Latest Comments by kaiman
GOG to go through some reorganization after suffering losses
30 November 2021 at 12:42 pm UTC Likes: 2

I find it rather difficult to rack up such a loss from selling digital goods. The apparent need to "focus more on its core business activity" seems to indicate that a lot of effort went into things that are peripheral to the selling of same. This begs the questions what those other activities were, seeing that GOG is already pretty bare-bones as is.

Could this pertain to GOG Galaxy and the associated backend functionality for achievements, cloud-saves and such? Though even that doesn't look like something you could sink $2m and likely more, assuming the actual selling of games is profitable.

Personally, I hope that doesn't mean they'll end up including fewer games in their catalogue. I hardly buy anything outside GOG these days, and it's always a shame if a title I absolutely want to try does not make it to GOG, or only with much delay.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance gets shown off on the Steam Deck
17 November 2021 at 12:10 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: mahagrKingdom Come works very well in Linux, I get 4K (FSR Ultra) / ~60 FPS with almost everything maxed out using RTX 3070 Ti.
Yeah, no doubt it'll run just fine on the Steam Deck. With Wine + DXVK I got 30 FPS on my GTX 950 on medium settings, and it still looked fantastic. Wondering about the controls, though ... I felt it was a game better played with keyboard and mouse. And that's perhaps a general concern ... it's one thing if games run without effort from the developer's side, but perhaps a bit of effort should be spent at least in optimizing the control scheme for the Deck.

Paradox needs a bit more time to finish Crusader Kings III - Royal Court
27 October 2021 at 8:59 pm UTC Likes: 1

If they didn't want me to redeem my Paradox store discount coupon (valid until the end of the year) on the DLC they just could have said so ...

Valve launches Deck Verified, to show off what games will work well on the Steam Deck
18 October 2021 at 9:24 pm UTC Likes: 2

To me this seems a rather bold move on Valve's part, and I'm wondering if that's not going to get them into trouble with developers. Imagine you never ever thought about releasing your game outside a traditional Windows environment and now the #1 distribution platform is telling you: "hey, we have this new handheld device that's running a totally different OS, and we're putting a mark of shame on your game should it not work well on that". I can't really see how this would endear the Deck or Linux to prospective developers.

OTOH, judging by the very small sample size of 1, there seems to be at least some enthusiasm to have a game running on the Deck without zero effort or intent from the developer's side. Not quite sure I like that attitude either.

Cool feature for the players though. I just hope my favorite devs don't get too upset from having a gun put to their head.

Kathy Rain: Director's Cut launches with Linux support on October 26
11 October 2021 at 4:58 pm UTC Likes: 1

Really looking forward to this one (despite not playing the original), but ... "DEATH SEQUENCES" ... !?

Come on! Is it still 1989 or what?

Wine 6.18 is out now with HID joystick enabled by default
27 September 2021 at 8:04 pm UTC

Seems the HID joystick stuff needs a bit more work. With Wine 6.18, my gamepad is broken. Had to revert to 6.17 for now.

Call of Saregnar is a nod to 90s party-based RPGs and it's on the way to Linux
20 September 2021 at 4:28 pm UTC Likes: 2

From the trailer I clearly see the inspiration from Betrayal at Krondor and the open world and classless per-use skill-based character development just screams Elder Scrolls. But I'm not quite sure where Realms of Arkania fits in there. And I would so love to have another game like those, complete with the Dark Eye ruleset.

Edit: In this interview, the developer says the game "is 90% Betrayal at Krondor inspired, but you may find a bit of the old Realms of Arkania trilogy in there, as well as Microprose’s Darklands, Might and Magic VI and other games of the ’90s.". But no specifics given.

Quoting: slaapliedjeEdit: Realms of Arkania was an asshole of a game, and fit as well into the 'survival' genre as RPG!
I assume that's meant as a compliment :-). If I think back on the series, its one of the aspects I remember fondly. Traveling the wilderness or entering a dungeon required a bit of preparation, lest you run out of arrows or, god forbid, your boots fell apart. You also wanted some blankets and camping gear or resting wouldn't restore much health / astral energy. It mostly came down to a one-time investment and some blocked inventory space, but it helped reinforce the feeling of leaving the safety of civilization behind and going out on an adventure.

Steam Next Fest gets a fresh trailer ahead of the event on October 1
19 September 2021 at 9:14 am UTC Likes: 1

As I'm mostly interested in narrative games, I'd rather not play a demo before release.

But I'll gladly use the opportunity to check if a particular game will work with Wine, even if there's the chance that the demo runs whereas the full game won't.

Steam has turned 18 years old and PC gaming has never been the same since
13 September 2021 at 5:24 pm UTC Likes: 1

July 2012 for me, and only because a game on DVD used it as DRM. To this day, I guess I've more physical games activated than bought directly, Humankind being the latest of those. What's the point of owning something if it can't collect dust on a shelf!? ;-)

Race across the galaxy to save Earth in The Captain releasing October 21
30 August 2021 at 6:32 pm UTC Likes: 1

That's actually a failed Kickstarter from 2016. Quite happy to see it being released regardless, and with support for Linux no less! Was really disappointed that it didn't get much attention back then (though I guess I would have been even less happy had it taken 5 years to make after a successful campaign).

So what a nice surprise! Wishlisted and marked for purchase-on-release-day.