Xenonauts 2 nda
If the developer has to chose to cut a game feature OR the Linux port, the Linux port will always be cut/delayed.
#Xenonauts 2 nda windows#
To hit release windows things have to get cut.
There is no grantee that a game is successful and timing is everything. Notable Linux ports include: Xenonauts, SOMA, Shadow Warrior, Darkest Dungeon and more.Īaron Melcher: All other platforms have better total sales. The next 90% of the work is rewriting the renderer.Īnd now we have Aaron Melcher of Knockout Games. Ryan “Icculus” Gordon: The first 90% of the work is getting it to compile at all. What is so difficult about bringing games to Linux? (I usually have a lecture here about "use SDL, OpenGL, OpenAL, scripting languages, etc".but honestly, the companies building big big games are way past the point where this advice is going to help.) If this is a small indie game, this advice isn't so important. If you wrote your own engine for a AAA-level game, expect a port of it to take 6 to 12 months. If you're building something big and complex, use Unity or Unreal Engine 4 so most of the heavy lifting is already done, and the Linux guy is mostly fixing and polishing instead of rewriting large pieces of complex code.
All the hard hard work is getting the thing to run with OpenGL. Don't make a game that depends on Direct3D. Ryan “Icculus” Gordon: The rare times where I shipped at the same time as the Windows version, it was because I was working with the team before they shipped, and was making portability changes in the same codebase everyone else was working out of. What do developers need to do to ensure a timely Linux release? I understand why being a good _consumer_ demands that we demand same-day releases, but being defined by what we swallow and how quickly we get to choke it down is just not a way I want to live. This wasn't what you were asking mostly I'm just telling you that I'm really bad at Capitalism.
#Xenonauts 2 nda archive#
My attitude has always been that building a Linux game library-as in a historical archive of human creation, not your Steam game list-is important to the common good and that Hot Fresh New Bestsellers aren't. Almost always, I'm showing up for the race after it's already been run. Ryan “Icculus” Gordon: Often times, for me at least, I get brought onto a project that has already shipped for Windows, made by a team with dozens of developers over several years. Why do you think Linux games get delayed? Noted Linux ports include: multiple Unreal Tournament titles, Prey, Psychonauts, Killing Floor and plenty more. I've included links to get in touch with these developers, for any game developer wanting their game ported to Linux, these should be on your list.įirst up, is well known and long-time Linux game porter Ryan “Icculus” Gordon. I asked three simple questions, the same questions to each of them. I posed a question to a bunch of people involved in games development and Linux porting. Launch a mission at night-time and you will be fighting with reduced sight range in the darkness.We see a lot of games get delayed for Linux, but why is this? I decided to ask around about the difficulties facing developers when porting games to Linux. shoot down a Scout UFO over the Arctic and you will get a mission to capture a crashed Scout UFO in the polar tileset. Emergent Simulation: Missions are not pre-scripted but are based on your actions e.g.Persistent Soldiers: Your soldiers gain rank and improve their abilities from mission to mission – assuming you can keep them alive!.Research Tree: Harness the alien technology and turn it against them! Explore an extensive research tree that unlocks upgrades and equipment for your soldiers and interceptors, whilst also slowly revealing the intentions and origins of the invaders.Your funds are limited – are you going to spend them on new combat equipment, more scientists for the research effort, or expanding your interceptor squadrons? Strategic Management: Manage the defence of the planet on the strategy layer, balancing the needs of your funding nations with your own.Missions include everything from capturing crashed UFOs and alien bases to defending cities (or even Xenonaut facilities) against alien attack! Ground Combat: Experience tense turn-based combat across varied and fully destructible battlefields against a multitude of different alien species.