Re:Speaking as a Game Marketer and Linux User...
on
Cedega and Linux Games
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Ive done a little game programming and what ive always wondered is why game developers cannt develop their games with OpenGL, OpenAL, and SDL to allow maximum portability. If coded using these libraries then its very simple to port to Linux Mac, Windows, PS 1, PS 2, Gamecube, and many more platforms. By having your game availible on Win Mac and Linux you'll not only make your customers happy but more people will buy. I know I for one am much more likly to buy a game if there is a native Linux port then if there isnt. As for paying for support why not just do what id software does and release the game binaries for Linux but say that there is no support availible, only bug reports.
I dont think its being pushed on you. When selecting auto update in the options that means that whenever Firefox sees an update it will download and install it. If you really dont want that just turn it off, infact I think you have to manually turn it on.
Apple has done some very good things to heaten up competition but im talking technically Apple has done some bad things. For the (it just works) Ive also had the pleasure of fixing Macs that wont install GIMP or connect to our Novell network. I really dont think any OS can be an "It just works" environment.
It is great that Apple is showing alternatives to Windows although since parallels came out many of them have been putting that on(ive install it on a couple of machines). Many Apple will help open people up to trying new things but still people want a multibillion dollar company to support it(even if they dont use the support)
Well whats said is they may not be geeky but there computer teachers and one was going for a PHD in comp sci, so its not like they know nothing about computers. But still I get the same response from them as I do with non-geeks.
Well thats what really pisses me off. Apple uses and abuses open source. This is why GPL is a much better license. (warning: over simplifying) Companies can use the software but any changes they made must be put back. Apple had a chance to be a really good open source company but blew it.
I installed Fedora Core 5 on my grandparents computer added a user from them and me then turned on automatic updates and havnt had to do a thing since. I dont know when the last time you used Linux but distros like Redhat/Fedora, SUSE, and Mandrake make everything brainless.
I guess I was over simplifying things. I was just trying to state that most users think the hole system is Linux with an Apple GUI. When its not even close to that and the open source parts are from the BSD kernel, not the Linux kernel, as well as various open source projects.
I work with a lot of users and all they talk about is how great it is but when I mention Linux they respond with "But OS X is Linux" I try to tell them that OS X actually uses the BSD kernel with some parts of open source projects(mostly KDE) but they say "same thing" it really pisses me off(especially as a Linux user). I cannt imagine what the BSD developers/users feel. Anyway I always though the Apple commitment to open source was half-ass/shady. blah I just hope more Apple users smarten up and switch to Linux or a real BSD system.
I know OpenGL != to DirectX but they are both graphics API. When you write a game your market is not just PC its also console which guess what? All use OpenGL now but the XBox. If I were a game developer Id rather be able to release on everything but the XBox instead of being able to just release on the XBox and Windows.
Theres much bigger support for OpenGL 2.0 on pretty much all hardware and platforms. I never saw why people use DirectX when all it does is limit your application to MS platforms and is dictated by MS.
There will always be some games that have a crappy story but what I think is really killing the game industry is the poor programming job that many of the game companies do. I just got Half-Life 2: Episode I and for some reason if I want to load any saved game auto or quick save the game will refuse to load it and crash. This really sux since the game crashes all the time during normal game play. I cannt get through an hour of game play without it crashing im giving up on the game no more value games for me. Companies should let other comanies that know to code games(like idsoftware) do the engine and just focus on content.
Everyone I know ive switched to Firefox. I run a computer repair buisness and ive switched all my customer(except those damn AOL users). I dont know anyone to switch. Anyway I to want to know why we'er putting all the names in the source code. I mean if its a comment all the names arent going to be in the binary why not just put them on a web page?
If the kids at this school are anything like the kids at my old high school the school offical are going to have to pry their cell phones out of their cold dead hands. There is no way these kids are giving up their cell phones.
As many others have mentioned the speed and security issues I think there are two things your not thinking of. First of all im not sure how your office is setup but most, if not all, of your machines already have an ethernet card in them. If you went WiFi you would have to buy an ethernet card for each machine which can get exspensive. The second thing is that if anyone in your office or any office around you is using anything on the 2.4ghz freq(such as a wireless phone) it can interfer with your WiFi network and cause disconnects. Its much more of a hassel to deal with WiFi and I would STRONGLY suggest to stay with ethernet.
Personally I use vim, ive used it for all size projects and its worked out fine. Id say stick with vim since its easy to learn the basics. Then teach them the basic compile commands. It might be troublesome on win since there really is no command on win. Try to get them a *nix environment, it will work out much better.
Im a bit old school myself. What I see in people that turn how to program with an IDE is they are tied to that IDE, they dont want to use another. Its like pulling teeth to get them to switch. The other problem they have is they know nothing about the compiler. The same people taught on an IDE would have no idea how to compile by command, now this is not a problem if they always use an IDE but when you get into optimization and such it makes things easier. Now many people here have mentioned that it will help them get away from making simple mistakes, well you want them to make these mistakes. You learn from your mistakes, this way you dont make these simple mistakes and will help them get into the habit of cleaner, better written code.
I wrong a Java app to let me do a few things in school and the Swing file open dialog gets past most of their security. I can open many files which are block under win normaly. I dont know if thats a big with Windows, Java, or Novell(they use that to block everything) but its pretty funny/cool.
