Sandworm Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 My story: A few days ago I saw Scott Manley's Xenonauts vid. I loved x-com tftd and said "I want!" So I go to the humble story and see the Tux symbol indicating the game is available for linux. I WANT! So I pay up and download the appropriate linux build.... or at least it looked like a linux build. Problem 1: So it's not a build, or a port, it's a wine-wrapped windows executable. Ok, possible false advertising given that nearly any non-AAA windows game may be playable via wine, but I'll admit "available for linux" is a grey area. Problem 2: The linux ports/wraps are not current. The most recent builds are only available for windows. This isn't like a few hours due to server issues. More than one update has been released for windows in recent days without word on when new wine-wraps will be made available linux customers. That means that the developers are moving forwards with bug fixing before addressing availability. Is this the pattern for the future? Who exactly is handling linux/mac issues? Is it in-house or are the builds issued by volunteers? (Sorry for making my first post a complaint-question, but while I really like the game I find this frustrating.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dranak Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 My story:Problem 2: The linux ports/wraps are not current. The most recent builds are only available for windows. This isn't like a few hours due to server issues. More than one update has been released for windows in recent days without word on when new wine-wraps will be made available linux customers. That means that the developers are moving forwards with bug fixing before addressing availability. The Linux update is a WIP. You aren't being ignored, and the people doing the bug fixing aren't the same people doing the Linux port. There are also some Linux-specific issues the devs are working on fixing (mostly related to air combat I believe). Here's the most recent post from Chris I can find. http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/7464-Xeno-Steam-Linux?p=118289&viewfull=1#post118289 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPyro Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 Yeah, the rapid iteration is being done on Windows, with the Linux support being done later when there is a stable target to aim at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teodosio Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Problem 2: The linux ports/wraps are not current. The most recent builds are only available for windows. This isn't like a few hours due to server issues. More than one update has been released for windows in recent days without word on when new wine-wraps will be made available linux customers. That means that the developers are moving forwards with bug fixing before addressing availability. Yes GNU/Linux support for this game is a bit 'scammy' to be honest. A Wine-wrapper should not be considered as a port, else 95% of Windows software could be labeled as 'GNU/Linux support'... but anyway. This is what I am doing in order to get the latest build for this game: I installed a Windows Steam into Wine and I downloaded Xenonauts from there. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPyro Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Yes GNU/Linux support for this game is a bit 'scammy' to be honest. A Wine-wrapper should not be considered as a port, else 95% of Windows software could be labeled as 'GNU/Linux support'... but anyway.This is what I am doing in order to get the latest build for this game: I installed a Windows Steam into Wine and I downloaded Xenonauts from there. HTH. Unfortunately, the devs do not have access to the source code for the game engine (if you spend any time on this forum you will see a lot of cursing about the engine), and without that access they cannot provide a native Linux port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 The game doesn't say it is available for Linux on the Humble Store, does it? It certainly doesn't look that way to me. We specifically asked them to turn that feature off. Regarding the ports, the current version there is V1.05HF and the current version on Steam is V1.06 (only released about 24 hours before your post). Steam lets the developers authorise builds themselves, whereas Humble Store manually downloads and authorises each upload before it is available (which obviously takes longer). It also takes 24 hours or so for the porter to download the builds, wrap them, then re-upload them. A lag of a couple of days isn't too unreasonable given the situation imo. The Wine situation is not ideal but sadly it's the best we can do in the circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandworm Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 Well, it says windows-only now. So I guess the answer is: No, the game is no longer being released for linux. Without diving into wayback machines and screenshots, I would never have purchased a game without linux support indicated (I do not own windows machines). My link at the humblebundle still has linux/mac options. I'm not saying I don't want the game now, it does play, but this move away from official linux support in future updates is disappointing. I cannot be the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teodosio Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Well, it says windows-only now. So I guess the answer is: No, the game is no longer being released for linux.Without diving into wayback machines and screenshots, I would never have purchased a game without linux support indicated (I do not own windows machines). My link at the humblebundle still has linux/mac options. I'm not saying I don't want the game now, it does play, but this move away from official linux support in future updates is disappointing. I cannot be the only one. +1 agree 100% you are not the only one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gauddlike Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 It is not so much a move away from supporting linux but a realisation that the support they were aiming for is impossible. Using wine is the only way it can be done and is still being worked on to provide the game to as many systems as possible. If only the creators of the Playground SDK had bothered to support their engine or provided access rights to Goldhawk when contacted this may not have been an issue at all. Since Xenonauts development started Playground has also been discontinued so there has not been much Goldhawk could do. They do seem to have learnt their lesson though so more research before selecting their next game engine should definitely yield better results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I've always been confused by how many people would buy the game for Mac / Linux despite it not being advertised as available on those services, so I had another look into it after reading your reply. The Humble Store and Steam have never showed it as Mac / Linux compatible, but for some reason the Humble Store widget on our site does still suggest it is (so you must have bought it through our site). I'll have the reference to Mac and Linux removed from there too and hopefully that will prevent this happening in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wamarler Posted June 24, 2014 Share Posted June 24, 2014 Welp, that's the canonical answer, thanks Chris. I see that on winehq, Xenonauts has a Platinum rating. That is good. However, the rating is very old, so that is not as good. Perhaps some community member(s) who run the wine port can relay their experiences on winehq? Personally, I'm not super thrilled about using wine, but if the game earns a platinum rating, that's good enough. It's a lot to ask devs to support Linux natively, what with Linux being such a volatile thing, so going the extra mile to make the game work with wine is the next best thing. Thanks. And if you do get around to making a native port ... even more thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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