34 replies to this topic

[Lin Shai]

Tolkien, on 07 December 2012 - 10:19 AM, said:

I follow your reasoning and mostly agree with it, but I think it still is a generation or five away from actually happening. Here's why: Draft your resume on your phone.... seriously go draft a resume on your phone.

When you can draft a resume on device X and don't feel like throwing it at a wall, it's ready to be a 'general purpose computing device'. Until then it's a specialized media consumption or communication terminal.

LOL. Um, no. I don't even like browsing the web on my phone. It's fine for looking up something specific on the go though.

But tablets are getting there (if not arguably there already). iOS definitely with the iWork stuff, and Android with a couple apps as well as google and MS's "cloud" apps.

Next step is TVs having integrated Android/iOS with a wireless keyboard option, which I honestly think you're going to see in the next 5 years.

And that's what I mean by commodity "Computing devices".

[elsie]

I'd rather see it on BSD.


elsie

[Tolkien]

elsie, on 07 December 2012 - 10:25 AM, said:

I'd rather see it on BSD.


elsie

Damn right - if we're going to put it on an OS other than windows it has to be a good one, like BSD, or failing that VMS.

Lin Shai, on 07 December 2012 - 10:24 AM, said:

LOL. Um, no. I don't even like browsing the web on my phone. It's fine for looking up something specific on the go though.

But tablets are getting there (if not arguably there already). iOS definitely with the iWork stuff, and Android with a couple apps as well as google and MS's "cloud" apps.

Next step is TVs having integrated Android/iOS with a wireless keyboard option, which I honestly think you're going to see in the next 5 years.

And that's what I mean by commodity "Computing devices".

At this point I am nit picking but here's another thought experiment I use along with the 'resume writing test' and it's the 'put it in my pocket test' Laptops do everything a PC can do, just a little slower and in a much smaller package. It's still not portable to put it in your pocket and walk away. At the very least you need a dossier sized case to carry it around, like a netbook.

Tablets are great devices but they don't have a keyboard, and they don't fit in my pocket. I still need a carrying case to use a tablet and it doesn't do well on the resume writing test. For that reason I don't like the idea of getting a tablet when it has all of the portability drawbacks of a small netbook, but worse functionality.

Now I'm probably just complaining, and way off the original linux topic but.. uhh.. yeah. 'Linux doesn't have directX' is a good thing to tack on the end here.

[ollo]

And while you're at it, port it to Amiga OS, too.

[Bogsveigir]

Linux gaming is coming; Steam, for example. It shouldn't be too difficult to port CryEngine to Linux, using OpenGL . . . Relatively. It will definitely be a considerable amount of man-hours, but fairly straight-forward. The problem will be the licensing, due to the property-holder, Microsoft. But even so, it isn't a total hangup, as MS has a large finger in the Linux Pie . . . They don't really care anymore, at least not like they used to . . . The question is 'Can they make money from it?' . . .

That being said, I enjoy linux, but prefer the BSDs. . . Mainly FreeBSD and OpenBSD. Linux is on the Desktop, and is perfectly feasible on a day-to-day basis. I use it on my laptop and workstations, Win7 on my gaming machine. The Linux Drivers are better than they used to be, for the video cards, but are not where they need to be for gaming. That's down to nVidia and ATI/AMD, not MS.

This is an opinion piece, so flush it if you like.

[Fais]

Most people don't want to bother learning a new OS. Tablets and Phones right now are just portable email and browsing tools for most of us. When we want to get something done, we sit down at a PC, usually a Windows PC or a Mac. This industry is changing alot right now, but average peoples habits don't change that fast.

[Lin Shai]

Tolkien, on 07 December 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

Tablets are great devices but they don't have a keyboard, and they don't fit in my pocket. I still need a carrying case to use a tablet and it doesn't do well on the resume writing test. For that reason I don't like the idea of getting a tablet when it has all of the portability drawbacks of a small netbook, but worse functionality.

A tablet looks a lot nicer on the coffee table (this gains massive bonus points if you're married ).

It's not just about portability. Something you can dock or use a bluetooth keyboard + mouse (both of which you can do today) to do "real work" then carry downstairs to have for casual use on the couch and use as a book reading device in bed? Sign me up. It's one of the reasons "smart" phones are so great - I now carry one device instead of an MP3 player and a phone.

And also ... it's light. I would much rather carry around a tablet in my backpack, especially when riding motorcycles (or someone riding bicycles). My MBP is a brick.

ollo, on 07 December 2012 - 10:38 AM, said:

And while you're at it, port it to Amiga OS, too.

