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Quake First Person Shooters (Games)

Quake 3 to be sold Retail for Linux 94

Posted by CmdrTaco from the shrink-wrapped-linux-quake dept.
Jim P sent us a link to Shugashack which has a cool article talking about porting Quake to Linux. Its official though, there's gonna be a shrink wrapped box too.
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Quake 3 to be sold Retail for Linux More

Quake 3 to be sold Retail for Linux

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  • I'm buying the Windows version for sure, because I know the control, playability, and mods are all going to be there. I run Linux 95% of the time, with Quake the *only* reason I reboot. If you want me to pay twice, then fine, I'll just stay away from your Linux version. I hope this isn't the case.

  • Ugh (Score:1)

    by gavinhall ( 33 )
    Posted by OGL:

    I'm really dissapointed at the quality of the posts on this thread. The problem with gaming is that it brings all the 13 year-old lamers out of the woodwork; it's bad enough to play against them, but now they're invading slashdot?

    I'd just like to clear the air by saying that I plan to buy the linux version *WITHOUT* bitching about any doze releases, take it home to my 3D card, and have fun. Is that too hard for you people?

    -W.W.
  • > And I thought that Linux could actually deal
    > with whatever format you threw at it, at least
    > more gracefully than Macs or Windows did..

    Well, I first thought that myself until I tried burning a CD of Redhat 5.2 (which I downloaded), but the install disks wouldn't see my CD -- because of the long file names. It turns out that I needed to make an ISO9660 disc and generate a bunch of TRANS.TBL files, but there were no (inexpensive) Win9x CD burning packages that allowed me to do that.. I know mkisofs does it for linux, but I couldn't find a Win32 port.. (oh well..)
  • stop calling him an enemy of the state, that way he thinks he's some kind of 'k3w|_ revolutionary' rather than just another kid who won't go to the trouble of mowing the lawn/whatever he needs to do to get the money for the game
  • The game engine (renderer, sound, etc) will be native, but the *game* code (controlling what all the objects do etc) will be interpreted.

    This has been in John Carmack's .plan for ages.

    But this isn't the reason they are doing 3 boxes, the data (including compiled gamecode) will be the same anyway, only the binaries for Win32/Mac/Linux will be different.

    My guess is that they're after the demographics. id have enuff money that they shouldn't really need to worry about how much it'll cost to press 3 different CDs, but i think in the future they'll move to 1 CD which will run on all platforms.
  • Just a guess but,

    There is no reason other than that it doesn't cost much more and the boxes will say:


    QUAKE III
    -for Linux

    John Carmack is a cool guy. He is running a business and has his eye on the bottom line, as well as the general technical excellence of his games, but he has always had a soft spot for Linux, and any other OS whose developers really care about quality.

    Thanks ID,
    -Steve

  • You only pay for the data files. The executables are free from ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com . Just buy the Linux version and get the Windows exe from their site. (Can anyone believe I just said that? ;-) )

    -Steve
  • Quake SERVERS are undeniably faster in linux than Win95 and probably 98. About even with NT, though the NT servers supposedly go south when the system receives any other load. The game itself is faster in Linux than in NT, roughly equal with 95/98 on same hardware assuming both are supported (meaning voodoo)
  • It's not SGI that controls whether your TNT will do OpenGL well, it's nVidia. Thus far there are no specs available for the 3d portion of the TNT. OpenGL on Linux is doing quite nicely on its own.
  • Actually you could get all three "file systems" on one disc. You can have hybrid HFS / iso9660 cds. Since joliet and rock ridge are just extentions to iso9660, I can't think of any reason why you couldn't have a 3way hybrid cd. For the record joliet and rock ridge can exist on the same cd, I did this w/ a redhat cd. I needed rock ridge to preserve file permissions, such as execute, and joliet so it would be readable under windoze (the only machine I had w/ a cdrom was a windoze box). My point is that it would be fairly simple to create a cd that would work under all 3 OSes w/o having to fall back on windoze "standards".
  • IIRC quake2 and quake3 were developed on linux and then ported to doze after so the porting cost for linux is $0.
  • They're releasing 3 versions of Quake3 because they designed the game around a virtual machine. The actual binary portion of the game emulates a RISC processor, so instead of having to run thru and change API calls and system calls, they just write a new virtual machine. Pretty cool, eh?
  • I heard this same argument used when I was running OS/2, but it never panned out. I'll admit there are alot more Linux users than there were (were, not to imply that OS/2 is dead, mind you, only that I no longer use it.. :) OS/2 users. I really hope you're right though, and this may open the eyes of more video card manufacturers as well.
  • Don't forget about publishers. I'm sure they could make a multi-OS CD, but it would cost at least a bit more to produce, and the Windows publisher (I think it's Activision for Q3) might not be happy to pay more per box to include a Linux version.
  • Why should there be n-flavors of Quake3:Arena?

