Lenna's Inception is a top-down Zelda-like action-adventure game with a world that is glitching, with a style that can switch between 8-bit and 32-bit pixel art styles.
It's now been available for a year so Tom Coxon of Bytten Studio has written up a postmortem for how it went, and it was a thoroughly interesting read. First, a refresher on who they are. Bytten Studio was initially just Tom Coxon who previously worked for Chucklefish on titles like Starbound and the multiplayer for Stardew Valley, Coxon was later joined by Jay Baylis who also worked for Chucklefish in the past on titles like Starbound and Wargroove.
To date they've managed to sell 6,800 across itch.io and Steam which isn't a lot for an entire year. However, it's well above average going by the 2019 numbers that Mike Rose of No More Robots put together. Game development for indies is clearly tough and most will likely need a part-time job to ensure they can keep going, something Coxon points out in the Lenna's Inception postmortem.
So above average sales, and thankfully the reception was good overall and on Steam right now it's sat on a "Very Positive".
What's interesting for us here is that 5% of the sales were from Linux, which is again (like sales for indies) higher than the average and higher than the current Linux user share on Steam (see our Steam Tracker). Not only that, 22% of their sales were from the itch.io store too so that's a reasonable chunk and certainly not to be ignored. Here's what they said about the Linux stats:
Also of note is that 5% of copies were bought by Linux users, which is a lot more than the average for games on Steam. I think this comes down to several factors:
- The low number of total copies sold means that not many extra Linux users in absolute terms have to find the game to push the relative-terms figure up.
- Actually reaching out to Linux-specific gaming press and treating Linux as a first-class platform. I do think that indies have yet to really figure out how to market to Linux gamers, who often get ignored or lied to by larger studios. There are more than enough Linux gamers out there to make your indie game a success; the difficulty, as with all platforms, is in reaching them. The difference is that nobody seems to be marketing specifically to Linux gamers. The first to actually succeed at this could maybe double their sales figures or more.
I did all the coding for Lenna’s Inception on Linux (I like a good terminal), so officially supporting the platform has been almost free. Linux gamers are also very good at fixing your bugs for you!
The figure for Mac was a lot lower: .8%. Most likely because we dropped official Mac support prior to release because continuing to support it became a huge burden.
So the Linux version sold approximately 340 copies which at their normal price of £7.19 that would be somewhere around £2,444.6 (it went on sale once previously, so likely a bit lower). For a small indie developer, that can make all the difference.
Interestingly, they gave purchasers of the massive Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality on itch.io a copy of Lenna's Inception too so a further eighty thousand people have a copy of it. This had a fun side-effect, which seemed to actually boost their sales shortly after on Steam.
Concluding the postmortem: sadly overall Lenna's Inception was not a commercial success but valuable lessons have been learned from developing and marketing it. Oh and Coxon said "Don't sleep on Linux, itch.io, consoles or localisation. They’re important!".
You can buy Lenna's Inception on itch.io and Steam.
Bytten Studio are currently working on Cassette Beasts, an open-world monster catching RPG built with the free and open source Godot Engine and they will be continuing Linux support with it.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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☆ Promoted Comments
Hey everyone, dev here! Thanks for the bug reports related to the crash on launch! I'm currently testing a fix on the 'beta' branch of the game on Steam. Since the bug doesn't seem to affect my OS version and hardware, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know whether switching to the 'beta' branch helps or not. Once I've ascertained the bug is fixed, the patch will roll out on itch.io too.
EDIT: If you're still experiencing the crash, an apparent workaround is to add this to the launch-config.json file in the install directory:
Last edited by tccoxon on 18 January 2021 at 10:38 pm UTC
EDIT: If you're still experiencing the crash, an apparent workaround is to add this to the launch-config.json file in the install directory:
"useGLFW": false,Last edited by tccoxon on 18 January 2021 at 10:38 pm UTC
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Full Comments
Just bought it now, the game just crashes instantly for me on Arch.
