I wish they would drop linux support and focus on development

[Ben]

I honestly think that there is just a very very small but very very vocal Linux playerbase compared the other operating systems. I can't imagine the ammount of ressources and time spend to create and maintain a functioning linux port. I honestly would love for the devs to drop linux for now and just focus on overall development. This does not mean that there won't be a linux port in the future but I think it would be best to focus and speed up development without being held back by maintaining a linux port .

[Ben]

You are right, Ben.

[Ben]

Thank you fellow Ben

[Ben]

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

In terms of software development it's a very good thing to port the code on different platforms. Using different compilers helps spotting a host of various bugs and writing more robust code.
The downside is, a poorly written piece of software like this game will likely be dragged through seven kinds of hell in the process, especially since this will require a native Linux version of the well and truly horrendous DFHack (from a software architecture point of view).

Also, the anarchic world of Linux distros combined with the recent catching up with SDL (the previous version had been obsolete for a decade!) will combine graphics hardware and Linux distros teething problems.

I'd say it's a beneficial decision in the long run but a nasty can of worms at the moment. Might have been safer to let the new SDL engine run for a few months instead of piling two sources of instability on top of each other.

Also, one does wonder what they do with the obscene pile of cash they've been sitting on for months now.
Apparently they didn't use it to secure a bunch of Linux savvies to smooth the process.
I guess the fan base will be delighted to provide these happy millionnaires with amateurish unpaid work instead.

Who the f*** cares what they do with their millions ?

[Ben]

I didn't want to spread negativity. It was just a thought that crossed my mind a few days ago. Toady and Zach have done an amazing job developing Dwarf Fortress. They have totally earned every penny they got. The steam release was a huge step and I am excited for the future of DF. That after 17+ years of development they opened up to hire Putnam as another developer is another great step. I am sure he will do a great job and it is already showing with the first implementation multithreading. The whole team really cares about the community and if they decide that it is worth developing for Linux then I totally respect that decision.

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

In terms of software development it's a very good thing to port the code on different platforms. Using different compilers helps spotting a host of various bugs and writing more robust code.

Good point, haven't thought of that.

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

I'd say it's a beneficial decision in the long run but a nasty can of worms at the moment.

I think you may be right with that.

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

Apparently they didn't use it to secure a bunch of Linux savvies to smooth the process.

They did hire another developer. Maybe they are still looking to further expand the team.

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

I guess the fan base will be delighted to provide these happy millionnaires with amateurish unpaid work instead.  

Relax chief, no reason to be rude. 

[AlP]

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

Also, one does wonder what they do with the obscene pile of cash they've been sitting on for months now.

Only you wonder that. It's all about the money they got, isn't it? You are simply jealous that they got paid for creating one of the best games in history.

[Rocky]

There are lots of Linux players, myself included.
I would say that they aren't having too much trouble maintaining a Linux port either, since the game has been on Linux already for a very long time. But I don't know, I wouldn't think it would help speed of development in any way though; and I am obviously against dropping Linux support because I use Linux as my gaming driver day-to-day--and my work system.
They are not just going to drop probably a large portion of their fan base (the Linux users).

[Rainbow Jeremy]

It runs pretty well on Proton anyway, but I like the Linux branch so far having been playing with it the last few days.

[Rocky]

Originally posted by Rainbow Jeremy:

It runs pretty well on Proton anyway, but I like the Linux branch so far having been playing with it the last few days.

Yeah Proton is a real game changer in the Linux world these days.
I remember back years ago, I mostly just played renpy games and the occasional indie 2d platformer, or such.
Those were good but limited times; it's nice to see this world now where you can do almost anything you can do in Windows in Linux (and BSD too, perhaps to a lesser/more difficult extent.)
I always prefer to play native of course though ;)

[Slapshot82]

Originally posted by Rainbow Jeremy:

It runs pretty well on Proton anyway, but I like the Linux branch so far having been playing with it the last few days.

I've been running the native Linux build since the day it dropped, and there's been a noticeable improvement playing on the native build, compared to using Proton. It's eliminated the occasional input lag, and my frame rate seems to be significantly higher for the size of the fort I've constructed so far.

[higuita]

don't be a troll, as that is what your question sound like... just trolling the linux players

you know that the game is being developed for the last 17 years (mostly by just 2 brothers, well, more just 1, that have done most of the main code)... and that the linux version exists since long ago!

