4 ms·

OpenRCT2 v0.5.1 "Swamp Castle" released Last version to support Windows 7

33 points by jandeboevrie 5mo ago

CursedSilicon 5mo ago
I remember when the Dolphin emulator dropped Windows 7 a few years ago. The absolute consternation, whining and even threats(!) against the developers was utterly sickening Even as someone who enjoys "retro tech" far more than anything modern anymore, I'm hardly going to berate people to bend over backwards to keep supporting my ancient systems with modern software. If someone wants to backport newer software as a hobby (such as Cameron Kaiser with TenFourFox, and the many downstream derivatives that spawned over the years) it's a welcome delight. But it should never be an "obligation"
- davkan 5mo ago
  Many (all?) of the people using windows 7 as their only OS at this point are zealots. It’s not surprising that some would respond that way. It’s largely a group of people who will never willingly change their habits and any removal of support is an assault. There were many valid reasons to not upgrade to 10 but the rational people have given up and upgraded or migrated to Linux/mac over the past decade.
  - poglet 5mo ago
    Why as their only OS? I assume many people connect their old PC to their TV and install a bunch of emulators. I suppose Linux could be an alternate solution for those machines.
    - close04 5mo ago
      A PC like this that doesn’t support Windows 10 is so outdated that even a $50 investment would get you a massive improvement. The only reasons to keep Windows 7 are for niche SW/HW that only work on it and have no replacement, or because you want it out of principle. Neither of these are reasons to expect everyone else to bend over backwards to accommodate you.
      - cogman10 5mo ago
        Other than needing more RAM, all the hardware that works for Win 7 will work with Windows 10 and 11. Most software should as well. Windows 7 drivers are compatible with windows 10 and 11 so there really isn't a reason you couldn't continue using basically any hardware after an upgrade.
        close04 5mo ago
        I was thinking of the odd XP era PC which could run W7 but just barely. Those would be truly outdated machines with no reason to be around a livingroom. I have netbooks which ran XP ok but W10 is a pain to run on them, or tablets with more modern Atom CPUs which ran W10 ok at the beginning but by the latest update they became close to unusable.
  - Sarkie 5mo ago
    "Only OS" is the caveat here.
    - davkan 5mo ago
      Yeah, I’m not sure who else would be raging about dolphin dropping support. Not talking about people who keep an extra w7 box around for legacy software which Dolphin is not.
  - HeckFeck 5mo ago
    They are committed. I found this kernel extensions project: https://github.com/i486/VxKex https://github.com/i486/VxKex Perhaps that'd be the OpenRCT2 fanatics' salvation.
  - redsocksfan45 5mo ago
    These sort of windows users have been drawing lines in the sand at every version of windows thusfar, when push comes to shove they always fold and accept the new thing they resisted for years, declaring that to be their new line in the sand. They come up with all manner of innane cope like "every other version of windows is good", but take a step back and its obvious they're getting slow boiled. The ones dying in a hill for Windows 7 now were once dying on a hill for 2000 or XP, refusing to use 7, and in a few years they'll be dying on a hill for windows 10 or 11. These aren't serious people. Serious people have either gotten off windows, or have made peace with sleeping with microsoft. Those clinging to the past can't bring themselves to do either, and therefore must not be taken seriously.
    - M95D 4mo ago
      > These aren't serious people. Serious people have either gotten off windows, or have made peace with sleeping with microsoft. I am one of those people. I am serious, as are most of the other people resisting updates. It's just that most of them are not technically competent enough to switch to Linux or oppose sleeping with microsoft in an effective way. I think it's very ignorant of you to not consider them serius. I fought to keep every version of the old OS since Win98, as each version since that was worse than the one before. I'm using Win7 now, isolated from the internet without a DNS or a valid route out. Access is via filtering proxy server from Firefox only. Fortunately Firefox uses its own proxy settings, separated from the rest of the OS. This is how I fight sleeping with microsoft. I am prepared for the future. I know I can't win the fight. I have a Win10 ready to go, for that time when most websites stop working with FF 115. Just in case that doesn't work, I have a Linux machine with Gentoo and Firefox that I can run via VNC and then I can go back to at least WinXP. I'm using it now for Discourse forums (Discourse devs, I hope you all rot in hell!). I never understood how devs could accept this kind of crap on their machines. You of all people should know better and fight harder. Maybe you get indoctrinated by your education buzzwords like "engagement", "metrics", "telemetry" and you can't think straight anymore?
  - 486sx33 4mo ago
    [dead]
hulitu 5mo ago
> Due to GitHub upcoming lack of support to Windows7/8 action runners, this will be our last release officially supporting those platforms. As they have been unsupported for years by Microsoft, we recommend you upgrade to play OpenRCT2 for security reasons! Those "security reasons" start more and more to look like "think of the children". The biggest entry point for exploits nowadays is the web browser, yet nobody cares about it (just look at the list of CVEs fixed at every browser release).
- gcr 5mo ago
  On the website, their joke has some formatting: “we recommend you upgrade <strikethrough>to play OpenRCT2</strikethrough> for security reasons!”
  - M95D 4mo ago
    If that is supposed to be sarcasm, I didn't get it.
    - gcr 4mo ago
      I think it’s throwing shade on Microsoft, which is urging people to upgrade to W11 for “security reasons.” Since Microsoft owns GitHub, their decision to shut down Windows 7/8 action runners is a sneaky way to help drive customers toward Windows 11.
- mlunar 5mo ago
  While I agree that there are lots of problems around security communication, I don't feel like the number of CVEs fixed is a good proxy for bad security, I would assume it's more the opposite. Like the more incident reports an airline company has, the safer it tends to be - the unsafe ones don't care to file them.
- zamadatix 5mo ago
  There actually used to be a time using outdated browsers was a massive issue. The thing is that portion of the problem is solved now, every browser auto updates at an extremely high pace and it has become accepted. Auto update of evergreen operating systems is still extremely unpopular and occurs at a much lower pace. All things involved have massive piles of CVEs getting fixed all the time, it's still an improvement to consume them.
redsocksfan45 5mo ago
[dead]
Asooka 5mo ago
What is the issue with building for Windows 7 target on Windows 10/11 host? Not that the team is obligated to support ancient OSes, but I am not following their justification. If it is just the fact that they can't properly test if the build works on 7, then they could call it "best effort" support.
- throawayonthe 5mo ago
  but then if it's untested how is it different from saying build it yourself? spending effort on making sure the windows 7 build runs without actually knowing that the build result works seems pointless
HelloUsername 5mo ago
Slightly related: does anyone know why it's being deprecated on brew? https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openrct2 https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openrct2
- zamadatix 5mo ago
  You can follow the link to the cask code on GitHub and the line disabling will (usually) leave a clear reason. In this case, because of Gatekeeper/codesigning because that costs money https://github.com/OpenRCT2/OpenRCT2/issues/15879?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://github.com/OpenRCT2/OpenRCT2/issues/15879?utm_source...
  - bombcar 5mo ago
    Isn’t there some guy who goes around compiling these games with his codesign?
    - zamadatix 5mo ago
      If there is and that works in a way the OpenRCT2 team keeps full control of their automated build/release pipeline it might be worth getting them in touch! Another option would be someone donate for it.
      - bombcar 5mo ago
        He has the adhoc signed one on his site: https://www.macsourceports.com/game/rct2 https://www.macsourceports.com/game/rct2
ko653749 5mo ago
ကျွဲဂိမ်းစလော့
Grom_PE 5mo ago
At least they aren't intentionally breaking Win7 support by using some random later version API function unconditionally. Some developers seem proud doing that, somehow feeling that extra 5-10 lines of code for backwards compatibility is too much.

