Update: Mentions of a Linux version have now been removed from the Steam store. According to the developer, they will not remove the Linux version and people on Linux did buy a "completed game" but it won't see any more support going forward (source). They also said the Linux version will see updates "but Linux specific bugs won't be addressed" however "gameplay balance, graphical bugs, most game crashes, etc will be fixed regardless of what your OS is" (source).
How about a kick in the teeth with your coffee this Friday morning? Well, that's what I've got for you. Developer HopFrog has announced they will be removing Linux support for Forager and Mac is no longer coming. Forager only released in April this year too.
Buried in their Q&A post on Steam was this:
Unfortunately, both Linux and Mac have proven very difficult for us to work with. Forager will no longer be available for Mac and Linux moving forward. Any plans to bring the game to Mac have now officially been canceled. This is a very difficult choice I had to make, and if you are interested in knowing why I and hundreds of other game developers are ditching Mac/Linux, take a look at this article!
I'm particularly annoyed about this one, since I consider it to be a fantastic game and gave it a very positive look. Not just that but to announce it in such an almost casual way, feels pretty uncaring about all the people that have already purchased and played it on Linux.
To get into what they linked to, it's an article talking about problems with supporting Mac due to a bunch of changes Apple are doing. It doesn't really touch on Linux and HopFrog bundling Linux into this feels quite wrong because no, hundreds of game developers are not ditching Linux that's just false.
What the linked article shows is an image from the developer Robotality for their 2014 strategy game Halfway, showing Linux at 2% sales/Mac at 4% with support requests for Linux at 30%/Mac at 50%. Sales around that mark for Linux are quite normal, any developer expecting more must have done no research. I would like to point out that Robotality themselves do continue to support Linux, with Pathway releasing in April this year.
Now onto the support requests bit. Looking over the Forager forum, the main issues on Linux seem to be the game running too fast and no gamepad support. The first issue was already solved and was a problem in Game Maker, the second is another Game Maker engine problem as YoYo Games seem to be reinventing the wheel rather than just using something like SDL 2 to get awesome gamepad support (and lots of other things not just for Linux). If you release a game on a platform that has two issues you would see if you booted it up even once, you're clearly not testing.
I've reached out to HopFrog to ask about their plans for refunds since it was not mentioned.
Additionally, I've reached out to Valve to see what they have to say about this repeating situation since that's Rust, Natural Selection 2 and now Forager that have all decided to dump Linux support after release. Not a lot of course but even one removing support is not a good look and doesn't look great on Valve either if they do nothing to help their customers out. You can argue "Steam Play" but to go over my previous point on this, the question of actual support arises once again there too and people purchased this on Linux because the developer supported the platform.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: KlaasI don't think GOG can reject platform releases. Just entire games and what platform they release on is up to the developer.Quoting: rustybroomhandle(…)A developer can't just release a game on GoG. They have to submit it to them and hope that whomever reviews it likes it enough to want it there. (…)So you imply that GOG rejected the Linux version (because “it's too niche”) while they liked the Windows versions enough to release it?
Avehicle7887 Oct 5, 2019
Quoting: rustybroomhandleQuoting: Avehicle7887The dev: "very few players use Linux"
Their game: Mac and Linux versions never released on GOG since day 1.
I fully understand releasing on GOG won't be a magic bullet but that statement contradicts itself. How is that % going to rise up if you don't sell it in the first place.
A developer can't just release a game on GoG. They have to submit it to them and hope that whomever reviews it likes it enough to want it there.
Some high rated and popular games have actually been rejected by GoG in the past.
I don't think liking it is the case here since the Windows version was released, however you reminded me of a past experience where GOG didn't release the Linux versions of Metro 2033 / Last Light due to stability issues (they didn't go into specifics).
It's either that or the dev simply thought - 2 platforms / 6 builds = no deal, which is also known to occur (Age of Wonders 3).
rustybroomhandle Oct 5, 2019
Quoting: Avehicle7887Quoting: rustybroomhandleQuoting: Avehicle7887The dev: "very few players use Linux"
Their game: Mac and Linux versions never released on GOG since day 1.
I fully understand releasing on GOG won't be a magic bullet but that statement contradicts itself. How is that % going to rise up if you don't sell it in the first place.
A developer can't just release a game on GoG. They have to submit it to them and hope that whomever reviews it likes it enough to want it there.
Some high rated and popular games have actually been rejected by GoG in the past.
I don't think liking it is the case here since the Windows version was released, however you reminded me of a past experience where GOG didn't release the Linux versions of Metro 2033 / Last Light due to stability issues (they didn't go into specifics).
Ah, so they did have the Windows version on there. Gotcha.
RichardYao Oct 6, 2019
Also, in this case, the game developer admitted that he is not a very good programmer, which likely makes things worse. In the case of the bug in the game engine, he might spent a fair amount of time trying to track it down thinking that it was a bug in his code, rather than the game engine.
I hope that he will at least keep an eye open for Proton.
Quoting: FinnHIt's messed up!
I hope that he will at least keep an eye open for Proton.
Yeah, I hope they would be able to utilise Proton to aid their games on Linux.
QuoteOriginally posted by HopFrog:
Hey everyone!
Apologies for the delay in response, it's been a busy couple of weeks with the game updates and events we are working on. This issue has been a great learning experience for me, so I thought I would stop by to let you know what I learned from this and what's going to happen moving forward.
I am very sorry that Linux support had to be dropped for this title. Forager is my first game and I completely underestimated how difficult programming cross-platform would be. I wanted to make the game available for as many people as possible but now I see that providing an inferior experience is possibly worse than not providing anything at all!
In the future I will make sure I can 100% fully commit to supporting new platforms before developing for them (either for Forager or other games I make).
The way it was announced and handled on my end was very poor as well. In the future, I will make sure to properly make an announcement post detailing this type of news instead of casually mentioning it on a Q&A.
There were 14 players playing Forager on Linux during the Combat Update weekend. This is after we dropped Linux support, and it's the most concurrent Linux players we have had since the game launched back in April. Forager is obviously still working very well for some people. If they are handling it through Proton or similar services I am not sure, but the game definitely works in some capacity! That said, one of the main reasons I decided to drop Linux support for this game is that we couldn't get 3.0 to work for it. This is partly an engine problem but it is also our fault. We are not capable of properly launching new content for Linux with our current resources. It pains me to admit this but there is no guarantee that new updates will ever come to Linux anymore.
Even though the game works on Linux (up to 2.0), I have removed the Linux compatibility tag from the Steam store as to not confuse new players hoping to get content that is not currently available to them.
I spoke with Valve support about refunds and they told me to refer customers to this link. Please understand developers do not have anything to do with refunds at all, and if devs had influence in the past with Steam (like the case of Rust) is probably because they are massive productions that bring in millions for Valve/Steam. We are a small team and do not have that kind of leverage. That said, if your request gets denied I am personally willing to manually refund the cost of the game through PayPal or similar services if you email me at [email protected] with proof of purchase in your Linux OS.
Again, I am very sorry for the way this turned out and I promise I will do better in the future with whatever games I make next
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