Supraland stops supporting Linux shortly after leaving GOG entirely

We need a different reaction option to this kind of news.
While I like the article and being updated with the information, I don't like the actual information itself. Supraland is such a good game too.

I'm sorry to say, but for the time being, it's the right call.

I myself struggled to enjoy Black Mesa Source, by stubbornly ignoring the obvious option to use Proton + win32 binary. Him reducing the bite to what he can chew is a good thing....

Except... If you have a Linux native version as a selling point, you should be decent-enough to offer refunds for the people who (rightfully) feel like they've been hoodwinked.

I'm totally fine with that - if they commit to keeping it working with proton.

It's more of a monopoly problem than a low market share problem. Back in the days, porting a game on 4/5 different OS was the norm.
Today all computers run on x86 architecture, all you need for testing your game on Linux is to install the damn distro.

To be fair the Linux port was really bad and it ran better on proton.

It's more of a monopoly problem than a low market share problem. Back in the days, porting a game on 4/5 different OS was the norm.
Today all computers run on x86 architecture, all you need for testing your game on Linux is to install the damn distro.

Ignoring the main topic a little, "back in the day" games were also far less complicated to write. Game engines could likely be maintained and ported by a single person, or very small teams. It's far more complex these days.

...not to say that I don't think you're right. I do think you're right. They could just install GNU/Linux (and by now it's fairly easy to find the most popular) to do at least basic testing for a version they're asking people to pay money for.

Counter counter point: If "back in the day" means the 80s, porting a game meant using assembly language on vastly different hardware. Budgets were way lower, and yes, usually it was 1 person doing it, but I don't really think relatively speaking it was easier.

Thing for me its too late yes our marketshare has increased but almost every single video/article that says nows the time to try linux has one draw back proton its all they talk about and lutris I use both so i am part of the problem. That problem is of course proton has become the clutch we all rely on for games on linux. We have collectively given up on native gaming with the exception of indie games and the one to three games we get from feral a year. We have already seen developers say use the proton version if you want a linux version that attitude has quickly become the norm.

If "clicking export" in a game engine is all the Linux support they provide then it's no wonder that they're so grumpy about the whole thing. When you treat your customers like second class citizens you should expect backlash. Being surprised about it and blaming the platform you're "exporting" to means that you have the social skills of a preschooler.

Thing for me its too late yes our marketshare has increased but almost every single video/article that says nows the time to try linux has one draw back proton its all they talk about and lutris I use both so i am part of the problem. That problem is of course proton has become the clutch we all rely on for games on linux. We have collectively given up on native gaming with the exception of indie games and the one to three games we get from feral a year. We have already seen developers say use the proton version if you want a linux version that attitude has quickly become the norm.

It's definitely an annoying and stupid trend. People don't realize that Proton is putting our eggs in one ever-growing basket that will eventually collapse in on itself. We need game devs that know how to work with Linux that will contribute to the ecosystem.

But on the topic of "collectively giving up on native gaming", I will point out that there are those of us that still totally reject Proton as the future of Linux gaming.

The performance argument is a bit of a non-issue. Yes, it is true, but it is true for all UE4 games. The real problem appears to be that the dev(s) are much better at designing games (Supraland was awesome when it still worked), but not so good at the technical side of things. Even with the performance loss, it should have been fine on Linux. The way that later updates got broken was curious. The crash was not something common to UE4 games on Linux, so it's very possible that this is a platform independent bug. It should have been fixed because this may at some point start affecting Windows as well. If they are going to do Supraland 2 and investigating it now would have prevented it.

Thing for me its too late yes our marketshare has increased but almost every single video/article that says nows the time to try linux has one draw back proton its all they talk about and lutris I use both so i am part of the problem. That problem is of course proton has become the clutch we all rely on for games on linux. We have collectively given up on native gaming with the exception of indie games and the one to three games we get from feral a year. We have already seen developers say use the proton version if you want a linux version that attitude has quickly become the norm.

It's definitely an annoying and stupid trend. People don't realize that Proton is putting our eggs in one ever-growing basket that will eventually collapse in on itself. We need game devs that know how to work with Linux that will contribute to the ecosystem.

But on the topic of "collectively giving up on native gaming", I will point out that there are those of us that still totally reject Proton as the future of Linux gaming.

The problem is not really Proton but the lack of consideration from some delevopers who targeted Linux. I'm totally fine with devs that officially target Proton: doing testing, QA and support as they are supposed to do for any target.

But I haven't seen a single dev doing so for Proton. Proton for devs is just an excuse for doing nothing to support Linux but still accepting money. That's shameful.

As a professional developer myself, and like ALL devs, I know that delivering on production an untested version is very risky and have high chances or being a support nightmare.

I could forgive the dev for not able to support Linux and opt users to use Wine/Proton. However, delisting the game from GOG was the last straw for me, I contacted GOG support at which point they've returned the money in wallet funds.

Shame though, the game was fun when I played it.

I'm totally fine with devs that officially target Proton: doing testing, QA and support as they are supposed to do for any target.

But I haven't seen a single dev doing so for Proton.

No Man's Sky is an example I'm aware of. Hello Games mentioned in their changelogs that they'd done things specifically to help the game work in Proton, and the bugs that I'm aware of (there was an input bug that I experienced, and recently someone was saying in the forum that they'd had connection problems) were also bugs in the Windows version rather than being caused by Proton. The game itself switched to using Vulkan a while back, so they could potentially become Linux devs in the future.

