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Linux Unreal Tournament Files Released
[Hi, I just posted this info in the Slashdot forum elaborating on why we didn't ship the Linux executables in the Unreal Tournament box.]
The UT Linux executables will be available for download rather than being included in the box.
We don't like this either. We REALLY, REALLY wanted the Linux executables to be on the CD, we reserved space for it, and actually had it there in the directory structure during beta.
GT asked us yank it, because they were worried about tech support issues: that thousands of Linux users would have questions about installation that GT reps (who are only familiar with Windows and consoles) wouldn't be able to answer.
We obliged with their request, because GT is responsible for performing (and paying for) UT tech support, and it didn't seem fair to put the burden on them.
Here is part of a message I sent to a GT exec, advocating putting Linux on the UT CD-Rom:
---begin---
Why Linux on the Unreal Tournament box is a very good move:
First, Red Hat Linux is selling very well in retail, and there's a good chance that by word of mouth, Linux users will pick up Unreal Tournament with their Linux purchase or afterwards. I'd be very surprised if we didn't gain over 3% more sales from Linux users. Now if UT sells a million units (Tim's wild guess), that's 30,000 additional units. If we make it *very* clear that the Linux version is unsupported (no tech support calls), then surely this is a profitable move.
Second, while Linux users are far outnumbered by Windows users, the statistics don't tell the whole story. Linux users are the hardest of the hardcore. They're among the movers and shakers who are serious deathmatchers (Quake 2 and Quake 3 are available for Linux); they run major community web sites; they run servers on T1 and T3 connections. These people have far more influence on gaming than their numbers indicate.
Third, Linux is gaining an incredible amount of momentum, and sticking the Linux penguin logo on the UT box would further the Unreal franchise's position as a leading-edge product that's not afraid to push into new territories. This has always been our hallmark -- Epic shipped the first-ever DirectX game (Fire Fight, published by Electronic Arts); now the Unreal Tournament demo is the first DirectX7 release; and now we have the chance to be the first game to ship simultaneous with Windows and Linux versions in the same box.
---end---
GT considered all of this and understood the issues, but still had overriding concerns about the cost.
I can't say I blame them; I sure wouldn't want to be responsible for supporting users with 10 different versions each of 10 different Linux distributions, each with a completely different set of video drivers, x-windows shells, permissions, and possibly even recompiled kernels. Linux's approach kicks ass on the Internet with its open, user-driven community. But it doesn't seem too compatible with the mass-market distribution model, where companies pay rooms full of people to answer phones and help customers, and where one tech support call wipes out all the profit from a box sold.
Emailing companies like GT *politely* to show your support for the Linux platform is a great idea. Just keep in mind that, to publishers, the Linux thing isn't simply a popularity contest; supporting Linux needs to make sense financially, and there are some serious issues with support and compatibility they need to consider.
Tim Sweeney
Epic Games
http://unreal.epicgames.com/
The Linux-specific parts of Unreal Tournament will be open sourced. (Credit to Blue's News where I saw this - I thought it would be relevant here.)
.plan:
From Brandon "GreenMarine" Reinhart's
I have permission from Tim to open source certain parts of the engine for the purposes of improving Linux support. What I would like to do is make available the code I have written for Glide, Mesa, input, and audio. I would appreciate Linux programmers taking the time to submit improvements to me at brandon@epicgames.com. I will look into putting up a webpage for this and perhaps a discussion forum. Please email me your input or ideas.
I'm leaving to go home for Thanksgiving tomorrow, so I may not be able to start on this until I get back on Friday. Right now I'm working on the Mesa renderer, because I would like to release that soon, if possible.
The code that I open source will not allow you to really dig very deep into the engine, but it will let you do a lot of stuff to the renderer and X windows interface.
Since my time is split between non-Linux related projects, the Linux port could no doubt be improved if it gets some attention from experienced Linux programmers.
This is excellent - it might also help other people porting games to Linux. An obvious question is, what open source license? The released code will have to be linked against the proprietary game engine. So I guess the GPL wouldn't work, right?
Azog
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
We need to remember that Linux is still a New Thing(tm) to a lot of management people, and if the first few companies that experiment with providing a Linux version get a lot of angry emails from people demanding a box with a penguin on it (Or any more rallying cries of "You've lost yourself another sale", no offense), it certainly won't help to encourage other people to port to Linux.
It's a good game (a lot prettier than Q3, imho, and a hell of a lot easier to get running on a Voodoo 3) and if you want it, and want to support game companies who release Linux versions of their software, be a good penguin p1mp and just buy it, download the executable, and send a friendly email and/or registration card to the company with your opinions regarding the packaging.
If we're not mean to them, maybe they won't be afraid to put it in the box next time. ;-)
I'm not thrilled with lack of Linux support in the box, but I understand it;
3D acclerator support under Linux is not good. It's getting better - but setting it up is a real pain and yeilds inconsistant results from program to program. I wouldn't want to support any Linux 3D-aware program till XFree v.4 with improved 3D and DRI support is released.
Lack of in-the-box Linux support won't prevent me from buying Unreal Tournament one bit...but I have to admit that Quake III Arena is ahead of UT on my shopping list. If UT did have Linux support in the box, I might have picked it up out of curiosity and to show support for future games. As of now, I'll wait till I use Q3A for a while and see if I want another FPS.
