To play I use Windows XP.
This is the answer of most of the Gamers using Linux, many of these users are not able to use only Linux and they have to rely on the typical Windows partition to play. Of course, this would not be necessary if companies and projects were dedicated to creating games for Linux… But they are not abundant.
It also gives me the impression that there is a lot of non-player or passive player Linux, as in my case, I rarely play, perhaps there is also the key to why despite its lack it continues to be a fairly popular alternative (within what it fits) or by flipping the argument, the reason why there are no more linuxers.
We can say with certainty that the great stumbling block of Linux is no longer the Desktop, it is able to tackle it with simplicity, the problem is the game.
Why isn't creating good games on Linux appealing?
It must be made clear that there are games in Linux, some are quite good according to those in the know. But people basically complain about two things:
- Little catalog
- Lag in technologies
Few potential users
There are several reasons why this happens, among them, that the volume of users is low. This argument is so common that surely we have all heard it, but it is also strange to hear it knowing that what is needed to port a game from one platform is not to have developers multiplied by 2, but "simply" developers who port the game to the other platform. Sure, you will tell me that there are libraries that these games use that do not exist in Linux, but, neither that happens with all games nor is it a difficult mission to carry out if the video game industry turns to Linux.
An example? Lugaru:
It is a game created by the Indian company Wolfire games For Windows like all games, however, Wolfire decided to port his game to Mac OSX and Linux. Outcome? Their sales increased more than 100%, a totally disproportionate number for those who expect Linux and Mac to be only just under 5% of the population.
The Free Software Dilemma
There are those who say that Linux should be consecrated for Free Software and many believe it but it is not so. The practice says that the Free Software is developed in its great majority without pretensions of profit by its volume. Only big projects get support, therefore, many of these projects take place in free time and developing a game is not an easy task. It requires specialists in various areas, especially design and programming methodologies different from those that are usually applied to everything, if we talk about a good game, with good graphics, which is why a Windows user would change. Put together to a team of so many specialists It is so complex, especially without starting from a business support it makes it a titanic task from the beginning, taking into account that money is more necessary here since developers need to concentrate a lot of time on writing the code and what it takes, probably most require exclusive dedication to gambling.
The proprietary standards
If we are going to refer to pioneer projects, they will probably run into these kinds of problems a lot, I already mentioned it above, there are very common libraries for video games and for video in general that are proprietary and could not be implemented in Linux for legal reasons.
Playing on Linux
Linux players know it, but maybe novice players don't. There are several alternatives for playing on Linux when the game is not available for Linux:
Use Wine: Lo elementary and basic, a system installed within Linux that, in practice, emulates Windows (although some linuxers resent that it is said that way, but it is the most efficient way of explaining) so that our applications (not just games) run on Linux . Some libraries like DirectX and other Windows packages are installable with Wine. But Wine alone is not good for running relatively modern games.
cedega: This platform is supported by Wine and allows you to do the same as Wine does, but in a more efficient and dedicated way to run games through proprietary libraries (Wine is GPL). The great grace of Cedega is that allows you to play very current games no Linux version, but not perfect, sometimes it will need adaptations for each game to work and many gamers claim that the gaming experience is not the same.
My appreciation is that this has much of the blame industry, almost as much as in the matter of hardware. The worst thing is that they have not realized the gold mine they are wasting. If there is any guilt left hanging around, it is that of users who are too passive and they settle for having a Windows partition to play with (which at some point in their lives will get them into trouble when they want to move something).
Although I will always think that there are consoles to play, there is no doubt about that.
Will Linux evolve to be a "playable" platform?
The image belongs to fabioperez Flickr user via license Creative Commons