Savage to Support Linux

focitrixilous P writes "Gamespot writes about the upcoming hybrid strategy game Savage: The Battle for Neweth, which will provide a full Linux edition on the same disk as the Windows version. The title blends real time strategy with action titles, along one player to act as a general while others do the actual fighting."

Comments

Re:I don't see why this is so difficult.

[chrisd]

For one thing, a number of companies are not rolling thier own graphic front ends anymore. For instance, for renderware and gamebryo, you need to pay your licence per platform. So if you are going to use these kinds of tools, you have to ask yourself, how much will publishing on linux actually make us? If that answer is (as it currently is right now) not much, then that is something that you need to consider. Keep in mind that licencing an engine can save you 1 or 2 years of development depending on your application.

This is not to intimate that there are renderware or gamebryo platform licences available. I'll put it another way, until a signifigant number of gamers say "I will pay 50$ for a game only when it hits linux natively (not transgaming or others)" then is when you will see linux reach parity with the Mac or windows. Currently, our research shows that hard core gamers that use linux are not loathe to reboot into windows or use an emulation technology. Until that changes, the state of linux gaming won't change either.

Also, describing the engine as minor shows you don't understand the state of AAA gaming. The engine would comprise a scenegraph, an interface to the video hardware (either via opengl, directx, console video, or a software renderer like pixomatic), the positional sound or mappings to other libraries like miles, AI connectors, physics or physics tie-ins to havoc, networking, matchmaking, and a variety of other components. Keep in mind that you can make most of this cross platform, but it's not like it just happens magically.

Chris DiBona