Bah! Linux on the desktop does *everything* I need (except Civ). I don't need to be "under the hood", tinkering all the time. It just works. Which is more than I can say for Windows.
Linux version of Civ4 ?
- Thread starter kryszcztov
- Start date
Marauder1024
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 5
I have had games run flawlessly under Cedega without effort, I have games require quite a bit of tweaking, or not work at all under Cedega. It really comes down to the fact that they have to reverse engineer the Windows programming interfaces and reimpliment them within Wine, not an easy task. That's one reason why I still keep a Windows partition around, some of the games I like to play just don't work (at least not yet).
Yes, I would buy a linux port of Civ 4 were it made available even though most of the time I am running it under Linux. Why? So that I can run it natively under Linux without having to deal with Cedega/Wine for one. But also I am one of those that actually show my support with my wallet (one reason why I have been a Mandriva Club subscriber since they introduced it - yes I willingly pay for free software) ;-)
I have the Lokigames ports of Alpha Centauri, Descent 3, SimCity 3000 (all of which I had previously purchased for Windows), and a couple of the other games the ported before closing down. Some others (such as the Unreal Tournament series) now officially support Linux on release (UT 2003&2004 include Linux installers on the disc).
Porting from DirectX to OpenGL can be a bit of a challenge but I see a number of Windows only games (Trainz Railroad Simulator for example) actually supporting both and I see several new top (even Windows only) commercial games using SDL as well http://www.libsdl.org/index.php which is essentually a cross platform analog to DirectX.
Would I love to see Civ4 and other top games on Linux? absolutely! Do I already have the Windows versions? yup. would I still buy them? absolutely!
I'm not every Linux user, some just want free stuff, others just want things their way. I would love to see Civ and others run natively on Linux but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not going to wine and complain until I get it my way. I will nicely state "I would buy it" and hope that they might see a market. In short, they are a business, out to make money, if they don't think the investment in a port would have sufficient return, they're not going to do it unless Sid himself were to say "Linux is cool, let's do a port just because I can".
So yes, if I saw a Linux port on the shelf at the standard price, I would buy it, if I saw a downloadable installer (perhaps even with a fee/charge to help recover the cost of the port) to install a native Linux binary and import the Windows CD's content and datafiles on the Firaxis site, I would grab it in a heartbeat.
Yes, I would buy a linux port of Civ 4 were it made available even though most of the time I am running it under Linux. Why? So that I can run it natively under Linux without having to deal with Cedega/Wine for one. But also I am one of those that actually show my support with my wallet (one reason why I have been a Mandriva Club subscriber since they introduced it - yes I willingly pay for free software) ;-)
I have the Lokigames ports of Alpha Centauri, Descent 3, SimCity 3000 (all of which I had previously purchased for Windows), and a couple of the other games the ported before closing down. Some others (such as the Unreal Tournament series) now officially support Linux on release (UT 2003&2004 include Linux installers on the disc).
Porting from DirectX to OpenGL can be a bit of a challenge but I see a number of Windows only games (Trainz Railroad Simulator for example) actually supporting both and I see several new top (even Windows only) commercial games using SDL as well http://www.libsdl.org/index.php which is essentually a cross platform analog to DirectX.
Would I love to see Civ4 and other top games on Linux? absolutely! Do I already have the Windows versions? yup. would I still buy them? absolutely!
I'm not every Linux user, some just want free stuff, others just want things their way. I would love to see Civ and others run natively on Linux but I'm not holding my breath and I'm not going to wine and complain until I get it my way. I will nicely state "I would buy it" and hope that they might see a market. In short, they are a business, out to make money, if they don't think the investment in a port would have sufficient return, they're not going to do it unless Sid himself were to say "Linux is cool, let's do a port just because I can".
So yes, if I saw a Linux port on the shelf at the standard price, I would buy it, if I saw a downloadable installer (perhaps even with a fee/charge to help recover the cost of the port) to install a native Linux binary and import the Windows CD's content and datafiles on the Firaxis site, I would grab it in a heartbeat.
yendorian
Chieftain
I would definitely buy it. At the moment I only boot to Windows to play Civ anyway.
Canterbury
Warlord
Wow, nice to know that I'm not the only one using Windows mainly for Civ. In fact, it was through Linux (via Freeciv) that I got introduced to the whole Civ series anyway. It'd go well with the research software I need to use Linux for.
Flak
vBülletin Förum
Yes
Ten Characters
Ten Characters
Nufuhsus
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2006
- Messages
- 53
Interesting point CivDude. Correct me if I am wrong (I am really quite the newb nere as CIV4 is my first and I just recently became interested in Linux after seeing FreeSpire running on a PC @ work (SliCk)) but is not the MAC OS really just Unix? And if so, why can they port to the Mac and not to Linux?CivDude86 said:The DirectX porting stuff should be already done with the Mac port. Always find it weird companies will port to Macs but not Linux. Mac gamer has always been an oxymoron.
HooAhh!Padma said:
Don't let the Mac users hear you say that!Nufuhsus said:
Mac OS-X is built on a BSD core. So in that respect, it *is* UNIX. But, the GUI is an Apple in-house product, and is not directly related to the X_Window system most desktop *nix systems use.
I have discussed the porting issue a little bit with Brad Oliver, who is the lead Civ-port person for Macs. While the basic DirectX to OpenGL stuff would be the same, there is a lot of other stuff that is Mac-specific that needs done as well. So for a Linux port, what he has done is only "half the battle". OTOH, there is no technical reason a Linux port couldn't be done. It would just be a matter of some company coming up with enough money to pay Take2/Firaxis for the privilege.
kryszcztov
Deity
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
- 2,423
Oh, surprise surprise ! For the first time, this poll gets more YES's than NO's.
