I noticed this in the announcement thread:
What is “Workshop” and is it something the Windows players already have?
Introducing Sid Meiers Civilization V for SteamOS
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AlpsStranger
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Yeah, it's the thing that auto-publishes and downloads mods for ya.
homerj
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Dusting off my CFC account to answer your post. The short answer is yes, and it's called OpenGL 4. The OSX version didn't use OpenGL 4 because well, OSX didn't support OpenGL 4 when Civ 5 was released, and the Linux version is based on the OSX version. What was done in D3D11 couldn't be done in OpenGL 3, but could be in OpenGL 4. For instance DirectCompute's analog in OpenGL is actually a compute shader, and that was "core" in 4.3. That's why OpenCL was used, two things that do about the same thing but in different ways.
So there really isn't any limitations on Linux gaming, but how you go around doing things is different. Volumes of text can and have been written on the subject. Congrats to Aspyr for getting Civilization 5 out on OSX and now Linux and having it work very well.
AlpsStranger
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Thanks for the answer man! Very informative
I had gotten the impression OpenGL couldn't access those things at all, but I am very very glad I was wrong.That's really good news going forward. Maybe all of us PC Gamers will be on Linux before we know it.
Chabshaile
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Linux is a good way to go, but Mac... I shudder to think... no one should ever have to suffer such a fate.
AlpsStranger
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I like iPhones and iPads ( don't be hatin' ) but yeah, for my desk tower I'm not doing that.
crocivfanatic
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Nice,i opened thread before with question will there be civ 5 for linux,and now we have it.But never the less i'l stick with windows,simply because only few of them have version for linux,plus since i have i already paid for windows kind a pointless to switch to linux,and there is also a driver/hardware bug problem,which i am not sure can i fix it on linux(on windows there is a program which resolve those bugs).But one day might do the switch.
anandus
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It's a Steam thing where game modifications are, have a look: http://steamcommunity.com/workshop/browse/?appid=8930
AlpsStranger
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Linux isn't crucial unless you're learning deep computer science stuff ( then it can be great, I've heard that "hacking ( actual hacking, not the security bypass definition ) under Windows is like learning to dance in a straight jacket." I'm not sure if that statement is uncontroversial, but I can see what they mean. You can't exactly recompile the kernel in Windows ( not that I can recompile it in Linux at this point either
)I think it'll be great if Linux PC gaming gets big, although I've heard a lot of Linux purists pray that it doesn't for various reasons.
Unfortunately this discussion is at risk of being derailed a bit, but still as a long time Linux user and developer I'd like to address a couple points.
Basically correct. You probably own game consoles too, right? Because "that's where the games are". But this is a different idea--we want the games to come to *us* on our chosen platform, not *us* going to the games, on their chosen platform.
. Right. Windows is a capable OS and can handle everything Linux traditionally excells at, even web servers and supercomputers. Yet Linux exists. Mac exists. Why does Mac exist if Windows can do everything a Mac can do (really it can, even if it's not as straightforward for some cases). Why does Windows exist? Would the world would be that different if OS/2 or BeOS had succeeded?
Exaggeration, honestly. Linux comes with some nice commandline tools and much easier library management. But it's not like having to manually download those tools on Windows and manual library management is really enough of a hassle it's holding developers back. Pretty much same situation on Mac too (though macports/homebrew is nice).
Linux users recompile the kernel for a few reasons--driver development, performance tuning and porting. Windows's driver kits are fine, so the first is covered. Performance tuning such as custom schedulers can be handled in user mode (unlike Linux actually) so that's doable for your own application but not the entire OS. And recompiling for porting to say, MIPS is irrelevant since you'd need access to the entire system's code and not just the kernel. In short--the vast majority of Linux users don't do it anyway, so the possibility of doing is probably not why they selected the platform.
That's generally the F/OSS diehards who (correctly) associate a larger game industry presecence on the platform with DRM and closed source. Valid concerns, but I believe in baby steps and getting the industry over to the platform (and maintaining it's economic viability) has got to be step one. Then we'll work on getting 'em to drop DRM and maybe be a little more open with the source code. The new Unreal Tournament game may prove it's possible to find a profitable business model that exists in the middle ground between fully free and entirely closed. Interesting times ahead.
AlpsStranger
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Fair points
Oh okay, I suppose that does make sense. Perhaps just a bit of hype from the Linux camp then?
Also a very good point. I wouldn't expect most people ever do recompile it.
Yeah I can imagine that. The game industry is going to introduce plenty of closed source and, yes, copy protected stuff to the platform.
Is a world builder or SKD part of Workshop? We already have mods on the Mac, presumably similar techniques would work for SteamOS. I am not understanding the enthusiasm for that part of the announcement.
Yeah, and I am gonna make things worse…
Pretty different. The UIs we have now, we could have had five years+ ago — had Microsoft been a more honest competitor or if DoJ had slapped them down hard. So maybe not different per se, but sooner, and that would have been a pretty big deal. I am not sure we would have gotten the iPod and then iPhone sooner (since much of that was possible from hardware maturing). But operating systems, “productivity suites”, and browsers stagnated for a long time, especially considering we are talking “computer years”.
I agree that times sure are interesting now!
Yeah, and I am gonna make things worse…
Pretty different. The UIs we have now, we could have had five years+ ago — had Microsoft been a more honest competitor or if DoJ had slapped them down hard. So maybe not different per se, but sooner, and that would have been a pretty big deal. I am not sure we would have gotten the iPod and then iPhone sooner (since much of that was possible from hardware maturing). But operating systems, “productivity suites”, and browsers stagnated for a long time, especially considering we are talking “computer years”.
I agree that times sure are interesting now!
crocivfanatic
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Linux isn't crucial unless you're learning deep computer science stuff ( then it can be great, I've heard that "hacking ( actual hacking, not the security bypass definition ) under Windows is like learning to dance in a straight jacket." I'm not sure if that statement is uncontroversial, but I can see what they mean. You can't exactly recompile the kernel in Windows ( not that I can recompile it in Linux at this point either
I think it'll be great if Linux PC gaming gets big, although I've heard a lot of Linux purists pray that it doesn't for various reasons.
Lol what deep computer science stuff?Linux actually progressed a lot in last years,it is even good for non-geek users,and even easier then windows.I installed it on my brother computer and he is satisfied with it,i use it for everything else except games at the moment.
This version seems to have better graphics than the windows version.
I noticed that the farm segments are demarcated better with little stone walls for example; it looks way better. Is there a patch to update the textures for the windows version.
I noticed that the farm segments are demarcated better with little stone walls for example; it looks way better. Is there a patch to update the textures for the windows version.
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