This Spring Sale is no real advertisement for GOG - at least not for gamers using GNU/Linux.
Today I was informed that my review for "Iris and the Giant" was not according to their rules
and was cut in several ways.
I called it abandonware - this game was released in 2020 - and no one reacts on extreme bugs
(not even verbally) and GOG does not care as usual. The art is great, the concept interesting,
the game crashing extremely frequently ... nothing was done on that front - no answers.
Thus I asked for a refund (as such quality is not to be sold) and got it.
As it is for free now I just got it again to look at the version - and can verify that it is still
the same buggy version on GOG.
GOG says they do support - they say they look for/assure quality - if so, they should no longer sell
games (I am talking for the GNU/Linux versions - not tested other platforms) which are just trash like:
o Apotheon: totally broken - tested both supported version - one was deleted by GOG, the other kept
so it look like it is still a valid GNU/Linux version - it is NOT!
o Disc Room: could not even start
o Hyper Light Drifter: a total mess, no controller support (tested with Logitech F310) - this no locCoop!
o Iris and the Giant: see above
o Project Zomboid: features advertised as implemented are not there in both version
o Trine series (1 is broken, last two not available for GNU/Linux but entire set sold as being available
on GNU/Linux
o Ultimate ADOM (no full controller support which was advertised - looks interesting, but pre-beta.
I am a Unix expert and worked more than 10 years in IT business.
So I understand that bugs do exist - but if devs & publishers don't care and sell broken software
this is a legal problem.
And GOG does not act - I could never reach the Linux team and could not imagine that such a team
really does exist - too many games start with black screen and I had quite good discussion and
also bug reports welcomed by developers - not concerning those games above.
My list is much longer - but these are the most annoying ones I met (having 632 games from GOG).
If there are positive experience with these game please report it.
But concerning GNU/Linux I would not hold my breath.
Generally GOG does not care / support GNU/Linux - it is ok that the Galaxy client is not available or
planned in my opinion - but that upcoming beta versions not being on the offline installer is more than annoying,
especially when interested in getting bugs fixed early.
I was offered Steam keys from devs - but this is a "no thanks" for me ... and for many other GOG gamers.
It is impressive at discord how many Linux gamers are present with high technical background.
The market share would not allow to expect so many Linux GOG gamers there ... and especially concerning
indie games.
Seeing Steam having GNU/Linux ports while GOG is lacking this is currently striking ...
There are really great GNU/Linux games on GOG - but GOG makes it difficult to see what is trash
and what is good - so one has to test qzickly and use the "refund" option if necessary - which works well
and is fast (well done by GOG).
I would wish for more than that service - and I would like to be informed.
The forum has many places giving examples of GNU/Linux ports suddenly no longer improved ...
One important example - hopefully inly a temporary one - and a game I really like - is "Children of Morta".
But GNU/Linux got no update for a while - the current GNU/Linux version has a big memory problem
(if you play several hours without exiting and restarting) and the latest DLC "Ancient Spirits" is given
on GOG product page that it "will be available soon" - as stated since 07.10.2021, so more than half a year.
I never got a feedback about my bug reports - but they had been addressed till latest 1.2.63 (48061)
dated 29.06.2021 ... while Windows and Mac are both on 1.2.74.
I would have loved to by the DLC and support the developers ... but it is not there for Linux yet.
Publisher/Devs did not make the situation clearer (given on 20.12.2021!):
"Regarding your first question whenever there will be official information about it you will be able to find it here:
Official site:
https://childrenofmorta.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/ChildrenOfMorta Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ChildrenOfMorta/
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/childrenofmorta As for the unbalance reports our devs are still looking into the balancing."
In such cases I would like GOG to get this info in an automatic way - and clearly state when a platform
is at least temporary abandoned.
As Children of Morta is a terrific game it is more than a pity if that's it ... but in former times they
needed 2 months to catch up - and now it seems we have to wait forever.
But at least in this case there is still some hope to get updates incl. the last DLC.
