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General: Using Linux for MMOs
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com Correspondent Emmett Hendrick writes this interesting look at the options that are available for players who may choose to do their MMO gaming through Linux rather than Windows.
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We all play MMOs, thats why we come here. We like to read up on what’s new in the industry, to see what next great update is coming for our favourite title and to chat to like minded people about MMOs in general. Online gaming is a big market and one which many people enjoy. If you run a Windows based machine it's likely you'll not run into many problems getting your game to run (as long as your hardware meets the requirements and excluding some major game play stopping bugs).
But what if you don't run Windows? What if you are part of a growing community who, for various different reasons, don't have or don't want a copy of Windows? In the PC arena many of these people run a variety of Linux (and there are many varieties) so what options do people who run Linux have to join the wide MMO community and get online with like minded folks to beat Orcs, travel the Galaxy or try to emulate there favourite super hero in beating down the (virtual) denziens of society?
Read Using Linux for MMOs
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Nice info, but no thanks. Actually, helps peoples to figure out how hard is to play a game under linux.
Just stick with Windows, no problems with games and anything else... please, no "linux year" bullshits, linux is not in the books today.
in response to the guy above me, some people just don't like windows...
QFT. I hate having to log into windows to play some games. OSX ftw : )
Ive yet to give linux a chance though.
Originally posted by Scagweed22
is it the graphics? the repetativenesses? i mean what is the point? you could be so much more productive in real life
Real life brings repetition and pointlessness too. The only thing real life offers is Great graphics. Its kinda expensive too and way to dependent on the cash shop. Totally pay to win as well. No thank you. Ill stick to my games.
QFT. I hate having to log into windows to play some games. OSX ftw : )
Ive yet to give linux a chance though.
TECHNICALLY, you /are/ using a version of BSD, under OSX.
A linux ninja!
I use linux a lot myself, and while I /love/ not having to pay for OS upgrades beinga college student, I have to agree that especially in the gaming department, you have to give in - which is a shame!
I know there are /plenty/ of us out there that have spent time stalking the internets to see if <insert new game here> will run under WINE/Cedega etc. And with other games that support the.. oh, what's that security software called that a lot of Asian MMO's use? Anywho - to actually support /that/ would require a total rewrite of the base WINE engine.
The other option IMHO is to find a linux native MMO. There aren't many GOOD ones out there.
There's still nothing like the experience of ripping into a new game, being able to install it, and actually log in with the first few hours of release. For now, we're not going to get that experience on a linux platform.
Of course, I'm optomistic for the future, as the linux user base continues to grow!
For the love of god just dual boot. Or use two machines.
From a list in the article -
"Virual machine – www.vmware.com"
Virual... sounds so close to viral...... which is kind what it is like infesting a Linux box with something resembling Windows. :P
Gave me a little giggle. That being said ... I have tried several flavors of Linux. I have yet to try to game on them. If I get to the point where I can run the game I play on Linux, Micro$haft and the evil empire will have seen my last Windoze purchase.
My laptop came forcibly infested with Vista because M$ has Asus (like many other manufacturers) by the proverbial short hairs. Besides having to fight for my Administrator rights at every turn, I tried to uninstall a 'trial' copy of Office 2K7, that would NOT uninstall. Like a bad penny, it kept coming back. Vista then died a horrible screaming, formatted and repartitioned death in favor of a brand new copy of XP. Windows is all about catering to the lowest common denominator as far as users go. Making the computer able to take over and 'protect' the poor stupid users who don't know what they are doing! *rolls eyes* I am sorry. I do not need the computer to protect me from myself. Now... if it followed me around in real life and picked my dates for me? That might have actually been beneficial... but I digress...
Unfortunately, my latest courses require Office 2K7, which makes me want to beat my head against the desk. Ugh.
At some point after graduation, when I actually have just only a job and get to have free time once again.... *wistful sigh* I plan on trying out a Linux box again. Hopefully articles like this one will still be floating around to help me in my hour on Linux n00bness. But I, for one, am all for gaming and Linux. I just need the time to be able to tackle getting used to it. Very interesting and encouraging article!
