm?
Unfortunately it crashes on startup. Arch Linux with i3. Can someone else confirm?
0 Likes
Not quite sure it's a game I will enjoy playing, but I bought it anyway (on itch of course).
Unfortunately it crashes on startup. Arch Linux with i3. Can someone else confirm?
The game run fine on me, no crashes. I have Arch Linux/KDE/RX 560.
0 Likes
Sir_Diealot Mar 6, 2019
Thanks lucinos, I have a RX 560 as well. All things are pointing at i3 WM so far. I guess the game can't handle that i3 tries to put it in a fullscreen window. Need to confirm with some other WM.
Player.log indicates an unhandled exception. Unfortunately there is no text config file to possibly work around it.
EDIT: starts on my old Laptop with almost identical software setup. Not a clue what's wrong, but at this point it's very likely some config issue on my part.
Last edited by Sir_Diealot on 7 March 2019 at 8:12 am UTC
Player.log indicates an unhandled exception. Unfortunately there is no text config file to possibly work around it.
EDIT: starts on my old Laptop with almost identical software setup. Not a clue what's wrong, but at this point it's very likely some config issue on my part.
Last edited by Sir_Diealot on 7 March 2019 at 8:12 am UTC
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Projectile Vomit Mar 6, 2019
Getting this one! :o
0 Likes
Hmmm
Any idea WHY they are making their games free ?
linux enthusiasts? help linux to thrive?
but linux is a very small market and they wont lose a lot of money AND you can donate, so they get some amount of money
something valve should to with their games... after they start making games again... real games, not card games
0 Likes
stretch611 Mar 7, 2019
Not to distract from the value, as this is generous of the developers...
But, as pointed out linux is not a huge market share.
Also, other than Basingstoke, the games are quite old and are probably close to market saturation... Not likely selling much due to age and the people that want them have them. Maybe a few sales from time to time, but not much continued revenue anymore. (And after looking at Steam DB, I am guessing that Basingstoke did not do as well as they hoped it would.)
According to Steam DB...
Titan Attacks, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 100k-200k sold, Released Feb 3 2012
Revenge of the Titans, $14.99/$0.99(sale), 200k-500k sold, Released Mar 16 2011
Droid Assault, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 50k-100k sold, Released Jan 9 2013
Ultratron, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 50k-100k sold, Released Mar 18 2013
Basingstoke, $29.99/$10.19(sale), 0-20k sold, Released Apr 27, 2018
Note: I bought a triple pack of Titan Attacks, Droid Assault, and Ultratron directly off the developer's website before Revenge of the Titans was released... So this means SteamDB is showing the release date on Steam... Not the original release dates. Also some of the titles were on Humble prior to steam as well, so it is likely SteamDB's numbers might be underreporting estimated sales of the older titles.
But, as pointed out linux is not a huge market share.
Also, other than Basingstoke, the games are quite old and are probably close to market saturation... Not likely selling much due to age and the people that want them have them. Maybe a few sales from time to time, but not much continued revenue anymore. (And after looking at Steam DB, I am guessing that Basingstoke did not do as well as they hoped it would.)
According to Steam DB...
Titan Attacks, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 100k-200k sold, Released Feb 3 2012
Revenge of the Titans, $14.99/$0.99(sale), 200k-500k sold, Released Mar 16 2011
Droid Assault, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 50k-100k sold, Released Jan 9 2013
Ultratron, $9.99/$0.99(sale), 50k-100k sold, Released Mar 18 2013
Basingstoke, $29.99/$10.19(sale), 0-20k sold, Released Apr 27, 2018
Note: I bought a triple pack of Titan Attacks, Droid Assault, and Ultratron directly off the developer's website before Revenge of the Titans was released... So this means SteamDB is showing the release date on Steam... Not the original release dates. Also some of the titles were on Humble prior to steam as well, so it is likely SteamDB's numbers might be underreporting estimated sales of the older titles.
0 Likes
EDIT: starts on my old Laptop with almost identical software setup. Not a clue what's wrong, but at this point it's very likely some config issue on my part.
interesting note about my initial experience with Arch. A lot of games do fail to start if needed fonts are not installed and there is no indication that this is the problem. So the first thing I would do, it would be to search and install every font that I could find. I can not say if this is the problem, but it was an experience with many games when I installed Arch for the first time.
Last edited by lucinos on 7 March 2019 at 9:21 pm UTC
0 Likes
stretch611 Mar 7, 2019
No?!?, thats a shock to me. :ORevenge of the Titans was, is, one of the best tower defense i've played until today.Revenge of the Titans is NOT a tower defense game…
If not tower defense, what do you call it when you build offensive gun/laser turrets to prevent the enemy from reaching and destroying your base/buildings, especially when the enemy follows a predefined path towards your base?
Last edited by stretch611 on 7 March 2019 at 10:30 pm UTC
0 Likes
Sir_Diealot Mar 8, 2019
EDIT: starts on my old Laptop with almost identical software setup. Not a clue what's wrong, but at this point it's very likely some config issue on my part.
interesting note about my initial experience with Arch. A lot of games do fail to start if needed fonts are not installed and there is no indication that this is the problem. So the first thing I would do, it would be to search and install every font that I could find. I can not say if this is the problem, but it was an experience with many games when I installed Arch for the first time.
Thanks, that's one thing I never encountered before. I think most games ship the fonts they use. But yes, my Laptop's installation likely has more fonts, I'll experiment a bit.
0 Likes
Revenge of the Titans was, is, one of the best tower defense i've played until today.Revenge of the Titans is NOT a tower defense game…
I checked because i thought that maybe i was confused and was thinking about another game. But nah.
RotT fits exactly the Tower Defense genre. Even Puppugames tag their game as a Tower Defense game, mixed with some RTS elements.
That said, you can call it whatever you like, the game is great anyway.
0 Likes
It's a great game and I wouldn't argue the point much, but I get why some people don't call RotT a tower defence game. It breaks lots of traditional TD rules. The main one is that there are no routes in RotT. You're told that an attack will come from... vaguely over there, and then you build some emplacements to stave off the alien horde.
It feels more like an unusual RTS to me, even if you don't actually command moving troops, only towers.
I never actually finished it. If you do badly enough in the early levels, the game becomes near-impossible in later levels. And the ghost-aliens basically ruined the later levels for me (99% of your towers ignore ghosts, but you can build a manual laser tower to take them down - manual, as in, you have to aim/shoot the ghosts with mouse-clicks. It's tedious having to constantly scroll back to these towers to see if there are any ghosts attacking).
Got my money's worth though!
It feels more like an unusual RTS to me, even if you don't actually command moving troops, only towers.
I never actually finished it. If you do badly enough in the early levels, the game becomes near-impossible in later levels. And the ghost-aliens basically ruined the later levels for me (99% of your towers ignore ghosts, but you can build a manual laser tower to take them down - manual, as in, you have to aim/shoot the ghosts with mouse-clicks. It's tedious having to constantly scroll back to these towers to see if there are any ghosts attacking).
Got my money's worth though!
1 Likes, Who?
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