There seems to be some major problems with Linux version of the game. First, the game doesn't launch and it crashes to segfault. It is launched with LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable pointing to game/libs directory.

There are three libraries, libc, libdl and libpthread that cause the game not launch. After moving those libraries to temporary folder game finally started. However, the text is the game is bugged as parts of it has been cut out and is pretty much unreadable (see attached image).

I'm using PoP_OS 18.10. Has anyone solved a similar problem?

Yes, same for me. The game segfaults for me.
My post is here: https://www.gog.com/forum/objects_in_space/linux_kernel_420_segfaulting

I moved the three libraries to a backup folder and now the game launches. So far I can confirm the mangled text.

When launching the game, there are a few things missing:

cocos2d: fullPathForFilename: No file found at assets/Menu_Monitor.mtl. Possible missing file.
cocos2d: fullPathForFilename: No file found at assets/Menu_Monitor_Screen.mtl. Possible missing file.
cocos2d: fullPathForFilename: No file found at assets/OmniPad_BaseTex.png. Possible missing file.
cocos2d: fullPathForFilename: No file found at assets/OmniPad_BaseTex.png. Possible missing file.

These messages disappear when I renamed the following files in the games' assets directory:
Menu_Monitor.obj -> Menu_Monitor.mtl
Menu_Monitor_Screen.obj -> Menu_Monitor_Screen.obj
OmegaPad_Texture.png -> OmniPad_BaseTex.png

Beware: The mangled font issue stll remains after this!

I guess we are dealing with an outdated build for Linux here. (Or at some point it was forked, but the assets have been renamed since.)

I have played around with dosfont.png, containing the font texture, used in the terminals. I tried making a few characters 1 pixel narrower and smaller, which at least makes the game print the characters properly. I think there might be some issue with screen objects pixel numbering. It seems in some cases the first pixel is 0,0 and in some it is 1,1. Moving the font texture one up and one left makes some menu/terminal elements readable, but renders others corrupt. Reducing the size of the font's characters makes them all print properly/readable, but I could not find the 'strength' to work through the full png file :)

I still think the assets directory is outdated...

EDIT:
I extracted the assets from the windows version and the game's font rendering issues remain. BUT:
The windows' assets directory contains 7712 items, while the linux version has 7613 items.

The diff is:

