Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General So where is that Linux version anyway?

Get ready for nerd-rage should it be decided to announce Linux support on this new project as there is already resentment brewing in Reddit (no surprise) and on Linux gaming blogs. I know that art sound and other groups on Larians team now have something to do, but I don't think that most people will understand this before it is explained. Particularly seeing how Larian would certainly have to draw on their code development team on this new project, and of those perhaps those working with Linux development, one might assume that Larian will be leveraging the developing code base of D:OS and creating their new project based on this technology. I hope this is indeed the case.

If I may invoke your words again, Raze:
"....is it surprising that Larian would rather focus on actually working on the update than posting progress reports (which would still get criticized anyway)?"

Actually, in light of the rather long and disappointing delay of the Linux version, I think some videos or regular statements of progress could really help the community understand what is going on. Waiting until Larians forums are filling with FUD to post a tidbit of news along with a lot of explaining to quell the masses is a reactive strategy and I would think that being a little more proactive would take far less energy and have far better results.

Many of us don't know exactly what goes on in a game development studio (sometimes, most of the devs don't either), we certainly don't know what particular difficulties Larian faces, so helping us understand along the way and sharing Larians struggle would certainly make *me* feel more involved and supportive instead of just placated after I've voiced some frustration.

Edit:
Let's make up an analogy. Your CEO makes a public statement that the company has had a great year and the it is treating it's investors and employees to a party to celebrate at the end of the year.

You find out that there was in fact a party in December held for the investors and that a special party for employees is also planned later. You know that the investors make it possible for your company to exist and don't have a problem with such special treatment for them and look forward to the employee party with people you know and worked hard with.

January comes and no word from upstairs. Rumor is that there is a really exciting development about to occur this year and the energy is being diverted for this big push. You and your crew ask management about the party, but you feel awkward doing so because you know she has been working late on this new development.

You get an official reply from the CEO himself personally apologizing about the delay of the employee party and he promises that there will be a huge celebration with both investors and employees on the official announcement of the new big thing. This new big thing will move the company far ahead and everyone is expected to get some kind of promotion or bonus. He states that he hopes you all as excited as he is about the new big thing and you will do what you can to see it through.

This was just a party, icing on the cake, and you still have a good job with a company that seems to be moving ahead.

I understand that it look longer than expected, but the lack of information for a long time, and the lack of research done related to the systems used and lack of manpower makes this very disappointing.

I hope that if the new game you are talking about goes on kickstarter, that you don't ask for extra money again to back a Linux version.

Updates on the progress would be great, at least screenshots or a technical overview of where you are, since it'd at least show it's being worked on.

The main issue it seems with this and many other kickstarters from around the same time was promising multi-platform support without doing the proper research and experimentation first, which would have helped avoid the middleware issues and over-promising.

I will say that the devs saying they'd refund the backing for Linux users is a great step. I've sent an email regarding that, so hopefully that'll be processed soon.

Of course new projects (expect some news around E3) will have Linux support; that is the whole point of putting so much effort into a native port for D:OS. The next games will built on the same game engine and gameplay mechanics (with updates).

The announcement being teased on Instagram will include more information on the Linus version release.

More timely updates on the delays probably would have helped. However, there were more regular updates with the delays for the Windows release, as well, which didn't stop accusations of broken 'promises' and lies when estimates were not met, etc. Most people of course supported the reasons for the delay (adding additional features and changes based on feedback, etc).

Not really sure what you are referring to here?

I'm talking about the progress of the Linux port. As others have said, screenshots, videos or just plain info on what's being worked on atm. The only info we have is "it's delayed because reasons...".

Do you seriously think posting a progress report would hurt more than staying silent? Unless the progress report is "we have 1 guy working half time on it, screenshots are not available" I think the majority of people would appreciate it.

I was speaking more about a stretch goal, which would be "funny" to see again.

How long will it take to process the refund?

Even if people took that attitude, wouldn't it be better to keep your paying customers updated?

It would be funny to see a stretch goal for something that was already completed; I don't think it would encourage many extra backers or tier upgrades.
Mac and Linux were not stretch goals in the D:OS kickstarter; porting resumed when the initial goal was met.

I don't know. Are you hoping to get a refund before the imminent news about the Linux version is announced?

Larian is focused on updating the game, and there were multiple conformations that the Linux version was still being worked on, and several updates. One could certainly argue an earlier update about the delay would have been better, but at some point diverting resources from what you are working on to provide updates, that are ultimately not going to make a difference, is counter productive.

Yes, I'm still interested in a refund.

When do you think I will get a response to the email I sent?

I don't know. Did you send it to the kickstarter address, or the general support address?

I believe general support, I also sent one through kickstarter a while back I believe.

I'm not sure how frequently the kickstarter email is checked now, but there will be a kickstarter update soon. The general support email can be quite busy, but it should usually have a response time within a day or two, though I don't know who would handle this, so it might be forwarded to the appropriate person.

Ok, it'd be great if that could be processed soon.

Anything new?

Do you mean since your last post when it was mid Friday afternoon in Belgium, or since the last time I said I didn't know what the response time would be or who exactly is responsible for handling this?

Just curious if I'd at least get a response, it's been a few days, but I can wait. Hoping to get a response soon

Yes, you should get a response. There should have been an auto-reply from the general support address.

I never got an auto-reply. I sent it to the info@ address

I don't think the has an auto-reply set up; it is answered by the same person who handles the general support, though.

Ok, thanks for the info

[quote=cRaZy-bisCuiT]I do also understand that 90 % of the revenue is made by windows users, 8-9 % from Mac and only 1-2 % - but the linux market is growing! In the meantime some publishers / game studios mentioned that 1 % is allready enough to pay off for porting their games to linux. This is why you can see all (actually NOT all) those nice indie and AAA titles out there being realeased for linux nowadays as well.[/quote]
You are quoting desktop usage percentages. These are [i]not[/i] proportional to revenue. The best counter example I can give is how Humble Indie Bundles, which publish revenue statistics, show how 20-25% of the revenue comes from OSX users, 20-25% from Linux users, and the rest from Windows users[1]. Using your numbers, that means that 1% of the market is responsible for over 20% of the revenue. This is the reason many developers who are not too entrenched in the Windows ecosystem (i.e. mostly Indies) consider it worthwhile to port to other platforms since such a potentially huge amount of their revenue comes from outside Windows.

[1]: I drew these stats from looking at the first two Humble Indie Bundles. They skew toward Windows later on, but I believe this is largely due to the fact that many of the later Bundles are Windows-only bundles.

**Edit: I'm sorry for the messed up quote. It seems quotes get disabled in the actual post, even though the preview looked fine.