The Transgaming Saga resolved

**techieMoe** · 11-09-2005

Since a few of us on the forum are probably customers of Transgaming or considering becoming customers of Transgaming, I thought I'd offer my recent experience with them. Most of this will also be going into my rant on Cedega 5.

First some background. Transgaming makes a product originally named WineX (now called Cedega) that allows some folks to install and run games in Linux that were originally designed for MS Windows. Whether or not it works depends on your hardware configuration, the phase of the moon, and what games you're trying to install.

A few years ago I purchased a 3 month subscription to Transgaming ($15USD, the minimum you can get, cancel anytime) that allowed me unlimited downloads of their product in several pre-packaged formats (RPM, TGZ, DEB). At the time there were 2 products you could download. One was cedega (then winex) which simply was a command-line tool much like wine that you used to run EXE files, as such:

Code:

cedega Setup.exe

The other product was a graphical user interface called Point 2 Play that allowed you to keep track of what games you had installed, mount their CDs (if they required them to play) and install/uninstall them with a button click. This product also required that you have an internet connection so you could download an "update" (really just another copy of Cedega) in order to run the product from the GUI.

Note that the version I had (version 4.0) did not require an internet connection if you only used the command-line tool. You only needed that if you wanted to run the GUI. Why did the GUI require you to re-download Cedega when the full package was obviously already installed? Who knows.

Enter yesterday. Transgaming has recently released version 5.0 of their Cedega product. I had some extra cash and decided to treat myself by purchasing a minimum subscription ($15USD) and download their newest product. Downloads were available in RPM, TGZ and DEB, as well as "small" versions in all those formats for AMD64, which were not 64-bit-compiled, rather smaller versions of the 32-bit program without some required libraries (it's apparently assumed you have these).

The first thing I noticed was that Cedega and Point 2 Play were now both installed from the same package. I thought this wasn't going to be a problem, since I noticed the command-line tool was still there, and I tried it. Errors abounded, dealing with something regarding the engine.

So I fired up the GUI tool. It looks very sharp compared to the earlier version I'd played with, but it also requires that I "update" it in order to use it. This means either emailing support and asking for the "update" file (according to their FAQ) or getting an internet connection to the computer I want to install it on. The likelihood of the second situation happening is akin to me sucking an elephant through a straw. In other words, not good.

I immediately emailed the support folks at Transgaming and opened up a "support request" on their site. On the site I was told to email support, and I asked whether or not they planned on ever releasing a version of Cedega that didn't require an internet connection or a special extra download to work offline. I have not recieved a reply yet from either support or the second question I asked.

If you've made it this far please note that I do not wish to start a "let's bash Cedega" thread. I simply want to offer my experience as one of their customers for those of you interested in how Cedega works or wondering whether you should give it a try. I will update this thread when I receive communications from Transgaming.

**a12ctic** · 11-09-2005

thats why you dont buy cedega... download the cvs version, or bootleg it... i bought a subscription once and was not satisfied with it, the cvs version did what i needed, and why pay 5$ a month when you can get sumthing for free.?

**techieMoe** · 11-09-2005

Originally Posted by a12ctic

thats why you dont buy cedega... download the cvs version, or bootleg it... i bought a subscription once and was not satisfied with it, the cvs version did what i needed, and why pay 5$ a month when you can get sumthing for free.?

The CVS version of Cedega is not the same thing. It's missing in particular the ability to play games with copy protected discs, which is all I own. *That* is why I would pay for it. Let me further remind folks that this is not a bash Cedega thread. They may yet avail themselves if I get a satisfactory answer from customer service.

**carlosponti** · 11-09-2005

i was going to try the cvs version as well before finding out that you can play games that have cd copy protection built in. but here is the problem i have with the cadega product and its not them its the fact that sometimes the prices of games are 50 bucks and now because the gaming companies wont release native binaries for linux i have to pay another 15 bucks. not quite fair and not to mention a burden on me. plus i have heard from many users and reviews that the product doesnt consistantly run all games. if you know the game works ahead of time then its worth it but not really worth the trouble if you dont know if a particular game will work.

