pettion for linux/unix game clients

/signed

...but don't get your hopes up, game publishers tend to not to care about anything except Windows. b:sad

They can't even fix the errors in game or impliment the most basic of changes we've been wanting for years. Whats the chances of them completely recompiling it and making it work on *nix? 0.00005%.

Making a game run linux/unix is basically as difficult as making the entire game again...

that is, not going to happen, and I'd much rather see them spend those years of development time on something to improve the game for us. If they did try - the game would be outdated by the time they finished.

Linux AND Mac! I have a friend who wants to play this game so desperately, but has a Mac, so she can't play with me. -iSad- And to buy a PC just to play PWI is pretty much expensive. o.o

So.. Yay for PWI on other thingies? n.n

Linux/Unix/FreeBSD/Mac versions of PWE's games are NOT in the foreseeable future.

Keep in mind these are my opinions, not representative of PWE's, ok?

1) A billion+ computers in the world run a version of Windows. Huge user base. One example that is fairly representative of how much Windows is used, versus other OSes for computers: http://www.w3counter.com/globalstats.php

2) Easy and open to develop for using technologies designed for Window's APIs.

3) Security technologies (say with buying in-game items and such) are further along/easier to develop for gaming platforms on Windows then with other platforms (exception being consoles). Same with many other tools for databases and such.

4) Windows PCs are more affordable, scalable, reliable, and easy enough to use for more people then other platforms (not to mention that the Windows platform has more free software and games to run then ANY other platform in existence.).

I understand and have used Macs and other computer systems, but for the mass populace who don't know command line tweaks and other "features" of dealing with computers, and don't have $2,000 to spend on a new computer, Windows PCs go pretty far.

I like to use both Mac and PCs for creating games b:beatup

darthpanda16 wrote: »

2) Easy and open to develop for using technologies designed for Window's APIs.

As a programmer, porting to Linux is very much _not_ difficult at all. I always thought that PW ran on SDL rather than DirectX, but even if its DirectX, going to OpenGL would only take maybe a week's worth of time.

3) Security technologies (say with buying in-game items and such) are further along/easier to develop for gaming platforms on Windows then with other platforms (exception being consoles). Same with many other tools for databases and such.

On the contrary in my opinion. There are lot of third party programs such as botting programs that make good use of memory-editing tools/capabilities of Windows. While I cannot say that there are no equivalent Linux tools, Linux applications are generally more secure (or at least can be made more secure). Development and database tools are even _more_ plentiful and probably more functional anyway - Linux made its mark on the industry through its initial database killer apps afterall.

4) Windows PCs are more affordable, scalable, reliable, and easy enough to use for more people then other platforms (not to mention that the Windows platform has more free software and games to run then ANY other platform in existence.).

I understand and have used Macs and other computer systems, but for the mass populace who don't know command line tweaks and other "features" of dealing with computers, and don't have $2,000 to spend on a new computer, Windows PCs go pretty far.

I like to use both Mac and PCs for creating games b:beatup

A "Windows PC" is also a Linux PC. Rather, a "Linux PC" would be even cheaper since you can get better performance from the same hardware while also not having to dish out a few hundred dollars on the actual OS (if you were, that is, going to buy a new computer). Macs, though, do cost quite a load of money, but I personally don't consider Mac OS X a *nix OS (it spawned from BSD). As for the more games point, that would be true due to the monopoly Windows has on the home market. But then again, who needs other games when you have Perfect World? ^_^

Give it a few more years for Ubuntu and other Linux UI improvements and compatibilities to be improved upon even more (so that they "just work" when you plug it in and turn it on).

b:victory

In all due respect, that is a very naive and almost contradicting statement considering the magnitude of problems that Windows has with compatibility (hardware and software). I inserted the latest Ubuntu CD into my computer and it booted perfectly, detecting all my hardware and allowing 3D effects through hardware acceleration immediately. The last time I re-installed Vista on my Dell laptop, I had to go through the trouble of downloading and updating all the Dell drivers and even some more Vista-Dell compatibility issues - something a normal user would need calling Dell support for. If there's something that works on Windows and not on Linux, its because Microsoft exercised its money muscle so that all software relating to that device is completely under closed specifications, which will only _delay_ support on Linux. And no, I do not even use Linux as my main OS - I use Windows Vista Ultimate.

