Steam... On linux!
polycounter lvl 18
Celebrate good times.. Cmon!
http://www.ozcarguide.com/technology/gaming/3089-steam-for-linux-games
It's a celebration!
[ame]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M[/ame]
(on a separate note, anyone having issues getting steam to spawn a window in wine 1.1.44)
http://www.ozcarguide.com/technology/gaming/3089-steam-for-linux-games
It's a celebration!
[ame]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M[/ame](on a separate note, anyone having issues getting steam to spawn a window in wine 1.1.44)
Replies
One thing is for sure...The Zac wasnt da 1 WHOM used the linux.
\0/ lolollllolololol
People in the film industry and visual effects use it ... I use to use it all the time for batch rendering massive Shake or After Effect projects because it never crashed.
Also have used it in a Houdini pipeline for massive particle effect caching and rendering.
biased much? :P
most webservers in the world.
Not sure they would get much out of steam though!
or we can go out and get shitfaced with friends :P
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/17/happy-feat-valve-open-up-about-steam-linux/#more-116478
" Left 4 Dead 2 will be the first game ported and, indeed, there is already a working version. Before release, however, Valve aim “to have L4D2 performing under Linux as well as it performs under Windows”.
You hear this autocad, pixologic, and adobe?
At any case, I wonder what this means for devs. For a second there I thought they did some magic to get DirectX working on Linux, and that the entire Steam library would be ported over. But that's not the case. Devs would still need to make ports.
Second, I also wonder what that means for players. If I do switch to Linux and install Steam, will I still have my game library? Or do you have to buy a Linux version?
It will be like with Macs, you will have the compatible games only, and no, you won't need to buy the linux version.
steam on linux, is a waste of time, there aren't enough games for it, and all linux users are tech savy enough to duel boot, or fuck about with wine till things work.
now... i totally understand that, but with that in mind... why don't they do something "similar" to a kickstarter style thing? there are certainly linux users out there who would be willing to pay for the software, and indeed the software is often the only reason some people even stay with windows anyway... so why not put the ball firmly in the court of linux users?
"okay guys, so people keep requesting this, but we can't justify the up-front expense... so how about you help us out with that? we need $x to develop the linux version, donate as little or as much as you want".
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/487814
"Again, we've done the research. The profits aren't there -- very few Linux users are willing to pay for commercial software.And the cost of entry is still high because of the fragmented Linux landscape.
The Linux world has to change before commercial software will have reason to invest in Linux ports.
And we haven't seen much real change in the Linux market in several years."
My Ubuntu box is a little older, so it should be a pretty good acid test for how well Steam and the Source engine run on linux. I'll let you all know what kind of performance to expect.
every android device on the planet. ie (every mobile phone and tablet).
ILM, Weta, Pixar, Mill...
the large film studio all use linux with a few people with an extra windows workstation for various things.
small android/linux tablet sized devices that match the graphics performance of Xbox/PS2 are the whole point of this i think. if you can hook these things up to your tv and play games people will do just that. would you rather buy a xbox game or download the same game with the same performance onto a android/linux tablet with steam? none of the hardware manufacturers want to pay microsoft to use windows on these new devices. and now microsoft wants to copy apple and manufacture there own exclusive hardware. the pc manufacturers can make an android/linux system that does everything your windows pc and your xbox/ps2 can do in one device that fits in your coat pocket.
if, when steam comes out on linux/android i will use it.
edit - i remember now, it wasn't necessarily linux based, but you could install a linux OS onto it.
i think that the hardware manufacturers and the game industry don't need microsoft, sony or the 'game console' anymore as a platform.
valve/asus could probably make more profit giving away a free piece of hardware with a subscription to steam and a few other services for movies etc. then they can in the 'game console market'. the same way that cellphone market works in the US. you get a free 500$ phone and you sign up for a contract.
the market for that sort of thing is much, much bigger then the game console market will ever be.
im not speculating that this is what valve is up to. but i think a lot of people are looking at this new business model and how best to kick microsoft and sony out of the loop and sell games directly to the customer on an open hardware platform that is more useful and appealing to the customer then a 'game console'. its only a matter of time imo.
Hahaha, dumb troll.
(Posted from my Mac Air, two years later).
Our SQL database and web server for our tech-art pipeline runs Linux - doesn't cost a cent and works like a charm. And yes, film studios use it too.
Personally I'd be happy if we could drop all that Microsoft specific stuff in our pipeline. I really prefer Unix' elegant and proven solutions for building pipelines vs. Windows scripting, services, MS SQL Server and what not. Guess the guys at ILM, Weta & Co feel the same.
Then again neither us nor them are a target for steam. Still, it's a good thing it gets supported. Maybe this sparks more interest for Linux on the desktop and inspiring other software vendors to follow suit.
ignorance is bliss... oh wait...