Doing that linuxolder version was mostly easy, only this new graphical interface version had no linux version and it was harder, as they had no experience with the GUI part, but as the harder parts of the windows gui version were done by other developers, the linux gui version is also being done by another developer. Those developers aren't changing the game, just adding the GUI, to make it more friendly than the older pseudo-text version. So not supporting linux would not help in any way the game progress

Also, the game is already very complex, there are very few things missing, so not sure what you are expecting, you can play the game now and die many times in fun ways and expect still development for many more years.

Proton is useful, but native port is always much better and give us linux users more certain that the game will keep working

Finally "few" linux players are still millions of players, even if you don't use linux, other people do, why would you be selfish and deny this awesome to others? they could have decided to just support linux and ignore windows, after all, they do the game for their own fun, they aren't required to support any platform... how would you feel them?
This game matches soo much the style of many linux users, i suspect that that in their download statistics, linux is much higher than the 2% of the global steam statistics (that alone China is enough to skew the linux statistics, due the very high number of windows, mostly pirate version, and their constant reinstall)

just have fun and avoid attacking other players OS, Cpu, Gpu, Country, etc

[malthenielsen]

The devs can straight up see stats indicating about how many players use Linux. It's not like they're just working on blind faith.

[Slapshot82]

Originally posted by Ben:

I didn't want to spread negativity. It was just a thought that crossed my mind a few days ago. Toady and Zach have done an amazing job developing Dwarf Fortress. They have totally earned every penny they got. The steam release was a huge step and I am excited for the future of DF. That after 17+ years of development they opened up to hire Putnam as another developer is another great step. I am sure he will do a great job and it is already showing with the first implementation multithreading. The whole team really cares about the community and if they decide that it is worth developing for Linux then I totally respect that decision.

I just want to share my appreciation to you for this post. Releasing DF on Steam was always going to be a massive challenge, primarily due to the high expectations of the average Steam user to see consistent feedback and updates from developers. Releasing the game on Steam was almost certainly going to bring in an influx of new players who were going to find bugs/broken game mechanics. This was inevitably going to get talked about, and desired to be fixed.

This did happen, along with Putnam also getting hired on by Kitfox. She has already given so much to this game in the way of mods prior to the Steam release, as well as her longtime community involvement. Her work over the past year improving some of the core game mechanics and code was, I think, an unforeseen development cycle extension for the team. All of this work wasn't just for native Linux and Mac support though! Her work to upgrade to SDL2, implement multi-threading support, and drastically reducing the number of labor checks that must be performed (and line of sight checks, IIRC) have increased the speed of the game by ~50%. This work might not appear or feel useful at this time to some, for sure. Looking forward though, these improvements would have greatly expanded the available system resources to implement new game mechanics and systems into the game! There is a line between creativity and system limitations in videogame development. If you can reduce the limitations, you can be more creative!

I would recommend anyone interested in DF to follow Blind's YouTube channel. The linked playlist is where he and Putnam talk about the updates around the time they release. They are highly informative!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcOt9GXNrkghcg_YOaX3FbF4KBFqFC-sI&si=B90QeG73yBlg6kPC

[AlP]

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

There are customers that don't take kindly to being sold an unpolished poop dipped in snake oil.

A game with 95% positive reviews = "unpolished poop dipped in snake oil".

[iq.gobo]

The "free" game has been in development for years, keeping the brothers financially covered for a long time. How many of the donations that made this possible came from Linux gamers?

Remember the days of frequent game bundles? Their stats showed that the Linux community valued bundles that included Linux native games much higher than Windows users and even higher than the rich Mac folks.

Developers praise Linux gamers for their loyalty and useful bug reports - they actually help to improve the product.

And if you don't like this game, just move on and play whatever you have left on your pile of shame. Why didn't you play the legacy version of DF free of charge to form an opinion in the first place? Or watch some of the countless of hours of actual game-play footage on YouTube to make an informed decision?

Did it ever cross your mind that instead of ranting about slow progress you should adjust your expectations? Do a reality check by peeking at the game's releases over the years or how much work it has been to prepare for the Steam release.

This is not some popular shovel ware title, this is a lifetime achievement. It evolves over time.

[malthenielsen]

Originally posted by natsukashinoneko:

Not that it should come as a great surprise. Who except the most diehard fans can cling to these high falutin fantasies about the "Myths and Magic Arc" and the "Great Rewrite"?
Come on people. A project that was far too good to be true to begin with, supposedly had a demo running in 2016 yet failed to materialize in any meaningful way during the 7 following years, and might possibly be in early alpha around 2028?

Myth and Magic was announced as something to happen sometime in the future. So IDK why you're so surprised it hasn't "materialized" lol. Everybody knows it will be a long time before that is done.