The developers of game launcher 'Launchbox' on porting it to Linux, due to Windows 10 privacy issues
Launchbox [Official Site], an application that aims to be a one-stop shop for launching all your games may see proper Linux support if there's enough interest, with some of the work already done.
They even did a livestream to talk about porting it. In it, the developer working on the Linux version specifically mentioned the privacy issues in Windows 10 (even though they like it) as a reason for doing this. Even with the developer stating they love Windows 10, they also made their thoughts on Linux quite clear—"It is amazing what the community has come up with here, in all these various software packages that comprise Linux, it's incredible, it's no question for a free and open source set of software Linux is absolutely incredible and amazing.". I'll be honest, that warmed my heart right up.
They specifically said they've had requests for a Linux version over the past few years, but what makes me really like them is the fact that they understand the amount of requests they've had, is different to how many people might want it in the wider community.
Check the video out:
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
Direct Link
To be clear, they're currently only talking about Launchbox, not "Big Box" which is like their full-screen Steam Big Picture-like interface. However, if it works out well they will also looking into porting Big Box as well. It would require a completely rewrite of Big Box though, so it's not something that would happen anytime soon.
I will say, to be clear, we do have open source game launchers already on Linux like Lutris, RetroArch and various others. However, a key part in getting more people to use Linux for work and play, is getting the applications they already love and use from Windows onto Linux. It's an important step, which I'm sure many will understand even if there's software that might be slightly similar already.
You can fill out their survey here, if you're interested in seeing this on Linux properly.
Thanks for the Twitter tip nullzero!
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
Well, it looks a lot like a graphically nicer but closed-source Lutris…
0 Likes
Well, it looks a lot like a graphically nicer but closed-source Lutris…Yes, I touched on that in the article.
0 Likes
I'll be interested to see where this goes. I certainly like hearing what they're saying about Win10 and Linux.
It's been awhile, but I was underwhelmed when I tried Lutris over a year ago (it felt very undercooked) and the very promising Gnome Games couldn't find games that weren't in the ~/Games folder, thoug, I've heard this has since changed in the newer Gnome versions, I'm using Xfce nowadays, so I'll just have to take the extra four seconds it takes me to "manually" launch my games, thank you very much.
Last edited by Nanobang on 26 Jan 2018 at 12:30 pm UTC
It's been awhile, but I was underwhelmed when I tried Lutris over a year ago (it felt very undercooked) and the very promising Gnome Games couldn't find games that weren't in the ~/Games folder, thoug, I've heard this has since changed in the newer Gnome versions, I'm using Xfce nowadays, so I'll just have to take the extra four seconds it takes me to "manually" launch my games, thank you very much.
Last edited by Nanobang on 26 Jan 2018 at 12:30 pm UTC
0 Likes
well, all I know I love steam and itch (hello gog! where's my galaxy?), any extra store is a welcome addition.
Problem is, emulation is a very shaky biz. GOG's doing gods work to bring back old DOS games. (still where's my galaxy client for linux?!) And Nightdive who is doing it on steam. (thank gods) I'm buying up them like candy because my country was outside of distribution channels during the 80's. Heck even in the early 90's.
Sony and Nintendo will never agree with any emulation.
Problem is, emulation is a very shaky biz. GOG's doing gods work to bring back old DOS games. (still where's my galaxy client for linux?!) And Nightdive who is doing it on steam. (thank gods) I'm buying up them like candy because my country was outside of distribution channels during the 80's. Heck even in the early 90's.
Sony and Nintendo will never agree with any emulation.
0 Likes
well, all I know I love steam and itch (hello gog! where's my galaxy?), any extra store is a welcome addition.It's not a store, it's a game launcher.
Problem is, emulation is a very shaky biz. GOG's doing gods work to bring back old DOS games. (still where's my galaxy client for linux?!) And Nightdive who is doing it on steam. (thank gods) I'm buying up them like candy because my country was outside of distribution channels during the 80's. Heck even in the early 90's.
Sony and Nintendo will never agree with any emulation.
0 Likes
ZekThePenguin 26 Jan 2018
I'm fairly happy with Lutris, but the add-on for Kodi is meh... Really the launcher that provides the best Kodi add-on is the one that wins in my book.
1 Likes, Who?
Hmmm... I'm happily using Steam, so a launcher would have to have an easy Steam integration (including downloading/installing Steam games), etc.
The Steam client itself is severely lacking in the library department (unable to filter my own games by tag, or anything really)...
I'd really only see an advantage in an additional game launcher if it is better than Steam in that regard.
The Steam client itself is severely lacking in the library department (unable to filter my own games by tag, or anything really)...
I'd really only see an advantage in an additional game launcher if it is better than Steam in that regard.
2 Likes, Who?
This is one piece of software that I kinda missed when moving over to Linux. It really helped me launch and browse my games in a more organized manner. I was unable to find anything on Linux with the same features I used there, like rom info scraping (I don't know if that's the correct term, though).
I never really used Big Box mode, though, preferring to launch my games with my mouse.
