Supported platforms

[Desktop Gaming]

Should I stick with Windows-only titles? Or is it worth bothering with MacOS/Linux support too?

[ggambett]

Mac is worth doing. Linux probably isn't. Note that I use Linux as my main OS.

[Sillysoft]

Definitely mac has been very worth it for us.

[Teq]

We're actually developing our apps with Mac OS in mind (hence the shift to Java), I wouldn't really bother with Linux, unless you effectively have support for free and I've seen some reasonable conversion rates for Linux before (Tribal Trouble iirc)

[GBGames]

I use Gnu/Linux systems and would like to see more games made available for it. That said, I'm obviously a minority when it comes to all gamers. I will, however, make games to support at least Windows, Mac, and Linux-based systems.

[d000hg]

I use Gnu/Linux systems and would like to see more games made available for it. That said, I'm obviously a minority when it comes to all gamers. I will, however, make games to support at least Windows, Mac, and Linux-based systems.

Lots of *nix users might want games - but aren't they generally a bit loath to actually pay for any software?

[Savant]

If I were to start a new game these days I would develop primarily on Mac and do a Windows port later. The Mac market seems very hungry for games and I think a game that was developed with the Mac in mind would do very well.

[GBGames]

Lots of *nix users might want games - but aren't they generally a bit loath to actually pay for any software?

Not necessarily, according to what I've read. Besides people willing to pay for Cedega to run their games on their own OS, A Tale in the Desert apparently finds more customers using Linux-based machines than Windows. When I read it, it was a 2:1 ratio. I don't know what the state of it is now, though.

You'll find they are more than willing to pay for services, such as MMO subscriptions, than for applications or tools (why buy office software when OpenOffice or KOffice is available? Why pay for email applications when there are so many perfectly good clients available for no cost? Why pay for Civilization when freeciv not only works just fine, but it allows you to play online, too?). On the other hand, games like Doom 3 don't always have open source equivalents. Of course, you try proving that someone's purchased copy of Doom 3 was used on Gnu/Linux instead of Windows. You can't because there were only so many copies that were traced to Linux-using customers. The rest were all bundled with retail.

So the idea that Linux users are loathe to pay for software is true in so far as they have enough free-as-in-beer alternatives. When they don't, they'll either go without, play on their Games OS, or purchase the Linux binary version. Since most companies don't provide one, of course Linux gamers aren't going to pay for it. They're buying it for their Windows machine because that's all they can do!

EDIT: I should add that there doesn't seem to be any real study done, so everything is hypothetical. All people can try to do is predict behavior, which generally can't be done accurately.

[Sharpfish]

I wonder if anyone has tried giving a licence to a player for all 3 versions of a game (like Blitzmax does). So you buy GameX but own the right to d/l play on Linux, Windows and Mac. You are a single customer, playing/paying once but you can then play it on whichever platform is most convienient (rather than just buying a linux version then realising you can't play it when you move back to windows "full-time" in the future (or over to mac!)).

[princec]

I always have done.

Cas :)

[Sharpfish]

I always have done.

Cas :)

And have you noticed many people using it (which would indicate that it was a selling point to them), or have they generally just downloaded the one format and stuck with it for "life".

thanks

[Sillysoft]

I also let people use all platforms. From what I can tell, the vast majority of people don't really care, they just use their 1 computer. However, there's a small group who uses both mac and pc and they enjoy having the ability to do so.

[GBGames]

I wonder if anyone has tried giving a licence to a player for all 3 versions of a game (like Blitzmax does). So you buy GameX but own the right to d/l play on Linux, Windows and Mac. You are a single customer, playing/paying once but you can then play it on whichever platform is most convienient (rather than just buying a linux version then realising you can't play it when you move back to windows "full-time" in the future (or over to mac!)).

I've reviewed games that are available through GarageGames, and they provide all three downloads. I don't know about anyone else, but being able to not only download it for my preferred OS as well as Games OS was pretty sweet. If I had a Mac, it would have been even better. B-)

[Sharpfish]

Thanks for info you 3. :)

[elias]

We let people use the game on all three platforms too - it's harder not to, with demos that are unlocked to full version.

- elias

[Teq]

How do you guys go about telling users this ability exists? Or do you just let the user work it out for themselves?

[dmikesell]

Can someone who has produced a game for Windows and the Mac show percentage of sales and downloads for both? I see a lot of vague references about the viability of the Mac as a gaming marketplace, but I'd like to see numbers.

