Favourite indie game, Favourite AAA game, Favourite game with a Linux version available on launch day.

You explicitly said no Proton titles, but I think having a "Best Proton title" is a good idea. This year we have one game very deserving of the title - No Man's Sky developers fixed a Linux specific issue in their game so we could play it with Proton.

I would also love "Best FOSS engine rewrite" and "Best independent game", independent here meaning that it is not featured on Steam and the developers are self-publishing. It's like what Factorio was or what Vintage Story is.

Last edited by NeoTheFox on 11 January 2020 at 3:14 pm UTC

Quoting: NeoTheFoxYou explicitly said no Proton titles, but I think having a "Best Proton title" is a good idea. This year we have one game very deserving of the title - No Man's Sky developers fixed a Linux specific issue in their game so we could play it with Proton.

Nope, sorry, it's not the point of the award. I've happily given them a shout out in articles, but two or three little fixes is not something I consider worthy of letting them be in a Linux GOTY award.

These are some of the categories that would be very informative to me:

• Best DLC/expansion/update

It could be either a big update that greatly improves Linux performance or a DLC full of new content.


• Best fan-made release

Only free projects.


• Biggest disappointment

Games with cancelled Linux support, broken ports on release, or simply a game that failed to meet expectations.


• Most persistent developer

It doesn't have to be the best game of the year, but this is an award to acknowledge developers who, despite all difficulties, struggled to have their game on Linux until they succeded.


• Best 2019 game without a GOL article yet

There are so many games that it's highly likely a hidden gem was overlooked by everyone.

Potential example: Look for "Acting Lessons" on Steam (NOTE: Definitely NSFW!). It has "overwhelmingly positive" reviews.

I can tell you for sure things like "Biggest disappointment" will not be a category, it's supposed to be positive and a bit of fun with a shout out to each winner. This brings the whole idea down a level and I don't want that.

Perhaps this goes into one of the mentioned categories, but I'd like to see some award to a developer and/or game that offers long-term support - not just release and forget. Somebody that supports their game for years, with native Linux releases.

Quoting: Liam DaweI can tell you for sure things like "Biggest disappointment" will not be a category, it's supposed to be positive and a bit of fun with a shout out to each winner. This brings the whole idea down a level and I don't want that.

It would've been perfectly possible to address bad news with a positive and fun attitude, and in the process to help people remind which developers aren't worth supporting anymore...

It's not that I will complain if a category like that is not included, but personally I will feel that a lot of important information is being left behind in that case.

Quoting: Sunburst

Quoting: Liam DaweI can tell you for sure things like "Biggest disappointment" will not be a category, it's supposed to be positive and a bit of fun with a shout out to each winner. This brings the whole idea down a level and I don't want that.

It would've been perfectly possible to address bad news with a positive and fun attitude, and in the process to help people remind which developers aren't worth supporting anymore...

It's not that I will complain if a category like that is not included, but personally I will feel that a lot of important information is being left behind in that case.

Fair enough, I don't agree and will not be doing it but I value your feedback as always.

Quoting: Liam Dawe

Quoting: Sunburst

Quoting: Liam DaweI can tell you for sure things like "Biggest disappointment" will not be a category, it's supposed to be positive and a bit of fun with a shout out to each winner. This brings the whole idea down a level and I don't want that.

It would've been perfectly possible to address bad news with a positive and fun attitude, and in the process to help people remind which developers aren't worth supporting anymore...

It's not that I will complain if a category like that is not included, but personally I will feel that a lot of important information is being left behind in that case.

Fair enough, I don't agree and will not be doing it but I value your feedback as always.

No problem.

Quoting: NeoTheFoxI would also would love "Best FOSS engine rewrite"[...]

This. I think FOSS project is too much "open", having projects like Wine/Blender/Krita and OpenMW/devilutionX/VCMI etc in the same category is not really fair IMO. It can give more visibility to some too as a lot have to be discovered through Github or another repository. We really have to dig for some.
And of course the engine have to be playable.

Last edited by Cyril on 5 January 2020 at 7:42 pm UTC

I like how Steam have an award for older games that are still receiving new content (Labour of Love I think). It seems especially meaningful for GoL since it implies continued support, which we don’t always get. But I suppose best DLC and best update cover that.

+1 for the previous suggestions of Favourite indie and Most persistent developer.

Maybe an Unexpected port category?

Quoting: Liam DaweI am aware it's 2020, we run our award when the year is actually over, it just makes more sense and it's fair to games released throughout December then too. I find some others run theirs far too early.

I share the sentiment!

