Unreal Tournament 3 For Linux Is Officially Dead 190
ndogg writes "There is no longer any uncertainty surrounding the release of Unreal Tournament 3 for Linux. It's official: the port is now dead. No reasons were given, but no one should be waiting for it anymore, if anyone still was."
Is the Engine ported at least? (Score:5, Interesting)
What I would find more interesting however, would be whether the Unreal Engine 3 itself was ported into a workable state, so it could be used for other porting projects in the future. Because although I do not care too much about the Unreal Tournament 3 game itself, having the Unreal Engine 3 on Linux could at least open some interesting possibilities either for other games being ported or for a developer studio using the Engine in a future game and then doing simultaneous cross-platform development.
Because if you look at the list [wikipedia.org] of games using the Unreal Engine 3, that list of projects is rather impressive (for example, the entire Mass Effect series uses the Engine) and having such a widely used Engine available on Linux would be a boon, I think, maybe even for smaller Indie developers willing to do Linux development (depending on how expensive those licensing terms are).
Technically, porting should be possible, as the Unreal Engine 3 already runs on Windows, PS3, Xbox 360 and even MacOS X and iOS now, so it has shown that it is portable. And before you ask, I am not concluding that because Epic did an iOS port that it automatically runs on Mac OS X as well, although those two share a decent amount of similarities making the jump between those two platforms a good deal easier. No, actually, with Borderlands now having a Mac port [feralinteractive.com], there are already two titles on Mac OS X using the Unreal Engine 3 that I know of (the other one being Star Trek DAC), so there is proof it runs on the Mac. I know that those are only two titles and only one you could possibly call an AAA title, but sadly, as far as I know, that is still more titles available than on Linux
So I hope Ryan Gordon at least got the Engine ported, so future projects can use it on Linux. Because although losing the game sucks a little, having the Engine could at least give some hope for some better future developments in Linux gaming. It sure could use some.
Re:Vicious circle (Score:5, Interesting)
I won't install Windows, but I can buy a non-free game every now and then. I'm not much of a gamer, I just don't have the time for it anymore, but I did buy StarCraft 2, and I would have bought Civ5 if it wasn't such a huge pain in the ass to get the demo to work with the pile of crap called Steam.
I have no objections to non-free end-user software, but I do object to the underlying system and libraries being non-free...
Let's face it... (Score:5, Interesting)
Commercial games are, for the most part, dead on the Linux desktop. There are some occasional exceptions but for the most part, if you want a big-name game to appear on Linux you're gonna have to go use WINE as native builds probably won't exist. That said, there are still quite a lot of decent older games which have Linux ports and Ryan does continue development on ports for commercial when he can.
I think if you really want to avoid disappointment with regards to Linux gaming and want to continue enjoying gaming on Linux... get used to indy games, and forget the big-budget commercial stuff. Indy developers need all the audience they can get and as the Humble Bundles have shown, Linux users are often the most generous per purchase due to a desperate need for games. :)
Big-name commercial studios like EPIC and iD have abandoned Linux (unlike his previous games John Carmack has expressed a certain doubt about supporting Linux with Rage). It would certainly be NICE if we could get more commercial support, but until that happens, it's less depressing to just aim for indy games.
Does it matter? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:No money (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Let's face it... (Score:5, Interesting)
Commercial games are, for the most part, dead on the Linux desktop. There are some occasional exceptions but for the most part, if you want a big-name game to appear on Linux you're gonna have to go use WINE as native builds probably won't exist.
Dilogus - The Winds of War [unigine.com]
It's a third person High Fantasy RPG action game that immerses players deep into the awe inspiring fantasy world of Dilogus, allowing them to experience it from multiple perspectives of six unique characters in both single player and co-operative multiplayer mode on Linux and Windows platforms.
Yeah, Linux game development has to start somewhere.... You can't expect, EA, Epic, ID, etc. to just say, "We're now developing for $NEW_PLATFORM" without watching others first test the waters.
I think if you really want to avoid disappointment with regards to Linux gaming and want to continue enjoying gaming on Linux... get used to indy games, and forget the big-budget commercial stuff. Indy developers need all the audience they can get [...]
Big-name commercial studios like EPIC and iD have abandoned Linux (unlike his previous games John Carmack has expressed a certain doubt about supporting Linux with Rage).
To avoid disappointment with regards to Any Gaming I choose Indy games. As a developer myself, I'm excited about the state of Linux gaming; To me Linux gaming looks like a large, ripe, and untapped market.
Demand for Linux games does exist. John Carmack is purposefully misleading... He sells a Game engine that doesn't run on Linux & isn't going to advocate making games on any platform that his engine doesn't run on...
Cross Platform is the future. Mac is a Unix. Linux is a Unix. Macs & "PCs" have the same guts these days. Rage runs on Unix... Not supporting Linux is stupid. Start with cross platform code (or engine), and you don't ever have to "port". Thus, you get additional market presence for $0.00.
Carmack has invested tons of time into developing for Apple and Microsoft platforms instead of investing time in truly cross platform engine code. As a game developer, (NOT an Engine Designer) it just doesn't make sense to use an Engine that's not cross platform. Why purposefully exclude a section of the market when it's not necessary? [ogre3d.org]
The big guys will let the little guys innovate first... Add small carp to a big empty pond, watch them grow... Where the big fish are absent, the little fish reign supreme (proof: iPhone/iPad & Android gaming markets). The big guys arn't stupid, just misleading. Steve Jobs said, "No one wants a tablet PC", and then develops an iPad... In the past Carmack has expressed "doubts" about games in the browser and on mobile platforms, yet now has both mobile and browser games.
Don't be fooled, he'll makes games for Linux after others have already blazed the trails and "built out" the market.