Universal Videogame List - www.uvlist.net

The 'windows' or 'DOS' exe files are generally suitable for running on Linux. Simply change the .exe files from the installations to .dat files, then run ./ags-setup, it becomes the Linux version. These instructions are included with the Linux version of AGS, so do not needed to be restated by (or even known to) game creators that produce 'a windows AGS game' or 'DOS AGS game'. Certain AGS games use features that are problematic on different platforms. Many authors are very creative but lack technically skill or would rather not deal with the problems so they claim "Its Mac only", "Linux only" or "Windows only", etc. This doesn't always mean its unsuitable for other platforms, just that no one's specifically published details on how to make it work. Or the author hasn't even attempted to run it on another platform so doesn't realize it is straight forward. The various authors of the Kings Quest remakes clearly state they are Windows only, yet they can be run just fine by changing the .exes to .dats, ruining ags-setup, then taking the undocumented step of the install process and disabling the movies (which are supplemental and not part of the game itself). Some authors, when they realize that their game works on the other platforms with such a straight-forward process, stop advertising the fact. Since it would be kind of like advertising, "you can double click the main executable or the shortcut," is becomes a 'duh' thing that users of the alternate OS are expected to know. The games generally are not available as a 'Linux version'. But some are listed in the package managers of certain Linux distributions. In these cases, the games are 'packaged for Linux', but only the users of certain distros will ever find such a package and it remains unadvertised. It is becoming more common to not see 'Linux versions' of many Linux only applications, rather they are available as distro specific packages only' from the disto maintainer's server only. To the point that even standalone sourcecode is now hard to find for an increasing number of Linux applications. The advantage to getting the sourcecode in a distro specific package is that all the 3rd party sources and/or binaries that are necessary to compile it can be included in the installation.

EDIT: This game specifically mentions compatibility with BSD based Linux/UNIX. Pointing this out specifically is actually part of the presentation of the game. UNIX systems are still being used in many formally communist countries and have always been valued for their reliability. The Russian space program still uses UNIX systems and only runs the modern equipment that NASA gave them as backups. In-fact, the Russian Federal Space Agency is currently advertising job openings on itwire.com for techs with UNIX skills.

EDIT: And the reason I added these games as Linux in the first place is because I initially found them in my Mandrake or Ubuntu package managers and couldn't readily locate a Windows version at the time.

I would think finding something only in some linux distro's repo is bad, and they aren't really suitable for releasing things. Usually things end up directly there when one or more of the repo managers do the conversion or other work themselves and don't care if other people get access to it. I personally haven't seen any distro repo only releases beyond these, and some games are only released in their source format.


Not on the official site (the game specific pages where the downloads are located as well) at least, and they only have downloads clearly labeled as something "for Windows". No other platforms mentioned in any of the four games' pages.

Still I'd treat these the same as games supported by SCUMMVM.

But yes, if the games are available in some distro's repo, then go ahead, have them for it, but I'd like such limited releases to be mentioned somewhere or otherwise they _will_ appear wrong.