Slashdot Mirror
Ive done a little game programming and what ive always wondered is why game developers cannt develop their games with OpenGL, OpenAL, and SDL to allow maximum portability. If coded using these libraries then its very simple to port to Linux Mac, Windows, PS 1, PS 2, Gamecube, and many more platforms. By having your game availible on Win Mac and Linux you'll not only make your customers happy but more people will buy. I know I for one am much more likly to buy a game if there is a native Linux port then if there isnt. As for paying for support why not just do what id software does and release the game binaries for Linux but say that there is no support availible, only bug reports.
to get people to realize how shitty these things are with security is to crack a bunch of them and get the most random person you can think of to win.
I dont think its being pushed on you. When selecting auto update in the options that means that whenever Firefox sees an update it will download and install it. If you really dont want that just turn it off, infact I think you have to manually turn it on.
Havnt use one in a long time but I know there is support for wacom. Dont remember what I had to do years ago.
You could use Linux and use wine or cross over to run the win version of iTunes.
Its not something I obsesse on just something that gets annoying when im talking to them.
Its still using user space BSD code and not the Linux kernel. People think its using the Linux kernel.
Apple has done some very good things to heaten up competition but im talking technically Apple has done some bad things. For the (it just works) Ive also had the pleasure of fixing Macs that wont install GIMP or connect to our Novell network. I really dont think any OS can be an "It just works" environment. It is great that Apple is showing alternatives to Windows although since parallels came out many of them have been putting that on(ive install it on a couple of machines). Many Apple will help open people up to trying new things but still people want a multibillion dollar company to support it(even if they dont use the support)
Well whats said is they may not be geeky but there computer teachers and one was going for a PHD in comp sci, so its not like they know nothing about computers. But still I get the same response from them as I do with non-geeks.
Well thats what really pisses me off. Apple uses and abuses open source. This is why GPL is a much better license. (warning: over simplifying) Companies can use the software but any changes they made must be put back. Apple had a chance to be a really good open source company but blew it.
You forgot the hardware is exspensive as hell and the warrenties suck.
I installed Fedora Core 5 on my grandparents computer added a user from them and me then turned on automatic updates and havnt had to do a thing since. I dont know when the last time you used Linux but distros like Redhat/Fedora, SUSE, and Mandrake make everything brainless.
I guess I was over simplifying things. I was just trying to state that most users think the hole system is Linux with an Apple GUI. When its not even close to that and the open source parts are from the BSD kernel, not the Linux kernel, as well as various open source projects.
I work with a lot of users and all they talk about is how great it is but when I mention Linux they respond with "But OS X is Linux" I try to tell them that OS X actually uses the BSD kernel with some parts of open source projects(mostly KDE) but they say "same thing" it really pisses me off(especially as a Linux user). I cannt imagine what the BSD developers/users feel. Anyway I always though the Apple commitment to open source was half-ass/shady. blah I just hope more Apple users smarten up and switch to Linux or a real BSD system.
I know OpenGL != to DirectX but they are both graphics API. When you write a game your market is not just PC its also console which guess what? All use OpenGL now but the XBox. If I were a game developer Id rather be able to release on everything but the XBox instead of being able to just release on the XBox and Windows.
Theres much bigger support for OpenGL 2.0 on pretty much all hardware and platforms. I never saw why people use DirectX when all it does is limit your application to MS platforms and is dictated by MS.
I installed it and got updates only the day I installed. Well im just using it for another couple of weeks before this job is over.
Ive been running SUSE 10 on vmware for about 2 weeks now, but havnt gotten any updates. Do I have to pay for updates? Anyway I still like Gentoo more.
There will always be some games that have a crappy story but what I think is really killing the game industry is the poor programming job that many of the game companies do. I just got Half-Life 2: Episode I and for some reason if I want to load any saved game auto or quick save the game will refuse to load it and crash. This really sux since the game crashes all the time during normal game play. I cannt get through an hour of game play without it crashing im giving up on the game no more value games for me. Companies should let other comanies that know to code games(like idsoftware) do the engine and just focus on content.
Everyone I know ive switched to Firefox. I run a computer repair buisness and ive switched all my customer(except those damn AOL users). I dont know anyone to switch. Anyway I to want to know why we'er putting all the names in the source code. I mean if its a comment all the names arent going to be in the binary why not just put them on a web page?
If the kids at this school are anything like the kids at my old high school the school offical are going to have to pry their cell phones out of their cold dead hands. There is no way these kids are giving up their cell phones.
As many others have mentioned the speed and security issues I think there are two things your not thinking of. First of all im not sure how your office is setup but most, if not all, of your machines already have an ethernet card in them. If you went WiFi you would have to buy an ethernet card for each machine which can get exspensive. The second thing is that if anyone in your office or any office around you is using anything on the 2.4ghz freq(such as a wireless phone) it can interfer with your WiFi network and cause disconnects. Its much more of a hassel to deal with WiFi and I would STRONGLY suggest to stay with ethernet.
Personally I use vim, ive used it for all size projects and its worked out fine. Id say stick with vim since its easy to learn the basics. Then teach them the basic compile commands. It might be troublesome on win since there really is no command on win. Try to get them a *nix environment, it will work out much better.
Im a bit old school myself. What I see in people that turn how to program with an IDE is they are tied to that IDE, they dont want to use another. Its like pulling teeth to get them to switch. The other problem they have is they know nothing about the compiler. The same people taught on an IDE would have no idea how to compile by command, now this is not a problem if they always use an IDE but when you get into optimization and such it makes things easier. Now many people here have mentioned that it will help them get away from making simple mistakes, well you want them to make these mistakes. You learn from your mistakes, this way you dont make these simple mistakes and will help them get into the habit of cleaner, better written code.
I wrong a Java app to let me do a few things in school and the Swing file open dialog gets past most of their security. I can open many files which are block under win normaly. I dont know if thats a big with Windows, Java, or Novell(they use that to block everything) but its pretty funny/cool.