To all of you that say you won't buy this game because there are no executables on the CD, I say this to you: You are being unbelievably childish. I have been preaching to all my friends that the day is coming, Linux (oh, sorry, that would be x86 Linux for those complaining about this little tidbit) will be the only OS on my drive when the games get here. Well guess what? The games are coming? Did you relinquish Quake 1 and 2 to the unwanted rubbish bin BEFORE id so graciously put out a CD with the Linux executables? Looking at the server stats, I don't think so. So what's different with UT?
Given the fact that they took the TIME to make a port for Linux, you should be gratefull, not petty. EPIC should not be made to suffer because of GT's decision. The files are AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW. Get them. Use them. Enjoy the game. If you punish Epic over this, not only will they not port again, but you are being the most vocal opponent of gaming on Linux. With every comment of "I won't buy it because of blah blah blah" you show the management of the distribution companies that you are an all or nothing group, and therefore all Linux users must be the same. Kiss any future support goodbye.
I bought the game today. I downloaded the files today. I WILL play it on Linux tonight. So sit on your high and mighty moral high ground if you will, but I'll be playing.
God forbid if Microsoft ever releases any software for Linux...
I see a few comments here advocating "pirating" Unreal Tournament because the Linux binaries have not been included. This is not smart. For those of you who are planning this, I ask you to read the Linux-Advocacy-How-To.
I for one am quite grateful to the guys for making the effort to have a Linux port. If you want to play the game under Linux? Buy the game, but make certain you fill out and mail in the registration card! On that card of course, indicate proudly that you purchased the game for Linux, the suits will notice this.
Every copy that you "liberate for the Linux cause" (Pah!) and pirate reduces one registration card. Emailing GT (In a constructive manner!) is good, but paying for the game and making it known that you are using the Linux version is the best course of action that we have.
GT is a company, it is their job to make money. If we can show them that they can make money off of Linux products they will change. I must admit that Quake 3 Arena is higher on my want list than Unreal Tournament, but I shall buy them both.
Its simple recursion: The more Linux stuff you buy the more there is too buy. The more Linux stuff you buy the more there is to buy.........
Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
While I agree with the statement that opensource FRAGMENTS generally don't encourage the participation of outside developers and doesn't contribute back USEFUL NEW REUSABLE CODE, it is nice nonetheless because it allows us to fix, optimize, extend, and enhance UT.
Do you remember how much work everyone went through to reverse-engineer the doom wad formats? and then to write the various frontends? How many doom players *didn't* use some 3rd party frontend, level editor, etc...
Having the linux parts opensourced *DOES* give developers a lot more info FOR DEVELOPING ENHANCEMENTS TO UT . It doesn't give much to people who are trying to rip off UT and use it's game engine all that much tho.
The developers do have a right to profit from and protect their coding efforts. I don't deny them that at all. I'm happy that they're allowing us to tinker with the linux parts so that eventually we'll all have lots of great enhancements for UT that don't run under Windows.
When epic sees development and enhancement being driven by LINUX users of UT, they'll have a harder time justifying not fully supporting it (including training their support staff in linux!)
As the subject says-- I think that the fact GT fears the customer support for UT for Linux should be TELLING US SOMETHING.
.plan. Another cookie.)
UT isn't a clue-requiring program to get running under Windows. Under Linux, I'm not sure-- I'm still downloading the binaries-- but if my experience with getting any other non-distribution-targeted binary to run, I understand their fear.
GLIBC 1.x, 2.x, 2342.23423-- who expects an average gamer to know the difference?? Libraries? Support packages? Various bits and pieces not necessarily shared between distributions?
Now, I'm a Linux advocate and, games excepted, my PC staus in Linux 90% of the time. My Sony Vaio notebook got nuked the day I got it and Linux installed. When I get a binary package, and it seems to be missing some dependencies, I know how to chase them down-- i.e. through the docs, through HOW-TO's, even through Deja.com searches. Sometimes, I even chase down the source and recompile it myself by hand, and have been known to tweak Makefiles and the source itself.
This isn't a problem for me.
However, might it be a problem for less clueful Linux users? Granted, the case could be made that, currently, success in setting up Linux at all is the result of a certain cluefulness. (That's another long running criticism that I won't touch further here.)
But either way, the gamble could seem very scary to a company like GT looking to make some money off sales. The price of one service call could wipe out the profit from the purchase of the game?! OUCH! Even with a disclaimer saying, "Don't call us, you're on your own," they're not entirely clear of the problem I think.
I think this issue is more complex than, "Bad GT, no biscuit!"
In their (and our) favor: The UT team wasn't burned at the stake for making a Linux port, and allowed to release it. Good GT, here's a cookie.
Against us: Linux is not yet clue-free enough for a quick, nearly support-free installation of games.
Against them (and us): Linux is not enough of a contender enough in the gaming market for GT to invest in hiring and training Linux gurus for support. Or, for that matter, hire developers who specifically know how to work Linux to solve installation problems in the first place.
So what's my answer? Enjoy the port. Work to make Linux more uniform in basic ways. BUY THE STINKING GAME IF YOU WANT TO PLAY IT, DOWNLOAD THE BINARIES, SEND IN YOUR REGISTRATION CARD WITH GLOWING LINUX PRAISE. Piracy blows the chances of Linux EVER becoming a contender to be considered investing development of software and games for a company like GT.
(Granted a case here could also be made for Open Source game development, but that's another can of worms... but even on this GT appears to be flexible, as per Greenmarine's