Update: The developer did change their mind and it's now on GOG for Linux. Update #2: The developer later pulled both GOG and Linux down.
Original article:
Supraland released for Linux on Steam on July 2nd and it just released on GOG today but it seems the Linux version will not be heading to GOG.
What is Supraland? It's a very highly rated first-person action and puzzle game, inspired by the likes of Zelda, Metroid and Portal. It's popular, with an "Overwhelmingly Positive" rating on Steam from over two thousands user reviews and from my time spent in the demo, I can see why as it was pretty sweet.
Speaking in their official Discord server, users questioned the developer to find out about a possible Linux release on GOG, since it's only available for Windows there currently. The reply was a little…unexpected:
Their further comments on it were a little more reasonable and understandable, mostly mentioning lower sales on Linux and again on GOG. Even so, that's a pretty naive and hostile attitude to take towards a store (GOG) and platform (Linux) both of which you only just started supporting.
After speaking to the developer myself, they said it was taken out of context (not that I see how, I followed the whole conversation personally). In reply to the same user who also posted this information on GOG, the developer said:
With the "for the sake of it" comment I was refering to a case of "I will only buy on gog because I want it DRM-free" but it IS DRM-free on Steam since forever. This ignorance and "for the sake of it" attitude made me a little angry.
I have not a single bad thought about gog.
They moved onto saying the Linux version performs poorly compared to the Windows version, saying it's better in Proton (which they also said slightly differently on the GOG forum and here too) so they don't want to give "a version that is inferior for reasons I cannot change". So, they're basically telling people on GOG to use Wine/Proton.
So for now, if you want to play the Linux version of Supraland, it's sadly Steam only. Although, going by their other comments it seems they're not confident on actually keeping the Linux version up.
Supra Games are also currently crowdfunding for Supraland 2 on Kickstarter, which is confirmed to be coming to Linux as well.
Quoting: appetrosyanJust because YOU haven't put DRM in your game, by publishing on Steam you're restricting my ability to share it. For example, I can lend a GOG game to a friend. He can play the game at the same time as I am playing something else. I can't do that on Steam.No, you not allowed to share a game from GOG! Not in a legal way!
DRM-Free doesn't mean that it is Copyright Free!
Quote from GOG: Can I share games with others?
Your account and games are for your personal use only. If you want to share them, you can always buy a gift for that person. The DRM-free nature of our service means that we trust you that this will not be abused.
On the other hand you can share games legaly on Steam with sharing your library to Friends/Family. Also you can can share it in your-not-so-legal-way by just copying the game directory.
Quoting: liamdaweQuoting: TheBardDRM-Free on Steam does exist! When a game is DRM-Free on Steam, you don't need to login to play. You can even use steamcmd to install games without the client. Indeed it's a bit more complex that downloading a file from a website but actually it's more convenient because stemcmd deal with lots of stuff. When the download is complete, you can backup the game directly the way you want, move it where you want and play without Steam. I've tested it myself several times! Steam is not a DRM but Steam offer a DRM solution for the devs who want it. It's up to the devs to make their game DRM-Free or not on Steam.I don't think saying users can learn steamcmd is a reasonable argument personally, for those who prefer fully DRM-free.
Why is not reasonable? If a user wants to download a game from GoG they should also learn on how to execute the installer (he must give execute privileges to the file to begin with). I still don't understand why there is such "DRM-free" tight concept when there isn't any restriction to your game once is downloaded (in this case).
I can fully understand that people want the game on GoG because that's where they have their games library, but the argument of "it isn't drm free until it is on GoG" is completely nonsense.
Quoting: appetrosyanJust because YOU haven't put DRM in your game, by publishing on Steam you're restricting my ability to share it. For example, I can lend a GOG game to a friend. He can play the game at the same time as I am playing something else. I can't do that on Steam.
I can lend you a tarball with the game right now if you want. No Steam required at all.
Quoting: appetrosyanSurprisingly this post makes me Ok with it. Not because he's right, but because I don't want to give him any money for being so stupid.
