Linux Gamer’s Guide
MyGaming takes a look at some of the great games out there for Linux and Ubuntu gamers
MyGaming takes a look at some of the great games out there for Linux and Ubuntu gamers
-
Join the MyBroadband community
South Africa’s biggest forum. Discuss, discover, and connect with thousands of members.
-
Question of the Day: What's the most interesting small town you've visited in South Africa?
Linux Gamer’s Guide
- Thread starter rpm
- Start date
killadoob
Honorary Master
Eish i would imagine most gamers who make use of linux would have to have a windows install going.
nanonyous
Expert Member
I'm pretty sure Windows 7, at the very least, comes with the 360 controller drivers in its installation package by default; it simply downloads an updated version when you first 'install' the thing.
WinXP on the other hand came out almost half a decade before the Xbox 360 did, let alone the original Xbox, so it's kind of understandable for it to, y'know, not have it out of the box.
Even if you don't install any drivers for the controller in any windows installation, it can still function in its basic HID capacity as a 'joystick' with all axis and buttons functioning properly, just sans vibration support.
WinXP on the other hand came out almost half a decade before the Xbox 360 did, let alone the original Xbox, so it's kind of understandable for it to, y'know, not have it out of the box.
Even if you don't install any drivers for the controller in any windows installation, it can still function in its basic HID capacity as a 'joystick' with all axis and buttons functioning properly, just sans vibration support.
nic777
Expert Member
Nice list and not too bad prices. There are tons of lists about the free games but I like how this one went with both free and paid-for. I didn't know minecraft was so cheap 
elvis_presley
Expert Member
Correct. I just got a wireless dongle and an X360 controller - basic functionality with built-in drivers, and the downloadable/included-on-cd drivers have extended functionality - vibrations and an onscreen indicator showing which of the controllers are in use, and their battery status, etc.
But hey, this is an article saying how awesome linux is. You can never let facts get in the way of a good trolling!
I thought it rather sad, actually, this being presented as the "cream of the crop" for linux games. More an advert for Windows than Ubuntu.
If you want to seriously game then Windows is where it's at.
Also check out the following upcoming games:
http://etyekfilm.hu/igniteworks/
http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/
Also check out the following upcoming games:
http://etyekfilm.hu/igniteworks/
http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/
gerasmus
Well-Known Member
I bought the latest version of Cossover Pro & Gamer for Ubuntu. I thought CrossOver to be excellent value. The combination of Crossover & Ububtu 11.04 runs everything I need, including games. I think Ubuntu 11.04 has matured enough now to be a replacement for your average Windows user. During initial install Ubuntu 11.04 will ask and then automatically install all codecs and software (including language packs for non-English versions) to play and display just about any file type. This includes flash, shockwave, PDF, MP3, AVI, DivX, etc). The only catch is that you would need a internet connection. Crossover gets the thumbs up from me.
I game and I dont have a windows install atm. I say atm cause that will change when my copy of Battlefield 3 arrives. Right now I am only playing WoW, HoN and Travian. All games that run fine on linux (HoN actually have a native linux client). I imagine Ill have to pollute my system with windows when bf3 arrives. No ways Im missing out on that!
killadoob
Honorary Master
elvis_presley
Expert Member
RaptorSA
Executive Member
- Joined
- Sep 2, 2008
- Messages
- 8,835
- Reaction score
- 10,347
Wow... what a pathetic list. "Cream of the crop"... lol.
This being Linux, I wonder how many hoops you have to jump through to get all of these games installed and running without issues!?
Wait no, scrap that, you'll first have to spend a few weeks trying to get your ATI drivers working, after that little excursion installing these games should be chicken feed.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Techsnap#p/u/0/_6CJefnM1Ok
This being Linux, I wonder how many hoops you have to jump through to get all of these games installed and running without issues!?
Wait no, scrap that, you'll first have to spend a few weeks trying to get your ATI drivers working, after that little excursion installing these games should be chicken feed.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Techsnap#p/u/0/_6CJefnM1Ok
Last edited:
Might as well spend the R300 to buy Mac OSx, rather than some software to run on linux. The OSx market is bigger and better supported and you can get Steam. There's no benefit to Linux being free if no one is going to fix it after all these years anyway. Windows 7 is R1000, a few games worth, and there's more free software for windows.
