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50 games for the free OS available right NOW!

A while ago, [url=http://www.gog.com/news/gogcom_soon_on_more_platforms]we've announced our plans to add Linux support as one of the features of our digital platform, with 100 games on the launch day sometime this fall. We've put much time and effort into this project and now we've found ourselves with over 50 titles, classic and new, prepared for distribution, site infrastructure ready, support team trained and standing by, and absolutely no reason to wait until October or November. We're still aiming to have at least 100 Linux games in the coming months, but we've decided not to delay the launch just for the sake of having a nice-looking number to show off to the press. It's not about them, after all, it's about you. So, one of the most popular site feature requests on our community wishlist is granted today: Linux support has officially arrived on GOG.com!

The first 50+ titles we've have in store for you come from all the corners of our DRM-Free catalog. Note that we've got many classic titles coming officially to Linux for the very first time, thanks to the custom builds prepared by our dedicated team of penguin tamers. That's over twenty fan-favorite GOG.com classics, like &[url=http://www.gog.com/game/flatout_2]Flatout 2, , <a href="http://www.gog.com/game/darklands">Darklands, or Realms of the Haunting we've personally ushered one by one into the welcoming embrace of Linux gamers. That's already quite a nice chunk of our back-catalog, and you can expect more from our dedicated Linux team soon!

Now, for the recent titles. We've got some indie games with native Linux versions that finally find their well-deserved spot in our store. Among them, debuting on Linux, - a well received original comedic Sci-Fi puzzler. On top of that, be on the lookout for two new additions to the GOG.com catalog: [url=http://www.gog.com/game/gods_will_be_watching]Gods Will Be Watching (coming in a couple of hours) and Unrest:Special Edition (Linux build coming right up!), both of them very fresh and intriguing. This is the very first time we can provide you with all the PC versions of a premiere game, and we will continue to do so in the future. If there's a Linux version of a title we're releasing, our aim is to deliver it to you Day-1. But enough about us, let's talk about the games. Here's what you can be playing on Linux today:

Anomaly Warzone Earth
Ascendant
Bionic Dues
Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold - first time on Linux!
Blake Stone: Planet Strike - first time on Linux!
Bloodnet - first time on Linux!
Braveland
CLARC - first time on Linux!
Darklands - first time on Linux!
Darwinia
Defcon
Don't Starve + DLC
Dragonsphere - first time on Linux!
Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition
FlatOut - first time on Linux!
Flatout 2 - first time on Linux!
Fragile Allegiance - first time on Linux!
Gemini Rue
Gods Will Be Watching
Hammerwatch
Hocus Pocus - first time on Linux!
Kentucky Route Zero
The Last Federation
Legend of Grimrock
Litil Divil - first time on Linux!
Long Live the Queen
MouseCraft
Multiwinia
Normality - first time on Linux!
Pinball Gold Pack - first time on Linux!
Pinball World - first time on Linux!
Pirates! Gold Plus - first time on Linux!
Realms of the Haunting - first time on Linux!
Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender - first time on Linux!
Rise of the Triad: Dark War - first time on Linux!
Shattered Haven
The Shivah HD
Sid Meier's Colonization - first time on Linux!
Sid Meier's Covert Action - first time on Linux!
Sir, You Are Being Hunted
Slipstream 5000 - first time on Linux!
Space Pirates and Zombies
Spacechem
Stargunner - first time on Linux!
SteamWorld Dig
Super Hexagon
Surgeon Simulator 2013
Sword of the Samurai - first time on Linux!
Teslagrad
Unrest:Special Edition (Linux build on the way!)
Uplink
VVVVVV

As if this wasn't exciting enough, we've put more than half of these titles on a special promo! Head out to the promo page and find out which of them you can get up to 75% off until Tuesday, 9:59AM GMT. Of course, all of the games from the list above that you already own will be updated with Linux versions with no additional cost for you, just as you might have expected from GOG.com.

"OK, but how will Linux support actually work on GOG.com" - you might ask. For both native Linux versions, as well as special builds prepared by our team, GOG.com will provide distro-independent tar.gz archives and support convenient DEB installers for the two most popular Linux distributions: Ubuntu and Mint, in their current and future LTS editions. Helpful and responsive customer support has always been an important part of the GOG.com gaming experience. We wouldn't have it any other way when it comes to Linux, and starting today our helpdesk offers support for our official Linux releases on Ubuntu and Mint systems.