Current category list is this:

Favourite Developer
Favourite FOSS game
Favourite FOSS game engine reimplementation
Favourite FOSS project
Best DLC release of 2019
Best update received in 2019
Favourite long-term supported game
Best game release of 2019

What else should we have? Ideally I want to launch it for people to actually start nominating games in a week or two :)

Indies and FOSS games even more so are often accused of not being shiny and pretty enough. So how about a Best Graphics category? Like best graphics for FOSS game, or best graphics for Linux native game.

Otherwise, +1 for Unexpected port.

EDIT: Oh and Best day 1 Linux release.

Last edited by Rooster on 11 January 2020 at 6:29 pm UTC

Added:

Best graphics for a FOSS game
Overall best graphics on Linux released in 2019
Absolute favourite game for Linux released in 2019

That's 11 categories now, I don't want to do many more otherwise we overload people.

Last edited by Liam Dawe on 11 January 2020 at 7:15 pm UTC

Quoting: Liam DaweAdded:

Best graphics for a FOSS game
Overall best graphics on Linux released in 2019
Absolute favourite game for Linux released in 2019

That's 11 categories now, I don't want to do many more otherwise we overload people.

Maybe organize them into groups?

General:
Best game/Absolute favorite
Best developer
Best graphics

Support:
Best DLC
Best update
Best long-term supported game

FOSS:
Best FOSS game
Best FOSS clone/recreation
Best FOSS project
Best FOSS graphics

Maybe add a category for crowdfunded games? Not sure if some categories should be divided to have indie-specific options. Being a vote, I feel like pitting the famous names against games/studios that less people heard about is a bit unfair.

I'm also not a fan of having a category for best "graphics". I'd rather it be "visual presentation", or at least separate "best graphical fidelity" from "best art". When talking about graphics, I often have the impression people are talking about completely different things.

With graphics/whatever being a category, how about another for best gameplay or innovation or something like that?

Yes, it would add another category, but personally I care more about gameplay and story in the games I play than the most impressive graphics (though that is nice too of course).

It's a catch-all category where more or less all games apply. For one person it may be a shooter, for another a rpg, and for another a strategy game.

Okay so here's what I've done. I've overhauled it, again, to add support for groups as suggested as that was a good idea. Makes it a little cleaner, feels less overwhelming with many categories.

I also agree best Graphics was a bit too ambiguous.

Everything Else:

Absolute favourite game for Linux released in 2019
Best DLC release of 2019
Favourite Developer
Most impressive soundtrack in a 2019 release
Most innovative gameplay for a 2019 release
Overall best visual style for a game release in 2019

FOSS

Best visual style for a FOSS game
Favourite FOSS game
Favourite FOSS game engine reimplementation
Favourite FOSS project

Support
Best update received in 2019
Favourite long-term supported game

Ideally, I want to get 2 more into the Everything Else category and 2 more in the Support category. Then I think we should be good to go.

Maybe "Best storytelling" for the general category.

As for update... best remake/remaster, best competitive season (or something like that, I'm not really up to date on the multiplayer stuff), and/or best early access graduate (taken inspiration from Steam). I'd personally put DLC in support, but it works either way.

Quoting: eldakingAs for update... best remake/remaster...

I would like to see this one, but for games which were originally released 10+ years ago.

Examples from previous years: the Turok saga or The Original Strife: Veteran Edition.

Also, since nobody mentioned these categories, I think they could be pretty informative as well:

• Best short game of 2019

Obviously, useful for people with limited time to play. They shouldn't be longer than 2 hours. This page could be used as reference to objectively measure the duration.

Example from a previous year: Reveal the Deep.


• Best game of 2019 to play with your kids

Several people mentioned they like to share some time with their kids playing games, and also the subgenre features some titles with excellent reviews.

Example from a previous year: Ultimate Chicken Horse

"Best bee game" feels like the most important category at this point :D


More seriously, if we're looking to expand the support category, I wonder whether it might be worth considering a "Biggest step up" support category that highlights developers/games who've overcome a significant Linux-specific hurdle and found positive experiences for their Linux audiences. That would help differentiate supporting a game through content updates from providing support to Linux users (both of which can have a lot of value!).

Particularly for developers who don't have a lot of experience supporting Linux, positive reinforcement showing that their efforts are recognised and appreciated (especially following significant issues that might have frustrated people) is likely to have an impact on their attitude towards supporting Linux for future projects.

An example might include CrossCode, which recently got an engine update to resolve dependency related crashes that arch users were experiencing (which would affect other distros in time), or Dead Cells which was crashing for Linux users briefly in September. Locomancer also feels like a nice example from previous years, where the developer spent a bunch of time and effort investigating and improving the game's Linux VR support.