Unreal Engine Linux Ports Not Dead?

CookieMnstr|PuF writes: "Brandon Reinhart, programmer at Epic, has updated his .plan file in response to the fear that no more Unreal Engine-based games will be ported to Linux. He faults the Linux community for jumping to the conclusion that Unreal Engine games will not be a reality for the Mac and Linux. Maybe he should read beyond the headlines. "

Comments

Re:I prefer D3D now

[Bert Peers]

Well, this is only partially true. The thing is that progress in D3D often means nothing more than defining a number of new features in the docs. That's only an illusion of progress : sure, in theory you could say that D3D is more advanced than OpenGL because for instance D3D exposes 8 stage texture combiners since D3D6, while OpenGL still struggled to get multitexturing past the ARB, but on the other hand, as long as the hardware out there doesn't set the capability bits that actually make all the theoretical D3D feature *real*, all that M$ progress is just APIware. And it's just as easy for, say, NVidia, to expose a GL_EXT_thisandthat as to set a capability bit. Basically, I disagree with you saying that D3D > OpenGL, because OpenGL is open to start : any vendor can define extensions for his hardware; with D3D, everything has to come from M$.

I do agree though that D3D is currently the better environment for development when you want to build 3D engines for vast continuous levels; Windows' tendency to trash the videomemory upon a task switch forces OpenGL to waste huge amounts of memory on keeping copies of every texture. Sweeney complained about that quite a while ago, so it was evident back then that he'd either have to find a solution for it (hoping for a GL_EXT_nosystemcopy perhaps ?), or drop OpenGL for being too memory intensive.

About OpenGL being geared towards id. That's true, but it's probably a good thing. The 3D APIs of today are so complex that it's probably daydreaming to think a driver writer can optimise *everything*. The combined internal state is so huge that you cannot build an optimal path for each and every combination. One influential game that uses a limited set of the API gives driver writers an opportunity to max out performance on that path, which in turn allows other developers to write their code with that path in mind -- instead of just reading the docs and picking one of the 35 possibilities to specify their geometry, hoping it'll come out right and speedy. You're right that this situation is not without danger of getting stuck, though...

Market forces

[slim]

Stop gnashing and wailing, and just vote with your pockets. Don't buy the Windows version of UT2, wait until a version for the platform you want comes out.

If you just can't wait, and buying the Windows version is acceptable to you -- well it looks like Epic made a sound commercial decision, doesn't it.

We have no right to "demand" that Epic do (or do not do) anything: we can only appeal to their pockets.
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Unreal port no matter. Engine port matter.

[The Cunctator]

That was my attempt to get subject into concise form. Yeah, Epic games will probably continue to be ported, since they're pretty much guaranteed A-level titles, with enough guaranteed sales on the "lesser" OS's to be worth the effort of finding a porting house. Note also that Epic is big enough to have built the necessary relationships with porting shops. But will their engine be ported?

The HUGE and CRUSHING disaster of Epic's decision is in the effective death of many, many other ports. Take a look at the list of games being made on the UT and Q3A engines for the PC. A majority of those games are being ported to Mac (and Linux? I don't follow Linux ports, just Mac ports). Why? Because the engines are cross-platform.

This is GREAT for pretty much all users, but Mac & Linux users especially.

The games based on the earlier iD and Epic engines that weren't cross-platform weren't ported nearly as often.

That's the real reason for despair and gnashing of teeth. Epic is both a game maker AND an engine producer. They feel responsible enough to ensure that their games get ported, but do they care to ensure that the engine will be?

If Epic makes a Direct3D based engine, but hires a company like Westlake to make a Mac version of the engine, and not simply the Epic game based on the engine, (and likewise for Linux), then we'll have reason to calm down. Otherwise, it's time to be revolting!