Quoting: PenglingIt's really not easier to use Windows. It takes just a couple of clicks to use Proton (or usually no clicks at all on the Steam Deck), then the game runs on Linux as if it's native because Proton translates calls to native ones, AND you don't have to suffer dealing with Windows. :grin:

I saw many reports about issues with Proton.
I don't find playing games for Windows on Linux entertaining - it's boring to me. Windows is better for these games, and above 90% of Windows users can confirm it - this operating system sells so well.

Quoting: PenglingIClicking two or three times is much more convenient and space-saving than having bunches of old computers, monitors, and KVMs, and needing to maintain them - certainly, people shouldn't be using the hardware you're recommending without recapping it all, and the vast majority don't have the tools or the experience to do that. They usually do know how to click a mouse a couple of times, though. :wink:

I click on my KVM or a remote control to use them, and I don't care about space in my apartment. I use one monitor to connect all old computers with the Geforce cards and Sound Blaster Live 5.1. I don't maintain operating systems on these computers. I install the NVidia drivers and later games for them - nothing more. I don't play multiplayer games, and I don't connect them to the internet.

Of course, keeping old computers functional sometimes could be challenging, but I like to keep them used. Users of the other operating systems and game consoles use them this way.

Quoting: PenglingIt's disingenuous to claim that Proton is popular for that reason (and it seems so unusual to promote Microsoft so much on a Linux-gaming site), when the reality is that it's purely because it's simple and elegant to use.

I think long-term Windows users have fewer issues with Wine/Proton than people like me. I switched to Linux in 2004 after over a year of using it on my first computer. I don't have to promote Microsoft because many users boot Windows when a game doesn't work well with Linux. Microsoft needs companies like CodeWeavers and Valve to get more money from Linux users and keep its position in the market. It's good news for them when Linux users claim they only need games for Windows to run on them on Wine/Proton. Wine and Proton aren't Microsoft projects, but they help promote their technology among Linux users. I think it's far more important for Microsoft that Linux users have some doubts about all the work done by dead companies like Loki Software. I think about the open source libraries used in creating native games for Linux. This mistrust of Linux users to own companies is beneficial for Microsoft.

Quoting: PenglingWhat do you need to learn to click a mouse two or three times, exactly? :huh:

Ok.
I tried to install Medal of Honor on Wine from GOG. I can play the native version on my old computer, and I report bugs for OpenMOHAA, which added support for mods. It didn't work when I tried to run it, and after an hour of searching, I gave up on it. It was easier to use YouTube and see how this issue looks on Windows.

I was terrified because I was a Cedega subscriber in 2007. I had the same issue with Mohaa. Back then, I solved it after some time with some settings. It's disappointing how much Transgaming, CodeWeavers, and Valve invested in Wine, and Mohaa doesn't run after the installation.

That was a game officially supported by Transgaming, so it should have always worked since 2007.

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Quoting: legluondunetTry to play Rune or Heretic II Linux version on modern Linux distribution...And even if you manage to make them work, your gaming experience will be lower than that with the Windows versions (updates, graphics, multiplayer, mods compatibility...).

I have the original versions of Rune and Heretic II for Linux. I use the old computer with Pentium 4 to play them. I saw some solutions, and maybe I should try them. I frequently did it with other games like Shadowgrounds, Raptor, etc.

On the other hand, old computers are cheap, and I'm too lazy to fight with every game if I can run it on the computer for $15. I like to delay reading long instructions because life is too short. I like to run the native game for Linux, and I don't care which computer I use to play them on the same monitor.
It's so fun to play games on Linux from 2003, 2006, and 2010 - so many great memories.

I don't play multiplayer games.

I don't care about updates, graphics enhancements, or mods compatibility if they aren't available for the Linux version of the game.

Quoting: legluondunetToday, with the progress of Wine/Proton and graphics drivers for Linux, it is often easier to launch a Windows game than a native Linux game.

I can say it's always easier to use Windows to run these games than Proton on Linux.

I play native games for Linux because I like this experience with them.
Additionally, I respect companies that spend a lot time and money to create games for Linux. I will find a way to run them with old libraries, older systems, or even retro computers. Additional ports for old computers and KVM are useful to play them.

I suspect that Proton users know much more about the Windows libraries, and all related issues with it. I know almost nothing about solving issues with games on Windows or Wine. That is probably a reason why Proton so popular among Linux users. They have more experience with systems created by Microsoft.

I frequently can figure out what is wrong if a game doesn't works correctly on Linux. Doing similar things with Windows or Wine will be more tricky to me.
I don't want to learn these things. Playing games for Windows or with Wine is so boring to me.

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Quoting: pleasereadthemanual

Quoting: GuestI find it weird that people find it weird that a company supports our platform of choice. I wish more devs had an option to bypass the bullshit stores. Why is it so necessary to put the game on these stores?

Because Proton, which is only usable by most people on Steam, provides a better experience in most cases than a native Linux version.

That's not necessarily my experience, although I recently had to install old libraries to get Loop Hero from GOG to work again, but a lot of Linux users do say as much. I also had to manually patch a library for another native Linux game from Itch. And delete some old bundled libraries for a Ren'Py game from Itch...

But I do support devs releasing their games wherever they want. It's just, supporting Linux natively long-term, even with open source engines, seems far more challenging than other platforms.