Could we avoid to insult devs and especially devs that port their games on Linux. Furthermore, if the game is really DRM-Free on Steam, what you describe is possible (it's just a copy!)
Therefore, sites like GOG, Humble and Itch which allow you to download the .sh file are my only option for new games.
EDIT: I did not know about steamcmd, I will give it a try.
Last edited by Rooster on 10 July 2019 at 2:56 pm UTC
Quoting: RoosterBut with Steam, I cannot do this. With Steam, I currently have no way of installing new games on my PC, unless I carry my whole PC and monitor to another place.
Quoting: Smoke39Is that not what this does?
With some games you can simply copy-paste the directory anywhere and play without steam (this game in particular is on that group).
Last edited by x_wing on 10 July 2019 at 2:58 pm UTC
Quoting: TheSHEEEPQuoting: appetrosyanJust because YOU haven't put DRM in your game, by publishing on Steam you're restricting my ability to share it. For example, I can lend a GOG game to a friend. He can play the game at the same time as I am playing something else. I can't do that on Steam.You can do exactly that with Steam, too. It's called Family Share. Been doing that many years with my GF for some games. She can play something from my lib while I play something else. Only requirement is that both have Steam, but since that is free, it's a non-issue.
I will have to disagree on that one.
Sorry to disappoint but you can't "exactly" do that. Steam Family sharing is a huge nuissance, and is no better than sharing your credentials with someone on a different PC. For example, if you and the person you shared with decide to play the same game - one of you's kicked out. Fair but it doesn't happen on GOG.
Another example, if you have shared the library with someone and you and your friend decide to play the game, one of you will be kicked out. The only way to circumvent this is to start Steam in Offline mode, which in some cases prevents games from launching at all.
Quoting: TheBardQuoting: appetrosyanSurprisingly this post makes me Ok with it. Not because he's right, but because I don't want to give him any money for being so stupid.
Could we avoid to insult devs and especially devs that port their games on Linux. Furthermore, if the game is really DRM-Free on Steam, what you describe is possible (it's just a copy!)
I didn't insult the dev, just his argument.
Also, I'd like to see how you're going to "just copy" across different platforms.
Quoting: appetrosyanAlso, I'd like to see how you're going to "just copy" across different platforms.
Pretty much the same way you do on GOG: download the native version of each platform and proceed to "just copy" where ever you want.
Quoting: ChronariusYour argument is based on an eventuality that will simply never happen. You think police will kick down your door and arrest you for using a copy of a game you bought some time ago, but no longer "own"? Come on!Quoting: GuestIf it’s on Steam then it’s not DRM-free, because it requires Steam.
Sorry, for being so blunt: B U L L S H I T ! ! !
The game dosn't require Steam! It runs perfectly without it!
But that doesn't help much. I'm against DRM, therefore by no way I'll get a Steam account. If I cancel my GOG account, I can keep and play all my games. And do so legally. What you 'buy' in Steam is legally tied to your account. So even if you would keep your DRM-free game (by copying it out of the steam folders) when closing the account, it legally is a pirated copy.
Might as well argue that you can't play your GOG games any more if you get abducted by aliens and they only have an old Commodore lying around.
Preparing for such an eventuality makes about as much sense as never using ROMs to play old games, as you are actually only allowed to play ROMs of games you own (and afaik only if you made the ROM yourself).
That's the very essence of tinfoil-hattery. Why waste valuable lifetime to prepare for something that will never happen? Just so, that in the 0.005% of it happening you can point and say "Told you so!"?
While, even if that happened, everyone would just rage for a moment and then move on and buy the games they actually still want to play somewhere else, for the price of a meal...
Seriously, all my games on Steam could be gone in this very moment and I'd be all "Well, that's too bad.". This is not some kind of physical collection I'm carrying around with me. So I really just can't get into the mindset of this "apocalypse day" preparation.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 10 July 2019 at 4:32 pm UTC
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