Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
I have a lot of friends who are aspiring to become game developers, as well as a brother, and I want to show my support and appreciation of Linux, but I need to know if commercial games are feasible in this market.
Would any of you buy an exclusively Linux game. I know some of you play UT2004, but I don't know if people pay for that, so I cannot make an assessment based on that.
I have been formulating good ideas for both commercial and hybrid (servers are released under GPL 2.0)
If anyone thinks either way, whether it's a bad idea or a good one, to promote Linux in the commercial or partially commercial serious computer game market please say so.
No flaming, please.
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
I sugest making the game multi platform (it sounds as if you want it to be linux only)
and if the game is good gamers will play it. :D
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
Exclusivity usually isn't a good thing.
Things have to move one step at a time. Once pretty much all games are multi-platform, then maybe we can start seeing some exclusivity.
Same goes for the open-sourcing, let's let the game companies port their stuff first, then slowly petition for more open code.
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
If there is a linux native version of a game, and I don't already own the Windows version, then I will buy native.
The problem with some developers is, they'll release a Linux version about a year (or more in some cases) after the Windows release. Call me impatient, but if it'll run in Wine, I won't wait a year. If however, like Bioware did with NWN, they release the Linux Binaries so you can just use your old CD's and not buy the game again, then that's great :)
So yes, I'd buy native, but not if you released it a year after a windows version.
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
I would definitely buy them!
Re: Propietary games - Multiplatform?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
-gabe-noob-
I sugest making the game multi platform (it sounds as if you want it to be linux only)
Well, yeah, it will be multiplatform, but for the heavy-hitters, I may have to go ahead and develop separately for each platform. SDL and other libraries like it may slow down systems to much. Anyone who knows better, feel free to correct me, but multiple layers of abstraction and virtualization will slow even greatest and noblest beast of a gaming box, therefore ruining gaming experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
-gabe-noob-
and if the game is good gamers will play it. :D
I sure hope I will have the resources to do my currently-fermenting ideas justice.
I hate to skimp on things like this, as once one gets out there with that great idea, and funding doesn't allow the best features to be implemented, there goes the venture. Poof! Where did the money go? Oh, well.
I have ideas on how to open source the games as much as possible, to promote it and gain a fan base for modules, add-ons, and the like, but just barely closed enough (portions like the main client) to make a profit (and therefore promote Linux/OpenBSD/FreeBSD to more traditional game dev markets,) before some guy wiht nothing better to do reverse engineers it. Hey, it's a free country (supposedly, and reverse-engineering is (or should be) a calculated risk. If everybody is nice, and nobody reverse-engineers any of the software I would oversee development of, I would release the software under GPL 2.0 either after it has made a 10% profit, or about 7 years after it hits the market, whatever comes first, anyway.
That is the basic idea behind trying to crossover propietary ways of doing things onto clearly superior technologies (and I'm not just saying that to stain my nose brown. I really believe that Linux, BSD, and similar platforms have vastly more potential than any propietary technology I can think of, and especially the one that everybody and their dog have a mutual hatred of).
I have some ideas, and I won't say too much, about games that I might employ in this manner.
I'm thinking of a MMORTS game, high quality graphics, OpenGL and OpenAL w/ EAX 4 support, multiple tactial display compatable, borrows the very best from well known RTS games, but adds some new and fresh ideas and proficiencies to the mix.
I love C&C Red Alert 2, Warcraft 3, and Homeworld 2, and I intend to integrate the best of interface design and game logic into an MMORTS game engine that is developed first in Python using paid developers, then open-sourced under LGPL 2.0 for further development. Give a little, get a little, give a lot, get a lot. Isn't that how it should work?
Anyway, won't say too much.
And yes, I'm aware there are some existing open source RTS engines out there, but the ones I've seen are hardly out of the womb, no offence intended.
Good Night!:guitar:
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
schtufbox
If there is a linux native version of a game, and I don't already own the Windows version, then I will buy native.
...
So yes, I'd buy native, but not if you released it a year after a windows version.
I would never do such a thing. The open source community has done a lot for me, making available great products for the best price - zip! Even better products are sometimes those open source but commercial products - I have yet to try a major one, but I sure intend to.
Therefore, I would release the native Linux (ELF) binaries, neatly packaged, a year beforehand, if it was up to me. If I sell any of my ideas, though, I may have limited negotiating power over the terms. Sorry.
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
Well As for games I would say no to a totally propritery game. However I would suggest a more hybrid approach. So I would say have the software parts Like the game engine, Networking Software and such be Free Software. While license the Artwork and music/sounds. That way people can use the Software in Freedom. Art doesn't need to be Free because its just there for appreciation and doesn't do practical work. But the Software parts of the Game should be Free otherwise it rasies ethical concerns.
Re: Propietary games for Linux/BSD - Will ye | Nil ye?
Remeber:
Gameplay>Graphics
but then again, you can't sell gameplay :(
Re: Propietary games - Multiplatform?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Xanderfoxx
SDL and other libraries like it may slow down systems to much.
SDL is a very simple abstraction layer and has a very minimal (likely unnoticeable) performance hit. Games like Quake 4 and ET:QW use it for their Linux version..
AFAIK they have hand-crafted Windows versions because SDL wraps around DirectX 7, so if you want an OpenGL or DirectX 9/10 based game, I don't think that will work.