[dmikesell]

Should I stick with Windows-only titles? Or is it worth bothering with MacOS/Linux support too?

My first reaction is to say stick with Windows-only and port if it's successful, but if I can see some encouraging Mac numbers I might be inclined to change that opinion.

[Gilzu]

Can someone who has produced a game for Windows and the Mac show percentage of sales and downloads for both? I see a lot of vague references about the viability of the Mac as a gaming marketplace, but I'd like to see numbers.

http://www.gameproducer.net/category/sales-statistics/

[GBGames]

Can someone who has produced a game for Windows and the Mac show percentage of sales and downloads for both? I see a lot of vague references about the viability of the Mac as a gaming marketplace, but I'd like to see numbers.

If you look through the archives, you'll see a number of statistics that suggest you should support the Mac. Even with a much smaller install base, Mac users are generally more inclined to purchase shareware since it is how they get all the best software. Providing a Mac version can be a good way of increasing your sales. People see a ratio of 1:1 for Windows vs Mac sales.

[Ryan Clark]

We've sold $2000 worth of Professor Fizzwizzle for Linux, so I think it was worth the extra week I spent trying to get it to run well on the various Linux distros :)

Also, I think a lot of Linux users appreciate that we support Linux, but then buy the Windows version of the game (since many dual-boot for games), so the $2000 figure may not include all of the sales that our support of Linux has gained us.

Lastly: Supporting Linux gets you exposure. Similar to Mac, it's fairly easy to get noticed on the Linux gaming sites, simply because there aren't many Linux games! Even if this doesn't net you a ton of sales, at least it helps your search engine rank ;)

[Red Marble Games]

Forgive me for turning this into a shameless plug, but if you don't want to fool with the Mac port yourself (and the beta testing and after-sale tech support and Mac marketing) there are, um, certain people who will do that for you. ... Like me.

Mark

[Greg Squire]

I'm convinced the Mac platform is worth supporting. If your just starting your game, I'd look into using a game engine or API that makes creating a mac version fairly easy like Torque (2D or 3D), BlitzMax, PTK, or even Java.

[Desktop Gaming]

Thanks for all the replies - I am using Blitzmax but don't own a Mac and I'm not in a position to acquire one just yet, which is kinda why I started this thread. Could probably justify the expense if there's a fair chance I'll recover the cost.

[d000hg]

Forgive me for turning this into a shameless plug, but if you don't want to fool with the Mac port yourself (and the beta testing and after-sale tech support and Mac marketing) there are, um, certain people who will do that for you. ... Like me.

Mark

How does that work then? I email you my D3D source and you painstakingly fix it? Sounds like a long, tedious and expensive procedure.

[Red Marble Games]

Well, again, I don't want to derail the thread, so please PM or email if you want to talk about it in more detail, but in essence yes: I "fix" your D3D source so the game runs on the Mac and thereafter provide tech support and marketing. And yes, it can be tedious at times, but I enjoy it. :)

Mark

[Fry Crayola]

Thanks for all the replies - I am using Blitzmax but don't own a Mac and I'm not in a position to acquire one just yet, which is kinda why I started this thread. Could probably justify the expense if there's a fair chance I'll recover the cost.

I'm also using BlitzMax. My plan is to focus entirely on the Windows version, as that's the platform I have, and then if the game does well enough I'll buy a Mac solely to port the game over and sell. In theory, I should recover the cost because the game would have to be quite successful to justify buying the Mac in the first place. It's a less risky way of doing it, and the later Mac release may even help to boost sales of the Windows version through exposure.

If you're selling at $19.99, then you'd probably only need 100 Mac sales in order to recover the cost, after tax (depending on what spec you go for), which is quite appealing.

[GBGames]

It's a less risky way of doing it

If you say so. On the other hand, the risk of porting to the Mac seems incredibly reasonable, especially if you go with Red Marble Games to do the marketing and support for you on that end.

I don't know the details of the costs of porting with RMG. I doubt it will be so insanely expensive that porting to the Mac is really a "risk". Of course, if you would prefer to do the porting yourself, then your plan sounds fine.

[Desktop Gaming]

I'm also using BlitzMax. My plan is to focus entirely on the Windows version, as that's the platform I have, and then if the game does well enough I'll buy a Mac solely to port the game over and sell.

Thing is, if I was to approach a portal with my game, i'm sure it would appeal to them much more if it was already multi-platform. Wouldn't it?

[princec]

Not necessarily. Most of the portals are concentrating on the Windows market.

Cas :)