Valve publishes their own Linux Distribution

[Red Storm]

I never understood the argument against Origin that EA only offers their games through their own service. Valve does the same with their games, yet it's a non-issue somehow.

I take it you're referring to my post? I did say it's fine for them to do that as it's their choice to make.

There is one slight difference between the two though. Valve is a developer, so it only applies to their handful of games. EA is a publisher, so their reach goes way beyond a few games. Again though, it's their decision to make.

 

[Anteaus]

It should be mentioned that EA does allow Steam to sell some of the game that they publish. In fact recently a game (I can't recall the title) that was only available on Origin came to Steam. EA via Origin should not be criticized for holding their high revenue games exclusive because Stardock did it with Impulse (prior to Gamestop buyout) and Valve did it with Steam.

Please don't turn this into a Valve versus EA thread that is not my intention. I'm only adding detail to earlier posts. Since EA currently has no plans to bring Origin to linux, it may not be helpful to bring them up.

 

[reallyscrued]

Thoroughly excited about this.

All you nay-sayers seem to be acting like you have something personal to lose here...can't quite understand it. Luckily for the rest of us, Valve cares jacksh!t what you think and are going ahead with their plans.

If Valve screws over gamers (or specifically, me) I'll quit using Steam. If they don't, we'll all win. I don't see any downsides. Maybe in response to this Microsoft will actually step up its game on the PC Gaming front, who knows.

Choices are good, competition is better. Bring on the competition. For too long it's been:

Wanna game? Your choices are as follows: 1.) Windows.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Thoroughly excited about this.

All you nay-sayers seem to be acting like you have something personal to lose here...can't quite understand it. Luckily for the rest of us, Valve cares jacksh!t what you think and are going ahead with their plans.

If Valve screws over gamers (or specifically, me) I'll quit using Steam. If they don't, we'll all win. I don't see any downsides. Maybe in response to this Microsoft will actually step up its game on the PC Gaming front, who knows.

Choices are good, competition is better. Bring on the competition. For too long it's been:

Wanna game? Your choices are as follows: 1.) Windows.

Heh...from one monopoly to another is good eh?

 

[Texashiker]

Heh...from one monopoly to another is good eh?

What do you suggest, maybe we should go back to the dark ages of PC gaming?

Maybe have a dozen anti-cheat programs running on our system? Having to download updates from dozens of sites? Have to buy older games from ebay?

Have several different programs to connect to games and find friends?

Have microsoft tell us we have to upgrade our operating system to get the next version of directX?

Double memory requirements on every other OS upgrade?

 

[ImpulsE69]

All I see it as is one more unneeded split in the gaming community. The thing to keep in mind is that gaming on Windows still won't go away any time soon. Where it will start to hurt however is when exclusives to this that or the other become more common. I don't imagine Valve is going to just suddenly stop selling/supporting Windows games until it actually is viable.

 

[BladeVenom]

Heh...from one monopoly to another is good eh?

You're wrong again. Valve isn't a a monopoly; Microsoft is.

 

[BladeVenom]

Anytime something changes you have people claiming doom and gloom. Many people are just afraid of change, even if it might be a little easier or a little faster. I learned all the hotkeys for windows 8 in about 10 minutes of reading so navigating around is quick and painless for me.

You're the one who is afraid of change. You seem irrationally terrified of Linux.

Switch to Linux if you're not afraid of change.

 

[Martimus]

Heh...from one monopoly to another is good eh?

May I ask what you are talking about? What would the new Monopoly be? Do you believe that Valve will have so much success with their Linux distribution and Steam client that it will destroy all of Microsoft's market share? I guess I don't understand what you are trying to say.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Heh...from one monopoly to another is good eh?

Only a few posts ago we discussed EA moving their games away from Steam and onto their own service.

Some monopoly Valve has, eh?

 

[blurredvision]

You're the one who is afraid of change. You seem irrationally terrified of Linux.

Switch to Linux if you're not afraid of change.

I seriously doubt he's "irrationally terrified" of Linux, let alone just "terrified". Your charge for him to switch to Linux to prove he's not afraid is laughable at best.

I think the opposition to Valve doing this is the fear of fragmentation, however I seriously don't see this gaining enough traction where any developer in their right mind would develop exclusively for Linux. I don't necessarily oppose it, I just find it hypocritical how they lambasted Microsoft for Windows 8 when it's obvious they are doing the same thing.

 

[smackababy]

I seriously doubt he's "irrationally terrified" of Linux, let alone just "terrified". Your charge for him to switch to Linux to prove he's not afraid is laughable at best.

I think the opposition to Valve doing this is the fear of fragmentation, however I seriously don't see this gaining enough traction where any developer in their right mind would develop exclusively for Linux. I don't necessarily oppose it, I just find it hypocritical how they lambasted Microsoft for Windows 8 when it's obvious they are doing the same thing.

It is not even so much as fear of fragmentation as it was calling Gabe out on his bullshit. OpenGL isn't a full replacement for DirectX right now. If Valve can convince developers to develop for both, without it removing any quality from the Windows release (because that is the main focus for PC game development right now) then nobody would protest. However, Valve (read as Gabe) trying to be the champion of PC gaming by making up things about Windows 8 and Microsoft's direction.

