Windows is moving further ahead than linux for gaming?

[the_tiger]

Will linux ever be an operating system suitable for gaming. I know there are some available already, but until big games development companies start supporting linux there will never be a good range of cutting edge games. With the development of directx10 and the ease and power of its API programming interface, will opengl be able to keep up as a development tool in the big development firms? I am curious to know what others think. I personally believe linux is moving further away from being a games platform but hope this is not the case.

[Blarion]

Personaly, I think the Linux operating system is very advanced in regards to gaming, you can even run many non native games under WINE or Cedega. I don't think it's advanced as windows, yet. I think we have to get Direct 3D running under linux or something.

[helpme]

Will linux ever be an operating system suitable for gaming.

And here I am thinking all the time it already was suitable.



I know there are some available already, but until big games development companies start supporting linux there will never be a good range of cutting edge games.

That's true. If nobody makes games, there are non. This doesn't have anything to do with how suitable the platform is though.



With the development of directx10 and the ease and power of its API programming interface, will opengl be able to keep up as a development tool in the big development firms?

I sure hope so and please cue the marketing babble about the ease and power blah blah.



I am curious to know what others think. I personally believe linux is moving further away from being a games platform but hope this is not the case.
I don't really think though. The main thing holding Linux back as a games platform is simply market share, or lack thereof in the markets relevant for the faming industry. Whether the situation in these markets will get better and if so, how long it will take, I don't have a clue frankly.

[SHodges]

I use Ubuntu on my PC, and I've been trying to run Wine and Cedega and all that for a while now, it can't even handle older titles like the first Deus Ex without serious problems and tweaks, and I've never seen a real game for linux, just crappy clones of games so old and so basic that they've become a project in high school visual basic classes. Windows doesn't need to move ahead, linux isn't even in the race. With that said, Linux is generally ahead of windows for every other task. You'd be better off with an installation of Ubuntu on your home PC and then just picking up a game console.

[helpme]

... I've never seen a real game for linux, just crappy clones of games so old and so basic that they've become a project in high school visual basic classes.
You don't consider Doom3 and the Quake series real games?
Amazing.

I agree with you though that Linux certainly isn't the ideal platform for hardcore gamers.

[GeneralZod]

You don't consider Doom3 and the Quake series real games?
Amazing.

And UT04, which is my favourite example of a Linux Game Port Done Right.

[kubuntu2k6]

i used to play americas army all the time on my linux box before my computer broke down... 8)

also there are some really nice small games for linux when you have a minute or two to spare...

then again i'm no gamer... a gamer choosing linux for platform is asking for trouble

[mrgnash]

I use Ubuntu on my PC, and I've been trying to run Wine and Cedega and all that for a while now, it can't even handle older titles like the first Deus Ex without serious problems and tweaks, and I've never seen a real game for linux, just crappy clones of games so old and so basic that they've become a project in high school visual basic classes. Windows doesn't need to move ahead, linux isn't even in the race. With that said, Linux is generally ahead of windows for every other task. You'd be better off with an installation of Ubuntu on your home PC and then just picking up a game console.

Agree 100%

And it isn't that Linux is not a 'suitable' environment for game development. OpenGL takes care of all that, but it's just that game developers aren't interested because Linux does not have a large enough market share yet. OSX has the same problem. although not as severe.

[Brunellus]

Is anyone else irked by the notion that gaming == FPS ?

Linux is a capable FPS platform: Doom, Quake, UT4. Fine. But nobody seems to be developing non-FPS, linux-native games.

[helpme]

Is anyone else irked by the notion that gaming == FPS ?

Linux is a capable FPS platform: Doom, Quake, UT4. Fine. But nobody seems to be developing non-FPS, linux-native games.
I think what these FPS games show is that linux is technically a capable gaming platform.
The reason why there aren't so many other games is due to Linux market share in the relevant markets I'd guess.

[bored2k]

Windows moving ahead of linux for gaming? Ha. On a hardcore gamer's scale, linux isn't even on the scale. Yeah, I said it, it isn't. A few FPS and a few platformers/rpgs aren't enough for the average gamer; that's only enough for what I like to call conformist gamers.

[Stormy Eyes]

What in Adramelech's name is a conformist gamer?

[Blarion]

What in Adramelech's name is a conformist gamer?
google define:

Definitions of conformist on the Web:
marked by convention and conformity to customs or rules or styles; "underneath the radical image teenagers are surprisingly conformist"

Think it's like a gamer that only plays popular games everyone else and they're brother plays.

[Paulus]

itś all about money i´m afraid. whose going to develop for such a niche market?

[BoyOfDestiny]

Will linux ever be an operating system suitable for gaming. I know there are some available already, but until big games development companies start supporting linux there will never be a good range of cutting edge games. With the development of directx10 and the ease and power of its API programming interface, will opengl be able to keep up as a development tool in the big development firms? I am curious to know what others think. I personally believe linux is moving further away from being a games platform but hope this is not the case.

I don't understand why you think it's going further away from being a gaming platform. There has been a lot of improvment with xorg, and video card companies are actually releasing drivers (and open ones improving). Also, don't discount opengl or things like SDL.

As for gaming, I get my fix with old school goodness. I can play DOS, nes, snes, gbx, arcade, and with things like scummvm plenty of lucas adventures. All work like a charm on Ubuntu.
Also, I have a gamecube (hooked to tv card and enjoyed via tvtime, not really on linux, but consoles are a good alternative IMHO). ;)

[Sirin]

I think we have to get Direct 3D running under linux or something.

Direct3D is Microsoft software, and if you know Microsoft, you know that they will NEVER port it to Linux. Hell, we still have problems with OpenGL. ;)