This interview with Little Red Dog Games discusses Little Red Dog Games’ work on the development of video games on Linux.
Little Red Dog Games is an independent game developer who mostly uses Godot to produce games like Deep Sixed, Precipice and Rogue State Revolution, their newest release.
We got down for an interview with CEO Ryan Hewer and Lead Programmier Denis Comtesse to discover more about their experience in the development of Linux games.
Tell us about Little Red Dog Games a little bit. How have you emerged as an enterprise?
Ryan:
For more than a decade now we’ve been around—maybe 8 years I would estimate.
We live in northern New York and Denis lives in Germany.
We began playing adventure games and played around with other tools out there as a hobby business.
All right, what if we push it a bit farther with every product we said?
What if we get a bit more push?
Then we began to play more and more ambitious games.
Now we are all full time developers, where we’re no longer a true hobby company.
We have a studio that has played four business games – and we’re not going to acknowledge a sprinkling of other stuff.
I believe we are one of the biggest organizations in the world that employs open source software from Godot, and we are certainly one of the larger companies focused on Linux out there.
How long have you been developing games on Linux?
Ryan:
Denis is our primary programmer, and he works in the Linux environment, therefore it’s pretty much a must for everything we do.
We must cooperate with Linux.
Denis:
It’s entirely my fault.
The original game was created with Adventure Game Studio, which I believe was still Windows-based at the time, but we switched to Godot in 2016.
Because I’ve been using Linux since around 2008, I just utilized the tools I’d always used, and we just went with it.
Linux and Godot are generally not the gaming platforms for development. Why have you chosen the software to create your games?
Ryan:
We are not solely Linux developers, and the Godot system does not cost other platforms.
For us however, since we utilize Godot for many of our products, it’s simply like turning a switch from Windows to Linux, adjusting some settings here and there, but it takes less than six months for us to help Linux customers out there.
As game creators, Linux users currently make up about 7 percent of our market, which is more than enough to justify the minimum efforts required to make the game suitable for Linux PCs.
Denis:
I always used Linux for my case. For my case.
This is just my preferred operating system.
All my effort in it, I’m doing.
I’m a musician too, and all my music is recorded on Linux, therefore for me, it was obvious, since most Linux game engines support it.
I did not choose Godot on the other hand because it has excellent support from Linux, which is a very nice addition, but because I enjoy the workflow of it very much.
I’ve been testing a few engines, and it was what I wanted.
And because I worked with Godot previously, it was clear that we would continue to use this engine for comparable projects.
What are the advantages of developing Linux game versus more conventional avenues? Why is this your favorite?
Denis:
I generally urge everyone to utilize their favorite tools.
Naturally, we must agree on some aspects in a game production team, such as the game engine we employ.
Others individuals use Linux, though, while some on our team use Windows.
Within the limits of the project, everyone utilizes whatever they want.
We don’t force anybody to work in a system that they don’t like.
What are the next difficulties in Linux design?
Denis:
Most of the work can be translated unless certain tools that are not accessible on Linux are required.
Sometimes you have to apply workarounds but today I’ve had no trouble running Windows applications on Linux with compatible layouts such as WinNe and all the possibilities they offer.
I know how to tackle these problems as a Linux user for many years.
Even before I moved to Linux, I utilized most open source software, and it wasn’t hard for me to make the switch.
How do you believe Linux gaming’s future looks?
Ryan:
Right now very little pressure or incentive exists to move game developers to develop on Linux, realistically speaking.
Moreover, attempting to work with fresh and various technologies is a spillover advantage.
Within non-traditional engines, the market share of Godot is steadily increasing.
And it is unavoidable that you will find more Linux games arriving on the market, as more and more creators are using Godot as an engine.
No reason to don’t exist.
It would be an enormous supervision for any developing company not to give out 7 percent demographic packages, yet Godot does it without any difficulty.
I believe you’ll see more material simply for that reason.
We will add that our Linux customers are frequently thankful for all of our Linux goods and may be some of your greatest supporters.
I would want to urge developers to pay attention simply because such exposure may go a very long way. these neglected areas.
Denis:
The only thing every developing developer has to know is that you need to support Linux once you’re releasing anything for Linux.
It is simple for us. For us.
It’s no issue if the main programmer works already in Linux.
Each build is tested by default on Linux since I use it every day, but it certainly has to be taken into consideration for other developers, because you need someone who understands Linux and knows how to maintain it.
In this respect, Godot has been quite simple to deal with, and I don’t believe we have any problem reports for Linux, do we?
Ryan:
No.
It’s the contrary, really.
Historically, we usually have problems on Windows when it comes to development, and so the answer is, well we don’t see any of this on Linux.
And that’s great — if not us, it’s irritating and horrible in that case.
But I’d say Linux builds often have less problems with stability.
I would urge developers to utilize an OS mix very early in the development process, because they can take a strange behavior before it’s too late.
We have certainly found a few problems with the file name, for example, for the Linux environment and occasionally with Linux items that are appropriate to Windows, and vice versa.
You’re playing on Linux? If so, some preferences?
Denis:
Because this is becoming simpler, I’ll play nearly entirely on Linux.
A few years back, when I had to run Linux games on Linux, Windows was becoming more and more dependable, I had to use Winne sometimes.
It works very well and is now much simpler with Steam Play.
The game is just running out of the box most of the time.
It shocks me, normally when I purchase a game with Linux, I don’t even check if I buy, since I normally get it to run, even if it doesn’t.
I’m not playing enough to be honest with favorite games.
I enjoy strategy games and adventure games and the last title I played was Beyond a Steel Sky, with Native Linux support.
That one, I like.
How do you compare that experience to Windows gaming?
Denis:
On Windows, I hardly play.
It is only in the unusual event when a game won’t work, and in some time that doesn’t happen.
Most shops have their own launchers, so it’s simply a few mouse clicks to install a game, so I don’t know anything else.
What about the Little Red Dog Games next?
Ryan: Oh, dude.
The stuff I’d say to you.
We have begun to work on what is the biggest and most ambitious undertaking ever and I don’t want to use the term magnum opus.
It’s a great one.
Over the last year or so, our staff has expanded quickly and after that, we will grow for the following year or so.
The next game is really beautiful.
Denis: No pressure, no pressure.
From: system76 Blog
Latest: September 2024