diff game/assets_linux game/assets_win
Only in game/assets_win: news_aeacommencesrecess.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_algaepossibleoncassiniwithinfiveyears.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_apollonianlifebannedinmagellanempire.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_areauthoritiesignoringsandproductiononcoxsbazaar.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_areleonpurchasesindiwaliupfortheaeatreatment.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_arsoncontinuesagainstrefugeehousing.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_bednarskisaysparssusrepwillnotbeharmed.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_bednarskitoursthetwosisters.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_boronovakgoesontheoffensive.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_boronovakoutlineshisconservativeplatform.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_breakthroughdealfornarail.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_bulkheadcollapseatzaragozakillsfour.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_callfornoconfidenceingonzalez.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_callsforradiationinvestigationsintorossi.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_campaignsheatupfornextfederalelection.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_classactionsuitagainstcommandgoesahead.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_comfortandsecurityforallsayvanganddelacroix.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_conditionsfineonruttersaysgovernment.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_constructionshipsarriveatjansky.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_correacollaboratorsshippedtothemines.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_correavigilsdeclaredillegal.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_dierdremacniallisthenewpresidentofthegalileancommand.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_dissentindiwali.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_dysonstrippossible.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_empirerefusestocensorprodevassstarfilm.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_fearsofmaruvianstdunfounded.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_fearsovernewsexuallytransmitteddiseaseonoyaaldoumin.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_fertilitynewsrecalledforpoliticalreasons.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_fullinterimcabinetrevealedformacniallgovernment.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_governorhadforewarningofzaragozaaccident.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_harriswilsonunveilsnewakagispaceframe.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_herrerabidstopurchasesarniagricultural.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_herrerafundsnewquarantinemeasures.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_herrerapledgestoprotectdadraandsarni.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_herreraswingsbackatproudandkarzai.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_hugeshipmentofaisarrivesfromsaganslights.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_iwillbekilledparssusrepresentativedoesntwantogoback.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_karzaiandproudurgesarninottosell.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_klegiwillreturntoparssus.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_krugerreleasesnewsolarjumpdrive.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_leonaerospacechargedwithassistingdiwalinese.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_leonshipsarrivewithaid.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_leopledgestosupportdiwali.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_leowinsfuelcellcontract.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_licensesforheavyfreightersinthetwosisters.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_linpengreturnstopolitics.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_lowquarterformoluccasparksgaspricehike.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_magellaandleolaunchjointaidoperationfordiwali.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_marianoherrerarelocatestosarni.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_militarydeployedtoquellprotests.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_ministerforinterstellarpolicystepsdown.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_motiontobansexwithclonespassesparliament.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_narelaacceptsleonassistance.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_nikagrekovappointedasambassador.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_nosupportforcansafromnewleonneighbours.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_notimeyetforleonaidships.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_obituarymariskahowarth.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_omegacomesoutinsupportofbednarski.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_ourleadersaysgraffiti.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_outcryagainstlivesexdolls.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_oyaaldouminstdspreadstobholaprime.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_panicoverradiationleaksonrossi.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_parssusianambassadorreturnstotheunion.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_pirateactivityinklp111.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_protestscontinueinspiteofgonzalezoffer.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_radiationleakcausesmedicalemergencyonadari.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_recordyearforakimov.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_reportulencefederationshouldntbeinvolvedinrutter.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_rightwinggroupattacksrefugeehousing.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_rumoursaboundthatsutherlandknewaboutleoatack.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sandproducersgetoffontechniccality.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sandstillbeingsoldthroughofficialmeans.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sarniagriculturalopenforbusinessagain.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_scoutshipramsmilitarycruiser.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sexclonebillpassesinmagella.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_spacevillageexplosionkills17.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_strikesendingalileancommand.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_strikesmomentarilysubsideasgalileowaits.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sutherlandaidingandabettingterrorists.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sutherlandbreaksoathtoallowinterstellarvisitorstodvs.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sutherlandstandsfastinthefaceofleonaggression.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_sutherlandtopersonallybetherolondbusinessenvoytotheunion.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_teganweaponssmugglingduringrolondwar.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_teganworkersprotestpoorworkingconditions.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_tensionsriseoverbelloship.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_thousandstuneinforfirstmaruviancballmatch.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_traitorklegreturnstoparssus.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_twocandidatesrunningforprogressiveleadership.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_twomagellas.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_twosistersnowmoredesirablethanparssus.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_unionfoundshippingfoodnotselfsufficient.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_unionrecognisesdevassstarasasovereignnation.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_unionstillaprisonsystemunderbednarski.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_vangasksdelacroixtofillherrerasshoes.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_vicepresidentgrekovstepsdown.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_whoisaltanshen.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_whydontothersystemsdoaswellasleo.txt
Only in game/assets_win: news_worryingamountsofgoodsavailableatdevassstar.txt
Only in game/assets_win: ths_notes.txt

Just remove those three libraries I mentioned and I'm positive you get it to run. In the end it didn't help me, because the game text is messed out and pretty much unreadable. I didn't even try playing it, so there may be more problems ahead.

It seems that Linux version is pretty bugged at the moment.

Awesome job!

My thought was exactly the same that I don't think this Linux version is really final or even the same as released Windows version. I just played Windows version on my dualboot Thinkpad T440p without any issues.

One thing to note is that Steam version has only OSX and Windows listed and no Linux so far.

