A few random thoughts on Gaming in Linux.

[Daniel~]

This has been a journey. One that requires the wanderer to sit at times beside the way waiting for a road from here to there to arrive. One that presents a view of the clouded heights only to block passage as a bridge has yet to span the gulf that separates Windows games from the Linux user.

Once I decided that I could no longer support the Windows business model as being the best model to shape and form modern desktop computing I was at a loss as to how I could still play games. I mean the Games I wanted to play.

This was around seven years ago and my plate was pretty full just trying to get Linux to do the basics I needed it to do in order to run My on-line Hardware site (with my partners). Games complicated the difficulties. With games came the need to have properly working 3-D drivers. They existed, kinda, but installing them could take me a week or two...with all the help I could get!

After horribly frustrating failures and very few successes trying to install various games I opted out for a PS3 and let PC gaming slip away from me. Linux offered me more than enough, I could forgive her for not running my games for me.

The coming to be of this new site marks I think a sea change. The tide is turning as I type.

Gaming in Linux still has it's obvious limitations. But today Direct-X 9 games that can't be made to run properly though wine and one of Wine's front ends are the exception. As Wine and her Front ends progress over time more and more games come within the Linux users reach.

This site hopes to shorten that time by showing that interest in Linux gaming exits, is daily growing and has the passion to overcome whatever difficulties may lie before us.We will play our games in Linux. Time has become our ally and in time we will see Linux Gaming command the respect of game developers.

We are few but ever growing in our numbers. This site aims to put games at your fingertips where they belong on your PC and In Linux. We aim to please.":O}

 

[booman]

Here Here

My story is a bit different but I completely understand your position. Even if its not "political" there is always a benefit to saving money when building a computer.
For some reason I have stayed away from consoles... I used to have a Playstation back in 95-99 and played a few games on it, but I ended up using it more for playing CD's. Once I started learning about building and customizing my own PC with the hardware I wanted... the whole world of PC gaming came into perspective!
Just look at the number of games for each console and then compare to PC'. Even all the consoles together doesn't match thousands of PC games!
To be honest, I wouldn't even know much about computer or even work as a systems admin full-time if it wasn't for games!

13 years later I now grow tired spending $100-$150 for an operating system on top of the expense for hardware.
This of course only applies to a brand new build.
I found that I could build and upgrade computer for a fraction of the cost since I hold on to everything. Spare hard drives, spare RAM, spare CPU's, cases, power supplies and even video cards.
Now I have 10 running computers that I use for LAN parties, Game Design, Graphic Design, Website Design, tutorials, guides, modding, photography and the list goes on.
I'll never go to consoles because PC's have so much to offer! Its endless!

Where does Linux come in you ask?
Since I'm a hobbyist and professional systems adminsitrator... why not try something different.
Originally I wanted to try Linux for my LAN parties because I needed dedicated server to host my games since listen server killed the frame rates on the workstations.
I sure as hell wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars on Windows Server 2003 and I'm not going to pirate it either.
Linux is the most popular Operating System for web hosting and game servers. Since its free, I tried it!
Since then I have learned much about Linux innerworkings and capabilities.

Now I'm at a standoff with where the future of gaming and my desktop environment is going...
Windows has a LOT of backwards compatibility, but I can't afford to purchase new copies along with my upgrades or new builds.
After hearing Daniels success with Mint the last few years I decided it was time to give it a try as an actual desktop environment.
I started with Fedora 16 because I was familiar with it (Fedora) on my Server. Fedora was actually quite stable and unique compared to Mint and Ubuntu. Daniel continued to preach on about Mint and the ease-of-use, so I gave it a try.
He's right!
This is the first time Linux installed the video drivers for me with a single click!!!
No way! Thats faster and easier than Windows!
Now I'm using it as a regular desktop almost every day. Testing PC Games made for Windows, graphics in GIMP, internet with Chromium. Ironically I have has a LOT of success! There are a few games that refuse to run, but most of them run dang good!
Surprised?
I AM!
This is a great sign for the future of gaming, specially with Valve on the boat with Steam Linux client.
Now I'm asking myself if I could install Mint on all of my PC's and start running my LAN parties?
We'll see!
All I know is that I can run most of my games and programs (Sketchup) all the while saving $100 on each build.
I plan to not support Windows any longer and bite-the-bullet
Of course I'll still have at least one Windows machine that can play the newest game, but I will most definitely be testing it in Linux too.
One day almost all games will have a Linux counterpart just like they have MAC...
One day