Newbie : Linux And Games

[Frenkz]

Hi everyone.. I'm an experienced Windows user.. And I want to try something different... What I'm wondering is :

Is Wine really emulating games good enough???

I'm playing the following games:
-Counter Strike AND source.
-BattleField 2142
-Rumble Fighter
-Albatross18
-Other games...

And by the way.. I've read some good things about linux, but WHY should I choose linux to windows?? Anyone to convince me?

I also took the test, they offers me Kubuntu.. Should I use Kubuntu??

[Dapper Dan]

Hi Frenkz and welcome to the forums!

I think you'll find most here won't tell you why you should choose one OS over another because there are things that each can do very well. If you are REALLY into Windows games, then I'd run those games on Windows.

Wine runs some Windows games very well, others not at all and most fall somewhere in between. Wine is not a magic solution that runs all Windows applications on Linux as well as under their native OS. Frank's Corner is a very good place to begin learning about Wine.

As you might know though, many game makers have ports for Linux now, and we are seeing that trend more and more as we go. See here.

The best way to know if Linux is for you is to try one of the "Live CD's" which is a complete Linux OS that runs entirely from the CD and will have no effect on your Windows installation. Ubuntu is a good choice for a new user to check Linux out. Kubuntu is also a great choice for this.

Also, if you are indeed an experienced Windows user, I highly recommend you read the article that is linked in my signature before doing anything. Please read it carefully and all the way through. It will answer many questions that I'm sure you already have.

[techieMoe]

Is Wine really emulating games good enough???

That depends entirely on the game, as Dan already mentioned.

I'm playing the following games:
-Counter Strike AND source.
-BattleField 2142
-Rumble Fighter
-Albatross18
-Other games...

You're probably better off playing these games in MS Windows. That doesn't mean you can't also use Linux. You can set them both up on the same machine in what we call a dual-boot setup, which lets you choose which one you want to use each time you turn on your computer.

And by the way.. I've read some good things about linux, but WHY should I choose linux to windows?? Anyone to convince me?

I don't think you'll find much convincing here. Most of us are not in the business of "selling" people on Linux. Either you use it and like it, or you don't. There's nothing wrong with trying something new and realizing it's just not for you. Of course, should you like it, we'd certainly welcome a new Linux user.

I also took the test, they offers me Kubuntu.. Should I use Kubuntu??

I'd try it first, but not settle on any single distribution until you've tried a couple more. There are about 10 very popular distributions out there, and if you try even the first 5 or 6 of those, you'll have a very good idea of the various offerings Linux has. If none of those float your boat, there are thousands more. Most are available on DistroWatch.

[Frenkz]

Thanks for your time Guys.

And by the way I already read the "Linux is not windows thing" It just makes me want to use linux more than before... I kinda like reading before asking lots of stupid questions :O... Saves a bit of flaming >.> XD

So linux = You can tweak up everything at YOUR TASTE?! That should be damn great!

I'll install Linux on my second harddrive... Can you "DualBoot" with two hard drives? Having windows on the master and Linux on the slave???

I downloaded Kubuntu, ill install it as soon as my important datas are saved somewhere else^^.

[techieMoe]

So linux = You can tweak up everything at YOUR TASTE?! That should be damn great!

Yes. Different distros will do more or less customization for you up front, but if you don't like any of them you're free to build your own with something like Linux From Scratch. It's more of a do-it-yourself project than a distribution.

I'll install Linux on my second harddrive... Can you "DualBoot" with two hard drives? Having windows on the master and Linux on the slave???

Yes. In fact, that's one of the safer ways to do it.

I downloaded Kubuntu, ill install it as soon as my important datas are saved somewhere else^^.

Always a good plan. Have fun.

[Freston]

I've heard about some good options to get Windows programs to work under Linux. But I don't think you are looking for that. Windows is what these games are made for (a lot anyway) so Windows will always be better. These options we have are more because many like me don't have Microsoft all together. It always takes the back seat to the real thing.