If this is indeed an unfinished release, or some early version released by mistake, I can only hope that devs can release working version soon. I can manage for now as I can play this with both my Windows desktop and T440p, but folks with only Linux machines have problems and if fix isn't available soon, GOG should remove the Linux compatibility from the store page.

Game seems to be extremely fun though! Awesome ambience playing on o laptop on a dark room!

Thanks. I put everything you and I found together and sent it to gog support, asking them to push it on to the devs. Hopefully this will help them.

I ve got some issues on my windows machine, even if not so severe.

But seems devs are very dedicated, so I expect a fix to be coming soon.
Finger crossed.

Not sure, but seemed an engine problem.

I fiddled around with the dosfont.plist file which looked quite promising at first:

Changing the offset values to -1,-1 instead of 0,0 and the spriteSize to 6,8 makes most of the text readable, with a few artifacts. I think you could call it nearly playable. However, it does not solve all of the issues - some menus turn strange, overlapping letters and some weird stuff going on with special characters. This is something for the devs.

If you want to have a try, create a file "fontfix.sh" in the "Objects In Space" directory, containing

--------fontfix.sh------------------
cp -n game/assets/dosfont.plist game/assets/dosfont.plist_backup

rm game/assets/dosfont.plist

cp game/assets/dosfont.plist_backup game/assets/dosfont.plist

sed -i.bak 's+<string>{0,0}</string>+<string>{-1,-1}</string>+g' game/assets/dosfont.plist
gawk -i inplace '/spriteSize/{print;getline;$0=" <string>{6,8}</string>"}1' game/assets/dosfont.plist
---------------------------------------------

This will create a backup of the plist file first. Some special characters are bad after this. This is just a quick start to fix it. There will be a lot of fine tuning, if it is even possible to fix from the plist file alone...

I have the same segmentation fault on a Debian as well. As suspected there's problems with the libraries the game is trying to use.

I guess I'll have to use windows for a while to play the game. It's too much work to get the game running; even then only barely working.

Can anyone tell me exactly how to do the fixes?
Because, I just moved away the three files in the libs folder and it doesn't help. If I do that, I get other errors about other libraries needing those libs.

Can you check if you have another copy of e.g. libc.so.6?

Try locate command:
"locate libc.so.6"

The results of the command may show that you have the library files in other directories such as /lib32/ or /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu, for example.

Same for libdl.so.2 and libpthread.so.0

The "fix' works because moving those library files away from the game directory forces the game to use the default ones in the /lib/ folders.

Maybe it does not work for you because you don't have the libraries installed or the game can't find the default paths.
You might have to install the glibc libraries.

I certainly have them installed (I am a developer myself):

$ locate libc.so.6
/home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/libc.so.6
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6
/lib32/libc.so.6
$ locate libdl.so.2
/home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/libdl.so.2
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2
/lib32/libdl.so.2
$ locate libpthread.so.0
/home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/libpthread.so.0
/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0
/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0
/lib32/libpthread.so.0

But when I try to start the game after moving the /home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/... (those three) away from there, I get:

Running Objects In Space
./ois: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.25' not found (required by /home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/libexpat.so.1)
./ois: /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6: version `GLIBC_2.25' not found (required by /home/dirk/GOG Games/Objects In Space/game/libs/libbsd.so.0)

The file is there though...

That is great to hear! Can't wait!

@scippie75

My guess is your libc might be too old, OiS seems to require at least GNU libc version 2.25 (I have 2.28 on my system).

You can find out the version by running the lib as a program. In a terminal type:

/lib32/libc.so.6

and

/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6

That should tell you the version.

Your distro's package manager should also tell you the installed glibc version. If it is too old, maybe you can update it in some way.

It seems I have 2.23. It only seems logical that the game should use its own library then, but that seems to be the problem anyway.

My Mint 18.3 is fully up to date and I am not at all interested in upgrading it as I have upgraded to 18.3 not so long ago, certainly since any other Linux native game I have works perfectly fine.