    I assume all the source data and art and such are identical; at least for production costs, I would assume it is simpler to just create 1 CD with 3 or 4 binary executables; They could then release a CD with Linux, Mac, and Windows support out of the box, rather than 3 different boxes. I'm assuming packaging and box art are identical, btw, so the only functional difference would be the CDs. Perhaps they'll use different CD formats? But why bother doing that?

    The user won't care either way, but it would mean Linux users would be much better off because they wouldn't have to look for a specific store that stocked Linux games; rather, just look for the Q3:Arena box.

    Same for Mac users without access to Mac specific stores...

    Is there any real reason to create 3 distros, essentially identical but for their binaries, and perhaps long filename support?

    AS
    AS
  • What, you mean there isn't an ISO standard for long file names?

    And I thought that Linux could actually deal with whatever format you threw at it, at least more gracefully than Macs or Windows did...

    And I actually thought Macs today that would be able to run Q3:Arena also had full Windows compatiblity; Joliet or Romulus or something like that, a long filename ISO variant.

    It's sorta non-purist to use the Win32 ISO standard because it is the most prevalent, but I thought that Macs and Linux could handle that version of long filenames...

    AS
    AS
  • Aside from executable formats, wouldn't the Linux OS be able to read perfectly the Win32 CDROM?

    It would seem the best bet to release 1 win32 cdrom with all binary formats on it...

    AS
    AS
  • Oh grow up a little, please?

    If that were the attitude we all took, because I'm sure we could all find these things eventually, what with the 6 degrees of freedom thing, then Id software would be out of business, and no one, not even you, especially not you, would be able to go and grab it. Understand? As much as you enjoy it, someone has to pay Id software enough for them to release a commercial quality game, and if we don't they'll just go out of business or stop out of frustration, and then I would have to find you and your friends and beat you all up, or at least until I died because of the fact pirates/thieves probably would outnumber me 100:1.

    If you were as big a drain on the rest of society as you would be in software piracy circles, would you be really missed if I got pissed and decided to kill you?

    I wonder if I need to see a psychiatrist soon? I'm scaring myself right now...

    AS
    AS
  • I'm sure Id however could get access to those and generate those trans.tbl files...

    AS
    AS
  • Um...

    I'm not sure that's a valid concern; a concern, yes, but valid?
    That would mean one person with a Linux/Intel box alongside a Windows/Intel box alonside a Mac/PowerPC box... and playing all three games at once to violate any sort of law.

    If I own Quake3:Arena, and I did have all three boxes, I don't think there is a legal reason I can't play it on any of the machines I own; I wouldn't need 3 copies, I just couldn't run all three at once. If I owned 3 PCs running Windows, I could play the game on any of the machines I wanted, legally, if I weren't playing them all at once, or allowing others to play with my single copy unless they themselves owned a copy...

    Regardless of what Nintendo may say about that, unless Id has in their new multiplatform EULA the stipulation that a Mac CD cannot be used by a Win machine or a Linux CD cannot be used on a Mac or something else like that.

    AS
    AS
  • That is a very valid concern, I guess.

    But it is annoying for me, since I do have a Linux and Windows machine in the house for different purposes. I sorta wish I could just pop my copy irregardless of machine in and play.

    AS
    AS
  • Stuff the ballots, stack the votes, buy multiple copies of Q3:Arena for Linux!

    Well, that could get kind of expensive.

    Maybe Q3:Arena and V3 will do for Linux what GLQuake and the original Voodoo did for OpenGL; for MS to work quickly to compete. We may hate them, but they did a halfway decent job with DX6; it took them long enough, however...
    AS
    AS
  • What's wrong with complaining? It's the first step before action, right?
    So after I complained and asked some questions, and got some good answers, I sent of an email to T.Hollenshed @ Id software to ask him about it. I unfortunately need a 'Doze system, but prefer my Linux system. If Id can release a dual-boot version without anyproblems, then I'll be happy! If they can't, I'll choose one or the other and download the executables later...

    Which remainds me...

    AS
    AS
  • That's another good idea.

