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UT2003 LiveCD
ztc writes "Gentoo has added a Unreal Tournament 2003 demo to a version of their Linux-based LiveCD. It has up-to-date nvidia graphics drivers, sound drivers, network drivers, etc. on the CD ready-to-play. LiveCDs have always been a great way to sway potential Linux-converts, but this should really impress them! You can download the iso here." A sneaky way to promote Gentoo. I like it.
LiveCDs have always been a great way to sway potential Linux-converts, but this should really impress them!
Zealot: "And look at this!! You plug in the CD, and it runs Unreal Tournament!!"
Normal Person: "But... my Windows already does that."
Zealot: "But you don't understand! It's better because it's Linux!!"
Normal Person: "But it looks the same to me... ?"
Zealot: "Well, yeah, but that's the point! It looks the same, but it's on Linux!!"
Normal Person: "Er.. OK. Show me The Sims next!"
Zealot: "Give me a few hours to get Quake working..."
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
I feel sorry for ibiblio.org
Well, I don't know exactly what the LiveCD does, but I will say that if you're trying to impress them with the game, then I'm not sure that the Linux demo is going to be that impressive to Windows people. If I were a Windows-only user, I'd ask them what the big deal was, since I could play it on my Windows machine already. And I'd point out that, despite the fact that NVIDIA cards are pretty widespread, the demo on Windows supports a wider range of cards, including the lowly 3dfx Voodoo3. And that it doesn't require rebooting the machine.
If this were a Linux-only game that supported a wide range of hardware configurations and showed off graphical splendor that wasn't generally available on Windows, then that'd be impressive to lots of people. As much as my geeky side can be impressed by the idea of putting together a CD like this, I just don't see Windows people giving a hoot.
FWIW, I'm not a Windows user. I only use Linux at work and at home. Heck, I even wrote an article on the Linux demo and how it came to be. But most Windows users are still puzzled about why a Linux port even exists. They're certainly not going to want you rebooting their machine just so you can boot up Linux and play it from a CD.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
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LiveCD is a standalone bootable CD that you can pop in most newer computers, boot up and play the game.
The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either. - Benjamin Franklin
What's one of the big reasons people always give for not switching to Linux? What's one of the big reasons that many of us STILL have Windows boxes or dual-boot?
The games.
Now we've got two or three big games being released for the Linux platforms. (UT 2003, NWN(when it's done?), Quake 3(I know released heap long time ago, but it's still a big game) Proof that Linux can run major market games. May help sway some people.
The future
What *I* would like to see is games released in this Live CD fashion. So that you don't have to worry about getting the latet drivers. It almost turns any computer into a gaming console. You just put in the CD, reboot, and play. Don't have to worry about clearing out hard drive space or buying a new hard drive so you have enough space. You don't have to worry about having the drivers that work with the game. It's all bundled up in the UT OS I don't know how it was for some people, but it was a PAIN trying to get Quake and Quake2 installed and running under Linux for me.
Heck you and some friends could burn off these CD's and head to your local internet cafe or Best Buy and play some UT over the net...hehehehe
"For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
Zealot > Look at this! It's a demo of Unreal Tournament under Linux. You just put in the CD and it runs.
Poor dude > What's all that writing?
Zealot > That's it booting. You don't need to worry about that.
Poor dude > Why's it taking so long?
Zealot > That's the amazing thing! Gentoo compiles the kernel, the libraries, the compiler, the compiler again, X, AND unreal tournament before running it! So it runs really fast!
Poor dude > So how long does it take to get working?
Zealot > About 3 days from pressing the power on button. But it's fast!
Kevin
"It's not the cough that carries you off, it's the coffin they carry you off in" O. Nash
This is false. To cut down on traffic over the AGP bus, Epic used texture compression. Specifically, they used S3TC/DXTC, which is supported by every major, modern 3D video driver on Windows (i.e. their target audience). This extension is currently supported by only two drivers on Linux: the ones from NVIDIA and the ones from Xi Graphics. The XiG drivers support the Radeon cards, but are pay-to-use drivers. However a time-limited demo is available for free. (The server must be restarted every 25-30 minutes or so, in the demo, as I understand it. Buy the real thing, and you get unlimited use, naturally.)
Epic has also said they're working with ATI and PowerVR (makers of the Kyro cards) to improve the binary-only drivers that each of those companies provides for their cards under Linux. If and when these drivers are released, they will be free-as-in-beer.
Again: it is the failing of the drivers under Linux to support a required extension, not Epic. Without that extension, performance would be terrible, so it isn't an option of just turning it off.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
What I find interesting is the possibility to offer games that come with their own OS. Instead of distributing a game which comes for Windows, Linux, or MacOS, why not put an optimized OS on the CD or DVD so that anyone can boot it and play the game. The game could fetch configs and saved games, if available, on a user-specified location on disk, or better, online. It would work much as a console; of course, having to boot on the CD is a drawback, but console users don't seem to mind.