LudumData

New builds and a rant about Linux users

[raw] LD24LD #24 15. Sep 2012 路 14:10 UTC · 22 days after compo start by goffmog · 2

Unnatural selection (my LD24 entry) was originally only a Unity webplayer game, but now has Windows and Mac standalone builds available – which may or may not mean that Linux users can get it to run under emulation.

Looking at comments left on a lot of the games I’ve been rating, I’m a little bit perplexed by the number of Linux users who post on games that don’t profess to support Linux, just to say that they can’t run the game under emulation on Linux – because it’s running on a framework/engine that is known not to work on Linux.

Well what did they expect?

Did they expect a solo indie dev in 48 hours to not only have written a complete game but also figured out how to overcome the limitations of XNA or the Unity web plugin? Or do Linux users just have a chip on their shoulders when it comes to games? 馃槈

Comments

dr_soda
15. Sep 2012 路 14:44 UTC
The same can be said of people who don’t have an Android who make the same comments on Android-only entries. In fairness though, the compo encourages people to report that they could not run an entry just so long as people remember not to rate the entry. It is a good thing to get a sense of how broad your reach is or is not and these reports can help with that.
goffmog
15. Sep 2012 路 14:57 UTC
That’s right, good times ahead for Linux users (of which I am also one btw!) I can understand how it’s helpful to point out that a native Windows app doesn’t run in WINE on Linux but I really don’t see the point of saying “This game won’t run on Linux because it’s XNA, and XNA doesn’t work under WINE” one may as well say “This kitten will drown underwater, because kittens are mammals and mammals don’t have gills”
15. Sep 2012 路 15:47 UTC
leaving a comment like that is the only way to get it off your ratings list so you can rate more games, would you prefer everyone just commented “…” and said nothing instead? The way LD’s site works it’s basicly the only way to find more games to play (the search does NOT work, 90% of the results it comes back with are false positives), and yes i’ve complained about this EVERY year that we seriously seriously need some way to sort by platform.
15. Sep 2012 路 15:48 UTC
Another problem is, that after you rated some games to increase the

chance to get your constructive feedback by others, this chance

decreases by one which can’t play your game (so he can remove it from

the list of games he should rate). That a game doesn’t run on a specific platform

is interesting, but in comparison to a game-related feedback not very

useful and disappointing.
sorceress
15. Sep 2012 路 15:50 UTC
I鈥檓 a little bit perplexed by the number of Linux users who post on games that don鈥檛 profess to support Linux
16. Sep 2012 路 08:50 UTC
I think you’re looking at this the wrong way: those comments are useful demographic information. Remember, these are people who came to the page wanting to play your game, but went away frustrated because they couldn’t. Each one of them represents a part of your potential market that you’ve cut off.