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 1 (X_CreateWindow)
Serial number of failed request: 3230
Current serial number in output stream: 3232
0 Likes
Just bought it now, the game just crashes instantly for me on Arch.Odd, works fine here on Arch. Looks like you're using an AMD GPU going by your GOL PC Info. Try the Steam Linux Runtime container -> right click the game -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Steam Linux Runtime.
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 1 (X_CreateWindow)
Serial number of failed request: 3230
Current serial number in output stream: 3232
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 18 January 2021 at 12:42 pm UTC
0 Likes
ElectricPrism Jan 18, 2021
Cool, I didn't realize this was for sale yet, grabbed a copy for a Linux friend who I think will be stoked on this.
Launching a game reminds me of building a fire, you want to get enough gamer engagement & positive reviews as you can to get the blaze going to snowball. Linux gamers are great at that whole "network effect" thing -- I can't tell you how many copies of Terraria or other games I've bought people some of whom only use Linux occasionally, actually at the time got a bunch of kids in school to start playing too (same w/ Starbound).
Once again the numbers point to us being a modestly big enough piece of the pie to notice. I mean I sure as hell wouldn't throw out a pie with 7 of the 8 slices eaten,
Or like bake some bread and be like "well I added 7 of the 8 ingredients -- I dunno if I like this yeast stuff so I'm gonna leave it out."
Lol.
This game looks epic, super stoked to see what it's about and only $5 atm, not bad at all.
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 18 January 2021 at 12:43 pm UTC
Launching a game reminds me of building a fire, you want to get enough gamer engagement & positive reviews as you can to get the blaze going to snowball. Linux gamers are great at that whole "network effect" thing -- I can't tell you how many copies of Terraria or other games I've bought people some of whom only use Linux occasionally, actually at the time got a bunch of kids in school to start playing too (same w/ Starbound).
Once again the numbers point to us being a modestly big enough piece of the pie to notice. I mean I sure as hell wouldn't throw out a pie with 7 of the 8 slices eaten,
Or like bake some bread and be like "well I added 7 of the 8 ingredients -- I dunno if I like this yeast stuff so I'm gonna leave it out."
Lol.
This game looks epic, super stoked to see what it's about and only $5 atm, not bad at all.
Last edited by ElectricPrism on 18 January 2021 at 12:43 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
I hadn't heard of this before but like the look. Think I will pick it up.
0 Likes
2fastHunter Jan 18, 2021
So the problem here seems to be marketing, when there are instant buys under this article ;)
I've got my copy within the 'epic bundle' on itch.io. But there was Battletech included too, which keeps me busy playing till today...
But Lenna's Inception is on top of my pile of shame. So i will play it sooooooon :D
I've got my copy within the 'epic bundle' on itch.io. But there was Battletech included too, which keeps me busy playing till today...
But Lenna's Inception is on top of my pile of shame. So i will play it sooooooon :D
0 Likes
Glad to hear that from Bytten Studio. Too bad it wasn't a commercial success because it's really well done! I really loved the game, bought it in the itch bundle and then again on steam because i enjoyed it a lot. Can only recommend it - the first "Zelda" game i ever enjoyed :P
Last edited by Sonata on 18 January 2021 at 1:18 pm UTC
Last edited by Sonata on 18 January 2021 at 1:18 pm UTC
0 Likes
I was interested in this game, until I read that the maps are randomly generated. I might buy anyway to support a Linux developer.
I really miss more indie games with gameplay like The Minish Cap and Castle Crashers
I really miss more indie games with gameplay like The Minish Cap and Castle Crashers
1 Likes, Who?
So the solution here is that game devs should be nicer to Liam, and they've found the road to success.
