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Developing Games On and For Linux/SteamOS

Posted by Soulskill on from the year-of-linux-on-the-console dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With the release of SteamOS, developing video game engines for Linux is a subject with increasing interest. This article is an initiation guide on the tools used to develop games, and it discusses the pros and cons of Linux as a platform for developing game engines. It goes over OpenGL and drivers, CPU and GPU profiling, compilers, build systems, IDEs, debuggers, platform abstraction layers and other tools."

3 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. So long as we have non-Steam games too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I do appreciate this recent influx of interest in game development for Linux, brought on by Steam for Linux. I just hope that at least some developers show an interest in developing games that doesn't REQUIRE Steam as well, or have Steam as an option as well as maybe a DRM-free version as well. I play a lot of older commercial games on Linux like Doom 3/Quake 4/UT2004/Neverwinter Nights, and they all work fine but don't use Steam. Now, we might see more commercial games on Linux but they'll probably all use Steam, and that seems quite disappointing if you don't want to tie yourself to the platform (which I don't, for various reasons).

    1. Re:So long as we have non-Steam games too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      At the same time, we're also seeing a huge push for indie games. Big gaming companies have grown stale while indie developers and bringing in fresh ideas (even if over-using not-so-fresh pixel graphics). Thankfully, these indie developers have seen the mistakes others made when playing with DRM and are steering clear while still seeing Steam as a viable release platform. That means they release a stand-alone client and a Steam-based client. Take a look at Starbound, which is currently in beta. The same can be said for many (most?) games that appear in the Humble Bundle.

      We can't say with any certainty yet, but I'm under the impression that indie games will continue to rise*, multi-platform gaming will spread, and DRM will disappear.

      *Maybe rise and replace the current gaming giants? Maybe not-so-independent?

  2. Re:Article is generic by jafac · · Score: 4, Insightful

    . . . and ppl wonder why I don't RTFA.

    --

    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.