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It's Official: Valve Releasing Steam, Source Engine For Linux!

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  • #31
    If they're planning to port games like Counter Strike: Source, which uses DirectX, are they going to be writing an OpenGL renderer, or using something like WINE?

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    • #32
      Originally posted by mattst88 View Post
      If they're planning to port games like Counter Strike: Source, which uses DirectX, are they going to be writing an OpenGL renderer, or using something like WINE?
      Valve is supposedly porting the Source engine to Linux and Mac OS X, using native OpenGL.

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      • #33
        This is a bit worrying:

        QUESTION

        Steam warns me that my video card is not supported and my Source games do not work. What is wrong?
        ANSWER

        Make sure your video card is supported by Source games on the Mac. If it is not you will need to upgrade your system in order to run Source games.
        The following video cards are not supported on Source-powered games:
        Intel integrated graphics such as GMA 950 and X3100
        NVidia GeForce 7 Series
        In order to run Source-powered games on Mac you will need to use a minimum of the following:
        NVidia GeForce 8 Series or higher
        ATI X1600 or higher
        From https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...5376-EOSB-3763

        Considering that the same games are supported in Windows (and works fine in Linux with Wine). But maybe the drivers on the Mac are that much worse?

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        • #34
          Hmm, the frontpage at Valvesoftware.com has been updated, so it now tells that Steam for Mac is out, but still not a word about Linux :/

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          • #35
            Originally posted by Shining Arcanine View Post
            Why is it that Phoronix seems to be on a crusade on this topic?
            Because readers are interested?

            I'm sceptical, but phoronix is often right about 'future' developments.

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            • #36
              STOP calling it Official, the Mac Client wasnt official untill they finally posted it, then everyting started working properly. untill they announce, its not official.

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              • #37
                That's great. I'm excited. But why does Phoronix feel the need to exaggerate their headlines so badly? It's not actually been announced by Valve at the time of publication... so wouldn't that mean it's not actually official? I mean unless Phoronix has some sort of authority or official capacity within Valve that I'm not aware of, how can Phoronix declare it "Official"? Unless I'm always supposed to think Phoronix's headlines are a bunch of hyperbolic nonsense... I wouldn't want my readers thinking my headlines were a constant April Fool's joke, but that's just me... It was a fine read for a bit of ego stroking though...

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                • #38
                  I believe Phoronix is probably right about Steam coming to linux, but two websites saying "Valve has also publicized that it will create Steam available to Linux users in the coming months," isn't confirmation.

                  Publicize
                  Verb
                  1. To make widely known to the public.
                  2. To advertise, create publicity for.
                  So that site is just plain wrong, Valve hasn't made anything public. Either Valve has said something to these sites privately or they've just got their information from what Phoronix.

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                  • #39
                    unreal tournament was coming to linux 'for sure'. So... until it is there and there are games to play:
                    I won't believe it.

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                    • #40
                      Not too long ago I asked Unigine if they would be interested in starting offering free licenses for non-commercial/open source use to help push the Linux gaming scene forward and also mentioned that they would be doing the Linux community a great favour. I thought that since many of their staff members are Linux users themselves, they'd show a little compassion.

                      Unfortunately I got a disappointing reply back, and frankly speaking I did not expect anything else, as it would be quite bizarre if they had never considered doing it themselves in the past. I did agree with his - Denis Shergin (CEO) - points though.
                      Here are the mails:

                      Mine:
                      Dear Sir,
                      Dear Madam,

                      What if Unigine started offering free licenses for open source usage of your amazing cross-platform engine?

                      It's a fact that Linux gaming is many steps backwards compared to Windows and even to Mac in many cases. Unigine has always provided excellent support for the Linux operating system and without a doubt will continue to do so. We've all seen the amazing engine capabilities and the astounding benchmarks of Unigine and we're so eager to try it out but the unfortunate part is that there are no Unigine games out yet with Linux support.