I did not know they had any interest in Linux, so this is a pretty nice surprise. I hope they'll go through with it.
I never really used Big Box mode, though, preferring to launch my games with my mouse.
I did not know they had any interest in Linux, so this is a pretty nice surprise. I hope they'll go through with it.
0 Likes
On the Big Box thing . . . frankly if I were them I'd wait until the code was rotting and it was time for a rewrite anyway and just make sure that rewrite was cross-platform friendly.
1 Likes, Who?
Kimyrielle 26 Jan 2018
I can honestly see no need for what really looks like a closed-source version of Lutris. I don't even use that. 80-90% of my games are on Steam, so that's where I launch them from. The only other launcher I am using is PlayOnLinux. The day when Lutris becomes the superior choice for auto-install WINE games with minimal hassle, I will switch to that. But I still can't see the need for another launcher, particularly not a closed-source one.
0 Likes
qptain Nemo 26 Jan 2018
Meh, Lutris is already amazing, I'd rather see it grow to its full potential and attract users from everywhere to be honest.
0 Likes
And I'm still looking for something just for saves management, like LGSO (Linux Game Saves Organizer) or GBM (Game Backup Monitor), but with more than just 300ish games supported...
Seems it is not implemented yet on Lutris...?
Seems it is not implemented yet on Lutris...?
0 Likes
Thank you for all the nice comments about Lutris, really appreciate it! :D
@NotSoQT we plan having that in one of the future releases, it's one of the features I really want to have.
@NotSoQT we plan having that in one of the future releases, it's one of the features I really want to have.
2 Likes, Who?
appetrosyan 26 Jan 2018
I can honestly see no need for what really looks like a closed-source version of Lutris. I don't even use that. 80-90% of my games are on Steam, so that's where I launch them from. The only other launcher I am using is PlayOnLinux. The day when Lutris becomes the superior choice for auto-install WINE games with minimal hassle, I will switch to that. But I still can't see the need for another launcher, particularly not a closed-source one.
That's actually where its appeal comes from: it's a closed source project, that isn't inherently handicapped by the fact that it's running on an OpenSource platform. We don't get that many new coders: Feral interactive, Aspyr media, are both hiring, and at lucrative salaries, I might add. Still, one of the issues holding Linux gaming back is lack of people with proper software development experience.
Don't get me wrong, for you this isn't going to change much, not directly anyway. But this is going to the pile of evidence that Linux is a good platform to do business in. The more the peer pressure to develop for Linux the better. Even if the number of Linuxers doesn't change due to this piece of software, any Other developer of a similar launcher will have one more compelling reason to port to Linux. It's a market that they could be tapping, and aren't.
2 Likes, Who?
Thank you for all the nice comments about Lutris, really appreciate it! :D
@NotSoQT we plan having that in one of the future releases, it's one of the features I really want to have.
i want big mode so i can lauch my game with gamepad
0 Likes
Are these things like steam big picture mode, a way to launch games comfortably using a TV and a controller? Or more like PoL or retroarch, a way to easily manage and configure emulators?
0 Likes
First, I'm a big fan of Lutris.
But just to add one key difference in Lauchbox. Besides a straight laucher it also is a game catologue application. It imports you games from steam and file directory folders ou your specified list, and then scraps info from the internet to fill in game boxes art, info from wikipedia,videos and other content related to which game you have.
They also manage a games database. Unlike the linux games database (LGDB), which I love, it has games from all platforms, including very many old game consoles.
EDIT: fixing typos.
Last edited by nullzero on 27 Jan 2018 at 12:05 pm UTC
But just to add one key difference in Lauchbox. Besides a straight laucher it also is a game catologue application. It imports you games from steam and file directory folders ou your specified list, and then scraps info from the internet to fill in game boxes art, info from wikipedia,videos and other content related to which game you have.
They also manage a games database. Unlike the linux games database (LGDB), which I love, it has games from all platforms, including very many old game consoles.
EDIT: fixing typos.
Last edited by nullzero on 27 Jan 2018 at 12:05 pm UTC
0 Likes
Are these things like steam big picture mode, a way to launch games comfortably using a TV and a controller? Or more like PoL or retroarch, a way to easily manage and configure emulators?
The basic app, the Lauchbox is more of laucher/game catologue like retroarch with strong emphasis on emulation, but with PC games included too. That's the one they're thinking of porting to linux. This is the free version.
Then they have BigBox which is "the big picture mode solution". But that one is heavyly dependent on windows and would need a complete rewrite for it to happen in Tux land (there is talk of kickstarter for it though but not just now). This BigBox comes only with the premium version which is their main source of income.
Edit: formatting and added that Bigbox is their main source of income.
Last edited by nullzero on 27 Jan 2018 at 12:12 pm UTC
0 Likes
(still where's my galaxy client for linux?!)Slightly offtopic, but although there is no GOG Galaxy for Linux, there's an open-source alternative called Games Nebula which is very nice and even runs GOG windows games via wine.
Wow.. When did this happen! That's pretty sweeat! Does it track your game hours and clound saves too? (For compatible games of course)
1 Likes, Who?
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me