8 Likes, Who?
I almost skipped right past this article because the game just looks like something I wouldn't be interested in, but I didn't understand what the headline meant by "not to sleep on Linux." So I read the article and I'm so glad I did! Everything he said was so affirming, especially where he said, "I do think that ... Linux gamers, ... often get ignored or lied to by larger studios," I all but jumped up, fist pumping the air and shouting "YES! YES! I AM A REAL BOY!!" I'm not sure why, exactly, but I was really happy.
It turns out that I already own this as a part of the Racial Justice and Equality bundle, and watching the video, I've decided I'll give it a try after-all. Wait --- y'know what? I'm gonna just go buy it at Steam right now, give this guy some money just for the things he said.
I'm still not sure what it means "not to sleep on Linux," though.
Last edited by Nanobang on 18 January 2021 at 4:11 pm UTC
It turns out that I already own this as a part of the Racial Justice and Equality bundle, and watching the video, I've decided I'll give it a try after-all. Wait --- y'know what? I'm gonna just go buy it at Steam right now, give this guy some money just for the things he said.
I'm still not sure what it means "not to sleep on Linux," though.
Last edited by Nanobang on 18 January 2021 at 4:11 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
So the Linux version sold approximately 340 copies…Correction: now it sold 341 copy. :)
0 Likes
So the Linux version sold approximately 340 copies…Correction: now it sold 341 copy. :)
Update: 342
0 Likes
Just bought it now, the game just crashes instantly for me on Arch.Odd, works fine here on Arch. Looks like you're using an AMD GPU going by your GOL PC Info. Try the Steam Linux Runtime container -> right click the game -> Properties -> Compatibility -> Steam Linux Runtime.
X Error of failed request: BadMatch (invalid parameter attributes)
Major opcode of failed request: 1 (X_CreateWindow)
Serial number of failed request: 3230
Current serial number in output stream: 3232
Tried that and it's still the same. A window pops up "choose your preferred style" and crashes after about 4 seconds.
#
# A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:
#
# SIGSEGV (0xb) at pc=0x0000000000000000, pid=21996, tid=0x00007fe0384f7640
#
# JRE version: OpenJDK Runtime Environment (8.0_121-b13) (build 1.8.0_121-b13)
# Java VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (25.121-b13 mixed mode linux-amd64 compressed oops)
# Problematic frame:
# C 0x0000000000000000
#
# Core dump written. Default location: /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/core or core.21996
#
# An error report file with more information is saved as:
# /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/hs_err_pid21996.log
#
# If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit:
# http://bugreport.java.com/bugreport/crash.jsp
# The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code.
# See problematic frame for where to report the bug.I guess it's something to do with Java.
Games made in Java seems to be a janky mess in general on Linux.
More people seem to have issues, no suggestion has worked for me though.
Also tested it on my Ryzen 4000 laptop with Manjaro. Same issue there.
Steam community thread
Last edited by micke1m on 19 January 2021 at 12:22 am UTC
0 Likes
buenaventura Jan 18, 2021
I did buy it at itch.io on launch, and later I got it in the Racial Equality bundle as well. I have really enjoyed it, its very charming and well made! Im happy they are getting sales.
0 Likes
So the solution here is that game devs should be nicer to Liam, and they've found the road to success.It’s definitely an easy way to pump up your Linux sales, based on the comments on every article about a game dev discussing their experience selling Linux-native games.
I almost skipped right past this article because the game just looks like something I wouldn't be interested in, but I didn't understand what the headline meant by "not to sleep on Linux."Same! I also thought the game had failed to see release based on the "postmortem" bit so all in all this was a much more positive article than expected.
3 Likes, Who?
Tried that and it's still the same. A window pops up "choose your preferred playstyle" and crashes after about 4 seconds.For whatever it's worth, the game runs fine for me on Arch with a full AMD setup. The issues in that thread were more relevant before the big update they did last year where they updated the engine/libs. For a while it worked only with the beta (preview) version. I just tried booting up the game to test and it works as expected.