33 points by jandeboevrie 5mo ago

I remember when the Dolphin emulator dropped Windows 7 a few years ago. The absolute consternation, whining and even threats(!) against the developers was utterly sickening Even as someone who enjoys "retro tech" far more than anything modern anymore, I'm hardly going to berate people to bend over backwards to keep supporting my ancient systems with modern software. If someone wants to backport newer software as a hobby (such as Cameron Kaiser with TenFourFox, and the many downstream derivatives that spawned over the years) it's a welcome delight. But it should never be an "obligation"

davkan 5mo ago
Many (all?) of the people using windows 7 as their only OS at this point are zealots. It’s not surprising that some would respond that way. It’s largely a group of people who will never willingly change their habits and any removal of support is an assault. There were many valid reasons to not upgrade to 10 but the rational people have given up and upgraded or migrated to Linux/mac over the past decade.
- poglet 5mo ago
  Why as their only OS? I assume many people connect their old PC to their TV and install a bunch of emulators. I suppose Linux could be an alternate solution for those machines.
  - close04 5mo ago
    A PC like this that doesn’t support Windows 10 is so outdated that even a $50 investment would get you a massive improvement. The only reasons to keep Windows 7 are for niche SW/HW that only work on it and have no replacement, or because you want it out of principle. Neither of these are reasons to expect everyone else to bend over backwards to accommodate you.
    - cogman10 5mo ago
      Other than needing more RAM, all the hardware that works for Win 7 will work with Windows 10 and 11. Most software should as well. Windows 7 drivers are compatible with windows 10 and 11 so there really isn't a reason you couldn't continue using basically any hardware after an upgrade.
      - close04 5mo ago
        I was thinking of the odd XP era PC which could run W7 but just barely. Those would be truly outdated machines with no reason to be around a livingroom. I have netbooks which ran XP ok but W10 is a pain to run on them, or tablets with more modern Atom CPUs which ran W10 ok at the beginning but by the latest update they became close to unusable.
- Sarkie 5mo ago
  "Only OS" is the caveat here.
  - davkan 5mo ago
    Yeah, I’m not sure who else would be raging about dolphin dropping support. Not talking about people who keep an extra w7 box around for legacy software which Dolphin is not.
- HeckFeck 5mo ago
  They are committed. I found this kernel extensions project: https://github.com/i486/VxKex https://github.com/i486/VxKex Perhaps that'd be the OpenRCT2 fanatics' salvation.
- redsocksfan45 5mo ago
  These sort of windows users have been drawing lines in the sand at every version of windows thusfar, when push comes to shove they always fold and accept the new thing they resisted for years, declaring that to be their new line in the sand. They come up with all manner of innane cope like "every other version of windows is good", but take a step back and its obvious they're getting slow boiled. The ones dying in a hill for Windows 7 now were once dying on a hill for 2000 or XP, refusing to use 7, and in a few years they'll be dying on a hill for windows 10 or 11. These aren't serious people. Serious people have either gotten off windows, or have made peace with sleeping with microsoft. Those clinging to the past can't bring themselves to do either, and therefore must not be taken seriously.
  - M95D 4mo ago
    > These aren't serious people. Serious people have either gotten off windows, or have made peace with sleeping with microsoft. I am one of those people. I am serious, as are most of the other people resisting updates. It's just that most of them are not technically competent enough to switch to Linux or oppose sleeping with microsoft in an effective way. I think it's very ignorant of you to not consider them serius. I fought to keep every version of the old OS since Win98, as each version since that was worse than the one before. I'm using Win7 now, isolated from the internet without a DNS or a valid route out. Access is via filtering proxy server from Firefox only. Fortunately Firefox uses its own proxy settings, separated from the rest of the OS. This is how I fight sleeping with microsoft. I am prepared for the future. I know I can't win the fight. I have a Win10 ready to go, for that time when most websites stop working with FF 115. Just in case that doesn't work, I have a Linux machine with Gentoo and Firefox that I can run via VNC and then I can go back to at least WinXP. I'm using it now for Discourse forums (Discourse devs, I hope you all rot in hell!). I never understood how devs could accept this kind of crap on their machines. You of all people should know better and fight harder. Maybe you get indoctrinated by your education buzzwords like "engagement", "metrics", "telemetry" and you can't think straight anymore?
- 486sx33 4mo ago
  [dead]

