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Transgaming's WineX 2.1 - Supports WarCraft 3
friedmud writes "WineX 2.1 is out on the street, get it at transgaming.com. It boasts, among other things, full support for Warcraft III. Other games now included are: Grand Theft Auto 3, Civilization III, and Black and White. Check the press release for further info. And, if you haven't already, go here to get an account... It is definitely worth it." I've been rebooting my laptop to
WC3, so maybe I'll give this a shot. I bought a subscription originally
in part due to their misleading Sims compatibility claims, but this looks like
it finally is truly emulating top windows games.
For novice players, it is pretty much the same thing, only smaller armies (which is a good thing in my opinion)
In really competitive play, it actually plays quite differently from Starcraft, C&C, WC2, or Dune 2. The hero system really rewards micromanagement, and rushes aren't quite what they've been in the past. If you sit down and try to play WC3 like Starcraft, you'll lose pretty quickly. Warcraft 3 is not paced at all like previous RTSes.
However, these are deep, play-balance innovations. The overall format of the game is pretty much Warcraft 2 with smaller armies and stronger units.
What I would really like to see is a RTS (and shouldn't these games be called Real Time Tactics, the scale is a bit small to really be called "strategy" in the military sense) of WWII's Pacific theater, done at about Starcraft Scale. Storm beaches, knock out gun fortifications, take over islands, clear out airstrips, etc. It could be really interesting, and it wouldn't have any of that base-building nonsense (you don't train new soldiers and research new technology on the battlefield). Or play the Japanese side and try to defend.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
Actually WineX is a very good idea for supporting Linux. Even in the rare cases where linux is still on the desktop most people maintain a windows partition for gaming. Something like WoneX will allow them to move over to pure linux. This wil help spread linux, you CAN use all your M$ software still and you get all this all this great other linux stuff, you haev nothing to lose! Furthermore as more people start to use WineX and like products the game manufacturers will start to notice this market share and try to make sure their game doesn't do anything cookey (did I spell that right) that would make it unusable under WineX. As this happens linux becomes more popular and continues to grow in market share until finally companies find they can get an edge by offering native linux games instead of stuff running over a compatibility layer. Now you get you linux games, I very much believe Wine and WineX are one of the best weapons linux has to take the desktop.
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See, I totally disagree with this.
WineX has not taken anything away from Wine. They use their code, and Wine is no worse off for it. Your criticism of TransGaming assumes that they would have written the same software if they had used the GPL. But they wouldn't have. If you want to sell software (and not support or some other intangible) you simply can't use the GPL. The only thing you can hope for is to tack a $1 surcharge on CDs shipped to people with connections to slow to download the free package.
Profit is a motivator for innovation, like it or not. I like and fully support the GPL, but I also like and fully support some things done by better for-profit software companies. If Transgaming had been forced to GPL their work, there would be no WineX.
"Support" good software that you want to use, in whatever form it comes in. If there's a product out there that is filling a gap, then support whatever system that created it. Linux may or may not succeed on the desktop. Linux will not succeed on the desktop with ONLY GPLed software.
In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
Issued on Wednesday April 17, 2002
Play Warcraft III on Linux with TransGaming's Release of WineX 2.1
Issued on Thursday August 1, 2002
TransGaming subscriptions cost $5 per month, with a minimum three months payment.
It's been just over three months since the last major release. Coincidence?
Wine is an emulator...
emulate
1. To strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation: an older pupil whose accomplishments and style I emulated.
2. To compete with successfully; approach or attain equality with.
3. Computer Science. To imitate the function of (another system), as by modifications to hardware or software that allow the imitating system to accept the same data, execute the same programs, and achieve the same results as the imitated system.
Just because I claim not to be a 26 year old male doesn't mean that I'm not 26 year old male. Just because WINE claims not to be an emulator doesn't mean that it's not an emulator.
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Keep in mind that when Transgaming has made enough money to cover all their development costs (through subscriptions etc.) they're merging all their new code back into the standard Wine tree. Eventually 95% of what they've done will be free and open source, excluding the Safedisc and other licensed protection schemes of course. Those generally aren't a problem anyway due to no-cd cracks and the like.