The Banner Saga New Patch Adds Linux and Controller Support, New Renderer

The new patch that has been released for The Banner Saga is the focus of the latest Kickstarter update for the project, and for good reason as it adds a number of new features and improvements to the game. Linux and SteamOS players will finally be able to play the game on their OS of choice, but every single OS is getting Steam Cloud saves, full controller support, a new renderer that should take some of the game’s performance load off the CPU in favor of the GPU, not to mention a host of bugfixes.

All in all, this seems like a pretty good time to give Stoic’s title another try, and should hint at the kind of improvements included in the sequel, which they assure us is still very much in the works:

Main Points

Linux + SteamOS

Big Picture

Full Gamepad

Steam Cloud Saves

Release Notes

Ported the game to Linux and SteamOS

Added Steam Big Picture support

Added Gamepad support for Xbox and Playstation compatible controllers

Graphical renderer completely rewritten and optimized using Starling and Stage3d for

Windows and Mac OS X platforms. This puts more load on your GPU, instead of the CPU. You can still use the old renderer by adding the command line option “starling=false” without the quotes.

Added zooming with mouse wheel

Fix issue preventing achievements earned in offline play from uploading to Steam when Steam finally reconnects

Fix issue with Rook exclaiming when he dies to Bellower with the silver arrow

Fix issue causing Silver Arrow to be unusable in the Bellower Fight

Hero Stat upgrade GUI improved with new ‘add’ and ‘subtract’ buttons

Fix several grammar and spelling issues

Fix issue where Egil is still available for fight after being betrayed

Battle Horn no longer deducts stars if they cannot be used on the active hero

Command line options format has changed. See the Developer Cheatsheet for more information.

We’ve also been working on Banner Saga 2, which will be picking up right where The Banner Saga ends. In case you haven’t heard it yet you will be able to import your save from Banner Saga 1 in to Banner Saga 2 so that you continue your journey with the same characters and the same choices.