#linux port

I try to learn retro systems. And, this is my linux comp. Acer Extensa. Two cores with 1.5. And 4gb ram. About 160gb hard drive. It is with Q4OS. This is light weight linux. Rather nice looking. And, it has a easy to use packet manager. Which, I use to install lots of everything. Also including games. At first look, you have things to select from.

While there's been great Valve Linux news this week, over at the once very Linux-friendly id Software, Tux isn't so well represented these days at the Texas game studio. For those that missed my re-tweets earlier in the week (@MichaelLarabel), John Carmack tweeted that "I heard [the Rage game] ran fine under Wine. No plans for a native linux client." This was a big disappointment that the head of id Software says they aren't working on a native Linux client for their inaugural id Tech 5 game for Linux. Carmack later tweeted, "I would be happy to have a native linux client, but someone here at id would need to step up and volunteer to do it." Unfortunately, with Timothee Bessett having left id Software in January, they no longer have any really Linux-focused developers that I'm aware of. Timothee was responsible for many of id's previous Linux game client and server ports to Linux like Doom 3 and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. We've known that the Rage client wouldn't soon be coming to Linux, but it looked like it could arrive in 2012, though now that's certainly up in the air since it comes down to any id Software developers interested in finding the time to port the OpenGL title over to Linux. At the moment, Rage is still the only game using the id Tech 5 engine while still forthcoming is Doom 4. The worst-case scenario for a native Linux port outside of using Wine would be waiting for the id Tech 5 source-code to be publicly released (at last comment, there's still plans to eventually open-source the game engine just as was done with id Tech 4 and its predecessors), but that will take the better part of a decade at least. Even the current open-source id Tech 4 efforts aren't particularly active. As id Software and Epic Games change course, at least now there's other major game studios pursuing Linux gaming opportunities. Separate from anything Valve related, Canonical has also worked out a gaming deal that's forthcoming. It's "a major game publisher, arguably the largest, and they will be distributing some titles to and through Ubuntu in the coming year." Hopefully more details about that will be publicly learned in just over one week at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Oakland. by Michael Larabel Note from Linux Game News: Seriously, I own Rage for PC and have been looking forward to the Linux port for months. Not to mention the more comprehensive muti-player gameplay through Linux connectivity. This one game could have pushed id Software further into the mainstream, right along side Valve in their up and coming efforts. Not to mention instilling a more progress yet creative game design. Do not get me wrong, we are not at a loss as a platform. But it does open up a wide range of indie game developers to progress further with somewhat limited commercial game support getting in their way.

With the recent announcement of a Mac port, the Linux community has come out asking whether Shadowrun Returns will support Linux. Harebrained has said it doesn't want to overreach, so that version has been off the table until now. "As we said over the weekend, we're being very careful not to over-commit to ideas and features (especially just to get more funding)," the Kickstarter post update reads. But with $1 million, the developer is confident it can outsource the port to a trusted studio and offer a Linux version shortly after launch. Zipline Games has already built Linux support into Moai, the development environment used by Harebrained Schemes to create Shadowrun Returns.

If the $1 million goal is met, all $15 backers will have access to the Linux port of Shadowrun Returns when it's ready.

Ryan "Icculus" Gordon, the well known independent Linux game developer that's single-handedly brought many games to Linux, is set to be giving a presentation in two weeks on a to-be-announced topic. Ryan Gordon will be giving a presentation on 31 March in Chicago as part of the Flourish conference. The presentation's title and description is simply TBA (to be announced) on the presentation page. Could he be talking about new Linux game ports? Perhaps why the Unreal Tournament 3 port to Linux went unreleased to the public? Let the speculations begin... Ryan Gordon did speak at Flourish 2011 (the video is still available), but it basically came down to talking about his past work, trumpeting of efforts like Humble Indie Bundle, and other general Linux / open-source gaming topics, but nothing extraordinary. (However, if I recall correctly, last year he had announced his "Linux gaming" topic in advance rather than leaving it blank.)