World of Goo 2 launches in May on the Epic Store - but Linux support from their website

Quoting: pleasereadthemanual

Quoting: dvdI find it weird that people find it weird that a company supports our platform of choice. I wish more devs had an option to bypass the bullshit stores. Why is it so necessary to put the game on these stores?

Because Proton, which is only usable by most people on Steam, provides a better experience in most cases than a native Linux version.

That's not necessarily my experience, although I recently had to install old libraries to get Loop Hero from GOG to work again, but a lot of Linux users do say as much. I also had to manually patch a library for another native Linux game from Itch. And delete some old bundled libraries for a Ren'Py game from Itch...

But I do support devs releasing their games wherever they want. It's just, supporting Linux natively long-term, even with open source engines, seems far more challenging than other platforms.

In my case, it's because I own a Steam Deck. So, Steam is convenient and I think I'm getting too old and lazy, nothing more.

I'll probably get it from Steam later on to go with my copy of the first game, I think.

I've seen it were the Linux native game was only on Itch.io and not Steam. Which is annoying to me, cause Steam supports Linux. But at least there's an Itch.io launcher or whatever. I wonder if they could add ZOOM Platform to Heroic along with Itch.io. 🤔

Back in the day when I was playing Introversion and Lexaloffle games on Linux, I bought all these from the dev's website. As a matter of fact, I bought the first World of Goo this way too... Don't see any problem with this

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualsupporting Linux natively long-term, even with open source engines, seems far more challenging than other platforms.

Which other platforms? Microsoft does a fair job of backwards compatibility with Windows, but certainly Apple does not. macOS developers have to keep up on maintenance, or their customers can't play their games after a few OS updates.

Quoting: pleasereadthemanual

Quoting: dvdI find it weird that people find it weird that a company supports our platform of choice. I wish more devs had an option to bypass the bullshit stores. Why is it so necessary to put the game on these stores?

Because Proton, which is only usable by most people on Steam, provides a better experience in most cases than a native Linux version.

That's not necessarily my experience, although I recently had to install old libraries to get Loop Hero from GOG to work again, but a lot of Linux users do say as much. I also had to manually patch a library for another native Linux game from Itch. And delete some old bundled libraries for a Ren'Py game from Itch...

But I do support devs releasing their games wherever they want. It's just, supporting Linux natively long-term, even with open source engines, seems far more challenging than other platforms.

I know it's annoying sometimes to load all Linux libraries. On the other hand, Linux allows users to run some games released 10-20 years ago on the modern Linux distributions. Users should start to think about it as an advantage because it frequently works in this way.

I prefer to think about Linux distributions as separate game consoles, so put your favorite game consoles below if you don't like this example:

Linux 2.0 - 2.2: PlayStation 1 (this is just the example)
Linux 2.4 - 2.6: PlayStation 2
Linux 2.6 - 3.0: PlayStation 3
Linux 4.0 - 5.0: PlayStation 4
Linux 6.0: PlayStation 5

For instance, Mac users can only rely on old computers or open source projects. Apple frequently removes emulators or parts of the operating system that are necessary to run old games.

I think users can mitigate this issue, and they should mainly play games on the long-term support distributions. That can give us an experience similar to Windows or Mac users, but it probably also means keeping two Linux distributions on the same computer for relatively modern games.

It starts to get scary when I read comments of users about buying games only from Steam.
It's my advice to avoid buying games for Linux only from Steam if a specific game has the DRM-free version on GOG, itch.io or other online stores.

You should always check if the game is the DRM-free version on Steam and then, make a backup copy. You never know if a new version of a game will require a Steam or something else to run. It's fine to buy games for Linux from Steam if you don't have a choice or you don't plan to play them in the future.

Steam is a web browser, which will be almost impossible to run if a game requires the old libraries that don't load a game correctly on the modern Linux distributions. You can end up with games you can't play anymore because the most recent version of Steam won't install on the older Linux distributions.

I read about issues with Steam for the older operating systems. I saw people who couldn't log in or Steam crashes when they tried to run it. Some people reported they couldn't use Steam even if they made a copy of the Steam. Steam always requires to fully install with all the updates on the fresh operating system. When you can't install Steam on the specific operating system, then you frequently can log in, but you could be offline. In this case, your internet connection could work correctly, but Steam doesn't allow you to download anything from your account.

You can try hacks, which could work for only some games. The weird issue with Steam is that it requires fully install and update on new, installed system. Otherwise, your old versions of Steam could be useless, and your games are gone with your money.


Last edited by gbudny on 22 February 2024 at 9:15 am UTC

Another Epic exclusive, the juicy contract with Disney, Epic free games, Valve must react!

Quoting: gbudnyI know it's annoying sometimes to load all Linux libraries. On the other hand, Linux allows users to run some games released 10-20 years ago on the modern Linux distributions. Users should start to think about it as an advantage because it frequently works in this way.

Try to play Rune or Heretic II Linux version on modern Linux distribution...And even if you manage to make them work, your gaming experience will be lower than that with the Windows versions (updates, graphics, multiplayer, mods compatibility...).

Today, with the progress of Wine/Proton and graphics drivers for Linux, it is often easier to launch a Windows game than a native Linux game.

Quoting: dibzInterested, but I'll definitely wait for a store release that supports both Windows and Linux with the same purchase. GOG or Steam probably.

I would expect that the purchase of the DRM-free version includes builds for all platforms:

QuoteWorldOfGoo2.com - right here on this page, for Win / Mac / Linux

Quoting: legluondunetTry to play Rune or Heretic II Linux version on modern Linux distribution...And even if you manage to make them work, your gaming experience will be lower than that with the Windows versions (updates, graphics, multiplayer, mods compatibility...).

I have the original versions of Rune and Heretic II for Linux. I use the old computer with Pentium 4 to play them. I saw some solutions, and maybe I should try them. I frequently did it with other games like Shadowgrounds, Raptor, etc.

On the other hand, old computers are cheap, and I'm too lazy to fight with every game if I can run it on the computer for $15. I like to delay reading long instructions because life is too short. I like to run the native game for Linux, and I don't care which computer I use to play them on the same monitor.
It's so fun to play games on Linux from 2003, 2006, and 2010 - so many great memories.

I don't play multiplayer games.

I don't care about updates, graphics enhancements, or mods compatibility if they aren't available for the Linux version of the game.

Quoting: legluondunetToday, with the progress of Wine/Proton and graphics drivers for Linux, it is often easier to launch a Windows game than a native Linux game.

I can say it's always easier to use Windows to run these games than Proton on Linux.

I play native games for Linux because I like this experience with them.
Additionally, I respect companies that spend a lot time and money to create games for Linux. I will find a way to run them with old libraries, older systems, or even retro computers. Additional ports for old computers and KVM are useful to play them.

I suspect that Proton users know much more about the Windows libraries, and all related issues with it. I know almost nothing about solving issues with games on Windows or Wine. That is probably a reason why Proton so popular among Linux users. They have more experience with systems created by Microsoft.

I frequently can figure out what is wrong if a game doesn't works correctly on Linux. Doing similar things with Windows or Wine will be more tricky to me.
I don't want to learn these things. Playing games for Windows or with Wine is so boring to me.


Last edited by gbudny on 22 February 2024 at 9:42 am UTC

Quoting: Phlebiac

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualsupporting Linux natively long-term, even with open source engines, seems far more challenging than other platforms.

Which other platforms? Microsoft does a fair job of backwards compatibility with Windows, but certainly Apple does not. macOS developers have to keep up on maintenance, or their customers can't play their games after a few OS updates.

Alright, just Windows then :)