Padma, do you think there is even a tiny chance it happens within a decent amount of time ?
Padma, do you think there is even a tiny chance it happens within a decent amount of time ?
Linux Game Pubishing is still in business.
But I don't know if they have the necessary resources to do something like Civ in a reasonable amount of time. So, kryszcztov, I fear my answer would be that there is a *tiny* chance, but not a very big/good chance of it happening.
But I don't know if they have the necessary resources to do something like Civ in a reasonable amount of time. So, kryszcztov, I fear my answer would be that there is a *tiny* chance, but not a very big/good chance of it happening.
kryszcztov
Deity
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- Mar 1, 2003
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- 2,423
Just a bump, poll will close soon.
kryszcztov
Deity
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2003
- Messages
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Waoh, just waoh !! Should I just send this result to Firaxis ? 
Ben E Gas
King
Don't know enough about programming. So from reading the above posts, my answer is NO. I wouldn't buy anything for linux. Whatever the compo has that I bought, which is windows right now, then I'd buy the game for that.
I have nothing against Linux, I just don't know enough about it or how to "fix it up" to play games.
p.s. the poll closed before I could vote, NO. So you can adda vote to the no column before sending to firaxis.
I have nothing against Linux, I just don't know enough about it or how to "fix it up" to play games.
p.s. the poll closed before I could vote, NO. So you can adda vote to the no column before sending to firaxis.
primordial stew
Emperor
I would like to run civ4 on linux instead.
The main reason being for mod development. Windows is just a terrible environment for this sort of activity... For example, and maybe it is just some setting I've yet to find that isn't covered by the check boxes, but windows search fails to find anything(!!!) in python files. Is it just me?
I've had to install tools just to make it barely usable, but the perl I got off the web, it BSODs XP on an infinite loop......... Ok, I shouldn't be creating infinite loops.. but these things happen sometimes Kind of funny really, for the non-gaming OS it's just a killed process, but for the world's most financially successful OS it's game over!
The main reason being for mod development. Windows is just a terrible environment for this sort of activity... For example, and maybe it is just some setting I've yet to find that isn't covered by the check boxes, but windows search fails to find anything(!!!) in python files. Is it just me?
I've had to install tools just to make it barely usable, but the perl I got off the web, it BSODs XP on an infinite loop......... Ok, I shouldn't be creating infinite loops.. but these things happen sometimes
Kind of funny really, for the non-gaming OS it's just a killed process, but for the world's most financially successful OS it's game over!
I already brought Civ4 and Warlords for windows. I am fortunate enough to afford 2 Pc's and a laptop.
As it stands i run my main computer on Win XP (mainly because of Civ4)
My Laptop is running Windows, but after this semester's exam period i intend to install Linux upon it.
The Pc i am on currently is my Linux machine. Sempron 3000+ 512MB RAM, FX5600 nVidia graphics card running Kubuntu 6.10 and a customised KDE 3.5.4.
I've been running linux for about 9 months now and can now do almost everything on this machine that i can on my Windows one. (Except civ4
)
I'm a student and unfortunately can not afford to buy multiple copies of the same game. However i would buy Civilization games on Linux. And like an earlier poster said, i would probably buy an installer program that enabled my linux machines to play my Civ4 disks.
I'm studying software engineering at uni, and as i become more qualified i intend to give back to the linux community. If there was a group that was looking to port Civ4 to linux, i would offer whatever help i could, just so i could finally convert all my machines to linux and maintain a healthy dose of Civ4.
just my £0.02 worth.
As it stands i run my main computer on Win XP (mainly because of Civ4)
My Laptop is running Windows, but after this semester's exam period i intend to install Linux upon it.
The Pc i am on currently is my Linux machine. Sempron 3000+ 512MB RAM, FX5600 nVidia graphics card running Kubuntu 6.10 and a customised KDE 3.5.4.
I've been running linux for about 9 months now and can now do almost everything on this machine that i can on my Windows one. (Except civ4
)I'm a student and unfortunately can not afford to buy multiple copies of the same game. However i would buy Civilization games on Linux. And like an earlier poster said, i would probably buy an installer program that enabled my linux machines to play my Civ4 disks.
I'm studying software engineering at uni, and as i become more qualified i intend to give back to the linux community. If there was a group that was looking to port Civ4 to linux, i would offer whatever help i could, just so i could finally convert all my machines to linux and maintain a healthy dose of Civ4.
just my £0.02 worth.
baconbacon
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2007
- Messages
- 1
It's an old comment, but I just want to point out that the lack of a proper Linux port of civ4 is the cause of the need to "fix it up". Native games such as Quake 3 or UT2004 install and play without any problem as long as you have a decent distribution and the right video drivers.
Murky
Deity
I think linux is great if you are into programming and other technical stuff but it is not ideal for gaming because there just isn't much support for it.
Software development requires a fairly significant investment and any investment has to go through risk analysis before any decisions are made. Most investors consider linux development too big a risk for too little reward.
Sometimes the developers release the code for older games. I see no problem with people doing their own ports and letting other people play them.
Software development requires a fairly significant investment and any investment has to go through risk analysis before any decisions are made. Most investors consider linux development too big a risk for too little reward.
Sometimes the developers release the code for older games. I see no problem with people doing their own ports and letting other people play them.
