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GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

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Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#71

Post by StopDisinfo910 »

anonymous908213 wrote: post #44
bravetraveler wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of words for "yes they will insist on fragmentation"

Linux userspace is defined by fragmentation. Linux users can't even unify on a distro, such that significant swathes of software are incompatible for some users despite everyone using the same kernel. In that environment, and also just in general, why is anybody obligated to contribute to a specific existing project rather than building their own?

I mean, the main issue with portability is the insistance on dynamic linking, far more than the distro situation.

If you use Linux like MacOS and only run static binaries and containerized programs via things like flatpak everything is fine.

It's totally possible to treat the distro simply as a thin base layer and get everything else from flatpak and the various container hubs. It does work great.

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#72

Post by plqbfbv »

thrownawaysz wrote: post #53

>Competitive Salary – We ensure fair and attractive compensation that reflects your skills and experience: 18 000 - 27 000 PLN/month I know it's eastern Europe but that's $5000-7500 a month, barely $90k a year. It sounds like a solo job too so a lot of responsibility for this salary.

That's in the 50k EUR - 77k EUR range which is senior-level pay in EU. Add to that it includes pension, tax prepayments and health insurance. They also seem to offer lots of perks in the office.

If you account for the fact that Poland is generally less expensive than the average and that the average monthly living cost is ~900 EUR ( https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?cou... ), even the 50k lower bracket is in the higher range. You get ~2k EUR net/month in your account after pension and tax contributions, health insurance, rent and expenses (as a single). That's not bad at all. EDIT: (excluding rent)

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#73

Post by p4bl0 »

thrownawaysz wrote: post #53

>Competitive Salary – We ensure fair and attractive compensation that reflects your skills and experience: 18 000 - 27 000 PLN/month I know it's eastern Europe but that's $5000-7500 a month, barely $90k a year. It sounds like a solo job too so a lot of responsibility for this salary.

The standard of living is higher in France than in eastern Europe, and even in France that's considered a high salary.

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#74

Post by account42 »

gamesieve wrote: post #64
CopperWing wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I remember, the only games which optionally need Galaxy running are those will online multiplayer, and only if you want to play online. This is because the original developers shutdown their own servers for matchmaking or originally used Steam servers for that. GOG servers are only replacing those.

There are also a handful of games which put some additional purely cosmetic content behind an online check. That could be the start of a slippery slope, which people are justly upset about, but they then do an injustice to their cause by generalizing from those cases.

It's not a slippery slope but already full blown DRM plain and simple. Both online functionality limited to GOG-run servers and checks for cosmetic content.

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#75

Post by MaulingMonkey »

EspadaV9 wrote: post #7

No. Please don't. Contribute to something like Heroic Launcher instead. Don't create something new just for GOG. Help make the existing tools better. It'll mean GOG has to do less work, and the programs people are already using will get better. Or even just sponsor Heroic so they can send more time we can working on it themselves.

> It'll mean GOG has to do less work

[citation needed]

GOG's launcher team is presumably already familiar with their codebase, already has a checkout, already has a codebase that's missing 0 features, has a user interface that already matches their customer's muscle memory, and presumably already has semi-decent platform abstraction layer, considering they have binaries for both Windows and OS X. Unless they've utterly botched their PAL and buried it under several mountains of technical debt, porting is probably going to be relatively straightforward.

I'm not giving Linux gaming a second shot merely because of a bunch of ancedata about proton and wine improvements - I'm giving it a second shot because Steam themselves have staked enough of their brand and reputation on the experience, and put enough skin in the game with official linux support in their launcher. While I don't have enough of a GOG library for GOG's launcher to move the needle on that front for me personally, what it might do is get me looking at the GOG storefront again - in a way that some third party launcher simply wouldn't. Epic? I do have Satisfactory there, Heroic Launcher might be enough to avoid repurchasing it on Steam just for Linux, but it's not enough to make me want to stop avoiding Epic for future purchases on account of poor Linux support.

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#76

Post by keyringlight »

OrangeRange wrote: post #42
bravetraveler wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of words for "yes they will insist on fragmentation"

Everyone in the linux world insists on fragmentation, though? It's a part of what makes it great and a mess at the same time. And what of it? Every time a for profit company uses open source they'll either create a closed fork, and if they can't they'll create closed source modules for it. I'm not saying it's bad to wish for companies to support FOSS, I'm just saying it's an unrealistic expectation to have.

The impression I've had for a long while now is that just as the software side is fragmented so is the userbase in what they want, including a segment that want one true way and all that fragmentation to go away. The trouble I see with catering to all that variation is it's putting an onus for more work on the developer (which needs funding from somewhere, most likely the publisher) and while linux (and GOG) is a niche market in the present and near term it doesn't seem like a winning proposition.

There's definitely a desire for an appliance/console like experience where all the complexity is hidden behind install/play buttons, and steam has got most of the way there. As protondb shows that can't go all the way and tweaking is needed owing to the shifting PC compatibility in general and running software from one OS on a different one, it's the nature of the beast. Personally pushing towards monoculture on an open platform needs to be tempered, and there's a lot of debate previously for other places where that's relevant.

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#78

Post by [deleted] »

plqbfbv wrote: post #72
thrownawaysz wrote: post #53

>Competitive Salary – We ensure fair and attractive compensation that reflects your skills and experience: 18 000 - 27 000 PLN/month I know it's eastern Europe but that's $5000-7500 a month, barely $90k a year. It sounds like a solo job too so a lot of responsibility for this salary.

That's in the 50k EUR - 77k EUR range which is senior-level pay in EU. Add to that it includes pension, tax prepayments and health insurance. They also seem to offer lots of perks in the office. If you account for the fact that Poland is generally less expensive than the average and that the average monthly living cost is ~900 EUR ( https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?cou... ), even the 50k lower…

[deleted]

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#79

Post by high_na_euv »

EspadaV9 wrote: post #7

No. Please don't. Contribute to something like Heroic Launcher instead. Don't create something new just for GOG. Help make the existing tools better. It'll mean GOG has to do less work, and the programs people are already using will get better. Or even just sponsor Heroic so they can send more time we can working on it themselves.

Why they shouldnt develop version over which they have full control?

Re: GOG: Linux "the next major frontier" for gaming as it works on a native client

#80

Post by indolering »

gamesieve wrote: post #15
EspadaV9 wrote: post #7

No. Please don't. Contribute to something like Heroic Launcher instead. Don't create something new just for GOG. Help make the existing tools better. It'll mean GOG has to do less work, and the programs people are already using will get better. Or even just sponsor Heroic so they can send more time we can working on it themselves.

They're not creating something new. They're taking their existing tool (which - for all its flaws - is still far ahead of Heroic in many ways), improving it further, and changing it to also work on Linux. If they then go add additional features like wine integration to that tool to make it overlap more with Heroic is something we're all assuming, but not actually a given.

They could at least use Flatpak and containers instead of choosing a given distro or package manager.
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