#
# A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:
#
# SIGSEGV (0xb) at pc=0x0000000000000000, pid=21996, tid=0x00007fe0384f7640
#
# JRE version: OpenJDK Runtime Environment (8.0_121-b13) (build 1.8.0_121-b13)
# Java VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (25.121-b13 mixed mode linux-amd64 compressed oops)
# Problematic frame:
# C 0x0000000000000000
#
# Core dump written. Default location: /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/core or core.21996
#
# An error report file with more information is saved as:
# /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/hs_err_pid21996.log
#
# If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit:
# http://bugreport.java.com/bugreport/crash.jsp
# The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code.
# See problematic frame for where to report the bug.
I guess it's something to do with Java.
Games made in Java seems to be a janky mess in general on Linux.
More people seem to have issues, no suggestion has worked for me though.
Also tested it on my Ryzen 4000 laptop with Manjaro. Same issue there.
Steam community thread
Last edited by BTRE on 18 January 2021 at 6:06 pm UTC
0 Likes
Tried that and it's still the same. A window pops up "choose your preferred playstyle" and crashes after about 4 seconds.For whatever it's worth, the game runs fine for me on Arch with a full AMD setup. The issues in that thread were more relevant before the big update they did last year where they updated the engine/libs. For a while it worked only with the beta (preview) version. I just tried booting up the game to test and it works as expected.
#
# A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:
#
# SIGSEGV (0xb) at pc=0x0000000000000000, pid=21996, tid=0x00007fe0384f7640
#
# JRE version: OpenJDK Runtime Environment (8.0_121-b13) (build 1.8.0_121-b13)
# Java VM: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (25.121-b13 mixed mode linux-amd64 compressed oops)
# Problematic frame:
# C 0x0000000000000000
#
# Core dump written. Default location: /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/core or core.21996
#
# An error report file with more information is saved as:
# /ssd/steamapps/common/LennasInception/hs_err_pid21996.log
#
# If you would like to submit a bug report, please visit:
# http://bugreport.java.com/bugreport/crash.jsp
# The crash happened outside the Java Virtual Machine in native code.
# See problematic frame for where to report the bug.
I guess it's something to do with Java.
Games made in Java seems to be a janky mess in general on Linux.
More people seem to have issues, no suggestion has worked for me though.
Also tested it on my Ryzen 4000 laptop with Manjaro. Same issue there.
Steam community thread
Yeah I don't know what to say, it doesn't work on my deskop or my laptop. Both AMD systems, one Arch, one Manjaro.
Both are Gnome also, don't know if it matters.
Last edited by micke1m on 18 January 2021 at 6:26 pm UTC
0 Likes
I bought it loooong ago, in 2014, time flies !
Good to read some posititve feedbacks about our favorite OS.
Good to read some posititve feedbacks about our favorite OS.
0 Likes
Still works for me, and I am really happy that I bought that game as it is and makes me full of joy and fun. And my daughter loves it (especially farting Goldilocks). Maybe that's something with her called Lena todo?
0 Likes
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/01/bytten-studio-say-not-to-sleep-on-linux-in-their-postmortem-for-lennas-inception/comment_id=196979
Same happening to me as well on POP OS 20.04
Same happening to me as well on POP OS 20.04
0 Likes
Hey everyone, dev here! Thanks for the bug reports related to the crash on launch! I'm currently testing a fix on the 'beta' branch of the game on Steam. Since the bug doesn't seem to affect my OS version and hardware, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know whether switching to the 'beta' branch helps or not. Once I've ascertained the bug is fixed, the patch will roll out on itch.io too.
EDIT: If you're still experiencing the crash, an apparent workaround is to add this to the launch-config.json file in the install directory:
Last edited by tccoxon on 18 January 2021 at 10:38 pm UTC
EDIT: If you're still experiencing the crash, an apparent workaround is to add this to the launch-config.json file in the install directory:
"useGLFW": false,Last edited by tccoxon on 18 January 2021 at 10:38 pm UTC
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