Linux gaming support is preventing a few people I know from switching...

[DThor]

Honestly, I don't think it's doing anyone any favours by pushing Linux with suggestions that Halo 2 "might" run. When it doesn't(and I'll bet it won't, or at least not fast with stability), it just leaves a sour taste for the OS. Really, I don't have a problem admitting that Linux' strong suit is not games. I also have no problem with someone deciding what OS to run in order to play one game. I don't know what I'd do without Battlefield II!

Supporting Cedaga doesn't affect leading edge development one way or the other, IMHO. Game distributors need to know one thing only - will they get their porting money back? Experiments so far indicate no.

Again, having someone in the family flipping out over not having windows is fair enough. It's up to the person who owns the computer to decide how important that is. Maybe try a dual boot defaulting to windows?

Trying to push Linux on end users as something it's not doesn't help with the big picture, IMHO. Isn't it important enough that many people will have windows but *also* run Linux because they see it's advantages?

DT

[carlosponti]

my wife and i both use linux on our notebooks. i did have to force the usage but for most that she does there is no reason to install windows on her system aside from a few game web sites that have an active x control they want her to install.

my thing with cadega is that as long as its around all the users that would demand linux native support just get told use cadega. from what i heard development of these games start on linux and get ported to windows. i dont see the harm in releasing on dvd with the windows mac and linux ports on one disk. and as much as they charge for games first time around they would recoup thier losses. with my gaming if they dont release a linux binary i dont buy the game period. halo 2 wont get released on anything but windows vista...oops i dont need it. hell those companies dont even have to support its binary just release one they can get working and i will be happy and maybe one day things will get better for that.

for those recommending people use xbox isnt that the same as having them use windows in the first place. in my opinion xbox sucks and so does playstation. no system will ever replace my PC for all i use one for. especially gaming. you cant even connect to the same servers as the ones you connect to on PC. i have been gaming on PC before castle wolfenstein.

the numbers not being there is a farse. just with registered users there are more than 400,000 users of linux and that has to be only a small fraction of people that use linux at home. companies are too locked in and are too afraid of offending microsoft to do too much with linux unless they directly compete with them. most mainstream pc companies wont even sell a PC without a copy of windows on it. they have been contractually obligated to do so.

[DThor]

from what i heard development of these games start on linux and get ported to windows.

Not sure where you heard that from. I suppose it's conceivable that in some form some sort of early algorithms might start on Linux for some games, but nothing that matters as far as what takes the real time - getting the graphics working, optimization, etc. Sure, some places might use a Linux based animation package to generate sprite maps or other things, but definitely the engine happens on Windows.

I really don't think the developers are somehow being lazy by suggesting Cedega - it's a genuine suggestion they think might help. They're certainly not leaning on them for support. The games market is insane right now - the biz is exploding like crazy, a lot of money stands to be made, there's a *lot* of competition, and huge corporations are gobbling up all the small software companies. They just want one thing - lots of units pushed off the shelf. I really don't think the average Linux user wants to pay $50 for a game that likely won't have all the bells and whistles of the PC version(the cards, the motherboards, and the API are all designed for windows. All you've got is OGL for Linux, and it's showing it's age). Even if half of them did, that's a speck on the multi-billion dollar games market.

I agree about consoles vs windows - they're very different for anyone that comes from the latter. Probably less visible for the former("too many keys to control!"). I can't stand console games...the controllers are so klunky. Unfortunately, the money is in consoles, and even games releasd on PCs are starting to show their console roots.

DT

[techieMoe]

I agree about consoles vs windows - they're very different for anyone that comes from the latter. Probably less visible for the former("too many keys to control!"). I can't stand console games...the controllers are so klunky. Unfortunately, the money is in consoles, and even games releasd on PCs are starting to show their console roots.

DT

I've not gamed on my PC for quite a while (mostly due to the fact that there haven't been any good games for it in the last few months), but there is one genre I will not play on a console: First-Person Shooters. They just don't feel right to me if I'm not holding a mouse in one hand and my WASD keys in the other.

For all other genres, I find consoles to be a much cheaper way to game, personally. I easily spent the price of 4 new console systems upgrading my last rig just so I could play 2 games (Doom 3 and Quake 4). That was the wakeup call for me. At least on a console you're guaranteed you have the hardware to play any game you buy for it.

But that's another topic.

[DThor]

... but there is one genre I will not play on a console: First-Person Shooters.

I'm sorry - is there any other kind?

Actually, I find there's a richness of detail in more PC games over console. There's exceptions - Bioware's Jade Empire is amazing, but there's no decent equivalent to the more strategic games on PC. But, as you say, another topic...

DT

[carlosponti]

another issue i have come accross is that they release games like microsoft releases OS's. they release them way before they concievabley should have. then turn around a month later and release a patch to fix all the bugs. i dont think they try hard enough to fix bugs before they release games. another thing that i am dissapointed with is that most companies use directX. i think that companies should use a cross platform graphics library like openGL. they could easily port most games if that was the case. or microsoft needs to be forced to port directx to make it cross platform. or even atleast force them to release it as open source because then someone would make a port for linux.

[DThor]

I don't see anyone forcing anyone else to do anything, anytime soon. It's a free market - believe me MS agressively went after the gaming market as it was growing. They saw OGL from SGI starting up, then watched it start to creep over from the graphics application market into gaming, and set out to squash it. Did a pretty good job, too, since nobody had any money to make from OGL becoming a gaming platform and MS sure did with DirectX.

This is all tied into the corporation-based takeovers of most markets nowadays. It's hard to stop them. Don't forget the whole reason Linux has made it as far as it has is due to other corporations. We'd all just be a bunch of geeky, mussy-haired outcasts huddled around a monitor light in the wee hours(hey, wait a minute! ). Just amazes me that Linux and the spirit behind it has made a humble, but sizable dent in the MS armour. I'm not as confident they'll ever threaten them on the desktop, gaming or otherwise, but that's OK by me. Since Linux isn't a company, doesn't have shareholders, and is supported freely by enthusists out there, it's hard to threaten. It's not going anywhere.

If you could make a DirectX API on Linux, legally, and somewhat bug-free - you'd see big name games on Linux in a heartbeat.

DT

[carlosponti]

If you could make a DirectX API on Linux, legally, and somewhat bug-free - you'd see big name games on Linux in a heartbeat.

DT

that is mainly what i would want. it just bugs me to get limited in my choice.