Hexus.net reviews Linux gaming

Hexus.net, a hardware enthusiast site, has a recent review of Linux gaming that seems to be quite favorable. Here are some choice quotes (because the article itself is too damn long)....

" I was going to Intel-Jolt Bloodline for the proper LAN experience - poor eating, sleeping & hygiene arrangements; a room full of sweaty Counter-Strike players; and playing games into the small hours - but I had one little... eccentricity... to my arrangements:

I was going with a REAL gaming OS. "

Hmmm...real gaming OS....I like this already.

"Well, Linux certainly isn't most peoples' thought for a games-based PC. Especially one being taken to a big tournament LAN party. However, by design or trickery, none of the tournament games at the event were out-of-bounds to my Linux machine, and rousing games of Call of Duty, Quake 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 were shared by the HEXUS.net collective and any other gamers who felt like joining in. "

Typical mention of the typical games your hardcore gamers play...

"Linux can offer a rich 3D gaming experience to those who want it."

So much for Linux having bad 3D support.

"When the Unreal Tournament 2004 demo appeared, I wasted many an hour playing Onslaught online - and on the same machine, the faster loading times of the Linux version offered a genuine advantage in the crucial first few seconds of a match (allowing me to thieve the Manta on ONS-Torlan from slower-loading Windows teammates). "

Wow, so much for the "myth" of Linux having superior performance in gaming...

"Linux has proper 3D support - at Bloodline I was equipped with a GeForce 6800. Linux is 100% compatible with your £50 Pro Gamer mouse mat, ultra-high precision mouse, and £40 21Ó refurbished monitor. Linux runs Doom 3 and Half-Life 2. Linux has some decent gaming websites, and even its own forthcoming LAN party. So really, what's so strange about gaming with Linux? "

Wow this article is just *full* of choice quotes.

And some nice, eyecandy filled screenshots too.

"It's not just the 'big' games that see Linux releases though. Smaller companies can use it as a way of getting a big slice of a small pie - bedroom codeshop Introversion ported their award-winning Uplink to Linux, and their next game Darwinia will also see a Linux release. Similarly, S2 Games ported their multiplayer strategy-action game Savage to Linux, and are one of the few companies with products on the shop shelves demanding Linux as well as Windows in the system requirements. "

More and more crunchiness to this article every minute.

"The old Lucasarts point & click games, such as Monkey Island, have no source available for people to read through. That doesn't stop the average hacker though - and thus reverse-engineering of games takes place. By analyzing the data files for games, developers can work out the missing bit (i.e. the engine). The ScummVM project is one example, which can play all Lucasarts point and click games, and a few besides. The work was impressive enough that other point & click companies helped get their games working properly - Broken Sword now runs in ScummVM, and Beneath a Steel Sky has been released as freeware to be played with ScummVM.

Not all open-source game efforts are related to the big commercial works though. Some really creative independent work goes on - Tux Racer is the best known example, a simple game where you guide the Linux mascot down a mountain at high speed collecting sufficient fish and pbutting the line fast enough to pbutt the course. It is by no means the only one though. Neverball, for example, is a good fun game similar in style to Super Monkey Ball for Nintendo Gamecube. You use the mouse to guide your ball around fiendish courses, collecting enough coins to open the exit. Egoboo is a 3D hack & slash game based in part on old text-console game Nethack. "

Lots of good Open Source gaming stuff here.

On to Cedega...

"So. What exactly can Cedega do? Essentially, run a set list of 'supported' games pretty well, and a larger list of unsupported games not as well. And fail completely to run a very very large list of games which simply won't play nice. New versions of Cedega are released fairly regularly, and can both improve some games and degrade others. To help counter this, an easy GUI called Point2Play allows for multiple installations of Cedega, and per-game configuration of games. "

"Performance can be varied - some games can run at near native speed, some much slower, and some even a little faster. Some Linux distributions are easier to get working than others - some use experimental new technologies which can conflict with Cedega - and very often the most bleeding edge distribution or kernel can cause the biggest headaches. However, Cedega is a key technology for Linux gamers - allowing them to join in matches of application, is able to include licensed code, so functions correctly with most CD copy protection, installers, etc. "

There's also an interview with the Cedega Product Manager at Transgaming in the article.

"Has ATI's promise of sensible Linux support shown any measurable improvements from where you're sitting? Any of the major show stoppers for games such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City fixed?

The basic promise itself is a huge improvement for all Linux users out there. Having driver support from both of the big name video card manufactures is a huge shot in the arm for the community. The ability to choose between cards allows users to select the best card for both their needs and their budgets. ATI is new to the field of Linux drivers and problems still exist with their drivers. However, TransGaming is working closely with the ATI Linux Driver team to help them pinpoint and solve issues in their drivers that are adversely affecting Linux users. Current show stoppers in GTA: Vice City and some other breastles are still around but I have confidence that ATI will fix the outstanding issue."

This is from said interview....which seems to say that ATI and Transgaming are working together. This seems to suggest that perhaps ATIs driver problems will likely be ironed out...although that will not fix the fact that their hardware is still poo.

And last...another great quote...

"Will Linux gaming still be only for the elite two or three years down the line? We eagerly await the answer to that. "

Evidentally, the author's opinion is that Linux gaming is for the elite gamer. This would suggest that instead of sucking at games...that Linux is in fact the premier gaming platform. This is of course, what I have always said.