Could have been better..
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| Jeff91 Nov 15, 2011 6:54 PM EDT |
I've got a great idea - lets take a computer that has sub-par specs, install Linux on it, install some games and then complain that those games don't run well. Honestly, what was he expecting? Buy a dedicated nvidia graphics card (not some 4 year old integrated POS), install the drivers, use a sane non-Unity/Gnome Shell desktop and you will be good to go. I play everything from Savage 2 to Starcraft 2 on my system without issues. ~Jeff |
| linuxsavvy Nov 15, 2011 9:33 PM EDT |
I've played games in Windows, similar to the ones I reviewed, and on the same hardware - they were just flawless. I'm aware that it can get harder to configure games on Linux machines, which *might* probably work well in the end, but that was the point of my article. |
| Jeff91 Nov 15, 2011 9:41 PM EDT |
Still, just because you "reviewed" some poorly written games doesn't mean the state of gaming on Linux is in the toilet. Go play Savage 2 (or heck any other well written game) for Linux and you will see the experience is the same as on Windows. ~Jeff |
| skelband Nov 15, 2011 10:35 PM EDT |
See also Amnesia and UT 2004 for more good examples both of which I enjoyed immensely. |
| jacog Nov 16, 2011 4:37 AM EDT |
I'm loving Desura at the moment and while the library is still small, it has some well-decent titles on there, like Oil Rush, Frozen Synapse, Trine (soon 2), Atom Zombie Smasher, Dungeons of Dredmor, Amnesia. None of these are any worse in Linux than Windows. |
| helios Nov 16, 2011 9:45 AM EDT |
Actually, Amnesia runs better on my Linux machine better than it does on Windows. In Windows, it glitches frequently during spells of "insanity" and long hallways or expansive chambers pixel out constantly. In Linux, it is smooth and clear....same machine being dual booted so different hardware isn't the issue. |
| Jeff91 Nov 16, 2011 10:36 AM EDT |
I'd be willing to bet that part of his issue is related to 11.10 wonderful new desktop. *gag* ~Jeff |
| Koriel Nov 16, 2011 12:43 PM EDT |
Its not his machine specs. I have an 4ghz Athlon x2 with 2gb ram, and an even older Nvidia GF6800 and it runs WoW and other stuff just fine at 1280x1024 + 4xAA and thats with the Wine overhead. If his native stuff is running badly then it will be more likely his DE or possibly the compositor causing GL issues. |
| linuxsavvy Nov 16, 2011 12:47 PM EDT |
Okay... Gaming in Linux doesn't have a long way to go, it's quite formidable already. The hardware I'm running did prevent me from being fair to the most sophisticated games. But the fact remains that the trouble I had to encounter in getting the right graphics driver running, and the much-reviled Unity desktop in Ubuntu 11.10 could get in the way of users' experiences, especially the ones like me who are in the early stages of getting familiar with such environments. The Internet is riddled with negative thoughts about gaming in Linux, but going by responses in this thread and the article, the Linux-gaming scene has clearly changed rapidly for the better. |
| Koriel Nov 16, 2011 2:20 PM EDT |
Im a huge Windows gamer and although things have improved on Linux significantly in the last 2 years I won't be ditching my Windows 7 gaming rig anytime soon. Linux will forever be playing catchup and that's just the reality of the situation which won't change without massive support from the big boys of the gaming industry. Weird thing is all the games im playing on Linux are older ones that have problems running on Windows 7 such as Thief 1&2, System Shock 2, Deus Ex 1 which are now easier to get to run on Wine than Windows. You can tell im a huge TTLG fan as well, currently replaying the entire Thief series in anticipation of the release of Thief 4. I think the "Dolt" was uncalled for, it was a reasonable article where you acknowledged your hardware limitations but I would try it again using a DE such as XFCE which is less resource hungry and doesn't cause any problems as long as you don't use stuff such as its own compositor or Compiz. Unless your using a tablet just ditch Unity its a waste of space on a desktop. My current Linux rig is Athlon X2, 4Ghz, 2GB Ram, NV6800 running PCLinuxOS and XFCE desktop. Not so far away from your specs and most windows stuff runs well on Wine as long as its not too recent and the native stuff even better. And if you are into RTS Total Annihilation linux style go take a look at this http://springrts.com/wiki/Games |
| skelband Nov 16, 2011 3:15 PM EDT |
I find it interesting that others are using Wine to the same extent as we are here for games. It is a shame that such games as the Sims (the original) still do not work well (I'm looking at it, but I don't have much time). I do think the irony is that any game producer that wanted to access the Linux market would probably find it easier to test, and get games working, against Wine, working with the Wine crew where necessary rather than specific Linux ports. This might well give the Wine product a significant boost as well. For a lot of games, like Far Cry which are still even now quite demanding on hardware, when they run well they run really well. Recently audio has had a big upgrade as well as great wadges of the graphical side. The annoying thing about trying to get games running under wine is that if they have problems, they are usually fairly minor ones. Possible difficult to diagnost and fix, but constituting very small aspects of the overall game (e.g. a sound not working, a minor graphical glitch in one room or another, a video not playing properly, some small gap in an API call etc...). So much ground is already covered in Linux. I have nothing but huge praise for the Wine developers for a job very well done. |
| Jeff91 Nov 16, 2011 3:19 PM EDT |
Koriel - "Its not his machine specs. I have an 4ghz Athlon x2 with 2gb ram, and an even older Nvidia GF6800" This is stronger than the specs listed in the article. The 6800 is a dedicated graphics card. ~Jeff |
| tracyanne Nov 16, 2011 5:23 PM EDT |
Quoting:I have nothing but huge praise for the Wine developers for a job very well done. I'm not a gamer, the last time I had any real interest in computer games was playing Descent on Windows 95 back in 1997. I do however attempt to get any software developer who develops any software I like, but for which there is no Linux application, to get in contac t with the WINE people to make their application runable on Linux. |
| jacog Nov 17, 2011 3:39 AM EDT |
I also keep Winders on dual-boot for the majority of my gaming. What's keeping Linux back as a gaming platform is not the platform itself, but rather availability of popular titles. Things are slowly changing though, mostly due to the growing popularity of indie games. I have at least 3 indie titles for every 1 AAA title in my collection, and a hefty chunk of these indies reside on my Linux system. |
| Koriel Nov 17, 2011 12:50 PM EDT |
Thanks for that info Jeff not sure how i missed that, not having a dedicated video card for gaming is no no regardless of what OS you are using. |
| linuxsavvy Nov 18, 2011 2:32 AM EDT |
Jeff, what's your favorite/recommended system configuration for the best Linux games - particularly the distro? |
| jacog Nov 18, 2011 4:56 AM EDT |
And Desura has come out of beta. Rejoice! :) |
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