Show us some linux love - Linux Port?

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Will

Again, asking for my own personal edification since I'm not a programmer nor a project scheduler, but what would be required to make things more wine friendly?

From what i have read wine has or had issues with the Launcher. Those could probably be mitigated in various ways, e.g.
- Allowing to bypass the graphical launcher and to enter the login credentials on the command line
- Switching the Launcher of the Windows versions to Qt and thereby removing the dependency on internet explorer to display the Launcher properly.

[Will]

Ok, interesting. Thanks Dj!

[LinuxDonald]

Please port it to linux because we linux user want an native version. Not an version that run with wine.

When we linux user must use it with wine why the mac users don´t must be use wine too for that? why they become an native Version and Linux Users not??

[Marix]

While I haven't bought any of your games, yet, I would buy the linux versions. I have wanting the games for a long time now, but having to get to some windows first to me always was too much of a hastle. And I love playing the classic SCRUM-MIs on my Android!

BTW: As I know you guys do download games (and therefore I guess DRM), there is a Linux-Download-Games solution by linuxgamepublishing. So If you don't want to reinvent the wheel cooperation with those guys might be an idea.

[lemonlime]

I guess a lot of people who played monkey island in the 90's use linux now a days.

And those people will buy the game if it is a native linux binary.

[ChemBro]

Originally Posted by DjNDB

From what i have read wine has or had issues with the Launcher.

Yepp. Only real issue with Wine/Linux is the launcher. The game itself (like any Telltale game) works really good in Wine.

[Avistew]

Originally Posted by ChemBro

Yepp. Only real issue with Wine/Linux is the launcher. The game itself (like any Telltale game) works really good in Wine.

(How? How did you solve the launcher problems and manage to play the game?)

[GozzoMan]

Originally Posted by avistew

(How? How did you solve the launcher problems and manage to play the game?)

Voilà

http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/...ad.php?t=10820

[Ripcord]

Originally Posted by LinuxDonald

When we linux user must use it with wine why the mac users don´t must be use wine too for that? why they become an native Version and Linux Users not??

I don't know for sure, but I'd say that even today the number of Linux users that would buy Telltale games is dramatically smaller than the number of Mac users that will buy it. So economically makes sense.

Not saying it doesn't make economic sense to port to Linux (I'm guessing it doesn't though), but sure makes sense that it'd be Mac first.

Sorry, man. It's been the "year of Linux desktop" for each of the last 10 years, and it's still not there yet. Not even close.

[GozzoMan]

Originally Posted by Ripcord

I don't know for sure, but I'd say that even today the number of Linux users that would buy Telltale games is dramatically smaller than the number of Mac users that will buy it. So economically makes sense.
[...]

Mmmh, I challenge that.

Ok, linux desktops are a fifth of Mac desktops, approximately: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_s...rating_systems

And nonetheless, here's the numbers for the sales of World of Goo: http://abauchu.net/blog/post/2009/11...-market-shares

65% windows users, 18% Mac users, 17% linux users.

Oh-oh, what happens here? How come the potential market for Mac is 5 times bigger than linux, but the actual sales are the same?

My educated while partisan guess is that linux people are biased to be interested in smart, brain-challenging, funny, indie games which are also downloadable, reasonably priced and with fair and not vexing user license agreements.

All TTG games and policies qualify for that.

And as for the "reasonably priced", see also the graph for voluntary price. Surprise, surprise.

[Ripcord]

WoG has no copy protection whatsoever - ToMI has real DRM. That alone might scare off a number of Linux users. But you do support your argument with some real numbers, so hats off.

Even still, I have a tough time believing that the number of Linux sales for ToMI would approach Mac sales. Something tells me that WoG (which I bought, and I think is one of the most under-rated (and also most pirated) games ever) is a pretty special case. But I have no numbers to back me up!

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by Will

Ok, interesting. Thanks Dj!

It would also be interesting to see how the Windows version would run with the OpenGL renderer. Such a version could improve performance for Wine users.

From a developers point of view I would dare to predict that at least the Qt launcher will come to Windows for future releases. There's no point in having different launcher versions to maintain, and the Internet Explorer dependency of the current one has sporadically caused issues that should vanish with the Qt launcher in place.

[GozzoMan]

Originally Posted by Ripcord

WoG has no copy protection whatsoever - ToMI has real DRM. That alone might scare off a number of Linux users.

Well, ToMI and the other games do have copy protection, but the policy is very friendly: for example you are entitled to install it on different machines, and to share it with your family members, by simply sending an email to the support team.

And it's just that: essentially just copy protection, none of the obscene features that more general DRM can have, for example to revoke your right of use, no silent updates, no spyware, no system encrustment, no need to constantly been online, no ridiculous hassles, or whatever. As DRM goes these days, it's a very mild kind.

None at all would be better, of course, but the TTG choice is very acceptable, both technically and in principle, in my opinion (and I have in general very strong opinion against DRM).

Originally Posted by Ripcord

But you do support your argument with some real numbers, so hats off.

[GozzoMan]

Oh, and another important point: I also guess linux people are probably more biased than other OS users to buy something which is advertised and available online instead in the brick and mortar stores.


One important reason why users with basic needs (web, email, basic word processing and accounting...) become windows or mac users, is that to satisfy those needs they walk into a brick and mortar store, and if they say "Hello, I need a computer" they are sold a windows PC, if they say "Hello, I need a computer. One that works for heaven's sake", and the price doesn't knock them out, they are sold a mac.
They don't even know there are other options. In particular they don't know, or are not used/comfortable with the idea, that perfectly legit, safe and apt software can be available online, whether free or for a price. They are used to get it off a physical shelf in a physical packaging.

[Spell]

Creating a linux version should not be a big problem if you allready have a Mac version. The graphics and the sound code would be the about the same.

About creating a version usable on all linux distributions: You just need to ship the used libraries with the game and thats something you would do on all other platforms anyway. (And write some small 2 line shellscript to tell linux it should use the shipped libs)

For feature games you should may think about using SDL for the actually system dependant code. (SDL is a free lib which provides things like window-initialisation, input handling, multithreading etc. in a platform independant way)

[Yak]

Please make native linux version!

[DarthBo]

Another vote for a linux port!

I run Ubuntu (and Debian) on all my PC/laptops (no MS Windows in my home at all). I play games, Wine usually works fine (not perfect, but fine), but a real native port would be excellent.
Don't think that we linux users don't exist because we download the Windows version!

[Chyron8472]

Linux users are all nerds and know well enough how to use a Windows emulator for games. Making TTG create a Linux port, when the market share for Linux gamers is so small, would just take time away from their making other cool games.

I vote against.

[ChemBro]

Originally Posted by Chyron8472

Linux users are all nerds and know well enough how to use a Windows emulator for games. Making TTG create a Linux port, when the market share for Linux gamers is so small, would just take time away from their making other cool games.

I vote against.

Thanks, buddy. As you can see in this thread, not every Linux user is a "nerd" and not every nerd can play ToMI in Linux. And the "World of Goo" example showed, that the market share for Linux doesn't have to be small.

[Neikron]

I'm going to put in another vote for Linux port.