If want to discuss his real motivations that would be fine. They are trying to compete in the console sector. They need an OS capable of playing games with a unified experience console gamers want. Xbox360 and PS3 sold over 140 million units. If they can get even a 3rd of that, they make huge bank. Valve isn't stupid. They see where the money is going and want some of it. However, the SteamBox will fail because developers aren't behind it. Even if Valve can convince some publishers to move the CoD and Madden ports to the SteamBox, only PC gamers would be interested in it. And they already have a gaming PC, so why bother paying however much the console costs so they can play the same games they can get on PC at better graphical quality.

 

[Texashiker]

It is not even so much as fear of fragmentation as it was calling Gabe out on his bullshit. OpenGL isn't a full replacement for DirectX right now.

You know openGL was released before directx,,, right?

One of the only reasons why directx is so popular is because the majority of developers write for windows. Directx is native windows, so it makes since for directx to get more attention in the long run over opengl.

Back in the late 1990s opengl and directx ran neck-in-neck.

If,,, and that is a big "if" valve can get a number of games ported to linux, we will see a resurgence in opengl.

Microsoft has a strangle hold on directx. Want the latest version of directx, you have to upgrade your OS. Microsoft uses directx as a leverage point to get people to buy the newest operating system. Linux will put an end to that leverage.

 

[smackababy]

You know openGL was released before directx,,, right?

One of the only reasons why directx is so popular is because the majority of developers write for windows. Directx is native windows, so it makes since for directx to get more attention in the long run over opengl.

Back in the late 1990s opengl and directx ran neck-in-neck.

If,,, and that is a big "if" valve can get a number of games ported to linux, we will see a resurgence in opengl.

Which means, convincing almost every PC developer to switch from DirectX to OpenGL. And as I understand it, OpenGL really only has the features of Direct3D, not the entire DirectX library. Developers are not going to say "Hey, let's switch to something new (OpenGL) we don't know, slow down development time, and possibly lose features so we can capture an extra 1% of the possible market." So, unless Valve pays developers off, reduces Steam fees for multiplatform games, or something stupid like make it a requirement, developers have no real incentive to switch yet. Now, if for some unearthly reason, Steam Linux (or whatever the release is called) gets like 20% of the marketshare quickly after release, developers will start porting games or developer for it.

 

[Red Storm]

Which means, convincing almost every PC developer to switch from DirectX to OpenGL. And as I understand it, OpenGL really only has the features of Direct3D, not the entire DirectX library. Developers are not going to say "Hey, let's switch to something new (OpenGL) we don't know, slow down development time, and possibly lose features so we can capture an extra 1% of the possible market." So, unless Valve pays developers off, reduces Steam fees for multiplatform games, or something stupid like make it a requirement, developers have no real incentive to switch yet. Now, if for some unearthly reason, Steam Linux (or whatever the release is called) gets like 20% of the marketshare quickly after release, developers will start porting games or developer for it.

I don't know why you think it has to be one or the other, what we want is choice. Develop games for Windows and Linux (and Mac OS). Steam is great in this regard because if you buy a Windows game that has a Mac port, you get both for the cost of one. A lot of the popular Kickstarter funded games went above and beyond their target goals because so many people were willing to pay for Linux ports. At the very least, it can be a kick in the nuts to Microsoft to cater to us gamers more, because that's what competition does.

 

[Texashiker]

Which means, convincing almost every PC developer to switch from DirectX to OpenGL.

Games can use both.

Brink, a somewhat new game can use opengl and directx.

I think Quake used both as well.

I also think the majority of the games developed off the quake engine can use opengl and directx.

From the wikipedia page, the unreal engine uses both directx and opengl.

 

[smackababy]

I am not saying they can't both be used. I am saying the majority of PC game developers do not use OpenGL. Chances are, in order to use it, they will have to learn it or hire new people that know it. Switching to an unfamiliar technology is not worth the extra development time / costs to most developers to gain 1% of the market share.

 

[Anteaus]

OpenGL isn't a full replacement for DirectX right now.

They aren't equivilant. OpenGL is a graphics API as is Direct3D. They are interchanged all the time with PC games. DirectX is an API collection that gives developers a one stop shop for audio, graphics, controls, networking, etc. It sits between the game and the OS.

Linux currently has nothing equivilant to DirectX. OpenGL is an answer to Direct3D, but there is far more to it than that.

 

[Texashiker]

Chances are, in order to use it, they will have to learn it or hire new people that know it. Switching to an unfamiliar technology is not worth the extra development time / costs to most developers to gain 1% of the market share.

The economy needs a boost anyway.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Linux currently has nothing equivilant to DirectX.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer

 

[Redinit]

Linux currently has nothing equivilant to DirectX. OpenGL is an answer to Direct3D, but there is far more to it than that.

wat

 

[Anteaus]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_DirectMedia_Layer

I stand corrected.

 

[Jodell88]

Here's a link to a Nvidia and Valve presentation that deals with porting the source engine to Linux.

https://developer.nvidia.com/sites/default/files/akamai/gamedev/docs/Porting%20Source%20to%20Linux.pdf

 

[TheSlamma]

Why should gaming be tied to Windows? It's a bloated OS that costs money compared to a Linux distro that's much cheaper, light-weight, and secure. There is no reason at all why any gamer should be happy that Windows has a near monopoly on PC gaming.

Steambox is $1000

just sayin'

 

[Jodell88]

Steambox is $1000

just sayin'

The Xi3 piston isn't a steambox. Try harder.