Holarse-Linuxgaming reports that the indie developers Frozenbyte which developed Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds Survivor (which were ported to GNU/Linux by Igios and published by LGP) are porting Trine and Trine 2 to GNU/Linux.

Reto Schneider even contacted Joel Kinnunen from Frozenbyte to confirm the ports :
Hi
I write for a German Linuxgaming community (Holarse-Linuxgaming)
and I know that about one year ago, you where pretty positive about a Linux version of Trine
http://frozenbyte.com/board/viewtopic.php?p=10231&sid=6729ce882642ac9ed83926512baa032e#p10231.
Now this posting is almost one year old and nothing happened so far.
Any chance that it is still on its way?
Kind Regards,
Reto

Joel Kinnunen from Frozenbyte :
Hi Reto,
Yes, Trine will be released for Linux at some point.
It’s almost done, but I don’t know when it will be released… might be within a few months, or it might take a bit longer. It’s been a bit slow but it’s coming. πŸ™‚
Best,
Joel
Frozenbyte team

Reto Schneider :
Well, that sounds GREAT, thank you. But this rises some new questions:
a) Will there be DRM on it?
b) How will it be distributed? Boxed version? Download (only?)
(Note: I have a small Linuxgaming-shop with boxed and downloadable games, any chance for me to sell this game ?)
c) Do you/Will you need any beta-testers?
d) Maybe too much to ask, but is there already something decided about the coming Trine 2?
Kind regards,
Reto

Joel Kinnunen from Frozenbyte :
Hi Reto,
I’m not 100% sure on all those, we’re not hands-on with the version,
so I can only say that a download version is a sure thing (possibly boxed too but that depends on 3rd parties).
I’ll pass your info to the Linux guys, they may be in touch perhaps (but they’re also quite busy right now).
With Trine 2 we’ll probably have the Linux version available faster than any of our earlier games, but most likely not at launch.
So maybe 1-12 months after launch. We’ll have to see how it goes, and how the first one does on Linux (both sales-wise and also technical problem-wise).
I hope this helps. Feel free to be in touch next month to get an update on this, I’ll probably know a lot more then. πŸ™‚
Best,
Joel

I haven’t yet played the Trine games but I surly hope they aren’t as buggy and unstable as the Shadowgrounds games.
I loved the gameplay of Shadowgrounds, it was pure fun – but it was very unstable and crashed a lot without the ability to save the game at will (and it wasn’t only on the GNU/Linux port, the original Windows version had those problems as well), and Frozenbyte didn’t even fix the bugs, not even a patch – all they did was to give us saved games so we could continue the game without the “problematic levels” – that just drove me nuts.
I hope that they will stand behind the Trine games and make them stable (if they aren’t already).

So after my ranting (sorry I just had to express my “Shadowgrounds Frustration”) there is another indie GNU/Linux friendly company we can count for.

About Trine
Trine is a physics-based action game where three characters allow clever solutions to challenges created by hazardous puzzles and threatening enemies. The gameplay is based on fully interactive physics – each character’s different abilities and tactics can be used to invent new ways to overcome obstacles and save the kingdom!

Trine Screenshots :

Trine Trailer

About Trine 2
Trine 2 – Physics-based co-operative action-platforming is back and it’s bigger and better than ever !

Trine 2 Screenshots :

Trine 2 Trailer

Thanks Reto Schneider, one of the editors of Holarse-Linuxgaming and the owner of the GNU/Linux Fun4Tux gaming shop for the great news.

Links
Frozenbyte
Trine
Trine 2

  1. Liam Dawe says:

    While they look good it’s nothing to get overly excited about since it won’t be out for a good while.

  2. Ben says:

    Looks cool, but I didn’t see any cooperation going on in the trailer; each character got through each part in their own way, but none of the characters helped the others in getting through.

  3. Maxim Bardin says:

    This official video is a bit misleading, it shows that all characters can pass (some) obstacles in their own way, but in the actual game (you can view the “gameplay videos” on youtube like this one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kl0ia7qLRlg&feature=related ) you only have one character at a given time and you can swap them at will – so there is a cooperation between them.

    There is also the option to play with a friend, each plays a different character in coop mode : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHImECQBwZs

  4. Xilanaz says:

    Good news, Trine is a blast, Trine2 looks very promising, good news although long way away yet :/

  5. Tavis says:

    I’ve played Trine in Wine and loved it. A Linux version would be awesome.