LGP's Bandits Proceeds On Linux

[tuke81]

Nice to see more and more games to be ported on linux. First I read this and then I heard that frozenbyte and software house IGIOS will port game called shadowgrounds survivor.
to Linux. Here is the offical press release of information(Only finnish by now but translation is in its way):

http://www.frozenbyte.com/press/PR_2008_02_12_FI_Frozenbyte_IGIOS.pdf

The main things are that it will be ready in this spring. And the prices will be Shadowgrounds Survivor for 29,90? and Shadowgrounds for 9,90? and it will be sold through net.

[Thetargos]

That's what I enjoyed the most about Penumbra, actually. Not only is it a GREAT game, it is a digital-only transaction, small enough to download and very enjoyable an experience. I can hardly wait for the Black Plague sequel.

It is a very good thing that there are more and more titles available to Linux, now what we need is a game that people just *has* to have, and one with enough promotion too (there are many applications and other excellent games, with poor promotion, which I understand is one of the biggest money drains for AAA titles).

[niniendowarrior]

Agreed.

It would be a huge coup for LGP if they can get a kind of Steam service, selling not only their games, but also other commercial Linux games. Maybe even distribute Linux binaries like Doom 3 and the Doom 3 demo.

While in the spirit of development houses porting games to Linux, does anyone have a good accurate list of how many development houses are there and who they are... well apart from LGP, which we know already?

[Svartalf]

Heh... If you're counting publisher/developers there's a couple other than LGP. You've got Hyperion Entertinment (Who's done nada since SiN and Shogo:MAD came from out of them- there's been announcements from them over time for making IncaGold's casual games lineup available to Linux and AmigaOS, but with them being kind of absorbed with trying to get the Next AmigaOS out the door (heh...) they've been mostly silent for a while now.) and there's RuneSoft (Who's done several titles for LGP and then decided to strike out on their own. I will say that they appear to have gotten better at the process of making game ports with Ankh and it's Sequel and seem to be poised to do at least a few more of Deck13's titles for them- which is a good thing in the long run...). There's several studios that have done stuff that's being sold through Garage Games (some of which I think intend on doing more cross-platform titles like they did with the current crop at Garage Games...)- but other than those, and Id and Epic, there's not a lot right at the moment that is being officially done for us.

Who knows... Maybe someone could convince 3D Realms or Valve to do things for us. Stranger things have happened in the past...

[niniendowarrior]

I reckon Transgaming is also in the porting biz. Oh, and there's also Ryan.

The Linux porting business isn't thriving though, from your description, Svartalf...

[Svartalf]

Transgaming's in the emulation business more than the porting business.

Heh... I honestly forgot to mention Ryan as he's less of a studio and more of a game porting MACHINE that works with several different studios and publishers as the time merits (He's done stuff we've published and we're trying to get finalized- as well as stuff for Epic, US DoD, and other more indie studios over time...)... Mentioning him as a studio is akin to mentioning TTimo over at Id as a "studio".

"Thriving" is not a word I'd use right at the moment- but it looks to be dramatically improving. The reason it's not thriving has less to do with the viability and more to do with the insanity of the studios out there. So many of them want unrealistic royalty deals- if they'll even give you the time of day. However, that's changing a bit.

[niniendowarrior]

Heh... I honestly forgot to mention Ryan as he's less of a studio and more of a game porting MACHINE that works with several different studios and publishers as the time merits (He's done stuff we've published and we're trying to get finalized- as well as stuff for Epic, US DoD, and other more indie studios over time...)... Mentioning him as a studio is akin to mentioning TTimo over at Id as a "studio".

Sometimes, I wonder how in the world did it all start for him. He's done very amazing things though.

"Thriving" is not a word I'd use right at the moment- but it looks to be dramatically improving. The reason it's not thriving has less to do with the viability and more to do with the insanity of the studios out there. So many of them want unrealistic royalty deals- if they'll even give you the time of day. However, that's changing a bit.

Sounds like all the more reason that LGP begin developing its own AAA titles.

[Svartalf]

Sometimes, I wonder how in the world did it all start for him. He's done very amazing things though.

He was one of the main players for porting over at Loki.

He kept with it. Most of the others moved on to other things. One that didn't helped found LGP- Mike Phillips. Most everyone from Loki have moved on from porting Linux games- I think Ryan's the only one left from that era doing anything of the sort. Everyone else from Loki has quit or passed on to the best of my knowledge.

Sounds like all the more reason that LGP begin developing its own AAA titles.

That, my friend, is much more difficult than it sounds. [edit: Changed "easier" to the proper "more difficult". Need to not post while there's too much blood in my Caffeine Stream...]

If it were as simple as you're making it out to be, we'd have already done it- I can tell you, it's easier dealing with your own screwy bad code than someone else's >:-)

[niniendowarrior]

He was one of the main players for porting over at Loki.

He kept with it. Most of the others moved on to other things. One that didn't helped found LGP- Mike Phillips. Most everyone from Loki have moved on from porting Linux games- I think Ryan's the only one left from that era doing anything of the sort. Everyone else from Loki has quit or passed on to the best of my knowledge.

That's an interesting tid bit. By the time I discovered Loki, they've already announced they were closing doors.

That, my friend, is much easier than it sounds.

If it were as simple as you're making it out to be, we'd have already done it- I can tell you, it's easier dealing with your own screwy bad code than someone else's >:-)

I've seen enough of other people's bad code to know what you say is gospel truth, Svartalf. Nothing is ever simple in the world, and I think from what I've read before on LGP, they did try but it never did work out... at least to the best of my memory.

[Vadi]

Sweet, this certainly has gotten my hopes up. I'll check out the LGP website again.