                      Currently, most Linux FPS games are based on the Quake 3 engine and it's getting quite old in terms of functionality. Unigine would take Linux gaming a step (actually many steps) further and allow opensource game development with amazing graphics and sound effects. So why not kindly help a hand and take your support for Linux a step further and offer free open source licenses? Please note that this is not about releasing the source code of the Unigine engine but merely offering costless licenses for the binary version of Unigine for open source games, say that are compatible with a restricting license such as the GPL with exception that it also cannot be used for commercial usage to avoid people from earning money from it while not purchasing a commercial license.

                      In my eyes, this would only provide advantages for all parties. For the Unigine company, it could result in the following (that come to mind):

                      - increase in the engine's popularity by encouraging developers to study the Unigine API and get familiar with it because they can learn and use it for free (with restrictions)! These same people could also encourage their employers to purchase the Unigine engine because they are already familiar with it, or, thinking a step further, maybe create a commercial version of their open source games and purchase a commercial Unigine license.

                      There are many successful companies that offer open source licenses mainly as a marketing purpose. Two that come to mind are Ext JS Inc and Trolltech (they used to have a GPL version of their Qt framework but then changed to LGPL).

                      - encourage people to contribute to the documentation of the functionality/API of the engine and maybe also translate it, and submit bugs and feature requests for the software. And if you'd put a Unigine forum online you'd also create a community that provides free support and helps evolving the Unigine engine. As Linux users yourselves (maybe not all of you) you should understand how fanatic the community gets when they get amazing software support as minorities.

                      The Linux (and Windows) gaming community really hopes that you take this into consideration.
                      Reply from CEO:
                      Hello Isaak,

                      First of all, thank you for interesting in Unigine.

                      The problem with open source games is that they are of very low quality, because modern game isn't just a piece of code, it requires a lot of art work. There are very few experienced artists involved into open source world now, unfortunately. This is a matter of tools for them: frankly speaking, GIMP and Blender aren't compatitive with Photoshop and 3dsMax.

                      We don't need ugly games based on our technologies, sorry.

                      Moreover there are legal reasons why we don't provide our SDK for free for everyone.

                      So we don't plan to offer free licenses at the moment. However we continue to provide some of our products for end users free of charge.
                      My last attack:
                      Hey Denis,

                      I'm grateful for your prompt and honest answer to my licensing related suggestion.

                      Although it's with great reluctant I understand and agree with your point. You can't have low quality games put the Unigine engine in a bad picture to people who hear of it for the first time because this could have a negative impact on the marketing of your product. Frankly speaking, I'd think the same myself if I were in your shoes.

                      Even if you were to offer free licenses this doesn't necessarily mean that only inexperienced people would use your engine. The Unigine engine is an advanced piece of software that can easily be compared to the most popular engines on the market feature-wise. And such software immediately draws the attention of professional developers and companies too. Epic, producer of the most popular engine on the market, does offer free licenses for non-commercial usage and look how big their community - that exists out of amateurs, students and professionals - has grown and what astounding mods they have created yes, there are also ones with poorer artwork), although I have to admit that many of the astounding mods have been created during the Unreal contents, where Epic offers prize money for the best products. Next to that, there are also (outsourcing/consulting) individuals and companies that develop these mods to add them to their portfolio, or start out free and end up changing to a commercial product.

                      Also, to be honest, what would people remember the most? The beautiful graphic mods or the ugly ones? I think we can both agree on the answer. Also, there are many beautiful benchmarks on the Unigine website that give people an idea of the the engine can really do. Since the Heaven benchmark, there has been a real increase in the popularity of the Unigine engine but people are dissatisfied because there are no or few games based on it and patience is not something people like to have. A free version could make a chance to that and bring the Unigine engine to its full potential.

                      And as for tools, if they are limited to Linux this could indeed result in Blender-like graphics because they are limited to the open source tools as mentioned. But since your products are cross-platform developers also have the ability to develop on Windows so I don't see why this could be a problem. Mostly, the problem of poor quality graphics is caused by the engine they are basing their game on, which is id Tech 3 in case of Linux.

                      As for legal reasons, as I don't know the details and lack the knowledge it's best that I keep quiet about this one, but there are always solutions.

                      Even with no upcoming free licenses, I want to thank you again for having taken the time to answer my email yourself. I bet that I'm not the only one who has made such a request.
                      Unfortunate but true. I'm glad I asked them though.

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