Another case of "if you are not familiar with linux don't port your game to linux", that will just lead to having a bad time. Developing a game for linux is NOT easy and we all have been guilty of spreading the myth that it is.

Frankly my dream is that ultimately one day the OS you run will become irrelevant and then the "native gaming" nonsense goes away for good.

You do understand that the "if you are not already familiar with X, don't become familiar with X" is a really pointless mantra to follow, right? Why learn new things ever? A better idea to follow is to factor in the time and cost of executing a port properly and not doing this "let's hope and see" approach where devs place their trust on a magic export button. If the time and cost investment seem reasonable, then commit to the port.

Developing a Linux game is no harder than developing a Windows game. You can make it harder for yourself or you can make it easier for yourself, but those are choices one makes. Developers deal with the same sorts of choices all the time: do you invest some time and work up front to ensure your architecture holds in the future or do you do a rush job early on and eventually pay back the technical debt.

As for the final point, it is possible that in the future general purpose operating systems may converge to become nearly indistinguishable from one another. However, if that happens because all alternative operating systems ditch their good ideas to mimic the popular but garbage operating system, that's not progress.

Also, "native gaming nonsense"? I take offense to that.


Last edited by Samsai on 27 June 2020 at 3:58 pm UTC

I would have highly prefered had people asked the dev to move the linux build to a beta repo. The way it went, I am quite angry on the loud people who demanded the developer to remove the linux version all together. Switching to Proton is a matter of 2 clicks, but after removing the native version no one can use it any more. That's a decision loud people from the community have tailored and now those who have a different opinion can only live with.
Yes, with that atitute, we will only have proton in a few years. We are ok with developers ignoring the platform alltogether. We celebrate those that *even by luck* create good ports. We even celebrate those that ignore us but implement a Vulkan renderer.
But a developer who supported us for years doesn't release his newest title to linux or has issues to continue support?. Grab your forks.

But hey, maybe Valve will save us. Amazing community.


Last edited by const on 27 June 2020 at 3:11 pm UTC

The performance argument is a bit of a non-issue. Yes, it is true, but it is true for all UE4 games. The real problem appears to be that the dev(s) are much better at designing games (Supraland was awesome when it still worked), but not so good at the technical side of things. Even with the performance loss, it should have been fine on Linux. The way that later updates got broken was curious. The crash was not something common to UE4 games on Linux, so it's very possible that this is a platform independent bug. It should have been fixed because this may at some point start affecting Windows as well. If they are going to do Supraland 2 and investigating it now would have prevented it.

The game works. The only problem is an erroneous deploy on Steam + a bug on the content selection. The attitude makes me remember by a lot to Garry Newman.

I would have highly prefered had people asked the dev to move the linux build to a beta repo. The way it went, I am quite angry on the loud people who demanded the developer to remove the linux version all together. Switching to Proton is a matter of 2 clicks, but after removing the native version no one can use it any more. That's a decision loud people from the community have tailored and now those who have a different opinion can only live with.
Yes, with that atitute, we will only have proton in a few years. We are ok with developers ignoring the platform alltogether. We celebrate those that *even by luck* create good ports. We even celebrate those that ignore us but implement a Vulkan renderer.
But a developer who supported us for years doesn't release his newest title to linux or has issues to continue support?. Grab your forks.

But hey, maybe Valve will save us. Amazing community.

I agree with you in some points of the general attitude of the community. BUT the behavior of the dev is far from professional at this point and the way he has been handling the situation is completely nonsense. Anyway, I give you the point that in the past many from the community were more supportive to guys like Garry, which had a way worst behavior than this guy.

I prefer to look at it as Proton being a slower approach to taking down walls, and as soft encouragement to developers and publishers -- they may not have proper linux builds, but they may also actively choose supporting libraries and technologies that "don't not" support Proton/Linux. It honestly seems to me most compatibility problems tend to fall under those 3rd party gotchas, some 3rd party library or anti-cheat technology not part of the base game engine that ultimately breaks their Linux compatibility. First baby steps that imply consideration for Linux, it'll help developer opinions of Linux if they can "support" it with simple early consideration like that; and it'll help adoption if the games "play" while on Linux without any googling or fixes first. As that userbase grows, well, so does people that would want a Linux build!

And lets be honest, half the problem with linux adoption is "Windows people who tried it 10 years ago w/ their energy-drink inspired keyboard and unsupported wireless drivers who googled an incorrect blog entry before writing their own incorrect blog entry about how to support something and now take every chance they get to rag on Linux in some unrelated social media post comment thread" mindset.

The good news is every time Microsoft or Apple force an unpleasant change people tend to re-evaluate their options, which I can imagine only helps. Even my wife, who absolutely loathes change in her technology, asked me about putting Linux on her laptop after she was first introduced to Windows 10.

Will that idea work out in the end? Maybe, maybe not. I certainly know some of my friends/peers have had renewed or initial interest in Linux lately.

Developing a game for linux is NOT easy and we all have been guilty of spreading the myth that it is.

With respect, I disagree. We all have? Speak for yourself perhaps. No platform is easy. The difference is with Windows, it's considered the norm and so it's where developers usually start off so it naturally is for them the easier option. It doesn't make Linux itself suddenly hard to develop for, that in itself is spreading a myth.

Frankly my dream is that ultimately one day the OS you run will become irrelevant and then the "native gaming" nonsense goes away for good.

That's realistically not something we're going to see in any of our lifetimes.

can we talk about "support" here? he just press the "compile for linux" button and hopes for the best!
i wouldnt call that "support", so he cant stop supporting it, if he never supported it