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Michael Simms of LGP and TuxGames

Posted by Hemos on from the making-the-games-work dept.

jvmatthe writes "The scene for native Linux games has been sleeping for months now, given the demise of Loki. Now LinuxGames has posted a very interesting interview with Michael Simms, who leads both TuxGames and Linux Game Publishing (LGP), which details his views on where Linux gaming has been, where it stands now (including comments on WineX), and where it may be going in the short and long term."

3 of 189 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting that he still needs to say this: by SweenyTod · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Secondly, I would like to say to those that feel that sending flames to the publishers and developers of games will help to get us a port, it wont! Stop doing it, it just harms the reputation of Linux users. If you want to help, buy the games that are out there, show the companies that DO make Linux games that it is worth it, which will make sure that the next game they make is ALSO available for Linux. If you MUST contact the companies that do not make Linux ports, please do so professionally. Send a polite email asking them to port the game, let them know that LGP will port it for them if they have not got the skills to do it. Let them know that you would pay good money for it if it is available for your platform. But do it POLITELY AND RATIONALLY. And only do it once. Continued bombardment of a polite email is as bad as a flame. Remember when you contact a company, you are presenting them with the face of Linux gaming, so show them our best face.

    We as a community of users are still not being good advocates. It's more than advocacy - it's basic manners and the ability to communicate.

    If you flame or abuse somebody, you give them the excuse they might be looking for to ignore you.
    --
    Alas gallinaceas de urbe bovis volo
  2. what linux gaming needs... by xirtam_work · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is a killer app, a game which isn't available on another platform, which takes advantage of the special properties which open source and linux operating systems can offer... like really long uptimes... like keeping the game on in the background all the time in a minimal mode, so that it acts likes a server using p2p for playing (like doom3) when you're not playing it.

    a massively multiplayer elite-a-like? a massively mutliplayer first person perspective action/RPG based in a bladerunner type city?

    expandable using user programable add-on modules?

    Oh, and release it under a license which doesn't allow for ports to non open-source operating systems :-)

  3. Re:There is no Linux games "market". by 13Echo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That is not "insightful". It is totally false. Many Linux users *pay* for their distributions. Many *pay* for commercial software.

    GPL advocates aren't any different than Windows users, when it comes to playing games. Most of them are willing to pay for commercial software, as long as it is of high quality. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that there is a whole lot more illegitimate gaming on the Windows side. I've known LOTS of Windows users that refuse to pay for any of their software.

    For the record, I've paid for the following on my Linux box in the last few months:

    Slackware 8.1
    Lycoris
    Mandrake
    Return to Castle Wolfenstein
    Q3A
    OpenSound.com sound drivers
    Two Opera licenses

    And I'm getting ready to buy a bunch of games from Tux Games. Neverwinter Nights is on my list. Perhaps if there was more software available, then Linux users would be buying more. The point is that there isn't as much right now, and most of what is available is GPL. We use, and advocate good GPL software because often, it is better than the commericial alternatives. But right now, the commercial games still have it. There aren't many GPL games that can match the amount of money and manpower that go into these big, commercial projects. Good, advanced GPL games are showing up, but not at the rate of commercial games.

    Did it ever occur to you that some people love GNU/Linux, not because it is free, but because it is the best, most powerful x86 alternative to Windows? Maybe that doesn't make sense to you. How much have you paid for software lately?

    There will be a market for Linux games. It just needs to be given a chance. Hardware drivers are very stable in Linux, and things like SDL make it really easy to write cross platform games. Linux's OpenGL implementation also seems faster than on Windows. It is growing as an OS, and getting more users. You don't really think that they all want to miss out on these games, do you?