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Gaming on Linux

bit-tech.net — Too many people think you can't do it, it's too complicated or there are just simply only crap games available. Bit-tech looks to clear the FUD and goes into what's available for those wanting to game on Linux.

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  • Philluminati, on 10/12/2007, -30/+22Good article on what's available but I can't lose Windows til i'm bored of COD2

    I don't know why I am telling you this!
    • corevette, on 10/12/2007, -1/+54other games i like to play that weren't on the list
      -Tremulous* (fps)
      -Frets on Fire* (guitar hero clone)
      -Stepmania* (ddr clone)
      -Frozen Bubbles* (....none of the above)
      -Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory (fps)
      -TrueCombat: Elite (fps)(my personal favorite)
      * = Open source
    • GeneralAntilles, on 10/12/2007, -1/+35I downloaded Tremulous a few weeks ago. Running around floor-to-wall-to-ceiling at a million miles per hour with a ground-level fisheye perspective is about the most nauseatingly fun thing I can imagine.
    • redshiftct, on 10/12/2007, -16/+0Corvette: I agree, FretsonFire and Wolf ET are good. But since FoF is open-source I'm surprised someone hasn't already made a Linux clone.
    • 0o0Moylan0o0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Well, i dont Game on Linux, nor use it for that matter. But i was interested to have a look through the list. Interested enough to download 'Sauerbraten' (For Windows) it looked realy interesting. Multiplayer FPS Opensource, with available mods...... cant go past that right?

    • Technofrood, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12I may just be imagining it but I can see a Linux download on the Frets on Fire homepage.
    • EbilPhish, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7Unfortunately I've found very little in the way of decent high quality games for Linux and a majority of the stuff I have tried under WINE was unplayable (About the only thing that worked well for me was Half-Life 1 + mods, years ago). Granted there are some older games that WINE runs fine, but that doesn't change the fact that they are years out of date. I know some stuff like WoW and HL2 work, but those are only a few games, neither of which I play (Mainly because I don't like pay2play or Steam).

      Tremulous, Nexuiz and CUBE2 (Saurbratten) all have fairly poor graphic IMHO, the engines are slightly improved Quake3 level of graphic (Well 2 of them are quake3 based so its not surprising) but the main problem is that things like the textures don't match and are of poorer quality (like they where ripped of a creative commons texture site, which a lot of them probably where) the levels are also architecturally boring, the other all layouts are fine but are lacking in the details department.

      There are also ID Games Quake/Doom (who are even awesome enough to GPL their old code), NWN1(not 2 >_OpenGL layer, the would probably result in a %20 loss of performance though, since there would probably be a minimum of %8 from the virtualization and then the 3d acceleration.
    • JelloShotz, on 10/12/2007, -42/+22And I present for your enjoyment ASCII TUX, not riding a unicicle:
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    • dkoon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"Well, this is actually an easy question. Try Wine, and if it doesn't work, use Cedega. Wine has the advantage that it's free. But some games just won't work, regardless of the amount of tweaking you throw at it. After you become so frustrated with the fact that Wine isn't up for the job, then it is the ideal moment to head over to the Transgaming.org Games Database to see if your game is listed."

      ROFL, did someone say people are spreading FUD?
    • pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -20/+18http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=3780&iTestingId=5029

      No thanks .. I'll use Windows.

      Besides, even if you do decide to tell me how great it is on Linux ... I don't have time to deal with installing different, older versions of Wine just to make this one game work. What if installing .9.16 to make GTA work breaks another game? ARGH! On Windows, I do this:

      1) Install the game
      2) Play the game.
    • handband2, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Native Games: http://doc.gwos.org/index.php/Native_Games

      HowTo's for Installing Games: http://www.ubuntugames.org/ (The site is in Portuguese)
    • nielkie, on 10/12/2007, -4/+13@pcgeek
      GTA works with the latest version of WINE....
    • Intangir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8i play World of Warcraft (and use vent) on linux every night just about
      also i still every once in a while fire up steam (hl2, cs:source) and starcraft
    • pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -22/+3@nielkie: Does Linucks support DirectX10?
    • nicpedersen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Where is the harm in dual booting at this point? if you love linux for your computing needs, great. use it. Now if you know you are going to sit down and play a game, just boot into windows. I think we can all stand to sit through the extra 5 seconds the grub loader adds.
    • AnteChronos, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30@pcgeek101
      "Does Linucks support DirectX10?"

      Does Windoze* XP support DX10? You'll find that the answers to those two questions are the same.



      *See, I can use condescending misspellings, too.
    • OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15If those DX10 script kiddie game devs would learn how to use OpenGL, porting to Linux and OS X would be nearly effortless! You damned fools!

      Listen to John Carmack, a real graphics programmer, unlike these script kiddies who make DX engines from "Programming DirectX for Dumb Asses" book templates. Look at how easy it is to port Quake/Doom engine (and other OpenGL) games compared to the bug-ridden, canned DirectX crap like Battlefield 2.

      All we really need is for Epic, Valve and id to support OpenGL and it would account for the majority of 3D games because most games use their engines. The rest of the market would have to soon follow, schools would have to start focusing on OpenGL again.

      We must break the stranglehold Microsoft has on game development through DirectX, otherwise the future is more ***** games and censorship. Not to mention the need to buy the Vista virus to play them!
    • lengau, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@OBKenobi - The reason for developers still using is mainly historical (some old library that many games used was a DirectX one). OpenGL is technologically superior to DirectX, though. In fact, one version of DX (either 8 or 9) was basically a direct copy of OpenGL with some small changes.

      @PCGeek101 - Does Windows support AIGLX?
    • pcgeek101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"@PCGeek101 - Does Windows support AIGLX?"

      WTF is AIGLX and why should I even care?

      I -do- care about DirectX 10 support for future gaming needs though.
    • daverave999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm shocked that Urban Terror is not mentioned in this article.

      http://digg.com/gaming_news/Urban_Terror_4_0_standalone_version_being_released_this_Sunday
  • zhulien, on 10/12/2007, -37/+16Given that 99% of the good games on Windows are actually within MAME, and MAME is on Linux...
    • furude, on 10/12/2007, -21/+1Or you could, y'know, go to the arcade.
    • STKD, on 10/12/2007, -15/+63Really? MAME can do F.E.A.R. now? Or TDU? Or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? Or 2142?
      Who knew!
    • edmicman, on 10/12/2007, -24/+4O.H.R.E.A.L.L.Y.?!.11.2.3.4.56!?
    • splinecl, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14I like MAME for the nostalgia, but those games get old really fast. Arcade games loose their spirit when you have unlimited credits.
    • zhulien, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3no way, arcade games rule
    • spect3r, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open_source_games

      'nuff said
    • zhulien, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you were to include free games as well as OSS, the list will be larger. After all, if a game is good as it is, does it matter if the sourcecode is provided or not? MAME has proven emulators are great for games in case your current platform of choice becomes out of date.
  • MeThePeople, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9when i try to play cs using wine i lag really bad.
    dont know about cube but it looks cool im gunna try it
  • ldog, on 10/12/2007, -5/+33Why is Neverwinter Nights an example of something that works in wine?
    The game has a native port.
    • ldog, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Guess I should have posted a link:
      http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/linuxclient.html

      wine is great for lots of things that don't have native ports, like Warcraft 3 but is unecessary for Neverwinter Nights
    • dmsean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2because it is an example of good programming in opengl that does not require massive hacks to work in linux.

      So in fact, it runs in wine without porting!

      (but the port does work better)
    • shaungc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1NWN is listed as working in wine because, originally, there was no Linux port for it. Once Bioware saw the desire among their consumers to have one, they delivered. Wait a minute, what kind of parallel universe is this where companies actually deliver on what the consumer asks for?

      edit: then again, I *think* I remember Bioware saying they would release simultaneous Windows/Linux binaries at launch, but that didn't happen. I could be wrong about that part though.
  • xTRUMANx, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Can anybody let me know if the following two apps run on wine: warcraft 3 frozen throne and visual web developer (dun blame me for not using php, its for school...). These are the only two reason I haven't switched.
    • wounded625, on 10/12/2007, -24/+5well go to appdb.winehq.org and find out.
      and next time spell "don't" right.
      if you cant, you shouldn't move on to php.
    • jlebrech, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Try Monodevelop!!
    • person425, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7wc3 : I never really played much wc3 in linux, but from what I hear, it works alright. I play WoW in linux and once I switched it to opengl rendering, everything worked well.

      visual web developer : I would not trust that any of the microsoft development environments would work well in linux :-/ When I need to write windows stuff, I normally just boot up vista in vmware, and write my code there. Probably not worth it for school projects etc. There are plenty of good tools for writing php webapps in linux, but if you are stuck using a .NET style environment, windows is definitely a better option.

      I am not sure about this (someone else can verify), but I think all the new MS development environments run on .NET, which cannot be emulated in wine. With the help of mono it can *sometimes* work, but I have never gotten any .NET apps working in linux. To be fair though, I never tried that hard :-)
    • nikolai, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14@wounded625
      ... and next time you correct somebody, make sure you don't make the same mistake. "cant" should be "can't".
    • devicerandom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why has been FreeCiv forgotten?

      Maybe it has not the fancy (but highly distracting and frankly useless) graphics of newer Civilization titles, but it's incredibly well done and documented, and it's a truly addictive and playable strategy game (In fact, Civilization-FreeCiv is the only game that ever addicted me).

      edit: oh, it shouldn't have been a reply here...
    • avolant, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1wounded625 is an insecure douchebag who believes having an arbitrary link (appdb.winehq.org) grants him right to be as rude as possible with no comedic outlet. i wish i could digg you down again. what a loser.
    • nemoder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4war3 yes:
      http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=7556
      vwd no:
      http://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?iVersionId=5081
    • willistg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I make my living as a .net developer. I use Visual Studio in a Vmware image of XP. Thus Linux is my host OS. It sucks on a 15" laptop screen but 17" it works out pretty well. Max the ram on your PC though, the more the better and if you have 2 hard disks keep the vms on a disk other than your system disk for a bit of a performance increase.


  • imeddy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15The Nexuiz link in the article is wrong.
    Correct one: http://www.alientrap.org/nexuiz/
  • elvisdechico, on 10/12/2007, -39/+8gaming on linux?

    buried as inaccurate
    • PixelEater, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8These we can game too articles always feature the latest smash hits and best in Windows emulation D:/
  • tommyfullington, on 10/12/2007, -28/+8I used to game on my linux box, then I came back to reality. Yes you can play lots of games on wine, yes they will lag like a bitch. It's just the reality of an emulator and the fact that most linux users, like myself use old hardware because we don't need the new *****. With that said, if you're a gamer.. the titles are limited and the results may vary. But you CAN be a linux gamer, it just takes patience. (And the notion in the back of your mind, that you know YOU KNOW someday microballs will bring all gaming companies together and pay them millions of dollars to put code into the game that eats your kernel alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
    • KineticFlow, on 10/12/2007, -9/+32Wine Is Not an Emulator.
    • GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10There is nothing in a game that can eat your kernel alive. This isn't the days of MS-DOS, we have something known as protected mode now and even MS uses it.

      Also the problem with WINE (in the few occasions it has serious problems) is that the libraries haven't been optimised because they haven't all been written yet (correctness first, performance later. Good programming practices 101). It is not an emulator.
    • HyperionPrime, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2Ha, protected Windows, now isn't that an oxymoron?
    • bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1@HyperionPrime: No, anyone with half a brain protects their computer, no matter what OS they're using. A firewall or a router will usually do the trick, but if you're downloading many executable files, an anti-virus program is necessary on Windows.

      Linux fares well because programs are "sandboxed" by default (i.e. when they're not run as root). Most distributions have very stringent packaging requirements. Not anyone can package DEBs or RPMs and your packages are open to criticism, along with the fact that normally the source must be provided (usually the original source with packages), along with a GPG key verifying who uploaded the package. That's one reason why you don't normally get a root kit when you install a package.

      When you think about it, Linux is susceptible to many of the same kinds of installer attacks as Windows, minus the ridiculous exploits XP had due to unnecessary open ports. When you install 3rd party software on Linux, you're taking a risk.

      Windows can be very secure; it's the user's responsibility to ensure this. I don't like updating my anti-virus every day and I enjoy compiling code optimized for my processor, so I use Linux.
    • straxus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18"Yes you can play lots of games on wine, yes they will lag like a bitch."
      No they won't.

      "It's just the reality of an emulator"
      Good thing Wine isn't one.

      "and the fact that most linux users, like myself use old hardware"
      Speak for yourself. Core 2 Duo and Geforce 7700 here.

      "because we don't need the new *****."
      If you want to play games you do. No wonder they 'lag' for you.

      "With that said, if you're a gamer.. the titles are limited and the results may vary. But you CAN be a linux gamer, it just takes patience. "
      I can't disagree with that.

      "(And the notion in the back of your mind, that you know YOU KNOW someday microballs will bring all gaming companies together and pay them millions of dollars to put code into the game that eats your kernel alive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)"
      I suppose if you wanted to run everything as root, have your /boot mounted rw, and MS wanted to risk a lawsuit and PR fiasco that would potentially end the company, AND the stars and planets were aligned just right... But if you're already running everything as root, you've probably already been 'owned'.
    • bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@tommyfullington: Here's an explanation of WINE for people who thinks it's an emulator:

      Windows executables can be looked at as consisting of two parts: Executable code and API calls (also known as system calls). This is equivalent to calling some code in a DLL file.

      "Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X and Unix." (www.winehq.com). Basically, they're providing a way to invoke DLL code, along with some DLLs that have been custom-written for use with WINE (you can also use native Windows DLLs if you have them). The non-API code is run as machine language. This provides very little overhead as opposed to using an emulator.

      When you use FCEU, ZSNES, Mupen64, MAME, etc., you're actually creating a virtual machine like Java does before executing a program, with all the registers and other garbage that brings your system to a crawl. WINE doesn't do this.

      I thought this was worth explaining, since people seem to think that WINE is slow and that WINE is an emulator. If you think it's slow, try running Unreal Tournament (the original one) on Linux; it runs better in WINE than it did when I used Windows, provided you use the Software or OpenGL rendering instead of Direct3D.
  • jlebrech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Bzflag, Netpanzer, Koules, Warsow, True Combat Elite, Torcs, VDrift.

    Wheres the gaming LiveDVD??
    • Casedot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I just tried gaming knoppix 4.0.2 DVD on my gaming computer, but it was so slow loading from the cd. Wish i knew how to install knoppix to the hdd.
    • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@casedot

      I think their is a way to install it to the hd, i'm not sure. Why not just install kubuntu and install all the same apps from knoppix that you like?
    • wdwhitney, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Here's a link to the knoppix wiki addressing hard drive installation. First, it lists a basic caveat (basically - we designed this to run as a liveCD, and it isn't recommended for new users, but, if you really want to...) and then links to the various sites that have installation instructions.
      http://www.knoppix.net/wiki/Category:Hard_drive_Installation
    • wdwhitney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Oh yeah, digitallysick has a good point. kubuntu is a good option with an easier install than trying to hack knoppix to install to hdd. Since the install disk for kubuntu is a liveCD as well, the only thing you lose is download time and a blank CD. Here is the website for kubuntu: http://www.kubuntu.com
  • spencewah, on 10/12/2007, -8/+19The problem isn't whether or not there is gaming on Linux. Clearly, there are a wealth of games available for the Linux platform. The problem is that it's a pain in the ass to run commercial games on Linux, if you can get them to run at all. These are the games people want, not the (albeit cool) homebrew ones that nobody's ever heard of.
    • Aliarse, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15And who's to blame for this?
      Hint : It's not Linux.
    • 35263526, on 10/12/2007, -8/+11You can throw blame around all you want, but it's still a major issue that's holding Linux back. It doesn't really matter whose fault it is in that sense.
    • CaptMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12I completely agree. I don't care who's fault it is, as long as I can't play all of the games that I want to play on Linux that I can on Windows (and with no worse performance) there's no reason for me to switch. If all of the major games start being released with Linux ports, then we'll talk, but until then, I'm sticking with Windows. It's like a phillips head screwdriver, it's not that I have a particular love for the phillips head screwdriver, it's just that it seems to work with so many screws.
    • mtalon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I can agree with that. It should always be said that one shouldn't expect an off the shelf Windows game to run in Linux. That's even with Cedega/Wine.

      However, there's quite a few gamers out there today who are sick of the commercial gaming landscape and want something different. Linux is great for that. Lots of older engines have been open-sourced like Q1-Q3. That means games can be made with these engines that are fun and not what you would ever find on the shelves. Plus there's a lot of original development going on.

      The hardcore gamers should stick with Windows, but the more casual (or nostalgic) can be perfectly happy with Linux.
    • msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5If you're primary computer usage is games, don't switch to linux, you won't enjoy it. If you're concerned about security, code at home, dislike the monetary cost of MS products, or have beliefs about computing freedoms, linux is something you should seriously consider.

      I've been running linux as my primary desktop for several years. Games that work are a perk, not something to expect. If you're serious about linux, you quickly learn to research what to buy before you spend money, be it games, hardware, or software. Also, just a note, linux is a superb gaming platform if the game is written properly. Back when I played WoW, I got better OpenGL performance in Linux than in XP or OS X. The problem is most games are DirectX, which sadly, often limits them to just Windows. On the same note, DVDShrink in WINE outperforms natively running it in Windows (the same DVD rip is often about 20% faster in linux).
    • bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6This single comment thread here is the most civil, well-thought-out one I've ever seen on Digg. There's no FUD and a lot of good points. It brought me to tears.
    • nemoder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I think it does matter who is to blame. If you want more commercial games on Linux then tell that to the game developers and if enough people ask they might listen. Telling it to Linux developers and users doesn't help much since they can't do anything about it.
  • AhmedF, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Interesting ...
  • ohgr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11Also another good Quake3Arena Clone is OpenArena which is 100% Open Source Version of the game. Graphics are subpar, but hey its free!
    • admirabumblebee, on 10/12/2007, -16/+8I think you just summed up all of the linux crowd mentality (as I type this running fc6)...

      "It may suck but hey! It's free!! ?"

      ***** is free too, but I still rather pay for a good meal... and no I dont wanna make it myself all the time.
    • edmicman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Exactly. There may be some "cool" linux games that aren't just ports of commercial games, but how many of those linux games would you go to Best Buy and pay for if it game in a box? They may be good for free games, but in the grand scheme of things, the little indie games on linux (and pretty much anywhere) suck. They're amusing for a little while, but if they really struck gold, they'd be publishing with a major studio and releasing to more than the 5 people out there that try and play games with linux.

    • bmartin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4As a counter example, I'd like to point out Battle for Wesnoth. I haven't played a Linux or Windows game that I like more. The graphics are great for what it is; it's not an FPS. It's free and I have no reason to believe that it's going commercial any time soon. It's available for Windows. Give it a try.
  • nephilimx, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Despite the fact 100s of games are listed for systems like WINE, most are broken since they only support a few patches or even one per game.
    Games like F.E.A.R have been broken for linux since last year.
    Community simply doesnt care about non Lan popular games, or any single player games that arnt "cult" popular
  • parax, on 10/12/2007, -9/+17I think this article is misleading, at best. Linux simply doesn't have gaming support. No matter how many hoops you jump through, you can't just go to the store, pick up a box, and be confident that it's going to run in Linux when you get home.

    To be fair, I've had my fair share of games fail to install/run in Windows, when I got home. But it's usually a hardware limitation, not because it just wasn't built for the platform. If I go to a store and buy a game, 99 out of 100 times, it's not going to run on Linux.

    Linux is a great platform, I use it almost all the time for programming, web surfing, email, productivity... But don't start trying to sell it as a gaming platform because it's just not true. The games you can run on Linux are few and far between.
    • admirabumblebee, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6I dont know... I am writing this on linux now, all I have to do is insert the disc and in a few seconds Im playing Virtua fighter 5.

      Not in linux, but you know.. still (ps3). It almost counts right?
    • GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Well you can't just go into a shop and pick up any random game and expect it to run on your Windows PC, PS3, Wii or 360 either. Of course Windows games don't run on Linux, they aren't designed too, in fact many devs are paid by MS to go out of their way to ensure it only runs on Windows. If you pick up a Windows only game then yeah there's a fair chance it won't run on Linux. Do people complain thought that their PS3 game doesn't run on their Wii.

      It's a minor miracle that any Windows games run on Linux. WINE is not a simple task, in fact it's a ridiculous thing to attempt (essentially reverse engineering every API of an entire OS and building the key features into another OS) and that anything works is a testament to their abilities.
    • ClayDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The last game I bought for the PC (yes, emphasis on PC) was Final Fantasy 7. As you can see, quite a while ago, long before I ever came in touch with Linux. The game was nice, but using it on Windows 98 sucked horribly. Almost every time I played it, the game would crash after about half an hour of game play. Quite annoying when it is a game where you can only save at save spots. I don't know how well PC games work on Windows versions today, I guess it will be more stable than my FF7/Win98-experience.

      Nevertheless, I concluded one thing from this experience: I'll never buy a game for the PC platform again. Why should I? For me, COMMERCIAL games should be played on game consoles, that's what they are for. Maybe if Linux becomes mainstream and has a really stable API and really working installation mechanisms for third party apps (games), I will buy a PC game again. BTW, I'm using Linux exclusively for 2 years now, before that I used Windows 98.
    • nixfu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Actually Linux DOES SUPPORT GAMING just fine... its got OpenGL, OpenAL, and SDL which are MORE than enough for gaming to run great.

      The only thing it takes is for game developers to build the game for Linux using the same tools many use to program games on Windows, and MacOS.

    • mtalon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Misleading statement...probably should be "Many commercial game companies don't support Linux".

      Linux is a great gaming platform for the games that are designed to run under it. I've had fewer problems with native clients for Quake, UT, NWN, etc. than their Windows counterparts. Plus, there's a lot more originality in Linux gaming than you can find in the stores. It's not just the latest FPS/RTS/MMO clones (which is another discussion...how sad the game aisles look anymore).
    • splinecl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Plus, there's a lot more originality in Linux gaming than you can find in the stores"

      What a weird statement. If you use WINE its the same freaking games, and I'm sure most of the native Linux open source games have a windows version anyway.
  • Flamekebab, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Where the ***** was Darwinia?
    Nice to see Uplink get a mention though.
  • Azerael, on 10/12/2007, -11/+7I thought the whole point of being a Linux user was not to play games but to troll the internet, like Mac users?
    • Aliarse, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5You have windows users confused with mac + linux users.
  • tuzziel, on 10/12/2007, -11/+8"Too many people think you can't do it"
    .. and they are right.
    • radio1mike, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Spot On.

      I'd give XP in a heartbeat, if I could game on Linux. Some people site clone games available Linux as evidence you really can game. You can't.

      Sure I would not mind playing the some single player games, but multiplayer is where it is at. Since lokigames went belly up 5 years ago, what's the point. Tell me when 2142 is playable on Wine and I'll jump ship.
    • the7dwarfs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4@radio1mike

      "Tell me when 2142 is playable on Wine and I'll jump ship."

      Unfortunately it will have to work the other way round. The developers go where they will make the most money, so to get the games on Linux you will have to jump ship first, along with everyone else.
    • mtalon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3@radio1mike:

      If 2142's your thing, then stay on Windows. It's like complaining that Mario isn't available for a PS3. There's more going on than just system compatibility.

      The point of this article is to show that there are games on Linux, not that the games you have in Windows will always be available in Linux. People say Linux isn't for gaming...that's not true. It's just doesn't run all the games people automatically think of. However, it does run a lot of others.
  • IHaveIssues, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2"Foreward"?

    Did he mean "Foreword"?
  • technicalabuse, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8
    I've worked 12 years now with Linux on the server and desktop but have always ran Windows in some form for gaming.

    Since I'm just playing WoW right now and I am focused solely on Open Source projects and development I've
    switched my main machine to Ubuntu Feisty and running WoW with Wine and it's excellent.

    XP has been reduced to a virtual machine for app testing in my setup.
  • GMorgan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10It's worth noting that the OGL enabled VM kernel extensions have been committed to Andrew Morton's mm kernel tree. In future this will enable full 3D support inside a virtual machine on Linux.
  • Izacus, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Sorry guys, but gaming through Wine is not gaming.

    Way too many graphics glitches, bugs with no special solution. Not to mention that Wine changes a high-end 350€ graphics card into a low-end crappy card with 10fps. No thanks. I rather sell my soul to Microsoft and have a decent OS.
    • srg13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Where exactly is the evidence to support these claims?

      Lets see some screenshots or videos (using the current version of Wine)
    • msgyrd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Yeah, you'll get a few errors for DirectX games and will often lose FPS. Any game that can run in OpenGL mode will usually run (graphically) flawless though.
  • gypsi, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1just because you can find a knockoff of a knockoff of tetris for linux - or play an 8 year old shooter doesn't mean you're going to get everyone to trade in their winbox or console. frankly i'm tired of the linux gaming BS.
  • xmuzik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think it's safe to say that within the next 5 years if you sit your average user down and allow them to use Linux or Windows side by side that most people will end up choosing the Linux OS.

  • UrbanVoyeur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Don't forget Warzone 2100

    Resurrected as open sauce: http://wz2100.net/
  • l34NDl20, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Did everyone forget about the Unreal Tournament series?
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5ive been playing Alien Arena 2007 and its great! i got it from www.getdeb.net its a kick ass FPS, online, multiplayer
  • palmdoc, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I still need Windows to play BF 2142
  • nixfu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13This article is better:
    http://digg.com/linux_unix/The_problem_with_Linux_is_that_there_are_no_games


    Frankly I am a old school hard core gamer and play nearly all my gaming in Linux.

    Between the excellent:
    - XPLANE flight simulator, and all the good FPS's games like
    - UT,
    - UT2003/2004/2007
    - Tribes2
    - Quake3(and all the good mods like true combat)
    - Doom3
    - EnemyTerritory
    - RTCW,
    - MetalofHonor+AA
    - Americas Army(way underrated)
    - Nexuiz(CHECK it out),
    - as well as games like NWN, Rune, Warcraft 2, Decent3, Airline Tycoon, and more ******ALL RUN NATIVE******* in Linux.


    Then as well as the Half Life stuff(plus all those great mods like Counter Strike, DayOfDefeat etc), Battlefield, WoW, Madden 2006, CIV:IV and the other games that run really well under wine, combined with the very healthy EMU scene for the great old arcade, SNES, etc games you could want, I have no need for Windows to get a very, VERY good gaming fix when I need it.