Just thought you should know that WoW runs just fine on Linux too. Not that anyone on MMORPG really would CARE (being WoW is pretty much considered a four letter word here, but....yeah.)
We have 3 computers...one that runs only Linux, one XP, and one Vista. Incidentally....the Vista machine is an absolute gaming beast (other than having been built with Vista on it) and the Linux machine probably runs WoW FAR more efficiently with absolutely no lag EVER, even in Dalaran when it's packed with players.
However....Linux (in any version) doesn't run a LOT of games even WITH Wine or any of the other mentioned setups. So unless you're really devoted to a specific game that runs on it ....for NOW anyway.... it's not a good option for OVERALL gaming. There are definite bonuses to running Linux, however. It's very simple, clean, non-cluttered, FAST (very fast) and efficient.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
That's okay, Linux (and it's community) has learned a long ago to ignore worthless (and illiterate) comments.
It's good that Linux people can play good titles (a few) on their system, but still, water is flowing on the side by windows. Unlike virtualization, Wine is an application layer. Where virtualization software emulates the hardware component, Wine translates the system calls for host platform (which is already mentioned in the article). DirectX is an API, so DirectX can't do anything alone (like rendering eye popping visual effects). It relies on device driver, whatever it does, it does with device driver. Many Linux users don't get desired result because they use generic video driver instead the card specific. As the nVidia and ATI drivers are proprietary, many Linux distro don't bundle them, thus get overlooked easily.
Yes, the progress of Wine is very slow (but stable). Maintaining it's tradition, DirectX is poorly commented (or not commented at all in some places) and have very messy code. This has been addressed a thousand times in wine and other places in web. So it's been always very difficult for wine developer to understand the data flow of DirectX completely. Here many people (me too) think that instead (or with) DirectX if OpenGL is used by game developers, then cross platform gaming (using some application layer like wine) would be much easier and successful. Who knows, may be Micro$oft has something to do with it! And OpenGL is also never promoted that much within the gaming industry.
I use dual boot just for gaming. I think Micro$oft has done an incredible job which no-one has done yet, to dragging users like me to windows who hates to log into it but still logs in :-). To me, a windows box is nothing but a television with PS3/Xbox 360. It's good for entertainment, but if one is serious about working, that person must look something other than windows. I hope in coming days scenario will change a lot, we, who really don't like to stay on windows will get a chance to have our option.
A good programmer is the person who creates thousands of bugs while fixing hundreds!
gee, I wonder how can game programers make ANY title with that hard-to-use-and-even-lacking-documentation-directx
quoting Linus: “Microsoft Hatred Is a Disease”
Game programmers use DirectX API (a library with a lots of API functions). I was talking about the code of DirectX (compiled one), two are different. Game programmers don't know how data flows(not conceptually. but by code) inside the DirectX for multisampling, they just call few series of API functions for that. When you install DirectX SDK, you'll get compiled API library with documentation on the library and samples, not DirectX source, like when you install windows SDK you don't get the source of windows itself.
Ofcourse, someday not choosing toothpaste of someone's choice would be called a "disease" :-)
A good programmer is the person who creates thousands of bugs while fixing hundreds!
Guild Wars for example runs very well under Crossover on my MacBook with Mac OS X. So it will run under Linux aswell. But beside my MacBook for work and everyday use, i have my old PC Box as a gaming machine. Only because my MacBook with a Geforce 9400 is not that gaming beast. But if you have a Mac Pro, there are fewer reasons to start Windows.
And you can have a look at VirtualBox from Sun, which has experimental DirectX support now:
http://www.virtualbox.org/
Playing: Guild Wars, Runes of Magic
Waiting: Guild Wars 2
Why would anyone want to use Linux to play an MMO? Or any game period. Microsoft know that if there software was difficult to pirate it would not be anywhere as popular as it ought to be. Which makes any argument about cost moot. The number of people using Linux to play games is tiny, yes the install base has increased with the sucess of netbooks. But why decrease your own performance just because you can. Every 18 months or so there seems to a wave of articles purpoting "linux is the future!". People have been saying that for a good 10 years.
