Linux

[jaeger]

Well, what have we here?

http://www.penumbrablackplague.com/site/buy.php

Downloading my purchased copy right now. Yay!

[Jeremy-Bailey]

what a birthday present! already downloading. my b-day is today, 6th of May, age 26 now.

[edfardos]

Sweet - I just ordered it using PayPal! After a curiously long wait (60 seconds) the order went through and I was provided a serial number and two download links.

The Linux version is downloading now - too cool!

l8s,
edfardos

[DSS]

w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t w00t!

Only now my dilemma is this: Study for quiz at uni today vs. play BP?

[edfardos]

The Linux version works great! I suspect I'm half way through, taking my time. What a great game -- it's worth the wait. Thanks for releasing the Linux version! best US$20 I've spent in a long time.

r,
edfardos

[b0rsuk]

I just wanted to thank you for releasing the linux version. Great game.

[zeb]

Yep, many thanks. I ordered the Linux version the day after I learnt it was released. Great game!

[CoarseSand]

Short summary: I read a review of Penumbra: Black Plague yesterday and the game really seemed interesting. I'm an Arch Linux user and still love to game even though I'm on Linux. As luck would have it, I was picking up Quake 4 today and I noticed the store also had a single copy of Black Plague, so I immediately grabbed it. But now I'm screwed, and it boils down to this: Why does the boxed version not have the Linux sh?

As a Linux gamer, I'm used to games saying they have the Linux version, even when they don't (for instance I own the Midway anthology of the Unreal series, which has everything stored in .cab files, a nice screw you to Linux users). I usually get around this by just downloading Linux compatible versions from torrent sites, which isn't the best solution but I actually do own legit copies of the games.

I did the same thing with Black Plague this evening, got into the sh installer, and then, bam, on top of not having a Linux version in the box (come on guys, just use DVDs and include every version), the serial key on the back of the booklet doesn't even fit inside of the Linux sh installer's serial box. It stops about eight characters short, so of course it won't actually validate.

What am I to do? Not really sure, I may just say "eff you" to this game and Frictional in the future, but this definitely needed to make it's way into this thread. If you're a Linux user and see a copy of this game on store shelves, stay away. If you're comfortable with online purchases go ahead and make one at the Frictional store, but as far as I'm aware you'll be wasting twenty bucks if you get the boxed version, and even with an online purchase you'll be buying a CD key that won't work on the Windows version.

Now, naturally, pics or it didn't happen, and here's the proof that I do have a legal copy of the game.



And finally, I am aware that the box version of the game says "Windows VISTA/2000/XP" under system requirements. But again, where's the sense in not having the Linux sh accept Windows serials? And what happens when someone who bought the Linux or Mac version online tries to bring their copy over to Windows? It's just silly that someone would have to pay twice to use the same game on both systems.

[WindexGlow]

They're making the linux version; it takes alot of debugging and they are a very small team.

You're lucky they are making a Linux version. Linux makes up such a small share of computers (only a few percent) it's hardly worth the cost of porting it over there. I have nothing against Linux but you have to remember these
1: They have less than 5 full-time members on their team that I know about. Only 1-2 do the coding.
2: They work in their own homes.
3: I don't think any of them are actually Linux users themselves.
4: A very small share of computer users use Linux or Mac (combined). For such a small company, it costs them alot to port it

There's more reasons, but that's enough. Isn't there a program called 'Wine' or something that ports windows to mac?

[CoarseSand]

Yep, expected that post.

Anyone with a pair of eyes can tell Penumbra is an indie game; a good indie game, but still an indie. And I support small-time game devs, because they're the ones with the really neat, new ideas for gameplay. On top of that I thank Frictional immensely that they did release a Linux version. But do I have the Linux version of Penumbra? Nope. And it's the right of anyone to get annoyed when they pay twenty dollars for something that doesn't work, and even more so when something that ought to be universal across platform (at least by my standards, and judging from the 99.9% of games I have played in my life) isn't.

As for the motivations behind my post, don't assume I'm trying to flame Frictional. I do a reasonable amount of research before I buy any game. I do a reasonable amount of research before I do anything really. And in that reasonable amount of time spent on my part, I did not see anything that said "this boxed version's key won't work with the Linux version". And now there is something that says that. And hopefully Linux users will read this and not buy that boxed version. Getting my point?

Do I expect anything done about my situation? Nah, not really. Like I said, I also picked up Quake 4, so I can just amuse myself with that instead. I just wanted to give the creepy new FPS a try first, and now I'm out twenty bucks.

Lastly, yes, Wine does allow porting of Windows programs to Linux. And it does so, if it can do it at all, with a pretty good performance hit, especially for a lot of games. Again, that's if it can even get it to run. But I bought the game because I expected it to be Linux native.