I know it's annoying sometimes to load all Linux libraries. On the other hand, Linux allows users to run some games released 10-20 years ago on the modern Linux distributions. Users should start to think about it as an advantage because it frequently works in this way.

I prefer to think about Linux distributions as separate game consoles, so put your favorite game consoles below if you don't like this example:

Linux 2.0 - 2.2: PlayStation 1 (this is just the example)
Linux 2.4 - 2.6: PlayStation 2
Linux 2.6 - 3.0: PlayStation 3
Linux 4.0 - 5.0: PlayStation 4
Linux 6.0: PlayStation 5

For instance, Mac users can only rely on old computers or open source projects. Apple frequently removes emulators or parts of the operating system that are necessary to run old games.

I think users can mitigate this issue, and they should mainly play games on the long-term support distributions. That can give us an experience similar to Windows or Mac users, but it probably also means keeping two Linux distributions on the same computer for relatively modern games.

It starts to get scary when I read comments of users about buying games only from Steam.
It's my advice to avoid buying games for Linux only from Steam if a specific game has the DRM-free version on GOG, itch.io or other online stores.

You should always check if the game is the DRM-free version on Steam and then, make a backup copy. You never know if a new version of a game will require a Steam or something else to run. It's fine to buy games for Linux from Steam if you don't have a choice or you don't plan to play them in the future.

Steam is a web browser, which will be almost impossible to run if a game requires the old libraries that don't load a game correctly on the modern Linux distributions. You can end up with games you can't play anymore because the most recent version of Steam won't install on the older Linux distributions.

I read about issues with Steam for the older operating systems. I saw people who couldn't log in or Steam crashes when they tried to run it. Some people reported they couldn't use Steam even if they made a copy of the Steam. Steam always requires to fully install with all the updates on the fresh operating system. When you can't install Steam on the specific operating system, then you frequently can log in, but you could be offline. In this case, your internet connection could work correctly, but Steam doesn't allow you to download anything from your account.

You can try hacks, which could work for only some games. The weird issue with Steam is that it requires fully install and update on new, installed system. Otherwise, your old versions of Steam could be useless, and your games are gone with your money.

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I will buy World of Goo 2 for Linux from their website if they release it.
Of course, I would prefer to buy the DRM-free version from Humble Store or at least from GOG. On the other hand, I can understand that you don't have a choice.

Thank you for supporting Linux.

Quoting: CatKillerAnd World Of Goo was one of the games that kicked off mainstream Linux gaming pre-Steam with the Humble Bundles, which is commendable, too.

The mainstream Linux gaming?

No. We had the big titles on Linux and many indie games before HIB. Unfortunately, Linux users didn't have one or two online stores where you could buy most of these games. It was too fragmented for average users.

Before 2010, companies were selling games for Linux mainly directly from the websites. It wasn't easy to track all promotions. HIB fixed this issue by focusing on advertising bundles with Linux games for a few bucks. That allowed them to make more money in this way than other companies before them.

Later, many of these companies decided to sell their games for Linux only on Desura, Humble Store, or Steam.

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Thank you for the article.

You reminded me that I should buy Prison Architect for Linux.

I don't buy Prison Architect 2 if it doesn't have the native Linux version,

I want to remind everyone that when you have difficulties with native versions of Linux, you don't have to deal with these issues.

Install the older version of the operating system on the second partition. When you have the DRM-free version of a game, copy it to the partition with the supported operating system. Then enjoy playing it.

Mac users and Windows do it all the time. The console players keep different devices to play their favorite games. I keep four computers with different versions of Linux connected to the same monitor. I know Linux has problems, but I like using it despite these issues.

I respect people who are spending months porting games to Linux. Later, they read many comments that they should never do it. It must be very challenging.

Why some Linux users don't complain that open source applications are ported to Linux?

Maybe programmers should only port open source applications to Windows, Mac, MorphOS, AmigaOS, etc., and ignore Linux because we have Wine.

Firefox could be better if developers didn't waste time porting it to Linux.

I think some users can't appreciate what others are doing for them.

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Users that like classic games could also be interested in a singleplayer mode in OpenMoHAA:

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/5965/

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@Hamish
Did you try to contact them and ask about the catapult?

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Quoting: StoneColdSpiderI have never gotten on well with snow games...... Maybe because im an aussie and ive never seen this mythical thing called "snow" in real life........

I like winter in Poland more than summer.

However, you can hurt yourself if you walk too fast on sidewalks during winter. It's easy to lose balance and fall.

Puddles covered with snow that don't want to step on any of them. Especially, when you are far away from your house or apartment.

Drivers need snow tires during this season.

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Thank you for the article.

There are some interesting facts about Soul Ride for Linux from LGP.

The professional manual in the PDF file is available only on the CD. It was the only situation when they didn't print it. LGP never published it on their website.

Just like Mindrover, it was the Mixed Mode CD, which is disappointing.

There are some tidbits from Wikipedia that I can confirm:

It was the only LGP game available for Linux that you can play on computers with the Alpha (the experimental version) processors. Yes, LGP released the 64-bit game!

Of course, you can find on the CD Linux binaries for x86, PowerPC, and Sparc (the experimental version). I'm not sure if it was a 64-bit version for Sparc.

Music from the CD has never worked for me in this game - I'm not sure what I was doing wrong.

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Thank you for the article.

I have to try L.O.S.E.R Corps because it looks great.

https://github.com/moefh/loser-corps [External Link]

I think that I never played it.

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