**techieMoe** · 11-09-2005

Originally Posted by carlosponti

not quite fair and not to mention a burden on me. plus i have heard from many users and reviews that the product doesnt consistantly run all games. if you know the game works ahead of time then its worth it but not really worth the trouble if you dont know if a particular game will work.

True, it's a gamble. About a dozen games are "officially supported," and the rest you just have to try to see if they work. For those who have no other avenue though, I think it serves a purpose. I wouldn't buy a new $50 for the express purpose of playing it in Cedega, but if I have one already that I rely on MS Windows to play, I'll certainly see if Cedega runs it, thus relieving me of the need for MS Windows.

***Dapper Dan*** · 11-09-2005

Sorry you're having trouble techieMoe.

I've had a running subscription with Transgaming for a few years now. In my opinion, they work very hard to make a good product and for me, it's well worth the price of admission. I notice significant improvements in Cedega with the games I play with every release. I used to run Winex from the command line too, but could never get Steam installed properly without point2play. With point2play, Steam works almost flawlessly.

The only game I've ever played under Cedega that runs what I consider perfectly is Trespasser, (in software mode), and it isn't even supported by the company.
As far as support goes, my experience has been that it does indeed take them a few days to get back, but they always have for me, and provided good support.

Overall, in my experience with Cedega, I give Transgaming high marks.

**techieMoe** · 11-10-2005

I just received my download link for the illustrious "engine" file. Unfortunately I recieved it after I'd left work for the day so I'll either have to spend 3 hours downloading it at home or just wait until tomorrow to try it. To their credit, the support fellow was very respectful and thanked me for paying for the product. Hopefully once I get this file all will be well.

**afroguy013** · 11-10-2005

so, did they just email you a link to download the core engine that you would normally have to connect through the internet to download?

I understand why they're doing it this way now, sadly... It's a preventative measure for piracy. Funny though, someone must have thought of that already because I've already found the engine file online elsewhere!

Granted, I pay for it, rather it was a gift and the parents pay th subscription, but nonetheless people will pirate it if they want to, so I suppose the question is "Why Bother" going through this silly preventative measure when the worst has already happened?

Oh well.

As far as the product goes, I'm very satisfied with 5.0

I've gotten some of my favorites working flawlessly, and I can't complain about migration because I just reinstalled my system, so I had nothing to migrate... Diablo II does seem to be hella choppy tho... and a LOT slower than earliar versions.

I need to get my copies of Dungeon Siege back and run through it again before I go out and get DSII now...

**bigtomrodney** · 11-10-2005

I don't mind paying forthis stuff but in the case of "no guarantees" and best efforts I just can't bring myself to pay for it. Especially in the environment of open source and Free software where people do harder work on better products for less reward. I acquired a copy a while back, only ran it from the command line and it was pretty good but not great. Some games were fine and others were messy. Sometimes I find cedega is good for the install process, but vanilla wine works better running the application later. For this reason I would much prefer if the ~/.wine directory was used for all, so I can more easily use both systems.

**techieMoe** · 11-10-2005

Originally Posted by afroguy013

so, did they just email you a link to download the core engine that you would normally have to connect through the internet to download?

Yes, and once I downloaded it everything worked just fine. At least as well as previous versions of Cedega worked.

I understand why they're doing it this way now, sadly... It's a preventative measure for piracy.

I don't see the logic in that. After all, in order to download the original GUI package you must have a valid login (thus you must have paid for it), so requiring a valid login AGAIN to download the engine just seems to me like an unneccesary hassle. Why not put the engine as a download on the main site next to the GUI, with a disclaimer saying you only need to download it if you plan on installing Cedega offline?

As far as the product goes, I'm very satisfied with 5.0

I've gotten some of my favorites working flawlessly, and I can't complain about migration because I just reinstalled my system, so I had nothing to migrate... Diablo II does seem to be hella choppy tho... and a LOT slower than earliar versions.

I too have been pretty satisfied (particulary for $15). Warcraft 3 works as well as previous versions of Cedega, which is to say it works exactly as it did in MS Windows. My only complaint (and I've issued a support request) is that Morrowind won't install on Cedega 5. It did with Cedega 4. Thankfully since Morrowind is one of the "officially supported" games I expect to see some action.

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