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TransGaming Releases Cedega 4.1
gavriels writes "Today, TransGaming released Cedega 4.1, a new update to our software that lets Windows games run on Linux systems. The new update adds support for Far Cry and Anarchy Online, and implements a completely new 3D pipeline which executes the traditional Direct3D Fixed Function rendering path using dynamically generated OpenGL vertex programs, providing great performance improvements on cards with sufficient vertex program capabilities. We also added MMX accelerated sound mixing, fixed copy protection issues in several games, and improved Pixel Shader support, among other things."
So Far Cry is a good game to test - it chews RAM but is prob comparable on video cards. If only I could remember how to run lilo with initrd thing I could reboot into linux and check.....ah happy days....
Acting stupid isn't much fun when there's someone around who knows better
Still doesn't support xinerama. Neither does doom 3. All they have to do is add one lousy command line argument just like mplayer has.
mplayer -xineramascreen 1 video.avi
Then make the application you are running show up only on that xinerama screen. It's rather simple, but nobody does it. Even linux native games like vegastrike don't do it. It makes gaming very difficult. Windows that are supposed to open in the middle of the screen show up in the empty space between monitors. And full screen apps engulf both screens.
I beg everyone developing linux apps to add proper support for xinerama. Please.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
I am wondering how well the DX9 code is, and more specifically, for running Halo PC/CE. I know that the Mac port uses OpenGL (I doubt that Westlake/Macsoft would try and use Quickdraw 3D). However, Gearbox uses a lot of DX9 and PX2.0 exclusive stuff in the win32 version.
Althought getting the client to run would be awesome, the real question is when it will be able to run the Dedicated server for it, as a daemon. (halod wrapper anyone?)
We have supported render to texture in Cedega, for both Direct3D and OpenGL apps for quite some time. It isn't as efficient in OpenGL in Linux, due to the lack of a specific extension to support it, but it still works. We render to a pbuffer, then copy to the target texture. You can see this to good effect in Far Cry, with their water reflections, for example.
Take care,
-Gav
I attempted to install it the other week, but I ran into the wonderful cd-rom locking problem and was unable to switch to the second disk during the install.
Transgaming claims Cedega 4.0 supports switching cd's, but it's hit or miss. Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is an example of this, as their FAQ states you need to copy the second cd's contents to your hard drive and point the installer there when it asks.
I really wish there was a simpler way to use cd drives with a stock GNU/Linux kernel instead of hunting down supermount patches or strange hacks like Transgaming tries. It's a major issue that that's is holding back as a desktop OS.
Now, for a support question... Is addition of support for FF XI currently in progress? Will it ever be in the near future? As it is, that's probably the only thing keeping me from switching to Linux (and buying a Cedega subscription, of course). Also, does the Steam version of Half-Life and its various mods (e.g., The Specialists) work under Cedega currently?
Anywho, 4.1 looks great. Performance boosts are always a good thing. ;)
Also, are there any benchmarks comparing between Cedega 4.0, Cedega 4.1, and native Windows performance? I'd like to see if Cedega causes a sizable framerate hit (i.e., 20% or more).
Handling unmount/mount with a keycombo would be useful too, such as in a fullscreen CD-swap environment. I haven't used it though so maybe this kind of stuff is in there in some form already...
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Its not that Wine or Doom3 don't support Xinerama but that Xinerama doesn't yet support OpenGL.
However, you *can* run multi-head without Xinerama and run as many OpenGL in-game displays as you can fit video-cards in your system.
Ripping an new rectum in the fabric of spacetime.
I just wish ATI would lend more support to the linux side. I've switched to ATI when the 9700 PRO game out, and under windows its been great. Under linux, its like pulling teeth. I never had a problem with any of my nvidia cards (tnt to geforcefx).
Transgaming lists some the ATI issues in the release announcement.
I really think my next card for my dual boot system is going to be Nvidia based, tired of the problems.
Also, anyone catch the 2.6 kernel issues statement? Come on... Im not going back to 2.4.x...
Battlefront does not currently work, as it uses some DirectX 9.0c features that are not yet implemented. We're looking at this game, and several others that are high on our voting list for inclusion in our next release.
That said, the eject system that was added to Cedega 4.0 should work for almost all titles. The only ones that it may have trouble with are ones where the installer requires the first CD back in the drive after the second one is done. I don't recall whether Jedi Academy is among these titles, but I didn't think it was.
Please drop a note to our support team (support@transgaming.com) with more info on what didn't work for you. There are several things you can accidently do with the command line Cedega that will cause a problem for the eject management code - ie: launch the installer from a shell that is sitting in the cdrom mount point. Using Point2Play can eliminate some of these potential issues.
Take care,
-Gav
Cedega, when using the new -monitor-cdrom-eject option, does exactly this. If it detects a press of the drive's eject button, it simply closes the Linux handle for all files it has open, then calls the user-space eject program.
The cdrom eject button monitor is only supported on CDRW or DVD drives though, so for older systems you need to use the Point2Play 'unmount / eject' button to trigger this behaviour.
Take care,
-Gav
Cedega is a commercial product, sold though our subscription system for $5 / month (3 month minimum). During your subscription, you have access to updates, support, and voting rights to tell us what games you want to see supported.
You can still use the product even if you let your subscription expire, but you won't receive any futher updates, etc.
You can find out more at http://www.transgaming.com
If that's what you meant to say, then I agree. I firmly believe that games are what drives the state of the art in a lot of areas - graphics being a big one, but gamers are usally worried about performance issues as well, and it's nice that you can eliminate a lot of bloat with Linux. I mean, seriously, who buys matched 1GB pairs of DDR3200 or $400 video cards to use office apps?
No one, I hope.
There's a lot of gamers who would use Linux as their primary desktop, if they could only know that the new games coming out would be able to be run with their OS. I know I would use Linux in a heartbeat as my main OS, but I'd be stuck playing nothing but ID Games and Neverwinter Nights. Good games, but variety is the spice of life.
Get games released for Linux, or make a foolproof emulator, and I bet you'll see the number of people using Linux as their primary desktop go through the roof.
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It'll be a slow process, but in 5-10 years I think we'll see this actually happen. You also don't have to buy Cedega. You can download the source/binary stuff and finish the compile job. It takes a little to get it working, but it does. Of course, you can support Cedega and pay for the binaries.
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The ideal solution for you then would be to ship the OS/cedega with the game, so you would simply boot Linux off a CD that came with the game.
..
That has some drawbacks with upgrades and different hardware, but well, if you don't want to pay for an OS that runs games yourself
I'm still trying to figure out what people mean by 'social skills' here.