A final(?) update on Shadwen on Linux (Manjaro 64-bit) using an AMD card (6870):

First, my apologies that these tests are a bit all over the place. I’m just shooting for snapshots to get an idea of how well this game might work. If someone is interested in more complete tests, I can try and do that.

I wanted to make sure I was being fair to the officially supported OS, so I ran the game under Ubuntu 14.04 using the fglrx-updates proprietary drivers. The FPS was pretty bad using Very High Details. 10 FPS at the main menu, around 8 in the opening area. I didn’t bother going farther – I just wanted a feeling for any difference that might exist and the conclusion was “worse”.

Next, I tried the MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=4.1 command and it seems to have worked! Not only that, but it’s a vast improvement!
Running Medium Details, 1080P, Medium AA, and a single-gpu (crossfire not supported by open drivers yet) these were the approximate FPS for each area (with the FPS using the proprietary drivers in brackets I posted earlier).

UI Menu: 31-33 (21)
Starting Area: 25-28 (15)
Double Guards: 31-35 (17)
Behind Barrel (Guard Moving): 36-41 (18)
Looking down 2nd alley: 25-28 (I think it was around 15 as well)

Some other notes:
- UI mouse lag still exists
- The initial load time of the game (the blood filling the bird crest) seems longer. It will get to half way, and just take longer. I don’t know why this is, but if you are testing this hack, prepare for that and don’t assume it crashed. I think it only took a minute or two total (didn’t time).
- I didn’t play that long, so there is still a chance this hack will crash the game.

Glad to hear you got it working.

I had that load time issue with the demo when using Mesa, I think it took like a minute to start up. Small sacrifice though when it runs so much better. :)

Of course it's understandable that it'll take extra work and time to change what is - but then given that this is the editor you seem to use internally across games I'd argue there's even more of a case for this going forward. I'd guess you plan to use the same editor on other games in the future, too - which means the very same issue and protests are likely to come up with any future game, too.

Take this as a bit of a plea to go ahead and invest the effort of creating a non-steam tied version of it. Not just in relation to Shadwen but anything else you do in the future.

Good, at least you got a playable game :)

Is this like Thief meets Styx? Because both were masterpieces.

And does not having the editor mean no fan made levels, or that I can't make my own fan made levels? Because... I can't make my own levels.

Both. We don't have access to the editor, and levels can apparently only be shared with Steam Workshop.

Ah, so it's actually a problem. Guess I'll just wait indefinitely for this one. One of the joys of stealth games is usually the FMs.

This is very scummy practice that you're admitting to - I don't know if your company can be trusted by consumers at all if this is the norm for it.

Tell you what, if you're genuine in your sentiments expressed here at all, here's a solution that would require absolutely none of those oh so elusive things that are effort and consideration from you whatsoever: You could release the source code for your editor as-is, without having to alter it at all, and just let your customers fix it for you - that at least wouldn't be as scummy as your current situation is.

I wouldn’t use the level editor myself, but I would definitely play some player-created levels. Having the option to at least share levels outside of Steam would be big step in the right direction, in case this is less effortful than separating the whole level editor from Steam.

After a few days to think it over, I've decided (not lightly) to request a refund.

I love Frozenbyte and their game designs. I love that they put a fine polish, and a unique (and enjoyable) spin on their games. And I truly want to support developers like Frozenbyte (and I don't mind forgiving their flaws whenever possible).

Sadly, this game hit too many hurdles for me.

- The game performs poorly on my AMD hardware (see previous posts) even when accounting for typical AMD vs Nvidia performance differences under Linux.

- Use of Nvidia Physx. To be fair, I don't know how much of a problem this is for AMD users but suspect it highly based on point 1. In any case, I discourage any vendor-lock in - especially when alternatives exist (I'm looking at you Witcher 3).

- No level editor for GOGgers. Again, vendor lock in (Steam only), and true value lost to all users on GOG.



Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the demo. I WANT to play this game. Should any of the above change, I will happily reconsider. But until then, I must bow out.