Darkest Dungeon Linux Version Released, PlayStation Versions Delayed

The folks at Red Hook Studios have published an update on Darkest Dungeon’s official website to let us know the state of the various versions of the game. The good news is that the Linux version of the title has been officially released after a short stint in beta, and that the OS X version of the game is going to be released on the Mac App Store later this week:

LINUX!

We are happy to announce that Linux is officially out as a supported platform! Earlier this month we put out a beta version of the Linux build and with the help of our community members we’ve addressed all the major issues and feel confident in the current stability of the build to give it a wide release.

We want to thank Aaron Melcher of Knockout Games for his hard work in doing the port! Many Linux players will probably recognize his name as he has done many Linux ports for various popular games, and he has done a great job on Darkest Dungeon. We also want to thank our community members who jumped in early to help track down bugs and report them to Aaron as he worked on getting the build ready for release.

MAC APP STORE RELEASE (OSX)

Although the game is already available for OSX via other storefronts, we are excited to be bringing it to the Mac App Store this later this week! Some people prefer to buy their games via that storefront, and we’re happy to oblige as well as to start strengthening our relationship with Apple! Stay tuned for imminent updates.

The bad news is that owners of Sony’s current console offering, PlayStation 4 and PSVita, will have to wait a little longer to get the game on their preferred platform. It’s not going to be a long wait, however, as the developers plan to release these ports in August at the latest, based on how solid the controls and the Town Events implementation is:

PLAYSTATION UPDATE

We have previously announced Late Spring/Early Summer as a target for PS4 and Vita release. With the adjustment of schedules and matching up with potential future events we are now targeting late July or August. We want to make sure that all of the Town Event contents we are working on now are solid for inclusion into the console release, as well as making sure it runs like butter and plays well with a controller. Adjusting controls, in particular, is not a quick process. We have a level of quality that we want to ensure in all of our releases and we would rather take some extra time to make it right, rather than rush it out the door. The awesome and talented Sickhead Games has been helping us with the porting.

Town Events are a new feature that the developers are implementing to make sure the gameplay in the Hamlet feels less stale and more varied. Events might trigger when returning from an expedition and will be selected from a “deck”, though sometimes they will be tied to specific quests. For now, the feature is planned for a May release, though that might change:

TOWN EVENTS

Let’s talk Town Events. We have now been full steam on Town Events for the past few weeks, and we’re excited about the new features! With the added time we have been able to digest our own internal feedback to the system, as well as the feedback we’ve received from our community.

Last time we talked about Town Events we wanted to put a clear definition out there as to what we want to accomplish with the added system. To reiterate:

• ‘˜Town Events’ are designed to add variety to the Hamlet over the course of a campaign. Upon returning from an expedition, there is a chance for a thematic event to trigger in town this functions akin to a deck of event cards.

Town Events add variety to the overall campaign and also provide additional personality to the Hamlet itself! In some cases, the events are related to quests. For example, the ALL SAINTS DAY event has a high chance to proc after successfully completing the Ruins Gather Holy Relics Quest. ALL SAINTS DAY sends the Abbey into a zealous celebration, and makes all treatments there free for that week!. We like this example as it helps answer a common community concern on the value of the various gather/destroy quests that we’ve had in the game for a long time, and have been criticized for their loss in value due to inventory restrictions.

Town Events are currently planned to deploy in mid to late May. We will also be circulating the patch on the (Coming in Hot) beta branch before wide release, so stay tuned for details if you wish to be one of the first to try out the update!

The update also reiterates the studio’s commitment to mod support, with Steam Workshop integration still planned as a feature, and also confirms that they’re currently working on the last Kickstarter physical rewards, though Kickstarter backers will have to wait for a later update to get all the details on production.