On a side note, PWI _DOES_ run on Linux under Wine. Since I was testing it on virtual machine (VMWare) which did not support hardware acceleration, it was laggy beyond practicality.

On an off-topic note, if the actual game patches/updates are made by programmers in China, what are the programmers working on PWI doing? Or is it just translations and locale-related stuff? (serious question that I've wondered for a long time due to the lack of fixes for very simple bugs)

~Moonlite

Moonlite - Lost City wrote:

As a programmer, porting to Linux is very much _not_ difficult at all. I always thought that PW ran on SDL rather than DirectX, but even if its DirectX, going to OpenGL would only take maybe a week's worth of time.

Not difficult? It depends entire upon the program. If you use cross-platform libraries like SDL, OpenGL, etc then sure it is very easy. But I've personally messed with both DirectX and OpenGL, and I can guarantee you that it does NOT take only a week to port a game engine. At least not without a huge team and the possibility of many bugs.

You have to remember that DirectX does a lot of the work for you. For example it has its own mesh format that it loads and displays for you with only a handful of commands. Not only that but a game that uses shaders has to have the shaders rewritten from HLSL to GLSL.

Moonlite - Lost City wrote:

A "Windows PC" is also a Linux PC. Rather, a "Linux PC" would be even cheaper since you can get better performance from the same hardware while also not having to dish out a few hundred dollars on the actual OS (if you were, that is, going to buy a new computer).

A few hundred dollars? Try configuring a computer on Dell's website. They have a model that can be configured with or without Windows. Have you noticed the price difference? That's right - $50. Did you know that the vast majority of sales for Windows is NOT in-store but when buying new computers? Thus the average cost of Windows is not hundreds, but only $50.

The only real way it would be cheaper is in that you don't need to upgrade your hardware just to run a new version of Windows. Various things like 3D effects, etc can all be switched off to improvement system performance. Unlike Aero which is effectively running while you play a game and thus draining a chunk of your GPU's power away from a more useful task like handling a water shader.

Moonlite - Lost City wrote:

In all due respect, that is a very naive and almost contradicting statement considering the magnitude of problems that Windows has with compatibility (hardware and software). I inserted the latest Ubuntu CD into my computer and it booted perfectly, detecting all my hardware and allowing 3D effects through hardware acceleration immediately.

Mind providing details on your hardware? Recently my dad decided he had enough from Windows and wanted to use Ubuntu. So I tried to install it. Turns out his ATI Radeon X850 XT was completely incompatible with Linux. Perfect? Obviously not.

There is quite a difference between supporting hardware out-of-box and requiring a driver. Also in order to get 3D effects, you'd have to have downloaded the driver through the Restricted Driver system and thus your claim of getting 3D effects while running off the CD seems inaccurate.

Moonlite - Lost City wrote:

On a side note, PWI _DOES_ run on Linux under Wine. Since I was testing it on virtual machine (VMWare) which did not support hardware acceleration, it was laggy beyond practicality.

I tested it on the same computer I typically play it on (dual booting Windows XP and Ubuntu) using Wine and it ran pretty decently except that it ran a bit slower than normal. However, the speed decrease was at worst about 20%. I was able to grind a few levels, enter and do some shopping in West District, etc.

On the downside, in order to get the game to display perfectly I had to download Wine's source code, apply a patch (which being out of date I had to apply it by hand instead of with diff), and spend about 30 minutes compiling it myself.

Moonlite - Lost City wrote:

On an off-topic note, if the actual game patches/updates are made by programmers in China, what are the programmers working on PWI doing? Or is it just translations and locale-related stuff? (serious question that I've wondered for a long time due to the lack of fixes for very simple bugs)

This is the key thing that most people don't seem to notice. Its been my opinion for a while that PWI does not have any access to the source code of the engine that powers PWI. I'm also of the opinion that they have very limited access to the content as well.

So I JUST finished reading through all of that geek talk and...


*BRAIN EXPLODES!*

Bottom line, it isn't going to happen anytime soon.

We can dream all we want, and discuss that.

b:laugh