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Latest Comments by Shmerl
Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
20 Dec 2016 at 8:18 pm UTC

Quoting: elmapulgoogle will try to push Android or ChromeOS on desktop
I don't consider it good. Android is best friend and worst enemy (the way Aaron Seigo put it [External Link]). It would be pretty bad for Linux if Android with its bionic mess would spill to the desktop. If Google would use glibc + Wayland, that could end up beneficial for Linux desktop, but Android as it is now (bionic + Surfaceflinger) is actually harmful in a number of ways. It would be like another Windows to fight with.

Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
20 Dec 2016 at 4:56 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Alm888
Quoting: ShmerlNintendo OS is FreeBSD based from what I've heard.
Did it help FreeBSD in a slightest? I also heard MacOS X has BSD underneath...
No idea. Since they are weak copyleft, I doubt any of that helps them much. Nintendo OS is minuscule in comparison with iOS which is also FreeBSD based, and the later didn't help anything much either.

Some thoughts on 'The Dwarves', the new action RPG from KING Art, a bit unpolished
20 Dec 2016 at 4:28 pm UTC

Quoting: cRaZy-bisCuiT
Quoting: ShmerlI recently finished the game and highly recommend it.
How many hours did you spent? People say it's a rather short game. I'm still at it!
I didn't measure it precisely (I can look up time in saves a bit later), but it is not very long. The story however is quite good (from what I understood, it follows the book rather closely). I didn't read the books yet though, but they sound interesting.

Apparently they are evaluating the sequel (to continue books story line).

Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
20 Dec 2016 at 12:16 am UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: liamdaweIt's pleasing to see you do at least understand and actually agree with me, which is weird considering your other replies (mostly on reddit).

Market share is the key point that is almost always goes down to. Time and time again we see developers not doing ports due to it.
Again, you missed my point there, so I didn't understand what you were arguing then either. I never said developers will reconsider their stance on market share because of less technical issues. I said what I said - less technical issues = more potential ports. Because unlike some thick skull backwards thinking publishers, some already don't view Linux gaming market as insignificant, but it doesn't mean they don't face any potential technical barrier that they need to overcome when releasing for Linux. Proliferation of redundant APIs is one of them.

Quoting: liamdaweWeb development is an entirely different thing. The web is literally everywhere and can be easily accessed, Linux desktop gaming is completely different (again, market-share here).

That's without getting into how completely different it is deploying HTML to Vulkan-powered games to each platform. Anyone should be able to see how those topics don't really mix together.
I explained above how the parallel is obvious. Difference in details here doesn't change the parallel of open standard commonality. Something like Web Assembly can even make Vulkan be adopted for the Web as a graphics API.

Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
19 Dec 2016 at 11:50 pm UTC Likes: 5

Yes, lower barrier is a benefit. It doesn't mean more developers will start releasing for Linux because of market share. That's a completely orthogonal issue and there is no point to mix it into this topic. But, more developers can avoid various technical problems that could otherwise deter them from releasing for Linux, and there are easily demonstrable examples of that (Everspace, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and so on).

Web development is different, but the point of open standard is the same. WebGL is even more focused on this topic. Everyone supports it, so WebGL based application will work fine anywhere. Why does everyone support it? Because pressure on lock-in freaks (Apple, MS) was strong, and they budged and adopted open standards.

Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
19 Dec 2016 at 11:40 pm UTC Likes: 8

Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: ShmerlIt is a major milestone development. No point in downplaying it.
For Nintendo, not for us.
It's like saying that MS IE supporting HTML5 first, and then MS Edge supporting open video / audio codecs is a milestone development for MS only and not for the whole Web. That's incorrect. Same here. Every usually lock-in oriented vendor adopting Vulkan is a milestone.

Quoting: liamdaweTo blindly say it will mean more Linux ports just because a barrier is lower, is dangerous to the hopes of the many.
Again, no one said that, you seem to be arguing with your own counter arguments here.

Editorial: The Nintendo Switch will use Vulkan, why that doesn't suddenly mean more Linux ports
19 Dec 2016 at 11:33 pm UTC Likes: 11

It is a major milestone development. No point in downplaying it. Of course it doesn't automatically mean more Linux ports now, I didn't see anyone suggesting that. What it means is that Vulkan is closer to becoming universally adopted. And that would be a breakthrough milestone, which will help Linux in more obvious ways already. Same as happened with HTML replacing incompatible browser / platform specific technologies.

Some thoughts on 'The Dwarves', the new action RPG from KING Art, a bit unpolished
19 Dec 2016 at 2:59 am UTC

I recently finished the game and highly recommend it.

The Other 99, an UE4 single-player action & survival game is waiting on fixes from Epic for a Linux version
17 Dec 2016 at 11:42 pm UTC

Looks like UE4 has a bug in shaders translator. Wasn't the same problem hitting Everspace?