OpenTangent
Member
Firstly; I was under the impression that you had to install the driver for the XBox 360 controller regardless of which version of Windows you are using, I apologise if this is not the case. Secondly; I earn enough money for "free" not to be a selling point for me, If Ubuntu cost the same as Windows 7 I would still be using Ubuntu. In my opinion Windows has one advantage over Ubuntu and that's the number of games that run on it. I do have a Windows partition which I use for gaming but thanks to the growing support from gaming companies like S2 and Unigine I use my Windows partition maybe twice a month these days. Windows is outdated and has dismal standards support (doesn't even support rar or pdf out the box) it just can't compete with Ubuntu as a modern operating system (I have used both extensively).
clearly if you are a serious gamer, you have no option but to run windows.
for choice you just can't beat it. but that is not to say that gaming cannot be enjoyed on linux. even natively.
edit - on the driver thing, i was quite amazed that my sidewinder x4 keyboard was picked up and works flawlessly under linux without having to download drivers like i did in win7.
for choice you just can't beat it. but that is not to say that gaming cannot be enjoyed on linux. even natively.
edit - on the driver thing, i was quite amazed that my sidewinder x4 keyboard was picked up and works flawlessly under linux without having to download drivers like i did in win7.
Last edited:
nanonyous
Expert Member
It doesn't have .rar or .pdf support out of the box because those are developed by companies that are not Microsoft, and they are under no obligation to bloat their operating systems' install discs with software that end users may or may not opt to install, or that may be grossly outdated and require a full download of an installer some weeks or months after any given Windows release. If and when any operating system developing company decides to include an installer for the software used to use third-party file formats, then that is their choice, not their obligation to consumers.
And no, Windows 7 at the very least has built-in Xbox 360 controller drivers as it's one of Microsoft's own products and acts as a component of their 'Games for Windows' drive. Similarly to the Mac Operating System and many distros of Unix, you still (need to) download updated drivers for many pieces of hardware after installing your OS and still (need/want to) download other software (packages) for what you intend to do on the machine. If all OSs had to come with all the software anyone could ever want to have preinstalled for their individual machines, OSs would come on several DVD-DLs and take up several times more space to install than they do today.
def said:
Installing OS X onto any machine that isn't an Apple product is considered a breach of copyright according to the terms of use and license agreement for the operating system; doing this with either a Unix distro or a Windows installation on a Mac, on the other hand, isn't deemed illegal. In other words, by the time you're going to bother installing Mac OS X onto anything that's not a Mac you might as well just warez it, because if they find you they're going to shaft you equally hard either way.
But yes, there are more free games that work without the end user needing to do anything special nor needing to cut any corners in terms of what they get out of a program, when simply running something meant for a Windows operating system versus trying to use it on a Unix distro.
elvis_presley
Expert Member
I hope you just mean one advantage FOR YOU, not for the world in general. Cos with a billion users, many people rely on the non-game software base to earn a living, and couldn't move to any other OS.
No man, now you're just trolling. Outdated why? The kernel is tip-top, getting better as it's ported and optimized. PDF is a standard, yes - but rar certainly isn't - you hardly ever see it outside techie circles.
I can answer the rar question though - I wanted to use it in a software package I distribute, but looked at the vague license agreement, then emailed the rar guys. Game over. I'd have to get a very expensive blanket license, or write my own decompressor from the ground up. Not going to happen.
I'd imagine PDF would be similar legal reasoning - if they bundled the reader the EU would sue their pants off. But it's no biggie, if you click on a PDF file, it takes you to a page to download the reader. It's not like users are left out in the cold. It's 2 extra clicks, once off. Same goes if you click on a rar file for the first time.
OpenTangent
Member
Windows has been built on the same monolith structure since Windows NT. Windows 8 is a step in the right direction in terms of user interface but they are holding on to that monolith because they can't afford to drop support for "classic" Windows application. Don't get me wrong, Linux based OSs like Ubuntu are monolithic too but because of the fact that they're open source they are far more capable of adapting to new technologies. I've read that Linux Kernel version 3.0 will drop support for all kinds of outdated hardware which will keep it light and modern.
In an ideal world we would rebuild the kernel from the ground up every time but backward compatibility plays a major role in design decisions. Ubuntu went through a major redesign in April and almost all the applications available for it have already been updated to work with the new design. Only open source software has that level of agility and adaptability. So again I say; open source is not about the price tag, it's about the ability to evolve at a much faster rate. While Windows is still developed on the 1990's concept of computers, Ubuntu can be thought of as a mobile OS (think Android) but for the desktop.
In an ideal world we would rebuild the kernel from the ground up every time but backward compatibility plays a major role in design decisions. Ubuntu went through a major redesign in April and almost all the applications available for it have already been updated to work with the new design. Only open source software has that level of agility and adaptability. So again I say; open source is not about the price tag, it's about the ability to evolve at a much faster rate. While Windows is still developed on the 1990's concept of computers, Ubuntu can be thought of as a mobile OS (think Android) but for the desktop.