Linux, not linix
i'm not speculating that they are. but the question is why Linux? why now? they have been hiring quite a few linux developers in the past year or so. there has to be some business logic for that. you don't just go out and hire a bunch of expensive programmers to work on a rather large project just to make the Linux fan boy's happy. windows has 99% of the desktop pc market. they have to be looking at a larger consumer market. that market has to obviously include Linux. and they have to have some strategy for bringing a variety of games to that platform over a number of years in order to make it a revenue generator. the big market growth in the next few years is going to be small android/Linux tablet/laptop devices that have at least as much graphics power as an xbox/ps3 around the 500$ price point. given the option between a dedicated game console and portable tablet style device that you could also plug into a tv for the same price with the same performance a large % of people would go for the tablet. valve has to be looking at these potential markets.
i think the point is that steam is the 'console'. if you have steam and you have a linux/android device with some graphics power then you have a game console. i would not be surprised if steam starts to show up pre-installed on some sort of Linux/android device sold by asus or one of the other pc manufacturers. or if you buy one of these new devices and steam is available for download i think just about everyone will download it so they can play games.
I've heard this argument before and it's seems very myopic. The reason that they refuse to do it is because they can't afford to cover the whole fragmented market and keep control over the distribution of the software. Were they to offer the source code publicly, independent developers could adapt the software to other Linux distributions. However, that undermines their business model. So, since they have to pay programmers to make the software, they want a platform that is consistent among all of their potential customers. This way they only have to pay their programmers once and they don't have to share the source code. This is likely why Valve is working with Canonical. Valve wants to target a single platform so that they don't have to pay people to develop a version for every flavor of Linux.
It's not that the customers aren't there, it's that they can't afford to develop for each and every one of them. Linux users are very willing to pay for good games on Linux. Just look at the Humble Indie Bundle. The segment that pays the most are Linux users. It's not that there aren't enough people willing to pay, it's just too expensive to make commercial software without targeting a single Linux distribution (like Ubuntu).
wow really? you have any links to that?
if that's true then i think my analysis might have some corroboration. because Canonical's main plan is to target the very market i noted in my last post.
edit:
l did a little digging on Google and it seems that there is some coordination between Valve and Canonical for steam. that's really great.
Canonical is quite focused on shipping Ubuntu systems/tablets. not just replacing windows on the desktop.
I think part of the impetus to start taking it a little more seriously is the recent success of digital storefronts on Ubuntu and Debian. There has always been a presumption that Linux users refused to pay for software, and would only use open-source programs. But the growth of centralized software repositories, and their integration into paid digital distribution has been more profitable than anyone expected. As it turns out, there are plenty of people willing to open up the Ubuntu Software Center and purchase games off of it.
If there are going to be customers in that area, you can be sure that Valve is going to want to reach them.
Valve is up to all kinds of shit.
One reason to put Steam on Linux is that it can start the long, slow process of divorcing Steam from purchased OS's like Windows and OSX. One reason you might do that is to provide better support to Steam's "Big Screen Mode" that Valve announced over a year ago, which is purpose built for using Steam in your living room with a controller.
Valve doesn't have to build a console themselves, but Linux Steam is absolutely about a living room game playing experience that looks like a console, walks like a console, and quacks like a console. Make no mistake.
I just think they want to fully tap the market no one has managed to tap yet, and if the humble indie bundle taught us anything: the linux crowd pays more in average
Quite a few of the games on steam right now have been ported to linux a long time ago, so that will be quite a few titles that will be available for steam on linux.
i would generally not think much of this but there has been a steady stream of people that have been hired for the project. companies do not just start hiring new developers unless they have a real project that has gone through all the bean counters, management, planning etc. plus they are porting games, left for dead 2 is the first port. i don't think they would just let some randomly hacked up version of steam be released. and i don't think that anyone would want to do that amount of work for no pay in there spare time + port games.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_linux_sdl&num=1
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTEyMzE
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTExMDM
at the very least they are going to deliver a steam that is 'as good' as there windows version. and perhaps set up some infrastructure for porting games. they have done some innovative things in terms of developing new markets. package games, various sales strategies. most of that is very carefully thought out and executed and a bit risky.
the hardware etc is idle speculation i guess. but idle speculation is the mother of invention and creativity.
"We want to make it as easy as possible for the 2,500 games on Steam to run on Linux"
https://allthingsd.com/20120725/valves-gabe-newell-on-the-future-of-games-wearable-computers-windows-8-and-more/
if Valve can convince devs to start making Linux based games, then Autodesk/Adobe/Pixologic might start to see the financial value of doing the same.
Valve might actually pull off the biggest shift in OS history.
Didn't Linux and nVidia have a big falling out not too long ago? What will that mean for the platform's ability to play future Steam games?
Yes they did: http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2012/6/21/china-nvidia-loses-face-and-a-10-million-pc-order-over-linux-drivers-and-nres.aspx
I have no idea how this will play out though. Hopefully better GPU drivers on Linux from both Nvidia and AMD (and hopefully Intel...).
that had nothing to do with linux. the PRC wanted full source code and who knows what else from nvidia. no one in the west will ever be able to buy the systems the cards were intended for. some home brew PRC MIPS knockoff for there primary school computers. obviously nvidia did not get a sale. but it has nothing to do with and no effect on linux at all.
perhaps your talking about when Linux got pissed and gave nvidia the finger lol. i don't think it will have any effect on anything.
http://youtu.be/19jUboon5gI
Interview from yesterday with Gabe Newell.
I seriously hope this happens.
Also, i think they are a little bit frightened that microsoft is going to lock down its os, and are looking to linux for an open free platform.
Both seem very sensible ideas to me!