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Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports

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Note: This is a really old article, if you're here, I do suggest you read this article "Why The Porting Method Doesn't Matter For Linux Games".

Thanks to the recent fiasco of The Witcher 2 I wanted to write down some thoughts on why we shouldn't accept bad quality ports from developers.

Only in recent years have we had so many damned games in our Linux libraries that you now see comments from Linux gamers like "I've got too many games already!" which I imagine now sounds familiar to a lot of you. We have never before seen so much attention from developers thanks to Valve & Steam.

Also thanks to the push from developers we are seeing ports come along that are quite frankly lazy or just downright buggy to the point of being unplayable for a majority of people.

The problem is if we keep accepting ports at a sub-par quality then Linux will gain a reputation for having low quality games. Think about that big picture for a moment, seriously.

Imagine if you will that AAA developers started pushing out more games for Linux using technology like this "eON" that was used to port The Witcher 2. Let's say we have a lot of them and it suddenly looks like Linux has a lot of big-name games. You then have plenty of people trying out Linux, and seeing that their games run with terrible performance on the exact same hardware giving them the impression that Linux itself is bad for gaming. That's not good for anyone.

I've seen many people say "the toolkit used to port doesn't matter?". That in my eyes is a very naive statement to make. Of course it matters, it can mean the difference of light and day in the quality of a game on Linux. Which directly goes back to my point above about the perception of Linux gaming.
You can still say the toolkit doesn't matter and use whatever comparison/analogy you fancy, but if the toolkit is the root cause of the issue, like it will be 99% of the time when we are talking about computer software then yes, it does of course matter.

I've seen comments now from other major websites stating we should just accept them and be thankful we have them at all. That is an idiotic statement from people who don't look at the bigger picture.

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Think about the developers and publishers who will see it as acceptable to push terrible Linux ports out the door and call it a day with only profits in mind. The consumer perception of Linux gaming would worsen yet again with even more bad quality ports.

I am all for ports from developers, of course I am I run this site after-all. I as a customer however do not want to pay for games that would work on Windows, but run like a snail on Linux, why should I? Why should you?

Final added point: You should never attack a developer when they reach out to the community having issues, that's not acceptable. Feedback is fine, but name calling is childish and makes Linux again look bad. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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86 comments
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GoCorinthians May 26, 2014
Quoting: Anonymous
Quoting: JestI think that bigger problem is bad PC ports of console games.
If game is bad port from console, it will run badly on all platforms.
I think this is problem that should be dealt with first.
Didn't dudes on Windows also cry about bad Witcher 2 performance?
Or is it even worse on Linux?
Thing is, that Steam is going to be a "console for PC", so we'll probably even see worse ports to linux ;-).
Quite contrary sir. Steam being a Console, will reduce all major problems for devs(random OSs, big variety of hardwares...) so in a few years we will play in well otimized games for PC on SteamOS.

New users will come, because "build ur PC" will not be a issue to noobs.
GoCorinthians May 26, 2014
Quoting: Guest
Quoting: GoCorinthians
Quoting: Anonymous
Quoting: JestI think that bigger problem is bad PC ports of console games.
If game is bad port from console, it will run badly on all platforms.
I think this is problem that should be dealt with first.
Didn't dudes on Windows also cry about bad Witcher 2 performance?
Or is it even worse on Linux?
Thing is, that Steam is going to be a "console for PC", so we'll probably even see worse ports to linux ;-).
Quiet contrary sir. Steam being a Console, will reduce all major problems for devs(random OSs, big variety of hardwares...) so in a few years we will play in well otimized games for PC on SteamOS.

New users will come, because "build ur PC" will not be a problem to noobs. and so on
Except the variety of hardwares is still going to be present; since there will be multiple Steam machines (multiple manufacturers), and not just one.
Not that great variety, as majority will sell only last released products from Nvidia/AMD & Intel.
Anonymous May 26, 2014
Quoting: GoCorinthiansSteam being a Console, will reduce all major problems for devs(random OSs, big variety of hardwares...) so in a few years we will play in well otimized games for PC on SteamOS

Look at nowadays consoles, if framerate is at 30, it's considered "great", even for exclusive titles.
txarrán May 26, 2014
We are already accepting bad console ports to (Windows)PC. Skyrim comes to my mind, with that terrible UI and Dark Souls too... and the list keeps expanding every year and people/magazines giving them excelent reviews is the most anoying disease for me. "Shut up and take my money"
Hello May 26, 2014
Libraries

Just FYI.
Liam Dawe May 26, 2014
Quoting: HelloLibraries

Just FYI.

You are right, surprised no one picked up on that, appreciated.
oldrocker99 May 26, 2014
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I "accepted" the port. I think that this is about as major a game as has yet been released that wasn't a Valve product. On my desktop box (Kubuntu 14.04, AMD 965, GeForce 650ti, 16GB RAM)https://www.google.com/, the port runs like a champ (mostly; a couple of crashes at starting the game's tutorial), and I've played through most of the Prologue.

I understand the indignation (and am SO glad I don't have an ATI card), but I can play a ***** game using my GNU/Linux platform, and the port will only improve (oe hopes). Performance appears to be comparable to the Windows version running under wine to my eyes.

Yes, of course, I want more native Linux games, but with a game this farking good, I'll accept the port, you bet.
Majority of Games are Imports... May 28, 2014
Wouldn't it be like chopping your legs off since majority of games are ported over ?
Ported games have been going on for a long time and not just on the GNU/Linux desktop.
.PC Games ported over to consoles.
.Console games ported over to PC.
Lots of deletes May 28, 2014
Why We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports...

So you will be busy deleting the ported games you are advertising, promoting and removing the download links on this site ?

lol :D
Liam Dawe May 28, 2014
Quoting: Lots of deletesWhy We Shouldn't Accept Bad Linux Ports...

So you will be busy deleting the ported games you are advertising, promoting and removing the download links on this site ?

lol :D

Why the hell would I delete articles highlighting the ports? That's idiotic. We don't hide anything.
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