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PayPalAfter being in Beta for a while for pre-orders, Big Ambitions, a role-playing business sim from Hovgaard Games (who previously developed Startup Company) launched in Early Access on Steam and then dropped Native Linux support.
It entered Early Access on March 10th, with an announcement made in their Steam forum noting they "no longer offer native Linux support for Big Ambitions" but they will "continue supporting and testing against Proton" and they plan to get Steam Deck Verified too.
For players who don't see Proton as an option, they said Steam will give refunds.
As for why? They saw a "very high amount of non-gameplay-related bugs (random crashing, high VRAM usage, file access issues, etc.)" and noted the low amount of players on Linux so they didn't think it was "fair to the rest of our player base" to spend more time on it.
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It's a shame when this happens but thanks to the Steam Play Proton translation layer, it does still mean Linux players will be able to run it and in this case the developer will support it there. Unless developers have Linux expertise and extra time for the currently smaller amount of users, Proton can often just work better, because it's constantly upgraded and optimized by Valve developers.
They're not the first by a long stretch to do this, and they won't be the last.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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You know how Linux is a community effort? The devs could've reached out to the community and gotten together with a few techies on a private feedback environment (privated Discord channel, whatever) and gotten help from people who play the game on Linux who might know exactly what the bugs are and how to fix them.
Even if the players in question don't know immediately how to fix it, there are enough helpful Linux users who can link to stackexchange or other sites where similar problems have occured to steer the devs onto the right path.
By fixing cross-platform bugs, the whole codebase should be more stable overall and potential for future gamebreaking bugs are mitigated.
I'll be ignoring that title myself.
Even if the players in question don't know immediately how to fix it, there are enough helpful Linux users who can link to stackexchange or other sites where similar problems have occured to steer the devs onto the right path.
By fixing cross-platform bugs, the whole codebase should be more stable overall and potential for future gamebreaking bugs are mitigated.
I'll be ignoring that title myself.
14 Likes, Who?
Porting always increases code quality.
But in the end, if you're not developing all platforms together, in the same codebase, with continuous testing, you'll end up with diverging code and a mess that is difficult to fix.
But in the end, if you're not developing all platforms together, in the same codebase, with continuous testing, you'll end up with diverging code and a mess that is difficult to fix.
11 Likes, Who?
Not great - but as the explicitly said they will make sure it is tested on proton, i'm halfway fine with that. A properly supported proton is better than a half-assed, barely working native port imho.
11 Likes, Who?
The thing is most of us have said this from proton inception,it's far cheaper to let valve and the codeweavers team do the heavy lifting and just support fixes on proton. It's not what we wanted but it is understandable.
Last edited by Whitewolfe80 on 21 March 2023 at 11:37 am UTC
Last edited by Whitewolfe80 on 21 March 2023 at 11:37 am UTC
4 Likes, Who?
Sounds like they bit off more than they could chew....... Thats the problem when you have BIG AMBITIONS........
10 Likes, Who?
ssj17vegeta Mar 21, 2023
Publishers who do this should be banned from Steam.
0 Likes
Uberkeyser Mar 21, 2023
Not so big ambitions afterall. Not that native Linux support is still necessary nowa(Proton)days. But it surely demonstrates a good and clean code base. The fact that the developers cannot live up to the (promised?) Linux version does not necessarily show ignorance for Linux, but it shows low ambitions in respect of their own code base.
(needsledd to say I wont buy a game if I already know that the developers have low ambitions for their code base, neither for Windows(!) not for Linux, unless the game is already known to be good despite its bad code base).
(needsledd to say I wont buy a game if I already know that the developers have low ambitions for their code base, neither for Windows(!) not for Linux, unless the game is already known to be good despite its bad code base).
2 Likes, Who?
StalePopcorn Mar 21, 2023
Not great - but as the explicitly said they will make sure it is tested on proton, i'm halfway fine with that. A properly supported proton is better than a half-assed, barely working native port imho.I'm fine with this as well. I'd rather a title I know works via Proton than a native port that doesn't work at all, and I've a few of those.
2 Likes, Who?
ExpandingMan Mar 21, 2023
I hate to say it, but I don't yet think we are at the point in history when it's fair to lambaste developers over this.
For one thing, I find that often developers who do have native linux support don't know what they're doing. For example, I've recently been playing the fun and relaxing board-game-like "Terraformers". It has native linux support, but they put their game data directly in `$HOME`, which is, of course, infuriating. I have posted in steam forums requesting they fix it, and it seems the developers do not even know about XDG directories.
Another (yes, very frustrating) thing to consider is that, while I assume most of us on this forum probably consider linux to be the only sensible operating system for software development, this is true of just about everything except games. If a developer has any intention to sell their games, they have to support windows, I'm sure there are even reasonable arguments that it would be crazy of a game developer to have a primary development environment other than windows. As a maintainer of open source projects, sometimes people complain to me about windows-specific issues, and my response is basically "good luck with that". It's hard to blame windows developers for taking the same approach.
Modern wine/proton works so well that I don't think it's such a bad thing that we lean heavily on it. My main worry is that I fear proton development is now irrevocably tied to the commercial success of the steamdeck, which is definitely not a great situation.
