I think that Linux will be a growing game market and Delphi/Kylix gives us the opportunity to get in at the ground level before the larger game companies make the investment to release on the Linux OS.
What does everyone else think?
I think that Linux will be a growing game market and Delphi/Kylix gives us the opportunity to get in at the ground level before the larger game companies make the investment to release on the Linux OS.
What does everyone else think?
<br /><br />There are a lot of people who are dead while they are still alive. I want to be alive until the day I die.<br />-= Paulo Coelho =-
Several large companies already have released games onto Linux, I think. The only one I can think of offhand is Railroad Tycoon.
[size=10px][ Join us in #pgd on irc.freenode.net ] [ Sign the Petition for a Software Patent Free Europe ][/size]
Linux users don't like to pay money for software (I know i wouldn't like to pay for anything on my linux box), so you'll have quite a tough time coercing them to pay up.
Otherwise, I don't think there is anything that's holding Linux gaming back.
Once all Linux users realise that it is a commercially viable OS they will need to make the the mind shift over to paying.
For games that were ported to Linux using SDL, have a look at
http://www.lokigames.com .
I think there are some people who won't pay for software regardless of the platform. These people might be tempted towards Linux because of its free nature. But as Linux becomes more mainstream and fair paying users start to use it then the games market will really take off and Linux will become the killer platform for the next few years.
But in order for the users to move, there have to be games. This situation is improving all the time as more and more games are ported and released.
Not all Linux users are in it soley for the freebies. The last game I purchased was Unreal Tournament 2003 soley because it shipped with a Linux client. I'm considering buying Neverwinter Nights too. Also, I'm a WineX subscriber. The subscription fee is a small price to pay to enable me to play my old Windows games on my PC and if the money allows more games to be played on Linux, more people will consider switching.
Just my opinion.
Chess... The Ultimate Cross Platform game. Still playable on hardware hundreds of years old.
Err. No.Linux users don't like to pay money for software (I know i wouldn't like to pay for anything on my linux box), so you'll have quite a tough time coercing them to pay up.
I'd say it's about the same for most OS's. There are probably about the same percentage of people who would pay for a game on linux as windows.
A lot of linux users do "pay" for their software. They just don't do it in money most of the time. They do it by putting back into the open source community. {Barter is alive and well}
I know lots of people who would pay for a good game on linux.
Particularly if you gave them like a shareware version first.
Armand
This is an old thread, but I think it's important enough to get an update.
The Linux game market is still an underdog but it's there.
UT2004 plays like a dream out of the box
I had to wait a few weeks after purchasing DoomIII for a Linux binary but I now have it and it's fantastic.
Neverwinter Nights also has a Linux binary but I've not bothered to get it running even though I purchased the game with the intent of running it under Linux.. beat it with Windows and didn't bother to install it.
A few problems still seem to plague linux games.
1, the installer. Developers often think that a Linux user is going to be a guru and will know exactly how to get a game running. Too many games rely on installing to a windows partition and copying the datafiles across and replacing the binary with a Linux version. I'd like to see this improve.
2, The trust. There seems to be the attitude that all linux users are freeloading scum.. I beg to differ. Of the windows users I know, there are many who think nothing of playing a pirated game they downloaded from the net. Maybe it's because there's not as much commercial software for Linux but I don't know many people who use ripped off software on their linux box and I know plenty of Linux users.
3, The market share. Software companies only develop if there's a market for their work. A platform has to be popular before a company will support it. But PC platforms become popular because it's generally what people use at work and they mostly use windows. However, this is changing. More companies are moving to Linux. My company has a significant Linux investment and the UK Government have recently completed a favourable study into the use of open source. So as Linux becomes more popular in the work place, it will become more popular at home. It is becoming easier to use too. As it improves, hardcore gamers will shift to take advantage of the benefits.
4, Drivers. nVidia have been supporting Linux for some time now but ATI seem to be lagging. John Carmack of iD software has had no end of trouble getting DoomIII running on ATI cards under Linux. For new games to be popular on Linux there has to be the hardware support. Games have to be able to run at least as quickly as their windows counterparts. This is slowly happening. But DirectX is very good even though it pains me to say it. it will take some beating.
Well, that post was longer than I thought it would be... but if it gets a nice balanced debate going, cool
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks