fangbite Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 I've seen a few sites dedicated to porting windows games to linux and I have a problem with this for some reason. I have many windows games which i would love to run in linux, but i've already paid hundreds of dollars buying these games. For the linux port most of them seem to a new cd which they ship out to you where they charge you again. I know for unreal tournament there was an online linux installer that took care of everything, is it practical to do the same for other windows games? I'm not against paying money for games (i've spent alot already) but i think it would be much better to the customer to provide an installer online so they could use the cds they already bought and perhaps to provide this installer in future releases of the game. Whats the take on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 It's something we've often spoken about. Obviously the ideal situation would be to have both - i.e, a Linux installer is available on disc and for download - best of both worlds. Remember that not EVERYONE has an internet connection and some people are on dialup, so they would prefer to be provided with an installer on disc. The other option would be to have a seperately boxed Linux version of the game (as is usually the case with Apple) but since most Linux users unfortunately dual-boot with Windows (why? don't ask me...) and would like to run their games in both environments, this will hardly ever happen (it does once in a blue moon though). Linux gaming is relatively young and so a lot of experimentation is still taking place. Once desktop Linux starts settling down from the storm of diverse development, then gaming will follow suit. Luckily the guys at http://www.tuxgames.com/ are around. They (re)package Linux games with installlers and sell them in that way. A dream for Linux gamers, especially those of us who have no Windows partitions or peeps who are on dialup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 The problem is that many times the original maker of the game isn't the one to do the port. This means there's a second company that has put money into the game, into porting it and also most likely paying the original maker for the rights to port it. So giving it out for free because someone already has the windows version doesn't really go over well with the porting company, as they don't get anything for their work. Most often, like with NWN, if the company who original wrote the game ports it the ported version is free with the purchase of the other version. But when it gets ported by another company, then you won't get it. That being said, icculus.org has ports for a lot of games - you might want to check that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fangbite Posted August 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Did and while their selection is good, only one of those games I have let alone play at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerRob Posted August 18, 2004 Report Share Posted August 18, 2004 but since most Linux users unfortunately dual-boot with Windows (why? don't ask me...) and would like to run their games in both environments<{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not saying that it's the case for all Linux desktop users but I can certainly say that most Linux users I know only have a Windows partion to run games. As soon as Linux becomes a more viable mainstream gaming platform (although Cadeaga helps) they would probably dump their Windows partions completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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