    There is LOTS and LOTS of gaming out there for Linux users if you actually look for it.


    The only thing missing really, is the Battlefield stuff, but lets FACE IT.... EA can hardly put out a game for Windows that even runs without crashing every 10 seconds, let along something that will behave on Linux.

  • reed311, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4Get back to me when Linux can play 100% of PC games with 100% speed/capability. Otherwise, I have no use in using an OS that is crippled when it comes to games playing.
    • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It's not the fault of the os, its the vendors fault! They should support osx/linux. I'm sure once linux usage picks up they will see a demand.
    • 16777216, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Well *****, better throw Windows in the can too.
      I have too many mouths to feed and bills to pay to be a big gammer like I want but, out of the seven games of varying ages I have only 2 run flawless on windows, 2 don't run at all, ( driver problems I think ) the rest crash a lot.
      Of those seven five work in Linux either through ports or Wine with no problems ( the ports and a few wine runs ) or with mild hassle. ( Wine )
      I still dual boot but, mostly because my wife needs it for school and both she and I like Silkroad Online which doesn't run in wine well yet.
    • uzusan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Get back to me when Windows can play 100% of PC games with 100% speed/capability. Otherwise, I have no use in using an OS that is crippled when it comes to everything.
  • drmangrum, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3Now, if they only listed games that people actually play, it might give the article a bit more credence.

    The plain and simple fact is; Linux is not a gaming OS, it's a developer OS. Linux will never be a gaming OS until I can go buy the latest software and know without a doubt that it will work on my box without jumping through hoops. The average gamer isnt going to spend 3 hours tinkering with emulators and reading through blogs to figure out how to get their copy of GameX to run on their frankenlinux.
    • ray901, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Linux is not a gaming OS, it's a developer OS."

      It is unfortunate that you don't know what an OS is.
  • BuddhistPirate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cedega is amazing, but of course isn't everything to everyone. My gripe is no support for Rise of Nations, and no networking on Age of Empires II. So I dual boot windows. Its nice cause this way I don't lose any performance* in my FPSs, but I always have a Nice OS (Desktop: Linux, Laptop: OSX) to change to when I'm not doing my specific gaming. My gaming fix is satisfied in Linux or OSX (with games like XMoto, Halo, Call of Duty 2, Enigma, Quake 3, Pacman, Emulators), and when I want to sit down for a serious session of Day of Defeat or RoN, then I boot into Windows. This is nice because it keeps them separated for when I want to do work, and I don't expose windows to the net except for gaming, so I'm less likely to run into spyware and virusses.

    *CS:Source ran better in Cedega for me than in windows on a Radeon 9000 as far as performance, except that ati sucks ass and their drivers would bring down the game every 15 minutes.
    • DarkHorse667, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0See if you can try getting the DirectPlay Dlls like I am going to try when I get home to get Age of Empires II going. I had the same problem under ordinary Wine and I am going to try putting in the native directplay dlls in order to do some multi player. I wrote a game matching client/server and now that I am down a windows box I will need to have some networking support for AOK/C or else i'll have to make a windows install sooner than later.
  • maxillarypun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nobody has, to do one or the other. Just set up a dual boot, and use the OS you want to use at that time. I do pretty much everything in Linux, even playing games. There are many games that don't run in Linux, though, but I can just boot to the Windows side and run those games. I don't run stuff through Wine, though, because my (as opposed to my wife's and my kids') box is a Pentium 3/450. And gee, amazingly, I can do everything on this little box, that I need to without speed issues, even beating my kids at Unreal Tournament.
  • crossmr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I don't think its that only crap games that are available. Mostly old. The newest game available natively under linux is Quake 4. Wine and Cedega aren't officially supported and there is no guarantee that what you'll want to play will work. With DX10 being a whole new thing, you might find it a long time before anything works. I've played a lot of these games, and I've gamed under linux. Its great that there are a few games there, but honestly, don't try to make it up to be something its not.
  • HyperionPrime, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The fact of the matter is, you shouldn't switch to GNU/Linux to play games, thats not what it's for. You should switch to Linux for all of the other great qualities it has (i.e. Enormous stability, virtually virus-proof, etc.)
    I play UT2k4 and Anarchy Online(through a very **simple** setup on Cedega) on my Xubuntu PC just fine.

