Slashdot Mirror
Fragging on Linux and TransGaming
Kez writes "HEXUS.net has an article looking at the current state of Linux gaming and the broad number of supported games both natively and through emulation. Included in the article is a chat with the Product Manager of TransGaming - the creators of Cedega (formerly known as WineX.)" From the article: "Well, Linux certainly isn't most peoples' thought for a games-based PC. Especially one being taken to a big tournament LAN party. However, by design or trickery, none of the tournament games at the event were out-of-bounds to my Linux machine, and rousing games of Call of Duty, Quake 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 were shared by the HEXUS.net collective and any other gamers who felt like joining in." We ran a story about a similar article back in February.
I've actually found that the Linux version of UT2004 actually runs a bit better under Linux than under windows. I think it has something to do with the way windows allocates virtual memory; when I run under windows, the game eventually starts stuttering as windows valiantly tries to compensate for my woefully small amount of RAM; under Linux, it seems to keep chugging along just fine.
I see the usual suspects again rear their heads: Quake 3, UT2004, etc, etc, etc. Love Linux on a server, as a games machine you've got to ask yourself why you're ponying up cash for a graphics card that is only going to be used by a handful of games. And if you're such a gamer that Cedega is a must for you, why are you even bothering to screw around with a kludge when you could just dual boot. I guess I'm just not hardcore enough to be that much of a purist that I'd jump through so many damned hoops just to be MS free. I enjoy having access to a huge library of games, and I really enjoy not having to deal with botched textures and subpar performance just to make sure it runs on my pet OS. I'm a gamer first and foremost, and in this day and age that means Microsoft.
First Loki is mentioned in the article, in a way that seems to imply that they would be more successful today thanks to the larger installed base (which sounds plausable). That said, it made me think of something. What about Aspyr? They seem to specialize in porting Windows games to the Mac. If they are doing that (which would probably require moving the games to OpenGL and OpenAL if they don't use 'em already), then shouldn't it be a quick walk from there to Linux? Seems like as long as you are moving platforms, the little extra effort for the increased market share you can sell to seems like a good idea.
Second is Tux Racer. Why do these articles always mention Tux Racer. It was cute that it existed 5 years ago, but the last time I tried it (a year to so ago) it still seemed amaturish (not bad, just simple and not as polished as a "real" game). It just doesn't seem like it should be an example that is trotted out every time one of these articles comes out.
Too bad we can't just get more people to use OpenGL and OpenAL/SDL/whatever in the first place so things no NEED full ports to be sellable on Linux/BSD/OS X/whatever. If MS were to somehow lose 20%+ market share quickly, the scramble to move these Windows only programs to other OSes would be fun to watch.
Last but not least... why do I have to pay so much? I moved from PC to Mac and would have to rebuy all my games. The data files are where most of your money is tied up. Write portable, and sell one box with one DVD that works on Win/Lin/Mac. Or just sell a Windows version and when the Linux/Mac version are ready make the files freely downloadable so anyone with a Windows copy run under Linux/Mac.
If (seemingly) every big console game can come out on all three consoles within a year (usually at the same time), then surely you can launch a computer game that runs on the big 3 OSes (Win, Lin, Mac) without 2+ year porting times. The difference between a Mac and a Linux box are MUCH MUCH SMALLER than between a Cube and a PS2.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
I'm sorry, but I'm too much of a gamer to just boycott games until the publishers/producers start pumping out games designed specifically for Linux. While it's a great idea, I'm afraid that it won't work. I think that they won't start doing this until consumers start buying computers installed with Linux regularly. The executives and marketing/salespeople just don't see the potential yet because most Linux users either build their own machine or install Linux onto a manufacturers machine.
Personally I would love to completely drop windows, and gaming is the only reason I still have XP. However, that doesn't mean that I'm willing to start boycotting the latest/greatest games, or start buying big manu computers that are sans OS or have Linux installed (I like getting a total custom system without propietary hardware crap and for cheaper than a comparable system from a manu). I realize that makes me "part of the problem", but I don't feel strongly enough about this to make the sacrifice.
FYI, if you think this is a strange attitude, I should mention that the only reason I ever got into computers was because of gaming. I played games all the way through commodores, amigas, x86s. Warcraft 2 is of course what really threw me full on into the computer world and later the industry.
I'm working on DirectX 9 for vanila wine, you can checkout the current version from my website. There's another update going up in a few days as well as instructions on patching the wine tree.
The current state of play is more-or-less everything works except shaders (because I haven't ported them from d3d8 yet), the current version has some texture problems, the fix will be in the next release.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
I played Max Payne 2 all the way through at 1280x1024 with almost all detail options on and it ran like a dream. Not a single crash, the FPS was great, and it felt native. In fact if I didn't know and saw someone playing it, I would have guessed it was native. I usually prefer native games but if WineX can deliever even a few top notch games that will never be ported to Linux (political/busines reasons), then I'd call it a success. I mean, if they can get 10 games to run like that on Linux, thats like a 100% increase in recent high quality games from the platform. (not counting old Loki stuff, its way to out of date)
I'm a gamer and I've used Linux exclusively for work since 1997 and have always booted into my Winetendo partition for games. Not having to do that to play a game as good as Max Payne 2 is great.
Those of you clamoring "native or nothing", good luck. There has been no significant rise in native ports for years. We get 1 or 2 big titles thats it. So, if WineX can deliver 1 or 2 more a year, thats fine with me.
Go get one and enjoy the world of games, online and offline, that exist. Appreciate linux for whatever reason you decided to install it, but bickering about Respect Aw Communitay is not worth the effort when you can get a console for half the price of a year-old video card!
It's hard enough for publishers to make money off PC games already without having to worry about linux.
And if it makes you feel better, I'm positive that Linux games will flourish when the Cell gets a foothold.
My feeling too. But then I assume you also ran it single-player. If you just look at it as arenas, they have to be pretty nice for tournaments.
I'm mostly annoyed that cursor key movements aren't the same as IDs.
> You don't understand flightsimmers: we need realism.
You're lying. Flightgear is ultra-realistic. The military uses it in their flight simulators. You know why it's hard to fly? Because you have to know what you're doing. Flying a real plane is not as simple as turning it on and moving a joystick. Flightgear is a true flight simulator, not a fun game to play.
My other car is first.
that is the idea!
... silence.
... "thanks very much!" - they say.
That is why the "Dark Forces" threaten *any* company that dare port their games to Linux
.
* Half-Life had just about been ported to Linux but then
* Tribes 2 was ported and was extremely successful, then all of a sudden - all distributors were explicitly prohibited in making more copies. Despite huge demand.
* For sometime people have been lobbying to get WarCraft ported to Linux, the current signature holds 12'000. Not only that was ignored, but the attempt to have a Linux free alternative was immediately culled.
Again and again - understand - if Linux or Apple become true gaming platform, Microsoft will lose the Desktop war for good.
That is why we have the Blizzards, Vivendis and Sierras pro-actively stopping such thing from happening.
Of course they don't mind using Linux to develop game servers; free platform and stability; suits them all very fine