But, given how web-centric a lot of software it won't surprise anyone to know that Google are making an OS. Now I'm no die-hard liberal pony-tail wearing veggie linux user, but even he/she would be excited about that assuming that they aren't too stoned out.
Linux - great for servers and mobile OS, poor at compatibility and games. OK for desktop OS.
Windoes - OK for servers, great for games, poor at mobile OS. OK for desktop OS.
Every time an article like this appears for MMO's or more broadly games I have to ask a big Why?
Linux is a great business operating system, but when it come to games it decidedly falls down. People who play games on Linux are players that have to do everything the hard way just so they can say they did it.
Just because you can use something it was not designed for does not mean it is a good idea.
My home system runs on Linux, but when it comes to playing games I don't fool with the clutzy windows virtual software, I dual boot into windows.
Whether you like windows or not, it beats Linux hands down when it comes to playing games. Being stubborn about it just is stupid.
The exact same thing can be said about the mac too.
I have to assume you meant "vegan", not "veggie", as most of the people I know who use Linux are considerably more intelligent than the average Twittering, YouTube surfing user that uses a computer as an glorified video phone. The absolute hard-core Linux geeks are the command-line Nazis. They are the ones I have found to be scary intelligent.
However, I don't think any of them are naive enough to see anything good in a Google OS.
Don't you ever wonder why Google is so generous? First Gmail, now Google Voice, their own browser, and now an OS? Why are they spending all this money to give you things for free? Because your personalized 'profile' is worth something to them. They data-mine. Data-mining and archiving profiles so that marketers can engage in more targeted (and thus more profitable) marketing is big business. I won't use their Gmail for anything that resembles real life communcation. I won't let them transcribe my phone calls to text so they can dig through them to see what car I drive, what pizza I ordered last week, or who I am getting nasty with during those late night weekend phone calls. :P There is no way I would ever run an operating system that they had anything to do with. They will keep their hands out of my cookie jar.
Most of my Linux-user friends are highly intelligent, and although I don't probe them about their political opinions, most seem to tolerate my conservative Libertarian philosophies well. This gives me the impression they are not liberals. As for pony tails... of all the people that have been in my Linux LUG, I think only one of the males has a pony tail. The rest are either sys admins, network engineers, and one is an engineer for the local television station. I consider all of them to be far more intelligent than myself, and though I am not an Einstein, I am no ditzy blonde either.
The only reason I use Windows because it was the first OS I was exposed to. When I have the free time to sit down and immerse myself in something new (which I don't at the moment) I will get more familiar with Linux. I may keep a machine for gaming and let it run Windows. Kind of like having a gaming console.
But then that is just my opinion. I am not trying to portray all Windows users as stupid. But the whole premise of "Windows" is to make computing accessible to those who could not (or refused to try to) grasp old-style computing. It continues to become more controlling under the guise of being "user-friendly". Great for those who do not understand how to properly run a computer. Bad for those of us that want our machines to do what WE want, not what someone else has programmed them to do for us.
The bad thing about Windows is, that it isn`t even user friendly. Why all the computer courses? Why all the books? Why all the guys making so much money with service? A computer should react on how a human thinks. And not make the human learn how a computer works. For normal daily use. And there are many other operating system, which do a better job on that and many other stuff. The only reason for windows is the big market. Let´s see what the future will be.
Playing: Guild Wars, Runes of Magic
Waiting: Guild Wars 2
<----------Hardcore Command-line Nazi....I run 2 linux servers in the house, one for offline code development which also runs a ubuntu desktop, one for test bed development, both running some virtual software so I can test games interface and systems as a pc desktop...Run linux laptop (wiped away vista) with vmware running a xp session in a condensed windows box for testing remote connections and wireless resposiveness to the games as well as a 3rd cloud computing linux server up on one of those rackspace type hosters...
