There is Good Gaming in Ubuntu!
I received a couple email messages over the weekend, that in essence, suggested Linux is a terrible platform for gaming because Linux does not support gamers. Additionally, hardware support issues were also raised. While I’m sure there are a myriad of opinions, I couldn’t help but pause on a couple of them. Particularly as I often get phone calls from friends for advice. (These are friends who recently switched to Ubuntu). I am not a hard core gamer, but here are some thoughts on this issue, which I hope might help:
Linux does not support gaming.
In my opinion, this is a “canned” response, perhaps encouraged by game vendors? Quite the contrary, it is game vendors/developers who do not support Linux!
Additionally, I’ve read that Ubuntu linux has full OpenGL support.
I can’t use Linux because my windows games won’t work.
There are some good solutions that currently facilitate the use of windows based software on Linux platforms.
My father (who is in his 80′s) uses Cedega to play windows based games.
I use Wine on occasion (Installing IE on Ubuntu Linux).
To properly use any new Operating System, it’s important to become familiar with the system. When you’ve gained familiarity, it becomes easier to implement solutions.
The are no good games for linux.
Really!? Are you serious!!??? Here are twelve of the best ones I’ve found so far, starting with #1: Top 12 Best Games for Ubuntu Linux – #1 Tremulous.
Don’t be afraid to look around for more, the following link took 5 minutes to Google: Play Ubuntu and includes a list of about 1970 games! If you’re a hardcore gamer, perhaps you’re better to get a console for gaming. ;)
Linux has too many video and hardware support problems.
I’d have to disagree, but with some explanation: “Hardly Any Hardware Works on Ubuntu Linux!”
If you’re in the market for a “Budget Gaming” system, try something like:
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte P35-DS3P
RAM: 2 x 1GB Kingston DDR2-800
HDD: Seagate/Western Digital/Samsung 320GB SATAII
GPU: eVGA GeForce 256MB 8600GT Superclocked
Case & PSU: Thermaltake Matrix with 430W PSU
Optical Drive: ASUS BLT-1814 Lightscribe x18 SATA
…and to read the complete version, head on over to: Ubuntu Gaming PC Suggested Builds
As to specific video issues: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=690760
Additionally linuX-gamers has some good resources to help.
Hopefully some of these resources and perceptions will help those of you who have asked me.
Happy gaming! :)
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My 8600GT can’t really confirm that it’s lacking any games either. Some people are just too windows-minded and expect ubuntu to be windows + more or something.
Hey .. good games, but a lot of people just complain because they can’t play Call of Duty 4 or Crysis in Linux ..
The problem is that Linux is not supported by most of the gamming companies.
I agree with you cavalen. I suspect it’s a matter of short-term thinking. It appears to me that larger gaming companies might be looking at short-term profit, ie: “how can we turn a fast profit, in the shortest period”. I think they might not be truly evaluating the trend towards Linux based OS’s and open source in general. Of course there might be another scenario… Perhaps they’ve looked far enough ahead. Perhaps the future is fully opensource. Maybe there’s no support because there’s no profit using the existing business model? Maybe they don’t want to change that model? Maybe they should.
I notice you didn’t mention the elephant in the room – ATI graphics cards.
@David Russell – Elephant?
:)
i develop software for both windows and linux .
as easy as linux has become it still isnt ready for hardcore gamers. ubuntu is one of the best dist. of linux i am always excited to see what they come up with next.But until software developers decide to support ubuntu it will always be inferior to windows gaming. Some hardware still isnt supported.
i use cedega and wine but ive never installed something on there that didnt need to be tweaked. most gamers are not big comp gurus and they want to next next next themselves into utopia.
@Joshua
I think it’s the other way around, this is NOT a Linux issue. It’s an issue where developers are not supporting it! There are about 6 kids living down the road that play Nexuiz (on Linux boxes), across the Net. These kids also play Quake (I think) on Linux too. On a whim, I tried Nexuiz on Linux, and got full surround sound, 3D, the whole shebang.
So… I agree with you in the sense that it’s the “mentality” of many hardcore gamers (as others above have suggested as well). Bottom line: The fault is with developers not supporting Linux.
Joshua makes a good point though. Many gamers, myself included, do in fact want to “next, next, next ourselves into utopia”.
We bought the game for the eye candy, we did not buy it to practice trouble shooting.
I disagree about the “comp guru” statement though…many gamers are very familiar with hardware and compatibilty and we enjoy building our own rigs. We take pictures and show them off in forums. It’s the software trouble shooting that annoys the average gamer.
Buying a console is out of the question for many PC gamers. As I stated above, we enjoy our builds.
After further thought…
Although Windows may be “superior” as far as support for games, I think it is very telling that hardcore gamers are looking for an alternative.
It seems the “mentality” is not that of the gamer, but that of developers and that mentality is, if you want to play games, buy a console.
I find that line of thought to be rather offensive.
It’s not that Ubuntu CAN’T run games. It’s that not every person is willing to install programs, do a dozen google searches, and sometimes even write out some code to install a game that, on windows or some other OS could just be installed through a simple, user friendly installer and still work great without all those extra thing I mentioned.
@Ryan
No… It’s an issue where the proprietary game software developers are not supporting Linux, most are still supporting Windows only. There is a VERY active and hot Linux gaming community.
I would love to see the stats, but most gamers including myself in our circles run Ubuntu or another Linux OS. The gaming companies seem to think with Windows’ market share, the gaming would sell better. I am pretty sure that a very large percentage of Windows users are not gamers, but a very large percentage of gamers prefer Linux.