+1 - I could fire up the A3000 in the basement (Yes, you're free to get off my lawn).

Edited by Lin Shai, 07 December 2012 - 11:24 AM.

[Harrels Badgerton]

Gaming on linux is making pretty big strides lately but it's still way too niche to develop a multi-million dollar game for. Even if it's only 20% extra development costs for no proven sales that's just way too much. The indie games and bundle games are way lower risk and usually aren't driven by corporate managment so they can do whatever they want. Valve of course is becoming the figurehead of the move and what they're doing is really exciting, but doesn't change anything for PGI.

Now with that said I'm sure we'll see MW:O running on linux just fine within a few months. The biggest strides in linux gaming aren't in getting developers to port for linux, they're for getting anything in the world running where it doesn't neccessarily belong which is the linux community's greatest joy.

[Ordin Hall]

Taryys, on 07 December 2012 - 06:48 AM, said:

Would be awesome, but it is not going to happen, since Microsoft owns the BT license.

I think that the devs have states this specifically in a Reddit Q&A.

I believe Jordan Weisman actually has the license now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Willie Sauerland]

I too would like to see more Linux games but to be fair, developing for Linux is difficult since no two distributions use the same package manager or store libraries in the same locations. Some even give the libraries different names.

Maybe one day, the distributions will agree and adhere to a standard file hierarchy which will make game development much easier...

[Karyudo ds]

verybad, on 07 December 2012 - 09:54 AM, said:

I think anyone wanting this on Linux needs to contact Crytex. They make the engine. The engine is a direct X engine.

Just a thought on this but last I checked I would have sworn I saw games using this "direct X" engine on the PS3 and iOS. Direct X indeed!

Willie Sauerland, on 08 December 2012 - 10:57 PM, said:

I too would like to see more Linux games but to be fair, developing for Linux is difficult since no two distributions use the same package manager or store libraries in the same locations. Some even give the libraries different names.

Interesting thing is that I heard Unity wants to support Linux. So either it's not that hard for them to figure out...or they were just wishing. We'll see I guess.

Edited by Karyudo ds, 08 December 2012 - 11:04 PM.

[Wizard Steve]

Tolkien, on 07 December 2012 - 10:31 AM, said:

or failing that VMS.

Now you're talking!

[Strum Wealh]

Ordin, on 08 December 2012 - 10:53 PM, said:

I believe Jordan Weisman actually has the license now, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

In a broader sense, the rights to the rest of the BattleTech universe (printed media, TT-related products, etc) belong to some combination of The Topps Company, Smith & Tinker (of which Weisman is the founder), and Catalyst Game Labs.

However, the entity that ultimately decides what MechWarrior video game licenses are granted to whom, and on what terms, is still Microsoft.

PGI's specific sub-license to the MechWarrior franchise seems to not extend to non-Microsoft platforms (that is, anything other than a Windows-running PC, XBox, etc) - a restriction put in place by Microsoft, who is still the ultimate license holder for the MechWarrior video games; listen to Byran Ekman (PGI Creative Director and Co-Founder) explain the rights situation in the "No Guts, No Galaxy" podcast #44 (starting at the 25:24 mark).

However, a later statement in the same podcast (starting at the 26:07) indicates that, in contrast to PGI, Personae Studios (producing MechWarrior Tactical Command) does have rights to produce MW products for some other platforms (most notably, Apple platforms) but does not have rights to produce MW products for Microsoft platforms.

As the licenses are ultimately legal agreements, that means that Piranha (one company) and Personae (another company) are legally bound to observe and adhere to the terms of their respective (and separate) licenses.

So, in addition to the technical issue (dependency on DirectX), there are also legal issues that would prevent MWO from being released as a native client for Linux (or Apple) platforms.
One's best bets are to either dual-boot and have a separate Windows partition for running MWO, or (as Matthew Craig suggested) attempt run MWO through a compatibility layer (e.g. WINE, Cedega/GameTree, CrossOver, etc).

Still, 'twould perhaps be better to listen to the podcast itself (the link is included above) and hear Mr. Ekman explain it in his own words...?

[Belorion]

In case anyone is curious BSD is the underlying os for OSX.

[Doom8986]

ollo, on 07 December 2012 - 10:38 AM, said:

And while you're at it, port it to Amiga OS, too.

that would be great i miss the amiga os it was so simple
and i have never had a problem with linux some of you just dont take your time with linux and downloading drivers from the sites or repositories