    But I wonder what would happen if they made 2 copies; the Windows Version and the Multi-Boot Version and the Mac Version; the Multi-Boot would have Linux/Windows for those dual-booters and for Linux people, and the Mac version would satisfy those Mac people, and the Windows version would satisfy the Windows people...

    It would still get a good count of Linux users because it would indicate Linux OS if the multi-boot version were bought.

    AS
    AS
  • You could nit-pick as much as you want; Harming Id software will also harm any computer vendors which services Id, as well as the isp/backbone providers, as well as the local groceries, car dealerships, automotive parts, restaurants, bookstores, BlockBusters, Coca Cola, pizzerias, and the rest of the state that depends on Id's taxes for some amount of cash.

    So in some sense stealing from Id hurts Id, their city, their state, and through IRS, the rest of the country. And that is a sizeable amount of taxes, if Id really did sell over 2,000,000 of Doom, plus all the licenses from Quake, Quake2, and the sales and licenses of Quake3.

    So yes, as enemy of the state, the warezboy should be shot.

    AS
    AS
  • I see. Then you submitted it to /., and it took it five weeks for it to go through the process that is CT and gang, before making it here, right?

    Odd, considering the Shugashack link only had the article up since Friday, so since it's been up it's only take 24 hours at the most to get through the internal process.

    Maybe they lost your submission?

    You will submit before me! Bow down! Clean my shoes with your tongue!
    Sorry, bad mental association =)
    AS
    AS
  • I dunno; the sheer volume of repeat customers must mean some people are satisfied. I am =)

    You have to discount mistakes; it could just be attributed to a lack or ommision of communication from the different people running /., so that each one could potentially post the same article without realizing the other already had.

    Since when did /. become a Linux vehicle, flag, and banner? Linux is certainly interesting, but not the only thing. The source to /. is available; you take it and try to run your own portal/community, and then you try to deal with the volume/lack of and complaints/lack of when you're overworked/bored silly...

    AS
    AS
  • What's your problem?

    If I own 3 PCs, if I am not mistaken, I can run my copy of WinNT on only one at a time, right? Is that what you're saying? That's what I'm saying.

    However, the analogy with Q3 would be:
    I have WinNT installed on all three computers, but I only ever turn on one at any time. Period. Thats it. So no more than one copy of WinNT is in use or is operational at any time.

    What, are you saying it is illegal to run Q3:Arena on 3 different computers? Would it satisfy you if I uninstalled each time I moved from a computer to another? This is a technical point, because as soon as I move back to another PC I would uninstall the current copy and install it on the other... For that effort, why not just leave it on all PCs and just be sure to never play more than one copy at a time?

    Then how to deal with my dual-boot NT/Linux machine? Should I have 2 copies for one machine? 2 copies for 2 OSes? How would you feel if I downloaded the Win32 binaries from Id's own site, ala Q3:Arena Demo, installed it, then copied the data from the Linux CD onto my Windows partition? I still only play it on 1 machine, and only on 1 OS at a time; what kind of violations would I be accused of?

    AS
    AS
  • Huh?
    Good for you that you're grown up. If you don't plan on paying for it, then I really doubt you are 'grown up', despite being 30, 40, 50, 60, or 70. What, you don't believe in personal worth, responsibility, effort, time, and recompense? Aren't these all the issues that we'r dealing with?

    John Carmack and Co's personal worth and effort and time are placed in a product. You, if you have your own sense of worth, have money and a job, otherwise you probabaly wouldn't be online and posting at /.
    Rather than spending your own time, energy, and effort coding what will be Q3:Arena, you come to the conclusion; I'll give them this money to do it for me. If I don't give them the money, they won't do it for me. This way, for only 50$ and maybe a couple hours of work, I get a kick-ass game that they have spent 6 people for almost a year working at.

    Of course, if you aren't worth anything, I can see how it would be difficult to see anyone else, like John Carmack and Co, being worth anything either. So, being worthless, you would imagine their time, effort, and energy is also worth as much, and their game, and thus free for you to take.

    Of course, I could be wasting my breath, and you could just be trolling to get a response. It's a shame you're an AC, because I would love to talk to you. And I promise not to kill you, as long as we stay civil. Isn't that fair?

    AS
    AS
  • Hey, I understand that. There are many of my friends who believe in a try before you buy policy; I don't begrudge them this, as it is a good gauge on whether to spend $50 or so. I get around this by renting for a few dollars, or watching all my friends play a game or two before deciding I want to own it myself. It just bothered me that the original poster didn't make any mention of his real intentions beyond downloading the game. This is real entertainment, probably worth hundreds of hours in the near future, and it would make my investment be worth much less if some guys downloaded and never played it. If it plays it for day and decides he doesn't want it, then fine. Not a problem I have.

