L4D2 Performs BETTER on Linux
- Thread starter Gordon Freemen
- Start date
Nintendesert
Diamond Member
- Mar 28, 2010
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Sure Valve will be porting over games and Steam but don't expect too many games to receive Linux ports anytime soon. Linux requires a skill set and comfortability factor (aka Linux command line know how) that would turn off must desktop users who have a hard enough time dealing with Windows and since Windows still dominates the business desktop (business desktop users dominate the pc world) in general in population and usage) this doesn't mean application developers and especially game developers will be switching over or developing for Linux anytime soon.
TL;DR Windows will still be a dominate gaming desktop even after the cluster-fuck known as Windows 8.
When Valve moves over to another platform like they already have and windows 8 flops like it will game developers will follow Valve because that is where the money is at on the PC. That being said the main factor will always be the consoles and what they want.
irishScott
Lifer
- Oct 10, 2006
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Have you tried any modern distros? Many of them are perfectly useable without knowing the command line (Mint, Ubuntu, etc), at least to the level most users will care about. And linux is only getting more user friendly as time goes one, specialized distributions notwithstanding.
I'd say this is the first time such a prominent publisher has so openly and actively supported gaming on Linux. I don't foresee a massive flood to Linux as a gaming platform, but it will bring the concept to the notice of many who would have otherwise passed it over, especially if Valve can make it profitable.
That's the whole point of Valve building a Native Steam client on Linux so then we wont have to mess around with the nastier command lines etc on linux. In other words Steam will be Steam on linux just like it is on Windows point and click easy pese. I cant wait until lots of games are moved onto Steam "Linux" version that way I can say goodbye to the expensive proprietary locked down resource heavy POS that is Windows. People that understand the true concept of Freedom also can really grasp how important and invaluable the Linux concept of FREE & OPENSOURCE is. OpenGL & Open Source FTW !
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Please don't take my view as "dissing" Linux itself. I think its a great OS which has a ton of flexibility to do all sorts of things and in many, many areas. Furthermore it has been my experience that Linux desktops have some very innovative uses or approaches to dealing with every day mundane aspects of computing but it has not reached a level that would make anyone from the general public switch over and it does not even have the commercial business or home application support on the desktop to compete with Windows so as to draw users away. Thus it has yet to reach a level that would sway people to switch over on their desktops or sway the business world to ditch Windows. In addition the issue I have with this statement is that you are not taking into account that Valve isn't actual going to drop Windows support and so I don't see a reason why anyone would want to switch.
And one of the most dominate console's is....surprise! Microsoft's XBOX.
So yeah I don't see developers ditching Windows or even bothering to port over a major amount games to Linux in a large enough quantity to matter in the end. This isn't even taking into account that the Linux gaming market is basically nonexistent compared to Windows or the console market in which Microsoft is heavily entrenched.
I never said or suggested or even would enjoy Valve to drop Windows support more so I just want a choice is all to choose the OS I want to use and to not be forced down as a gamer by way of Corporate semantics and proprietary patent's ect to have no other choice but to use software like Microsoft Windows and there DirectX instruction set. Also as an aside did you know that the Oringnal Xbox was to be named the "DirectXbox" but was changed at the last min to just Xbox.
I was there when people were first hyping up Linux as a competitor to Windows on the desktop in the late 90's and early 00's. Back then you even had some big time gaming companies at the time such as ID, Epic, etc announcing their support for Linux and porting over their games along with a few other publishers.
However in the end there was not enough of a user base to justify the developers dumping money into Linux ports, let alone having them ditch their Windows user base. So Valve porting over their games and Steam won't really mean that much if the user base does not significantly materialize and expand to justify developers and publishers to embrace Linux in a meaningful way other then with token ports due to the novelty of Steam being on Linux.
While I agree usability has improved it has not done so in manner that a Linux desktop can compete with Windows (or even Apple's OS which also has a steam client) and be basically idiot proof or easy enough for novice users to be up and running without tweaking and thus convert enough users to justify again the financial gamble for the suits in the gaming industry who hold the purse strings.
From what I gather Gabe Newell really wants to go full on ahead with fill bore support for Linux platform and I think they are a fitting match as far a styles and philosophy.
See and this is why there won't be a "Linux" revolution in the gaming world or in the desktop world because retail software giants (not talking about Microsoft) will not embrace a desktop that does not give them the ability hold onto their patents and which make it difficult for them port over their software. So unless the US government change's it stance on patents which includes software patents you won't see a viable commercial Linux desktop competing against Windows which means no commercial apps and no major desktop PC gaming support from a industry that directly benefits from said "propriety patents", etc.
UM RAGE DOOM, Quake etc there all OpenGL native also Linux is OpenGL native so is this by accident or does John Carmack understand that OpenGL is the better all around architecture for making and playing games on ...
I'm not disputing this fact just pointing out that this support by ID and others has yet to lead to any materialization of a significant user base in Linux. So being that there is no real gamer user base of note to make major publishers and the suits who run those companies one day wake up in a panic so as to believe that,..."Oh shit someone has to start porting games to Linux ASAP! We can't let this market base of users slide past us." this move won't amount to much.
Again I have no qualms or issue against Linux and neither do I have any issues with people switching over but I just do not see any sort of mass exodus that would be required for Linux to become "THE" gaming platform of choice for PC users thus a platform for publishers to cater too.
Furthermore if anything Gabe's move to port over Steam and Valve games to Linux is just him lashing out against MS incorporating a marketplace app natively into Window's start-up and directly competing with Steam. If MS were to approach Gabe and back off on their position or just stay away from selling games then Gabe would basically drop Linux a like fat man dropping a dead hooker behind a dumpster.
