Time to start thinking about Mac and Linux

Deliz Seemack

Join Date 04/2007

Time to start thinking about Mac and Linux

Hello,

As much as I would like Elemental to be available on Mac and Linux, I know there is little to no chance of seeing it on those platforms. Looking at Stardock, you can easily figure out that they have invested most if not all of their efforts in Windows, .NET and DirectX which make their softwares a de facto single platform. With all their Windows tools, they probably have some guys that know the windows API, tweaks and hacks as much as those who created them in Redmond.

Anyway, I think they should start looking at the Mac and Linux platforms. Valve did it successfully. Firaxis did it. Paradox Interactive did it. Lots of indie game studios did it and got a sound return on the investment.

In the meantime, I will most likely be playing Elemental on a virtual machine on my Mac.

What do you think?

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Wait! This topic is under PC Gaming. This is bad.

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Quoting wilebill,

reply 23

Linux is more of a problem. Hacking to get a game up and running on the Linux box is the game. Actually playing it takes valuable time that could be spent hacking! Getting a Linux user to pay ... ah, ha ha ha! Did you say pay? ROFL!

Well, i am a Linux user and the game "Sins of a solar Empire" run perfectly on Linux without any hack...

For a lot of game, i use playonlinux ( http://www.playonlinux.com/en/ )... it give me a lot of advantage compared with windows... by example, i can run sins 1.05 in the same time that sins 1.091...

With some hack ( in fact, self compiling wine and some other thing ), i can get rid of the 2gb problem on windows...

For Steam, i simply use a playonlinux script ( http://www.playonlinux.com/repository/?script=4 ) with the windows platform ( for now, work better so )...

The old stardock update software was working with Linux but Impulse is no way for now...

By the way, the word "free" in Linux world mean "freedom" and not "free of charge"... you have linux distro who cost several thousand $$$ ... Linux users will more fast open their wallet for something they like and appreciate... have buy more that 20 entrenchment that i have give to other people like gift... goal was to promote sins of a solar empire who is a great game... yearly, i make donation to wikipedia that i use a lot... pretty sure that a lot of windows guy who use wikipedia have never give a cent...

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Here is a little follow up on this post.

I still believe that Stardock should start investing time and effort to support Mac and Linux. In an interesting blog post Jacob Barkdull shows that Linux users were willing to pay up to 107% more on average than Windows users for the pay-whatever-you-want Humble Bundle #2. I must say that I was part of them.

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kyogre12

Join Date 07/2008

+100

Quoting Deliz Seemack,

reply 28

Here is a little follow up on this post.

I still believe that Stardock should start investing time and effort to support Mac and Linux. In an interesting blog post Jacob Barkdull shows that Linux users were willing to pay up to 107% more on average than Windows users for the pay-whatever-you-want Humble Bundle #2. I must say that I was part of them.

But are there enough Linux users willing to pay that much to make it worthwhile? If, for example, only 100 people buy the Linux version of Sins of a Solar Empire, but they each pay $80 for it, is that enough to cover the development costs of making a Linux version and then supporting it with patches and whatnot? Is it enough to make up for the fact that developer time is now divided? I don't know, but I would hazard a guess that since most companies don't support Mac/Linux, they feel that it isn't worth it.

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Lots of indie game studios did it and got a sound return on the investment

From the link:

"The code was engineered to be cross-platform from the start, built on libraries like OpenGL" - I suspect had this not been the case it may not have provided a sound return on the investment.

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I think PC > Mac.

I also think Impulse > Steam.

Further I think the OP's troubles would end if Mac produced machines that ran Windows stuff -- not the other way around.

I also seem to think that the OP would be at peace if he'd submit to Microsoft.

Dear OP..., be one of us.

-.-

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Quoting aeligos,

reply 31

I also seem to think that the OP would be at peace if he'd submit to Microsoft.

Dear OP..., be one of us.

-.-

I will not surrender to the borg!

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Heavenfall

Join Date 07/2008

+441

one of us... one of us...

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Stardock's talent pool seems too entrenched in Windows. For better or worse.... Plus I am very concerned about the video and sound drivers on Linux. You would have to target Mac first and foremost, and then any other flavors of Linux come just as a bonus.

Granted, the market is wide open for some gaming company to go in and release their latest-and-greatest games to Mac and Linux--preferably games that work well on laptops, because that's what Mac is doing best at. And preferably games that are open-ended, kind of like how Linux is. I would love nothing more than to see Stardock be that company. I just don't think it's going to happen. Heck, even their web is powered by Windows--I am of the strong opinion that Linux is CLEARLY better at web service. But why would they switch now?

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Or they could bring their windows theme customization programs to linux too. One thing linux needs a lot is prettier looks.

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Quoting tetleytea,

reply 34

Plus I am very concerned about the video and sound drivers on Linux.

Really? I've been running Linux machines for over 10 years. And other than when I first started, I haven't had any issues with sound or video drivers. Hell, Nvidia provides them for their cards. I think ATI does too, I havent checked in a while, as I've been using Nvidia for a while now. From what I've seen over the years, Linux displays way better than Windows does. Things are crisper, more vibrant. The same game that runs in Windows runs better in Linux. However, I haven't been running it as a desktop for a while now, as I need Windows for my recording software. One thing I will say regarding sound is if you are talking about professional recording devices, then yes, more drivers need to make their way to Linux. I have a MOTU 896HD which I can't use in Linux. As great as the MOTU interface is, it's a relatively small company and aren't going to bother with it (although if you think about it, it wouldn't take too much, as Mac is so close to Linux, and they certainly have Mac drivers). But I've never had a problem with standard built-in, or PCI(*) based sound cards.

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BTW, I've tried playing EWoM on linux again, and this time it worked almost fine. There are few rendering glitches, but generally game runs fine.

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