    AS
    AS
  • ???
    Why even posting if it isn't a useful comment or discussion?

    Fine, take your $50 elsewhere if you don't want Q3:Arena. It's your money, your time, your leisure. Go grab FFVIII or watch a few movies or get drunk or whatever. It's not my concern your free time and money. I'm talking because I want to hear comments and discussion. I have yet to hear a pirate be defend themselves; those that try before they buy aren't really the pirates I talk or complain about, because they do buy the games they play.

    I'm waiting to hear from a pirate to defend their actions cogently, legitamately, and carefully. I'm feeling much better now, so no more death threats from me =) Ahh. Sugar.

    AS
    AS
  • What does morals have to do with anything?

    Are you talking business in general? I can agree. Id software specifically? It would hard pressed for me to concede that these 12 people have no morals, and that all the care about is money. Sure, the money is important, but if money were all they cared about, they wouldn't be porting to Linux, they wouldn't be using OpenGL, and they wouldn't be making Quake3:Arena.

    Linux is an unproven untested market.
    OpenGL is not quite as well supported as M$'s DirectX libraries...
    Quake3:Arena is a risk; they want to do something fun, entertaining, and worthwhile. If they wanted more money, they would do something like Half Life or KingPin or Sin, or heck, even a Deer Hunter clone.

    I fail to see your point to my arguments, or to any arguments. Sure, you lie, cheat, and shoot people for money. Who cares? What's the big deal about worshipping money? I much prefer looking and flirting with cute girls over working, but I work just enough to support myself, and live comfortable. No more. Is money something worthwhile in itself?

    Why am I the sucker, by the way? It would be nice if you could tell me, so I can fix whatever gaping flaw I have that you see...

    AS
    AS
  • Does this mean that when the SGI version comes out that there will be a seperate box for that too?

    :)
  • How is the G200 for 3d? If it's good, I think I'll buy one, since Matrox has released ALL specs for it...
  • I don't really know what kinds of differences you're talking about with control and playability, but from what I've heard/read, there will be no difference in mods.
  • All good and true, but something I've been wondering about: there seems to be the 3dfx side of graphics cards, and the other side, which has my Riva TNT card (STB Velocity 4400)...does that mean anything requiring 3dfx is unusable by me, either on my windows or linux side?
  • Don't forget that this is the first of several..
    A quake1 package and a quake2 package are also
    going to make it to stores. I think this is a great thing.. id games are some of the best ones
    out there, and the fact that win32 gamers will
    see these boxes sure helps raise the perception
    of Linux as a gaming OS

    Hoonis
  • Idiot!, if you rin linux 95% of the time, why bother shutting it down just to boot up windows to play quake? just get used to it.
  • >As to why they might want to have separate boxes >for Windows, Mac, and Linux, it might be to >gather information. When I go down to CompUSA and
    > pick up my copy, Id will *know* that >I bought that box to get the Linux version. My >guess is that Id is trying to find out if there >is enough Linux interest
    > for Linux to be an officially >supported platform for their future games, or if >it should go back to being a "we'll do a port for >fun in our spare time"
    > platform. Same for the Mac--Apple's >selling a lot of iMacs--and I'm sure Id wants to >know just how big the Mac market for the latest >games is>.

    I think you're right at all, but if I do not find the linux version in a store, I would buy the win version and download the linux binary(that'll be possible, see bluesnews.com, anna kang/id) and id thinks there's not enough interest for Linux to be an supported platform...
  • no, according to anna kang/id you can download the missing binaries...(win, linux, mac)
  • Well, I plan on playing Q3A in both Windows and Linux. I'll buy the Linux version (since I want the Linux numbers to look good so they keep developing for Linux), but I can't afford to buy the game twice. Guess I guess I'll have to copy Win32 binaries from somebody else. Honestly, it seems a little miserly of them to require such a thing. I'm willing to shell out 50-60 bucks for a good game, but not 100-120 bucks. I guess you could argue I shouldn't boot into Windows at all, but that's not really feasible for me, unfortunately.
  • Gotta hand it to slashdot, to be the one and only site that not only repeats stories in an untimely fashion, but doesn't even bother to add some sort of intelligent commentary either.
  • Redundancy is good for power supplies, and information storage, sometimes even networks.. but NOT electronic news mediums...

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