But a dual boot seems the best option. Kubuntu is of course our trusted friend. *buntu is known for handling many things for you, a merit you can't praise enough. But make no mistake, to really tune and tweak your distro you'll need the shell. That is where the real power lies. From your posts I can't help thinking you might be a Slack-man. Or Debian. Or Gentoo. Or Arch. Or LFS. I'm not much for bias towards any particular distro, altough I have my preferences of course. But in this thread I think someone should at least mention Slackware

If you say things like:
>> So linux = You can tweak up everything at YOUR TASTE?!
>> That should be damn great!
Then:
Learn bash, breath deeply, eat lots of vegetables and be patient. You will not be able to mount a CD-ROM using just the shell in your first try. You will be worried that you don't have drives anymore (what?!? No D: ??). But you will see (and sooner than you think) that there is logic and intelligence behind the system. And ease. A good programmer is a lazy programmer
And it's fun, if it's your kind of fun, to learn this new system. I felt like an explorer the first time I read a configuration file. Before you know it, you're editing them.

Don't think it's easy. But it's rewarding. All you need is a good imagination and curiosity.

(On a personal note, I would have never learned anything about Linux if I didn't have a book on it. 'Teach yourself Unix in 24hrs' was what helped me get started. Buy a book and have fun.)

See ya around

[Frenkz]

I've heard about some good options to get Windows programs to work under Linux. But I don't think you are looking for that. Windows is what these games are made for (a lot anyway) so Windows will always be better. These options we have are more because many like me don't have Microsoft all together. It always takes the back seat to the real thing.

But a dual boot seems the best option. Kubuntu is of course our trusted friend. *buntu is known for handling many things for you, a merit you can't praise enough. But make no mistake, to really tune and tweak your distro you'll need the shell. That is where the real power lies. From your posts I can't help thinking you might be a Slack-man. Or Debian. Or Gentoo. Or Arch. Or LFS. I'm not much for bias towards any particular distro, altough I have my preferences of course. But in this thread I think someone should at least mention Slackware

If you say things like:
>> So linux = You can tweak up everything at YOUR TASTE?!
>> That should be damn great!
Then:
Learn bash, breath deeply, eat lots of vegetables and be patient. You will not be able to mount a CD-ROM using just the shell in your first try. You will be worried that you don't have drives anymore (what?!? No D: ??). But you will see (and sooner than you think) that there is logic and intelligence behind the system. And ease. A good programmer is a lazy programmer
And it's fun, if it's your kind of fun, to learn this new system. I felt like an explorer the first time I read a configuration file. Before you know it, you're editing them.

Don't think it's easy. But it's rewarding. All you need is a good imagination and curiosity.

(On a personal note, I would have never learned anything about Linux if I didn't have a book on it. 'Teach yourself Unix in 24hrs' was what helped me get started. Buy a book and have fun.)

See ya around

Wow... I just can't wait to get my second harddrive tomorow! :O

I'm really interested in the part "Make your own OS"... That ROCKS. I know a bit of coding but i'm pretty sure UNIX is a different language... I know a good base of C++/C Html/CSS and a base of PHP... :O

By the way :P What is a Slack-man??? :P

[Dapper Dan]

By the way :P What is a Slack-man??? :P

Well... I'm a Dapper Dan man, but also, I guess you could say I'm a "Slack-man," meaning I use and love Slackware. These days though, I just love working in Crux because it's so configurable and is so much faster than any other distro I've ever used INCLUDING Gentoo.

I think what Freston was getting at, is that you sound like someone who will eventually go for a more hands on distro...

[techieMoe]

I'm really interested in the part "Make your own OS"... That ROCKS. I know a bit of coding but i'm pretty sure UNIX is a different language... I know a good base of C++/C Html/CSS and a base of PHP... :O

Metaphorically speaking, yes, UNIX/Linux/BSD are a different language than Microsoft Windows. However, literally speaking Linux is written mostly in C and C++, so you should have any trouble in that arena.

To build your own Linux OS you shouldn't actually have to deal with much coding (if any). It's mostly just a matter of downloading the proper source code and compiling it as is.