For one thing, I find that often developers who do have native linux support don't know what they're doing. For example, I've recently been playing the fun and relaxing board-game-like "Terraformers". It has native linux support, but they put their game data directly in `$HOME`, which is, of course, infuriating. I have posted in steam forums requesting they fix it, and it seems the developers do not even know about XDG directories.
Another (yes, very frustrating) thing to consider is that, while I assume most of us on this forum probably consider linux to be the only sensible operating system for software development, this is true of just about everything except games. If a developer has any intention to sell their games, they have to support windows, I'm sure there are even reasonable arguments that it would be crazy of a game developer to have a primary development environment other than windows. As a maintainer of open source projects, sometimes people complain to me about windows-specific issues, and my response is basically "good luck with that". It's hard to blame windows developers for taking the same approach.
Modern wine/proton works so well that I don't think it's such a bad thing that we lean heavily on it. My main worry is that I fear proton development is now irrevocably tied to the commercial success of the steamdeck, which is definitely not a great situation.
5 Likes, Who?
InhaleOblivion Mar 21, 2023
This is both a win and a lose. Anyone of us who has used Linux for years prior to the advances of gaming understands why those of us who are lifelong gamers have two PC builds. One was solely for the joys of running Linux...in my case I ran Ubuntu for years multiple LTS versions. I've used various other distros like Mint, and a couple of Arch based ones before settling down on PopOS! The other build is Windows...in my case just for gaming, since I play so many genres and titles not just through Steam but GoG Galaxy, Ubisoft, and even the now dead EA launcher. Prior to relatively recent Lutris/WINE/Proton developments so many titles just wouldn't run on Linux, especially online only(which is becoming more of the gaming industry)titles due to their anti-cheat programs.
Native code on Linux should be what devs strive for. However with the substantial growth from Proton and the Steam Deck. We have options now that allow us to just leave that Windows build turned off. I literally only run Windows to play certain early access, and closed beta/open beta titles like Diablo 4(which works well on the Steam Deck too). I never saw this coming in my lifetime. We can all officially say we're Linux gamers, and not have people laugh thinking we can't play the latest titles anymore. We can build a PC now just for Linux, and not even think about installing Windows 11 telemetry edition.
Native code on Linux should be what devs strive for. However with the substantial growth from Proton and the Steam Deck. We have options now that allow us to just leave that Windows build turned off. I literally only run Windows to play certain early access, and closed beta/open beta titles like Diablo 4(which works well on the Steam Deck too). I never saw this coming in my lifetime. We can all officially say we're Linux gamers, and not have people laugh thinking we can't play the latest titles anymore. We can build a PC now just for Linux, and not even think about installing Windows 11 telemetry edition.
0 Likes
mr-victory Mar 21, 2023
Anyone of us who has used Linux for years prior to the advances of gaming understands why those of us who are lifelong gamers have two PC builds.I am biased but I must say that 2 PCs sound overkill to me, compared to dual booting.
4 Likes, Who?
Uberkeyser Mar 21, 2023
those of us who are lifelong gamers have two PC builds.Thinking back of the days we played Pong and Pacman.... Yepp I can consider myself a lifelong gamer.
But I do not know a single Person who maintains two dedicated PC hardware sets, one exclusively for Windows and one exclusively for Linux. (Assuming that Raspberry Pis and DIY servers don't count).
Dual boot
3 Likes, Who?
Not great - but as the explicitly said they will make sure it is tested on proton, i'm halfway fine with that.
Exactly halfway for me: explicitly having Proton as a development and testing target means that I'd get a game at 50% off, rather than at full price if they'd had Linux as a development and testing target.
4 Likes, Who?
On this game in particular, I think their realising they'd bitten off more than they can chew, early, and giving refunds to their affected customers, is over all a good thing. Upping their skill levels so they could provide a well-supported product would be better (and would help their development on their other platforms), but limping along selling a badly-supported product under false pretences would be much worse.
5 Likes, Who?
Anyone of us who has used Linux for years prior to the advances of gaming understands why those of us who are lifelong gamers have two PC builds.Nope. Gaming every single day for ~35 years, using Linux for ~20 years. If a game doesn't work on Linux, I'm not interested in it.
11 Likes, Who?
I don't hugely blame them or anything, but you gotta admit the situation just begs for the "Big Ambitions" related jokes people have been making.
11 Likes, Who?
Anyone of us who has used Linux for years prior to the advances of gaming understands why those of us who are lifelong gamers have two PC builds.I am biased but I must say that 2 PCs sound overkill to me, compared to dual booting.
I don't know this game, but it's a terrible news.
I have 3 computers with the different Linux distributions to play different games published between 1996 - 2004 (e.g. Mohaa), 2004 - 2015 (e.g. Jack Keane), 2015 - 2023.
1 Likes, Who?
mr-victory Mar 21, 2023
If a game doesn't work on Linux, I'm not interested in it.And I still dual boot in 2023
One day, one day...
0 Likes
Un-wishlisted :(
Oh well.
They saw a "very high amount of non-gameplay-related bugs (random crashing, high VRAM usage, file access issues, etc.)"Given that a large number of Unity games with native Linux versions seemingly don't experience random crashing, high VRAM usage, or file access issues, I would classify these as likely "non-knowing-how-to-use-Unity" bugs, which will probably bite them in the Windows sooner or later anyway.
Oh well.
7 Likes, Who?
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