Diversity and freedom of choice have always been an important part of the GOG.com way. We're very glad that we could improve our service with the addition of the free (and DRM-Free) alternative to the commercial operating systems. Talking with gamers is just as important, so we're counting on your feedback! If you've got any questions, suggestions, or run into any trouble, just tell us in the forum thread below this post. Just please be gentle, this is [url=http://youtu.be/qBxbPts5tOk" target="_blank]our very first time[/url] with Linux. Happy launch day, everyone!
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king_mosiah: I wonder if there will be a GOG equivalent to the Steam Runtime when Galaxy ships......
They could literally just use the Steam one. It is 100% openly licensed: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime/blob/master/COPYING
Oh, and I can state that the Unrest Linux build _does_ work, but yes it needs a bit of packaging to work on all systems (I had to copy a synth library from another game to get it to work on ArchLinux 64. And yes, that's the completely WRONG way to do it from a system standpoint, but it's the way the game packages the other libraries locally.)
Most commercial, closed-source software on Linux either subscribes to the Linux Standard Base or comes with its own Shared Objects/is statically linked. There's no need to come up with a competing standard.
Post edited July 28, 2014 by darodrigues
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Future_Suture: Pfff, do it yourselves and I'll buy 10 copies. Easy! :D
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JudasIscariot: Ummm no? We're not a porting company :P
Would Windows version accompanied with Wine be feastible as done with some games already (after you get permission obviously)? There is also VCMI Project that aims to recreate the game engine. It's not quite finished (0.96 at time of writing) but it's getting there.
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Future_Suture: I wonder that as well. What would the advantages of that be, though?
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king_mosiah: It takes a alot of hassle out of running games on distros other than Ubuntu for one. It would also gives devels a clearer target to port to.
That sounds great. If it makes things easier, especially for GOG, why not?
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JudasIscariot: Ummm no? We're not a porting company :P
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Petrell: Would Windows version accompanied with Wine be feastible as done with some games already (after you get permission obviously)? There is also VCMI Project that aims to recreate the game engine. It's not quite finished (0.96 at time of writing) but it's getting there.
If we were to make a Linux-compatible version of HOMM3 Complete, it would most likely have to be done with Wine as a compatibility layer as the two official expansions never received a proper Linux port.

Sure, the base game (Heroes 3: Restoration of Erathia) has a native Linux port but a) does it work in Ubuntu 14.04/Mint 17, b) can we get permission for that particular version, and c) would it make sense for us, hypothetically speaking, to offer the one native port of the HOMMIII base game and then offer the Wined HOMM3 Complete package along with it?

As for the recreation of the HOMM 3 engine, not sure how to go about answering that as that may be asking for more compatibility issues than it's worth. I do hope, personally speaking and not as GOG.com, that the remake does come to fruition and that it can be easily used with the GOG version of HOMM 3 Complete without too much hassle :)
Post edited July 28, 2014 by JudasIscariot
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Petrell: Would Windows version accompanied with Wine be feastible as done with some games already (after you get permission obviously)? There is also VCMI Project that aims to recreate the game engine. It's not quite finished (0.96 at time of writing) but it's getting there.
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JudasIscariot: If we were to make a Linux-compatible version of HOMM3 Complete, it would most likely have to be done with Wine as a compatibility layer as the two official expansions never received a proper Linux port.

Sure, the base game (Heroes 3: Restoration of Erathia) has a native Linux port but a) does it work in Ubuntu 14.04/Mint 17, b) can we get permission for that particular version, and c) would it make sense for us, hypothetically speaking, to offer the one native port of the HOMMIII base game and then offer the Wined HOMM3 Complete package along with it?

As for the recreation of the HOMM 3 engine, not sure how to go about answering that as that may be asking for more compatibility issues than it's worth. I do hope, personally speaking and not as GOG.com, that the remake does come to fruition and that it can be easily used with the GOG version of HOMM 3 Complete without too much hassle :)
Depending how much extra work it would require, you could add the Native linux port of base game at least as an extra and use the Wine version as official download. As for unofficial engine remakes, you could feature them in mod spotlights and/or make a stickied quide to using such engine in specific game (or sticky one that already exists). In easiest cases it simply involves putting the new executable into game folder but requirements may wary from OS to OS and remake to remake.
I would also be very happy to see the Witcher games on GOG for Linux.
Not just the last two chapters, but the original one as well.
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JudasIscariot: If we were to make a Linux-compatible version of HOMM3 Complete, it would most likely have to be done with Wine as a compatibility layer as the two official expansions never received a proper Linux port.

Sure, the base game (Heroes 3: Restoration of Erathia) has a native Linux port but a) does it work in Ubuntu 14.04/Mint 17, b) can we get permission for that particular version, and c) would it make sense for us, hypothetically speaking, to offer the one native port of the HOMMIII base game and then offer the Wined HOMM3 Complete package along with it?

