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General discussionNEWS: Revamping Linux installers for all GOG.com games(192 posts)(192 posts)
(192 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted August 11, 2015
high rated
It's a year of Linux gaming on GOG.com!

Today, we want to share with you a few new updates to the way that installing our games on Linux will work. Based on what we've learned and on your feedback, we have revamped our installers to offer a much improved experience, and make it more consistent with the way we do things on Windows and OS X.

Starting today, our Linux games will come with all-new installers that include more features, combine the best of our previous solutions, and plain ol' look better. Among other things, here's what you can expect:

--The new installers will be distro-agnostic. That means that you'll be able to run and try them out on virtually any Linux distribution without any tweaks.
--A simple installation process, done in just two steps that we all know well: simply add executable privileges to the installer, then simply run it.
--Patches. Differential patches. No one likes downloading lots of data for an update, now you'll be able to grab future patches for big games with frequent updates.
--Support for installing DLC.
--Pretty backgrounds, pretty desktop icons.

For more info about the new installers, you can always check out our Linux FAQ.
Post edited August 11, 2015 by Ciris
Posted August 11, 2015
Interesting, can you post a list of all games which have migrated to this system? It's a bit tiresome to keep checking all of their sub-forums for news. Or is it already done for all games?
Posted August 11, 2015
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huN73R: Interesting, can you post a list of all games which have migrated to this system? It's a bit tiresome to keep checking all of their sub-forums for news. Or is it already done for all games?
It's done for all games already :)

[edit] All English-language versions of games. Other languages are going up as we speak :)
Post edited August 11, 2015 by Ciris
Posted August 11, 2015
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Ciris: It's done for all games already :)
Didn't expect that, thanks for the prompt response! :)
I was under the impression that starting today meant it was going to start transition today.
Posted August 11, 2015
I don't like the removal of tar packages. I prefer tar packages because I trust the programs that unpack them and don't need to worry about there being a bug in the installer. Plus, I can unpack them without needing to have a graphical interface running.

Edit: Also, an advantage of the tar.gz format is that it isn't proprietary. This is important in case I need to extract the file in some unusual context, like on a Raspberry Pi for example.
Post edited August 11, 2015 by dtgreene
Posted August 11, 2015
I don't have Linux, but this sounds great.
Also, seeing Win10, this will probably be useful also for me.
Post edited August 11, 2015 by phaolo
Posted August 11, 2015
high rated
Yeah, as others have said it's good that there are new distro-agnostic installers, but at the same time I also don't like that the choice for downloading tarballs has been removed. Why remove the tarball option?
Posted August 11, 2015
high rated
While I see some welcome improvements, I think the tar packages should still be available as an option.

I like them because you can just unpack and run them right on the spot, without installing the game system wide.

Bring back good old tar packages and you've got a deal.
Post edited August 11, 2015 by BillyMaysFan59
Posted August 11, 2015
Will it be possible to simply unpack (not install) those packages?
Posted August 11, 2015
Hello there!
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adamhm: Yeah, as others have said it's good that there are new distro-agnostic installers, but at the same time I also don't like that the choice for downloading tarballs has been removed. Why remove the tarball option?
As we learned from our already year old Linux support, having two formats instead of one was the cause of the confusion among some users. New installers introduce many features that were not reachable with older forms of distribution we used, such as differential patches that will make updating your games way easier :)

And, honestly it is more simple for us to maintain a single format for games, instead of two :)
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BillyMaysFan59: While I see some welcome improvements, I think the tar packages should still be available as an option.

I like them because you can just unpack and run them right on the spot, without installing the game system wide.

Bring back good old tar packages and you've got a deal.
We want to give the freedom of choice to our users. The new installers are meant to be installed in any localtion in your $HOME folder (while $HOME/GOG Games is recommended), because installing games system-wide is not exactly the best solution, because of many problems with file mode bits (e.g. some games creating save/configuration files in their root folders).
Post edited August 11, 2015 by linuxvangog
Posted August 11, 2015
Hmmmm, I'll have to do an investigation of one of these installers. Hopefully they can be manually unpacked if a user just wants to do that.
Posted August 11, 2015
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Ciris: It's done for all games already :)

[edit] All English-language versions of games. Other languages are going up as we speak :)
That's great news :) Can you add email verification for changing email address to avoid the account hijacking issues that are bothering people? It's been going on for months!
Posted August 11, 2015
high rated
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BillyMaysFan59: Hmmmm, I'll have to do an investigation of one of these installers. Hopefully they can be manually unpacked if a user just wants to do that.
I just had a quick look at one of the new installers, it looks like they're using MojoSetup & can be unpacked using the unzip command.
Posted August 11, 2015
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BillyMaysFan59: Hmmmm, I'll have to do an investigation of one of these installers. Hopefully they can be manually unpacked if a user just wants to do that.
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adamhm: I just had a quick look at one of the new installers, it looks like they're using MojoSetup & can be unpacked using the unzip command.
Thanks! Well, in that case it's certainly better than it could have been.

EDIT: wait...are the .deb packages gone too?
Post edited August 11, 2015 by BillyMaysFan59
Posted August 11, 2015
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adamhm: I just had a quick look at one of the new installers, it looks like they're using MojoSetup & can be unpacked using the unzip command.
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BillyMaysFan59: Thanks! Well, in that case it's certainly better than it could have been.

EDIT: wait...are the .deb packages gone too?
Yes.
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionNEWS: Revamping Linux installers for all GOG.com games(192 posts)(192 posts)
(192 posts)