Tidalis Official 1.500: Linux Support!

[x4000]

Original: http://arcengames.com/tidalis-official-1-500-linux-support/

Recently I said that we weren't going to port Tidalis to linux, because it's just not a profitable enough game for us, and it's on a super old version of our engine.  Well... man if I didn't boot this game up and just fall in love with it all over again.  I get to say this, because I wasn't the lead designer on this one -- Lars Bull really did a stellar job with the design of this game (the only Arcen title I wasn't lead designer on).

Anyhow, as you can no doubt guess by the title of this post, the game charmed me into going back and porting it to linux despite my original intent.  Also, honestly we wanted to have full linux support for ALL of our library, without unsightly holes here and there.  I worked on the porting for this particular title before getting to the Valley games because this is an older title and I figured it would be more difficult.  I'm going to be out of town coming up in a week or so, and any issues that crop up I wanted to happen sooner than later.  So far so good, though, on my testing on all three platforms.

Here are the release notes.  There are actually a few fixes in there, too, which is handy.

New System Requirements

The one big caveat with this release is that the newer version of Unity that we upgraded to has higher system requirements -- in terms of operating system -- than the much older version that Tidalis was on.  Notably, on the Microsoft side, Windows 2000 can no longer be used -- you have to have Windows SP2 or higher, now.  On the Apple side, you can't use PowerPC computers any longer -- you have to have an Intel-based CPU.

But wait, what if you already bought it and can no longer play it!?  Got you covered, of course. :)  Version 1.017 is marked in Steam as having a "beta" version that you can opt in to that is named"OldSysReqs."  I'm not sure if Steam itself honestly is able to hit the system requirements that Tidalis used to be able to, though...

License Keys Now Optional

Another nice thing about this version is that the license key that was previously required is now optional instead.  If you have the game on Steam, or you get the new tri-OS package from our store, it won't ask you for the CD key even though it will give you one.  On Steam, you can just ignore it -- it has no point.  If you buy it from us or any other source, then you can use this CD key to register your game on Steam.  They can, of course, still be used to unlock the demo versions of the game into the full version, as well.  You just don't HAVE to do that anymore.

Discount Promotion!

As with Shattered Haven and Skyward Collapse, we're running a 75% off sale on our site in celebration of the linux launch.  This will last until the 20th for Tidalis, as well.

 

This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 1.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time.

[TechSY730]

Wow, you actually did it. You released your "last hoorah!".

Thanks.


Also, colorful, musical, arrow blocks on Linux at last. Yummy!

[Castruccio]

It is still an awesome game, and STILL (in my view) the second best game Arcen ever made.  Has Lars Bull made any more games?

[x4000]

Thanks, guys!

Lars has not made any more games, he works for a very large multinational tech company doing some sort of secret high-tech stuff that I don't know details about.  I know he wants to get back into games right now, but this guy was courted very seriously by various divisions of Microsoft, Amazon, and some other big companies before going with this big company that he wound up with.  While he's there he can't really work on games for contractual reasons, is my understanding, and he loves the challenge of the sort of work he is doing there.  But I have known Lars over the Internet since he was 11 or 12 years old, something like that, and he's always been hugely passionate about making games.  I know he'll be back someday to doing this!

[Castruccio]

I sure hope so. If you ever hear of him doing anything game related, do post it on the forum.

[x4000]

Oh you bet, I will be the first to let you know.  He and Zack and I (Zack Cataldo who worked with me on level design on Shattered Haven) are all very old friends, back to the 90s.  We keep in touch, and all have our various gaming projects.  We were all hobbyist until I started Arcen.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I'm very happy to see you get a last update to Tidalis and get a Linux port of it and drop the license key requirement. Not that it super-bothered me to deal with your license keys, one less step to playing fun games is always a win in my books =).

Tidalis is one of my favorite puzzle games I've ever played and I have no doubt I'll come back to it sometime soon. It's the only puzzle game I ever come back to, most others are just too....1-dimensional for my tastes.

[Aklyon]

if the no-keys thing continue, then how will AI War's one work? it has like, 6 keys. (And also Vengeance of the Machine With No Key)

[x4000]

On Steam, I believe that you currently already only have to enter the key for the base game now, even though there are 5 (base game plus first 4 expansions).  The 5th and 6th expansions never had keys.  I'm not sure if the "you only have to enter the key for the base game" thing applies on steam only on the latest beta, or also on the current official.

At any rate, after the next official comes out, then we'll do a retrofit of the Steam AI War stuff in terms of no keys just like the rest, and come up with a drm-free build just like the rest, too.  But as with Tidalis, you'll still be able to use any license keys you do happen to have on any demos that are publicly out there.

[Vortidawg]

I like this game! thank you for this detailed description of how to install it on Linux, it is very useful!