For my kids, I have them running on a windows pc (but got to maintain it constantly, virius scanner, security updates and mozilla no scripting etc)...my 11 yo daughter got her 1st linux netbook flash drive for xmas last year...i'm so proud...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php
Hehe... good for her. I wish my original exposure had been to Linux. I have been a bit too entrenched in the comfort of my 'windows' and the point, click, drag and drop laziness.
My laptop must remain running Windows. It is my school machine and must be able to deal with their file types and software required for classes. My home PC may eventually taste Linux, of what flavor I am not yet sure. Any recommendations? What handles the gaming best, in your experience? Right now I only (barely in my meager excuse for free time) play City of Heroes. I plan on keeping up with my subscription, for the foreseeable future and would like to be able to play it on whatever OS I run. I also do 3D graphics renders (DAZ Studio and am learning Poser) and write (I alternate between MS Word and Open Office Writer). What would be a good type of Linux for a n00b with very little time to practice with a new O/S?
I hate Windows, but I do keep a partition just for games. You can uninstall pretty much every feature and turn off most services and that leaves you with a nice little pseudo-console to play games on which runs pretty fast. For everything else, I use Linux.
IMO, this is not about Window rules in gaming compare to Linux or OSX or whatever OS. People have choices. You like Window, you can find games. Likewise for others who like the rest of the OS.
The interesting point is, the main core feature of a MMO game is base on networking, which is the strong point on Linux. Why cant Linux deserve a fair share of the entertainment goodies? Also, it doesnt make sense to own multiple OS in a same machine. Look at this scenario: Working in Linux and playing in Windows, it is sad if you think this is "OK".
Computers are suppose to make our life easy, not miserable.
Why do you believe it is "sad" to think it is "OK" to either dual boot or run two different OS's on two machines?
I own two computers at the moment, soon to be three. Why would I want to limit myself to only one flavor of OS? Dual booting is a way to experience more than one when a person only has one computer.
I look at it like this: different operating systems (or even software, period) do different jobs, in different ways. Just like differing recipes make the same foods taste different by altering it slightly. I don't pot roast every night for supper for the rest of my life. But that does not mean I dislike beef. In the same way, I like to learn and experience different types of software - be it an OS or just a new program.
There is no reason whatsoever to limit oneself by any means. If you can afford Windows, and Linux is free, why not have both? Knowledge is power and the more you can understand, the better off you are.
Yes, i try different operating systems just to get to know them. But i don´t like dual booting if i have to. It is far mor comfort to start a program in one system. And it takes more space, and produces more trash to have many systems. I have only two systems, because one is a laptop, which i like to be silent and small. So i don´t want a big fat gaming laptop with a 1 hour battery life.
Playing: Guild Wars, Runes of Magic
Waiting: Guild Wars 2
Hehe... good for her. I wish my original exposure had been to Linux. I have been a bit too entrenched in the comfort of my 'windows' and the point, click, drag and drop laziness.
My laptop must remain running Windows. It is my school machine and must be able to deal with their file types and software required for classes. My home PC may eventually taste Linux, of what flavor I am not yet sure. Any recommendations? What handles the gaming best, in your experience? Right now I only (barely in my meager excuse for free time) play City of Heroes. I plan on keeping up with my subscription, for the foreseeable future and would like to be able to play it on whatever OS I run. I also do 3D graphics renders (DAZ Studio and am learning Poser) and write (I alternate between MS Word and Open Office Writer). What would be a good type of Linux for a n00b with very little time to practice with a new O/S?
I would recommend, for any windows user who is coming over to Linux for the first time to give Ubuntu Desktop a try. It feels like windows, it acts like windows with its GUI and other nice features and even has update utilities built into the interface that you can run at your whim as well as search for applications and other nice Open Source content. Also, it comes pre-stocked with open office (for your school work) , a paint program, music player etc...its like having a base windows system with out all the extra (aol -hellish) freebie apps they put on the set....it even runs from a live CD (you can boot an run from memory to play around with it)....and all at the low low low cost of about 1.2gb of HD space...minimum required memory to run it is 64mb...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php