Yes, just did a live run and it's really good, but unable to upgrade as 32-bit GOG games won't run. I realise 18.3 is meant to be a 64-bit only release, but I'd thought there'd be an option in Packages to add in the 32-bit architecture. Quite a lot of GOG games are 32-bit, so it's a real problem. Not sure if 18.2 runs 32-bit; I'd skipped it and stayed on 18.1 as I preferred mdm and just saw no need to upgrade then. I see in 18.3 you can install mdm and set it as preference in Packages, which is great, but the problem with being unable to play GOG games or install dependencies is too big. Unable to compile or do anything complicated, especially if that was needed per game.

I remember there was talk from GOG's side about moving to 64bit only for Linux. I think the time is very nearly ripe for that now.

I found the new Skype version myself after looking.

Yes, it looks like things are moving on over the next few years. If GOG update the 32-bit games, problem solved for sure, and that would be wonderful. Glad you found the new Skype version. :-)

Given how much I rely on 32-bit Wine (or even specifically Wine 1.2.x) to retain compatibility with old 16-bit Windows classics like Lode Runner: The Legend Returns and The Incredible Toon Machine and favourites like Bricklayer, I'll migrate off any distro which goes 64-bit only unless it's less effort to set up a reasonably seamless 32-bit chroot or VM than to migrate.

well, there was a question

Ah, I only dimly remembered there was something about 64bits...

How to solve the problem with 16, 32 and 64bit games? Multiboot?

My nostalgia PCs are more convenient than multiboot and they're still not as comfy as the current approach. I'd be more likely to just design a system image in the vein of TinyCore Linux (An FLTK/FLWM-based desktop in 16MiB) and have each game be a complete virtualized 32-bit Linux system in a KVM image.

Multiarch is convenient.

How do I stop gog.com from starting up when I first start up my laptop and how do I delete games out of or off of my library?

Several GNU/Linux distributions have decided to go 64-bit only (on x86), but being 64-bit only in this case means only being released for x86-64 systems, not only being able to run 64-bit binaries. They'll still contain multiarch libraries required for 32-bit applications.

Good advice, but I did try to install the 32-bit. The dependencies needed by the game I tried (Sphinx) weren't in the repositories, and it ran but unplayable even with the 32-bit architecture installed. The game is excellent, runs perfectly on 18.1, but it would be really great if GOG did appimages, where everything needed is in the installer, covering any distro/release. 18.1 and all 32/64 systems leading up to that are supported until 2021, yet there are problems 4 years early, and people can't take part in the faster upgrades or new features. I'd have upgraded in a heart beat if it wasn't for the 32-bit/games issue. I'd honestly gone into testing the live usb's thinking there would be a straightforward option to add in 32-bit, similar to how lightdm or mdm can be chosen, but that would also cover x32 dependencies being available. I like Mint a lot and also can't use any other distro (need pressure sensitivity for Ugee display tablet). Only to Linux in May, so am not a compiler. Maybe there is a way that I'm not seeing or able to do, but the dependencies needed weren't in the repository; I was surprised by that, as I'd thought there'd be the option. I haven't checked how many purchases are 32-bit, probably quite a few, but I daren't buy any more if they can only be played short term.

32-bit libraries shouldn't be an issue; which libraries does it need exactly?

Hi adamhm, and can I first thank you for the very helpful threads you've posted. I've bookmarked them to study better, and really appreciate the time you've spent.
The dependencies Sphinx needs are libsdl2-2.0-0:i386, libopenal1:i386, libudev1:i386 + dependencies. I haven't upgraded to 18.3, as it looks like every 32-bit game could need dependencies that aren't in the repository. I just happened to pick Sphinx for the test, as it's the latest 32-bit game I've bought, plus I could test the controller also, which all works perfectly on 18.1. Installed the 32-bit architecture, but then was surprised to not find the 3 dependencies available anyway. I'm worrying I've got something wrong, lol, but I tried variants as well in synaptic and nothing came up. Those 3 dependencies are in the 18.1 synaptic; come up straightaway.