Don't want to see articles from a certain category? When logged in, go to your User Settings and adjust your feed in the Content Preferences section where you can block tags!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

A Thought on What Holds Linux Gaming Back

By - | Views: 24,605
All the talk nowadays if of "unification" or to paraphrase Mark Shuttleworth and Ubuntu the "availability of a single interface for all devices."  And with all this talk I began to wonder why more gaming engine's aren't jumping on board.

The recent release of Unity3d 4 was all the rage because it meant that an incredibly popular engine was coming to Linux, and thus all unity3d games developed with the new engine could in fact run on Linux (granted a Linux version was released). In my personal opinion, Unity3d is great, but when compared to the more AAA engines like the Unreal, FrostBite and CDProjectRed's RED Engine just to name a few, Unity3d falls a bit flat in my eyes.

Sure it's pretty, but how does it compare to the competition?: 
image
Then steps in Unigine, another well known Linux engine. Surprising to me at least is that the Unigine engine isn't widely  used at all, even compared to Unity with lacks PlayStation support. I'm not interested in the pricing, so I cannot say if that's the issue, so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. 

Back to my rant, Unigine looks amazing. From my time running the Heaven benchmark to me playing their standalone Naval RTS Oil Rush, I've fallen in love with how amazing Unigine looks. And I might add, my GTX 680 struggles to run Heaven on max settings. Ungine is, and has been a showcase into the future of PC gaming, with Linux support to boot. 

Don't believe me? Then here:  

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

Now this begs the question, why  haven't  Epic, EA, or CDPR ported their already great engines to Linux? The Unreal Engine as well as Frostbite (the Red engine is just a combination of other engines) are GREAT engines. And at least Unreal HAD  Linux  support (pre Unreal 3 days), so there's merit that gaming on  Linux  WAS plausible. But now with the advent of Steam for Linux and overall increasing numbers of games for  Linux  the re-adaptation of Unreal to  Linux  seems possible. But is it really? No. Unreal seems to be focused on the mobile platforms ( Android, IOS), which from a business  standpoint makes sense to me (more "customers").  Which  leaves us  minority (but ever so growing) Linux uses stuck in the dark.

Which brings me back to my first point, if Linux had a universal Engine or even Distro (a completely different story) would  Linux Gaming be in a different  position today? TO me unigine seems like the answer, but yet it's not. Anyone have any ideas why? Please comment below. 

I typed this from my self built  Windows  8 Gaming rig. I love Ubuntu, but prefer rolling release and seamless Nvidia integration. If I get around to it this weekend I'm going to install Manjaro Cinnamon (arch based and rolling) to get back to my Linux gaming side. Or if anyone want to suggest another distro? I was maybe gonna try SUSE Tumbleweed.

Specs:
i5 3570K @4.5Ghz
H80
32GB 1866Mhz Ram 
Nvida GTX 680
Samsung 840SSD 
ASUS Maximus V Gene MB

Please Note: This Editorial is by a Guest and may not represent the thoughts and feelings of GamingOnLinux.com. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc
0 Likes
About the author -
I'm an 20 year old Sophomore at the University of Michigan. I hail from a small town in Michigan called Galien. My interests are Linux, gaming, girls, and computers in general. 
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
26 comments
Page: «2/3»
  Go to:

Hyeron Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: BumadarI just thought: If Valve would release Half Life 3 say 3 months earlier on Linux ...... then you would see a Steam/Linux increase you could only dream off
... That would plummet within weeks/months, and would soon show to be a bunch of whiners who switched ONLY for that, who don't give a hoot about any kind of value the average current GNU/Linux user has, who don't want to learn the specificities of the OS and want it to run and do things exactly as Windows does, who'd want an immediate and easy way of pirating the game, and who'd switch back to Windows as soon as they're done.

Quite frankly? I'd rather see the percentage of GNU/Linux users rival Mac. Just that. No more, no less. A few AAA titles every now and then behind the main Windows releases, and people who are WILLING to switch. For reasons OTHER than just one overhyped game.
Mike Frett Mar 30, 2013
One of you was talking about all of Valves games being released, problem is we have all played those. Another problem are the Indie devs, they seem to be stuck on Pixel Art games and Puzzles and I wish they would vary their library.

Let's not forget also, all those beautiful Kickstarter games that have yet to trickle in. I think we've only seen the tip of the needle so far. And like the article says, their are some good engines out there, but I think devs are having a hard time putting together teams for the Linux platform. We need to show more vocal and financial support to these awesome guys and gals.
Liam Dawe Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: Xpanderaccording to the wikipedia its 54 milion active steam accounts
(just saying to remove the damn email spam on each reply)
You can unsubscribe from an article at any time (see the bold writing above the comments..), you can also tell it to not subscribe automatically from your UserCP.

I have also added a direct link into article reply emails to unsubscribe from, hope it helps :)
FoH Mar 30, 2013
Inxile got a free license for Unigine for Wasteland 2 but went with Unity due to better tools. Makes me think that Unigines pricing isn't the only downside.
Liam Dawe Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: FoHInxile got a free license for Unigine for Wasteland 2 but went with Unity due to better tools. Makes me think that Unigines pricing isn't the only downside.
I've heard their engine's scripting is really bad.
Hamish Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: Xpanderand pure Arch with your own tweaks if you are freak like me lol
It still seems odd to me that I am agreeing with you on something Xpander. :P
Anonymous Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: n30p1r4t3I am a graphics freak, and no, good graphics don't make a good game, but it helps.
Sadly, good graphics actually prevent games from being good. Because making ultra detailed environments, animations and effects costs so much that it terribly limits the variety and size of environments even the biggest studio can put in one game. Also, the cost being so high forces publishers to take zero risk and always serve the same receipe because they can't afford making even a single game that doesn't sell.
Xpander Mar 30, 2013
Quoting: liamdaweQuote from Xpanderaccording to the wikipedia its 54 milion active steam accounts
(just saying to remove the damn email spam on each reply)
You can unsubscribe from an article at any time (see the bold writing above the comments..), you can also tell it to not subscribe automatically from your UserCP.

I have also added a direct link into article reply emails to unsubscribe from, hope it helps
ohh thanks... im blind as usual:D

Quoting: HamishQuote from Xpanderand pure Arch with your own tweaks if you are freak like me lol
It still seems odd to me that I am agreeing with you on something Xpander.
this world is doomed :D
Bumadar Mar 31, 2013
Quoting: Hyeron 
... That would plummet within weeks/months

of course, but it would not go back to the old % as some will stay.  It would give windows gamers a reason to install linux for games and thus growing the market (and that is what this editorial is about) because then the % will be interesting enough for other parties.  And right now it simply is not
Liam Dawe Mar 31, 2013
Quoting: Xpanderohh thanks... im blind as usual:D
No worries, thanks to your blindness it gave me the idea to add the unsubscribe link into emails so it works both ways :D
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.