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Valve/Steam is an industry leader for gaming end of story they make the rules they don't follow them Microsoft is like an old man that's half dead but you can't do anything until it dies better off to just kill it off out of it's misery LOL.
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Hahahaha. I think you should watch the keynote from Thursday where Carmack talks about OpenGL vs. D3D. Also, if you think Windows 8 will cause people to go to Linux, you're just as stupid/ignorant as the people who thought so during the PII/III era. People will not seek out alternatives outside of OSX, they will learn and adapt - just as it's been done every iteration that was the supposed "death knell" of Windows.
Newell's ignorant statement of Windows being a closed platform is just absurd, the truth is he doesn't like competition from the largest software manufacturer.
Thanx for putting words in my mouth ignorant LOL. ALL of Carmacks games are OpenGL so if Carmack bad mouths OpenGL he has an agenda cause all his games use OpenGL NATIVE. If Steam is on Linux and not on Windows 8 there are a many many people whom would pack up and jump ship to Linux after Windows7 dies off some years from now.
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Oh, I didn't put words in your mouth, I was just trying to show you that using id and Carmack as a reference for OpenGL when he's come out and stated that D3D has surpassed it is odd.
You understand that any x86 (or x64) application from Windows 7 will run on Windows 8, or do you just lack actual knowledge of how it works? Also, Steam not releasing a client for Windows is actually just fucking retarded, right? They'd lose over 85% of the OS market that would be available to purchase their games, as well as anyone who has an active library. Out of my 82 games, only 9 of them are Source based. To think they're dropping Windows releases/support is borderline retarded.
You fail to understand what you're actually saying, and you misinterpret what Newell was implying. You realize that to port the entire Steam library to Linux would be impossible for Valve, right? The only thing they're porting is Source products that they've developed in-house. Anything else will then need to be converted by the developer if they're interested in releasing to Linux - given the cost of converting some things, it might not be worth it for developers to do this given the market share of Linux.
Linux is FREE of Charge & OPEN SOURCE Steam could hypothetically require it as a bundled feature in there Software like a Steam play game LOL. Heck if EA could pull off the BS they have done with Orgins than what I am hypothetical proposing should be no problem at all. Of course ultimately I am just mentally masturbating my mind with my dreams and love for a Linux and Steam marriage in dignified.Oh, I didn't put words in your mouth, I was just trying to show you that using id and Carmack as a reference for OpenGL when he's come out and stated that D3D has surpassed it is odd.
You understand that any x86 (or x64) application from Windows 7 will run on Windows 8, or do you just lack actual knowledge of how it works? Also, Steam not releasing a client for Windows is actually just fucking retarded, right? They'd lose over 85% of the OS market that would be available to purchase their games, as well as anyone who has an active library. Out of my 82 games, only 9 of them are Source based. To think they're dropping Windows releases/support is borderline retarded.
You fail to understand what you're actually saying, and you misinterpret what Newell was implying. You realize that to port the entire Steam library to Linux would be impossible for Valve, right? The only thing they're porting is Source products that they've developed in-house. Anything else will then need to be converted by the developer if they're interested in releasing to Linux - given the cost of converting some things, it might not be worth it for developers to do this given the market share of Linux.
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You really have no idea what you're talking about and should probably just stop trying to argue with people here.
You can fold up your arms and stomp your feet and blurt out what you believe is true but it doesn't make your position hold water.
I do not see the gaming industry shifting unless there is a major demand for ported Linux games materializing in the near future and that would mean people are abandoning Windows in large numbers not just for gaming but for business and other commercial apps built for a windows home desktop. Thus for this demand in the gaming industry to occur on a Linux platform it would require more then just Steam and Valve games being ported over to Windows.
In other words it would require major business and home desktop application vendors porting over their software to Linux in addition to major hardware support from large and significant hardware vendors.
For all this to occur Linux and its maintainers would have to change the core foundations upon which Linux itself (i.e. a open platform) is built upon in a significant fashion ( i.e. upholding, securing and maintaining patents for software and hardware vendors which includes Steam and Valve games.) which would be against the core ethos of most Linux developers and supporters.
Since there is no mainstream desire or support from Linux OS developers to do the above their won't be any major ports of significant business and home desktop application software and a lot new hardware (which includes gaming hardware) will remain unsupported until hardware vendors release specs or someone hacks an unsupported driver to make said hardware work. Thus the average Joe won't ditch windows over Linux solely because of Steam being available on Linux especially since it is already available or him on Windows.
So steam alone will not be enough to draw over the masses. However I am more then willing to admit that it will lay down some important foundations for commercial software distribution of games (the biggest beneficiaries would be small and independent developers) but this alone won't make Linux a competitive gaming platform. For that to happen there must be a significant materialization of Linux users for other game developers to spend the money to port a game over to Linux. So again, as stated above that will not be materializing unless there is a radical shift in the foundations of Linux itself that major Linux developers would never support.
Once more I suspect Gabe Newell understands this which is why he won't be abandoning Windows anytime soon. Which means people will just stick to windows 7 in mass and game developers will continue to cater to that market-place with its significant user base over Linux or Apple and its current Steam port.
However Gabe is sending a message to Microsoft that it won't go quietly into the night and it will create a plan B but again that plan only works if major game developers and publishers follow Gabe instead of Microsoft which is highly unlikely. If anything competitors and detractors to Steam in the gaming industry and on Windows would love nothing more then for Steam and Gabe to jump ship to Linux and abandon Windows as that would allow someone else to attempt to corner the market that Steam has control over now on Windows.
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