hulitu 5mo ago

> Due to GitHub upcoming lack of support to Windows7/8 action runners, this will be our last release officially supporting those platforms. As they have been unsupported for years by Microsoft, we recommend you upgrade to play OpenRCT2 for security reasons! Those "security reasons" start more and more to look like "think of the children". The biggest entry point for exploits nowadays is the web browser, yet nobody cares about it (just look at the list of CVEs fixed at every browser release).

gcr 5mo ago
On the website, their joke has some formatting: “we recommend you upgrade <strikethrough>to play OpenRCT2</strikethrough> for security reasons!”
- M95D 4mo ago
  If that is supposed to be sarcasm, I didn't get it.
  - gcr 4mo ago
    I think it’s throwing shade on Microsoft, which is urging people to upgrade to W11 for “security reasons.” Since Microsoft owns GitHub, their decision to shut down Windows 7/8 action runners is a sneaky way to help drive customers toward Windows 11.
mlunar 5mo ago
While I agree that there are lots of problems around security communication, I don't feel like the number of CVEs fixed is a good proxy for bad security, I would assume it's more the opposite. Like the more incident reports an airline company has, the safer it tends to be - the unsafe ones don't care to file them.
zamadatix 5mo ago
There actually used to be a time using outdated browsers was a massive issue. The thing is that portion of the problem is solved now, every browser auto updates at an extremely high pace and it has become accepted. Auto update of evergreen operating systems is still extremely unpopular and occurs at a much lower pace. All things involved have massive piles of CVEs getting fixed all the time, it's still an improvement to consume them.

redsocksfan45 5mo ago

[dead]

Asooka 5mo ago

What is the issue with building for Windows 7 target on Windows 10/11 host? Not that the team is obligated to support ancient OSes, but I am not following their justification. If it is just the fact that they can't properly test if the build works on 7, then they could call it "best effort" support.

throawayonthe 5mo ago
but then if it's untested how is it different from saying build it yourself? spending effort on making sure the windows 7 build runs without actually knowing that the build result works seems pointless

HelloUsername 5mo ago

Slightly related: does anyone know why it's being deprecated on brew? https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openrct2 https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openrct2

zamadatix 5mo ago
You can follow the link to the cask code on GitHub and the line disabling will (usually) leave a clear reason. In this case, because of Gatekeeper/codesigning because that costs money https://github.com/OpenRCT2/OpenRCT2/issues/15879?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://github.com/OpenRCT2/OpenRCT2/issues/15879?utm_source...
- bombcar 5mo ago
  Isn’t there some guy who goes around compiling these games with his codesign?
  - zamadatix 5mo ago
    If there is and that works in a way the OpenRCT2 team keeps full control of their automated build/release pipeline it might be worth getting them in touch! Another option would be someone donate for it.
    - bombcar 5mo ago
      He has the adhoc signed one on his site: https://www.macsourceports.com/game/rct2 https://www.macsourceports.com/game/rct2

ko653749 5mo ago

ကျွဲဂိမ်းစလော့

Grom_PE 5mo ago

At least they aren't intentionally breaking Win7 support by using some random later version API function unconditionally. Some developers seem proud doing that, somehow feeling that extra 5-10 lines of code for backwards compatibility is too much.