    Plus remember that in order to play those games on Windows, you are dropping another $200 for an operating system that will give you headaches to say the very least with the decreased performanceonce from the waves of malware coming at you.
  • mtalon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4More Linux gaming goodness:

    http://www.happypenguin.org

    I've found all sorts of stuff off there. The interface could be better, and some of the items are definitely ALPHA, but it gives you a pretty good feel for what's going on in the Linux gaming scene. It's more robust and alive than you can imagine.
  • sagui, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Funny thing,

    I dual boot Vista and Ubuntu Edgy. I have gotten more games to work on Ubuntu (with or without WINE) than I have on Vista, including Enemy Territory, Vega Strike and the Brothers in Arms series.
    • crossmr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The difference is, developers care about Vista and will fix it. Wine and Cedega still don't work reliably with all DX9 games. When DX10 comes out, all work on DX9 will probably stop as they'll have to play major catch up for DX10 to even get a single game to work.
  • Bonzodog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have just finally started playing games again on Linux, and found a few good (but small MMORPG's). The one that appealed to me most, and has a rapidly growing community is Planeshift - http://www.planeshift.it

    Also, a brand new title, based on the quake 3 engine, but a different concept altogether:

    http://www.worldofpadman.com

    World of Padman is just cool, like VERY cool. Totally self contained standalone installer,it provides any and all libs and deps needed, and the graphics are very good.
    • sanford42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1world of padman's been out for a while, and MAN is it fun :D
  • captaineuphoria, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Videogames? Grow the ***** up, children.
  • Judicata, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sometimes we Linux users are terrible at playing the expectations game.

    I only run Linux (no dual boot or vmware) and love it, but we have to set reasonable expectations or people switch to Linux and then whine about how terrible gaming support is. The truth is, there are a great many games that run pretty darn well (and this is truly getting better all the time), but if the main reason you use a computer is gaming, you're going to be unhappy with the support.

    If, like me, however, you like a game here and there to kill time and relax, but mostly write papers, browse the web, listen to music, etc., the game support is fantastic (and I'm even on a laptop). This is especially true if you hate paying more than $10-$15 for a game, and choose to stick to games that are a few years old.
  • larrydag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Tremulous is a unique FPS that needs to be tried at least once. Great fun!

    Planeshift is a growing MMORPG that is getting more and more intriguing. Very unique story line too.
  • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is possible to game on Linux but I really don't see why people would want to subject themselves to the frustration of it. Just get a console or run a dedicated Windows gaming system.
  • chubbymidget, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes but how many cames are current or Popular?

    Anyone for Tribes2? No how about Quake3..... Doom3.....
  • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Until games are made cross platform, gaming on linux will always be difficult.

    Wine/Cedega and sure there are several great open source games which run native on linux, however it is never as easy as running these said games on Windows.

    Lets just be honest here -- gaming requires a platform and that platform is generally the one with the largest install base.

    Change the install base, the platform will change.
  • hmmdar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Games, or any software for that matter do not require a platform specific to run on. Its poor programing caused by ignorant/rushed management and in some cases poor programmers that cause software to only be able to run on a specific platform.
  • fac3less, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't forget SAVAGE
    It's an EXCELLENT game that functions flawlessly in *nix environments.
  • clos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Don't forget America's Army runs on Linux too
  • tidalwav1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How about the loki game installers for Linux?

    http://www.liflg.org/
  • lowerlogic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What would be really cool to see is comercial games that are already being developed for multiple platforms (such as non-exclusive titles for next-gen consoles and windows) also be developed for Linux. I just hate the idea of thinking about booting into Windows to install and play GTA IV, Half Life 2: Episode 2, and other games coming out soon.
  • jmcantrell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2As much as I love Linux, this isn't FUD... it's a fact. Until game developers see Linux as a viable platform, we'll never see the diversity of games that are available to windows. I applaud id games for their Linux clients for doom 3 and quake 4. This is the first time I really felt like Linux was an equal to Windows in gaming. In fact, it was slightly better, b/c Linux was using less of the system resources. Other than that and the small number of native Linux games.. the only real option is Cedega (Wine), but this doesn't work for a lot of games and it doesn't work perfectly.
  • OUPablo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Why hasn't anyone mentioned vmware or KVM yet? why dual boot when you can just open up Windows while inside linux like vmware lets you do. Granted i haven't tried to run games through it but i have a good experiences with everything else ive tried to run through vmware.
    • AnteChronos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Granted i haven't tried to run games through it but i have a good experiences with everything else ive tried to run through vmware."

      The problem is with 3D acceleration. Currently, the performance is extremely poor. There are some advances in that area coming down the pipes, but I'm not familiar enough with it to say anything definitive.
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