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[BlueSweatshirt]

Linux has always frightened me a bit, for trying to release a game on it, because of the lack of standards. I'm of the impression that getting everything to work properly on a wide range of systems can be a nightmare.

[Klaim]

@Klaim
No, there are other possible solutions. You can update the game through official update system, without going via the official channels. In Ubuntu you can set up a Personal Package Archive, that people can subscribe to. If you are using auto-updates you probably already have a server, so you can set up your own repository on that server.

It works like this:
1. You set up your server with the game on it
2. People add your server to their "Other repositories"
3. Your game becomes available for download in their software center or package manger
4. All updates you make to your game become instantly available in people's system update manager

(5. I'm not sure if you can force the update as soon as people come online in the game, though)

I cannot work like this with my own project, I was not talking about software update but more like the application needing to download/exchange/remove binaries. The official update is no use in this case.

[PompiPompi]

I thought linux, or at least ubuntu have a kind of offical market place or "app market"?
I don't understand, do I need different binaries for different distributions of linux?

[Dacke]

I cannot work like this with my own project, I was not talking about software update but more like the application needing to download/exchange/remove binaries. The official update is no use in this case.

I am quite sure that there is a solution to your problem.. but I'm still not sure exactly what your game needs to do? Could you just explain what it does in a few sentences?

[Klaim]

I think the way MineCraft work on all platforms is the way for me: it installs directly in the home of the user, not as an application, avoiding every problem but being non-integrated with the OS.

My case is basically that several players can potentially exchange files, some of them being binaries (.so), and they have to be exchanged inside the game then potentially loaded at runtime. (just to be clear: there are some rules that makes it mostly secure and that's not the point here)

[Dacke]

If I understand you correctly, I think you could solve it like this:

Install the base game and resources using the standard repository method. The things that are created by you, the author of the game. Updates to the game are pushed through the standard update system. (This would work perfectly for Minecraft, if they wanted system integration).

Files that are exchanged between users can be stored in a hidden folder in user's home directory. You usually only keep settings/saves/assets in that folder, but I don't see why you couldn't store binaries there as well.

So: install the game as usual. Treat the user-binaries as settings/saves.

[hanako]

I suspect that the game won't sell itself on the Ubuntu Software Center (USC) unless it has good ratings or gets features.

That was my point, really. It's not an easy fix. It's not even really a boost. Maybe if you sank enough time into it, you could get some sales there. You'd almost certainly be better off using that time somewhere else.

And that's the basic answer of 'why not linux'. So long as the reward from the timesink is very small, most people have better things to do with their time.

(Sorry for slow reply, I am CRAZY busy right now. Busy enough to keep even my poor linux geek too distracted to get anywhere near the Desura offerings I promised him he could make. Which also backs my point!)

For any portal in general - why on earth would you waste your time advertising THEIR site when you're already having to give away a share of profits to them? They're supposed to be bringing customers to you. That's what their profit cut is for. If they're not doing that, don't reward them!

[Dacke]

Unless you have a PR-department, it is unfortunately up to you to market your game and get it reviewed. You pay the portals a percentage of the sales in exchange for exposure, but it wouldn't really be right for them to review the games. But that exposure (and ease of buying) has turned out to be a very lucrative model (Steam, Desura, HiB, etc.) if you know how to use it. So I'm not really sure where you're coming from when you say it's not worth it.

Now, it may be possible that UBC isn't a worthwhile portal yet. I haven't seen any data, so I have no idea. But you don't really know either, because you haven't done the minimum work required to even have a chance at making sales.

I can't imagine it taking more than a few hours to set up your game on the UBC and a few more hours to persuade people to review it on there. To me, that sounds like a time investment that would pay off even if you only made a couple of sales. I'm not sure how you'd squeeze more results out of a few hours

[Nix]

I thought linux, or at least ubuntu have a kind of offical market place or "app market"?
I don't understand, do I need different binaries for different distributions of linux?

No, but you might need a different set of dependencies and how you declare those dependencies varies by distribution.