Find getting your Linux games from GOG a bit of a hassle since they don't support Galaxy on Linux yet? Enter the free and open source application Minigalaxy. It's being developed by Wouter "sharkwouter" Wijsman who also works on VaporOS, a special build of SteamOS with a ton of extra enhancements.
Currently quite simple, it allows you to login and access your entire GOG library to download and play. You can pick your language, adjust install location, search and a bit more. A little rough around the edges, but once this gets further along it could be a nice little GOG client for Linux users.
It's comparable to Games Nebula, another open source GOG client for Linux although that hasn't seen a released since June 2018, sadly. So it's good to see someone else come along to try and smoothen-out the process of getting GOG games on Linux (other than downloading from GOG directly). You could use Lutris, but Lutris does a lot and can be confusing. The key point here about Minigalaxy is that it's streamlined.
The developer has plans to extend Minigalaxy, for updating games and actually remove games once installed.
You can find it on GitHub, Arch/Manjaro users can grab it from the AUR.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
no_information_here Dec 27, 2019
In principle, I like what GOG does and Valve needs good competition to stay honest. My one question is: Do any of these FOSS clients support incremental updates? Downloading 2GB+ every time a dev patches their game is another reason I don't use GOG as much.
https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/atim/minigalaxy/
Quoting: no_information_hereMy one question is: Do any of these FOSS clients support incremental updates? Downloading 2GB+ every time a dev patches their game is another reason I don't use GOG as much.
lgogdownloader and wyvern do, when using Galaxy protocol (so for Windows builds). For Linux builds GOG doesn't support Galaxy protocol on the backend, so they rely on the hack of using zip offsets over HTTP, so it kind of works, but it's a hack.
Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2019 at 7:47 pm UTC
Quoting: GuestPerhaps, but I'd rather not rely on proprietary software to play my games. It's one thing about Steam I don't like, and I'd abandon GOG if they went the same route.
Sure, I'm not saying anyone should use the blob client. I'm just saying that community can't make a proper client yet at least in case of Linux builds, due to GOG not enabling Galaxy protocol for them. It works for Windows builds, that's why FOSS clients like lgogdownloader and wyvern can do incremental updates for them properly. For Linux builds they use a hack I described above.
Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2019 at 7:53 pm UTC
Luke_Nukem Dec 27, 2019
Quoting: tmtvl*sigh* The state of Linux gaming...
GOG is DRM free, but doesn't support Linux with its client.
Steam heavily supports Linux, but are very DRM... though not as much as Stadia.
Itch is wonderful, but is very lacking in many different genres.
Oh well, it's the dawn of a new decade, who knows what the 2020's will bring.
Decade starts on a year ending with 1, and doesn't end until end of 2020 thanks to Dionysius Exiguus.
GameHub is a great alternative to this, and GOG Galaxy, it supports Steam and Humble too.
BrazilianGamer Dec 27, 2019
no_information_here Dec 28, 2019
Quoting: ShmerlInteresting. Thanks for explaining the details.Quoting: no_information_hereMy one question is: Do any of these FOSS clients support incremental updates? Downloading 2GB+ every time a dev patches their game is another reason I don't use GOG as much.
lgogdownloader and wyvern do, when using Galaxy protocol (so for Windows builds). For Linux builds GOG doesn't support Galaxy protocol on the backend, so they rely on the hack of using zip offsets over HTTP, so it kind of works, but it's a hack.
Let's hope GOG fixes the back-end and then FOSS clients can fill the gap.
officernice Dec 28, 2019
Quoting: tmtvl*sigh* The state of Linux gaming...
Be thankful for what you have. We've come a long way in just five years, for example. Rome was not built in a day. There's already more games for Linux than I have time to play.
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