linux compatability
Author
Should I even bother with making a game compatable with linux? What gamer uses only linux? 0 I'm guessing.
Author
It doesn't make sense to me that someone who likes to play many games would use only a game limited OS. At least for most commericial games.
Now, that is a more interesting point. There are two questions here.
The first is, are you developing an AAA-level title? If that's the case, then you'll have enough work to do handling one platform without having to fight for another. Conversely, you'll have pretty much to handle consoles, so cross-platform development isn't necessary useless.
The second is, how many games does one play, usually? Some gamers change games every month, while others play the same game for years before moving on (WoW, anyone?) So, as long as there are enough games on Linux for the average gamer to play, Linux will not be a game-limited OS.
Of course, if by game-limited you mean that you cannot play Windows games on Linux, I'll point you to Dance Dance Revolution or Geometry Wars, which cannot be played on natively the PC at all. Is the PC a game-limited platform? Are consoles a game-limited platform? Or do Linux, Windows, Sony, Nintendo and XBox platforms each have their own set of games which does not necessarily intersect with that of other platforms?
The first is, are you developing an AAA-level title? If that's the case, then you'll have enough work to do handling one platform without having to fight for another. Conversely, you'll have pretty much to handle consoles, so cross-platform development isn't necessary useless.
The second is, how many games does one play, usually? Some gamers change games every month, while others play the same game for years before moving on (WoW, anyone?) So, as long as there are enough games on Linux for the average gamer to play, Linux will not be a game-limited OS.
Of course, if by game-limited you mean that you cannot play Windows games on Linux, I'll point you to Dance Dance Revolution or Geometry Wars, which cannot be played on natively the PC at all. Is the PC a game-limited platform? Are consoles a game-limited platform? Or do Linux, Windows, Sony, Nintendo and XBox platforms each have their own set of games which does not necessarily intersect with that of other platforms?
Original post by ToohrVyk
Of course, if by game-limited you mean that you cannot play Windows games on Linux, I'll point you to Dance Dance Revolution or Geometry Wars, which cannot be played on natively the PC at all. Is the PC a game-limited platform?/quote]
Well, Stepmania ( A Complete DDR Clone ) runs on PC, Mac, and Linux, and im sure theres a Geometry Wars like game out there somewhere.
Anyways, I believe that it is good programming practice to try to code games that are cross platform. Its really not that hard, you just can't use windows api stuff, and you can't use too much .NET stuff, and you have to use crossplatform libraries.
Other than that, the only problem is building the code for two/three platforms, and if you can't get cross-building working, there are places like sourceforge that have build servers of many different platforms, where you can upload your code and build.
Quote:Original post by DantarionX
Well, Stepmania ( A Complete DDR Clone ) runs on PC, Mac, and Linux, and im sure theres a Geometry Wars like game out there somewhere.
I know, I was playing StepMania and Grid Wars hours ago (and that's the reason why I cited them). But they are re-made from scratch. If you allow existing games to be rebuilt from scratch, then potentially any game can be run on Linux.
Author
Well, I can't tell if a game is going to be AAA until it's released. And making a AAA game doesn't necessarily mean you have to make it cross platform. I'm only focusing on PC development. Look at it this way, what do you imagine the commercial game ratio is between windows and linux? I don't really know, but it has to something quite radical. I don't remember ever seeing a PC game at a retail store that requires or even supports linux.
If you code using SDL/OpenGL then your code can be ported to Linux easily. If you use DirectX, good luck. The reason I would suggest writing Linux code is that the APIs are generally open-source and can be ported to anywhere from there. Even to backwater computers like the latest PowerPC-based incarnations of the Amiga.
Windows stuff is generally closed to outside eyes and can only be run on Linux using API cloners like Wine. Sure DirectX has some bells and whistles but if you are developing in OpenGL you can run it on a Mac and Linux and others so why limit yourself?
Windows stuff is generally closed to outside eyes and can only be run on Linux using API cloners like Wine. Sure DirectX has some bells and whistles but if you are developing in OpenGL you can run it on a Mac and Linux and others so why limit yourself?
Author
I'm writing it using the OGRE engine so I'm not even dealing directly with the API's but it can run on either directx or opengl, I don't know what else is required for it to run on linux since I never programmed anything for linux, but can I use the same executable and just check what OS the user is running and then code what ever is necessary for each OS. If it's just the main app entry point then I wouldn't mind making it compatable with linux. The only windows code I have in my prog right now is just the basic stuff that's required to run a windows app.
Quote:Original post by etsuja
Well, I can't tell if a game is going to be AAA until it's released.
You can tell if you're aiming for it, or if you're going to a more lower-budget approach, or even a freeware or open source no-budget approach (GridWars, StepMania, Wesnoth, Dungeon Crawl, Nethack, Kraland, SuperKobo, Imperishable Nigh, Perfect Cherry Blossom, Urban Uprising, Warning Forever, Every Extend, ...)
Quote:I don't remember ever seeing a PC game at a retail store that requires or even supports linux.
You seem to equate game with commercial game. That's a ridiculously close-minded definition. If your question is, "Can I create a moderately successful Linux commercial game", then the answer is probably no. If you're only looking to develop a game, you'll find plenty of Linux-only gamers ready to play it.
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