As for the recreation of the HOMM 3 engine, not sure how to go about answering that as that may be asking for more compatibility issues than it's worth. I do hope, personally speaking and not as GOG.com, that the remake does come to fruition and that it can be easily used with the GOG version of HOMM 3 Complete without too much hassle :)
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Petrell: Depending how much extra work it would require, you could add the Native linux port of base game at least as an extra and use the Wine version as official download. As for unofficial engine remakes, you could feature them in mod spotlights and/or make a stickied quide to using such engine in specific game (or sticky one that already exists). In easiest cases it simply involves putting the new executable into game folder but requirements may wary from OS to OS and remake to remake.
Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines regarding the native version, that is either make it an extra for the purists and use the Wined version as the supported version :) Of course, this sill depends on whether it would be possible to even make it work and there's that permission thing :)

A mod spotlight would be good but I am not sure how well one would work for Linux as that's kind of new territory for most of us :)
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bln: I call shenanigans on that one. This is NOT Linux support by ANY mean. It's DEBIAN-BASED GNU/LINUX and some other distributions (thanks to the tgz) support.
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Seegras: Funny enough, GOG staff exactly predicted your reaction earlier...

Anyway: Should I start blubbering that GOG does not support Windows? Because it doesn't run on Windows NT on 64bit Alpha, and neither on Windows on ARM, and most not newer games don't run on Windows 98 either.

So once again, thank you GOG!
What about my Windows 3.11 computer? :)

Unfortunately it seems it's only the Linux group that has a few of these users. I haven't heard OSX users complain that Power PC isn't supported here. One of the reasons I chose Linux Mint is because it is well supported, and used by many others. Ubuntu and Mint are really the only two distros that have enough users to even register on Steam's OS graph.

I do, or plan to, use other distros also, but my main Linux computer and laptop will stay on Mint 17.

Don't let the naysayers get you down GOG. This is a much appreciated move. However, you may want to look at supporting RPM in the future. It won't affect me, but RPM is popular.
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JudasIscariot: Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines regarding the native version, that is either make it an extra for the purists and use the Wined version as the supported version :) Of course, this sill depends on whether it would be possible to even make it work and there's that permission thing :)

A mod spotlight would be good but I am not sure how well one would work for Linux as that's kind of new territory for most of us :)
Well me being solely Windows user, it's entirely unknown territory for me. Just giving suggestions that work for rest of us. I'll let magicians at GOG to figure the details (and weird voodoo rituals half of the posts in this topic talk about). ;-p
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Seegras: Funny enough, GOG staff exactly predicted your reaction earlier...

Anyway: Should I start blubbering that GOG does not support Windows? Because it doesn't run on Windows NT on 64bit Alpha, and neither on Windows on ARM, and most not newer games don't run on Windows 98 either.

So once again, thank you GOG!
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jalister: What about my Windows 3.11 computer? :)

Unfortunately it seems it's only the Linux group that has a few of these users. I haven't heard OSX users complain that Power PC isn't supported here. One of the reasons I chose Linux Mint is because it is well supported, and used by many others. Ubuntu and Mint are really the only two distros that have enough users to even register on Steam's OS graph.

I do, or plan to, use other distros also, but my main Linux computer and laptop will stay on Mint 17.

Don't let the naysayers get you down GOG. This is a much appreciated move. However, you may want to look at supporting RPM in the future. It won't affect me, but RPM is popular.
I heard other Fedora users say that there's a package or program called alien that converts .debs into RPMs, so there's that at least :)
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JudasIscariot: Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines regarding the native version, that is either make it an extra for the purists and use the Wined version as the supported version :) Of course, this sill depends on whether it would be possible to even make it work and there's that permission thing :)

A mod spotlight would be good but I am not sure how well one would work for Linux as that's kind of new territory for most of us :)
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Petrell: Well me being solely Windows user, it's entirely unknown territory for me. Just giving suggestions that work for rest of us. I'll let magicians at GOG to figure the details (and weird voodoo rituals half of the posts in this topic talk about). ;-p
Well, I'd rather take baby steps in this issue and have us secure permission for the Linux version and then we can go from there :)
Post edited July 28, 2014 by JudasIscariot
I really like the tarballs. Even if I used Ubuntu/Mint I'd still probably use the tarballs, so simple extract to home directory and run. I know exactly where everything is, I know exactly which partitions capacity the game is using etc.
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Daliz: I really like the tarballs. Even if I used Ubuntu/Mint I'd still probably use the tarballs, so simple extract to home directory and run. I know exactly where everything is, I know exactly which partitions capacity the game is using etc.
For me they are great as the Mint 17 equivalent of Software Center takes AGES to show up for some reason so tar.gz all the way for me :D
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Daliz: I really like the tarballs. Even if I used Ubuntu/Mint I'd still probably use the tarballs, so simple extract to home directory and run. I know exactly where everything is, I know exactly which partitions capacity the game is using etc.
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JudasIscariot: For me they are great as the Mint 17 equivalent of Software Center takes AGES to show up for some reason so tar.gz all the way for me :D
*nod* It's as if "performance optimization as part of UX design" is an alien concept to these guys.

(Hence why I always use apt-get or aptitude for repository installs and dpkg -i for manually-downloaded packages.)