While my main PC is undergoing its upgrade, I'm using my laptop with Ubuntu 9.10, and I'm getting along with it brilliantly! I really do like it. Just one problem. Gaming. I use my PC as my main gaming system. Obviously all games are coded for Windows, not Ubuntu. Well, the question is, can I do it? I've heard of Wine, and I'm confused by it. But what about Steam? I've got a fair few games on there which I'd like to play. Can it be done? Really would like to use Ubuntu as my main system. And I'm not interested in a dual-boot system, as sometimes my craving for games is just too high and I cba to shut down and reboot into Windows. So, can it be done guys? I know I've got a fair bit of reading up to do, and I'm not doing it right now*. So people of Bit-Tech, help a brotha out? Ta, mars *i'm up at 4.30am tomorrow, would like to get at least some sleep before hand
I can't really help with installing windows games etc. But check out Playdeb.net, they have a vast library of free games. My favourite was called Nexuiz, basically a rip-off of quake/UT.
maybe you could try this http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/8218-play-windows-games-on-linux-with-playonlinux But right there is the problem, as you can see those are already old games, since each game needs to be supported into wine, so you wont never get support for current launches.. BTW as you can it was done with fedora 8, but it should work with your distro Cheers will keep looking for more options
Ouch... 4:30am. I hate getting up at that time for opening shifts at work. As far as gaming on Ubuntu goes, there are a fair few native games that will work on Linux, but I'll be honest, they're nothing that you'll find at E3. I've seen a guy installing Steam with WINE on YouTube, but I never saw whether he managed to get a game going. I think your best bet is to just give it a go and see what happens, you never know. I started using Ubuntu a couple of years back (started with Ubuntu Studio 7.10) and the only reason I went back to Windows was because I needed my games, however WINE must have come a long way since then, so who knows. If WINE fails you, then give VirtualBox a go. VirtualBox is VMware which runs Windows inside Ubuntu in a window, just like a program. What this could mean is that instead of closing down and rebooting into Windows, you could just click onto VirtualBox and Windows is right there, ready to play games and stuff. Hope that helps somewhat
Oh it can be done alright, but the question is, is it worth it? From my experience, the answer would be a big fat NO. But if you really insist on it, check out WineHQ. Otherwise, Dual boot/VM is the way to go.
I used to have ubuntu netbook edition on my msi wind (well advent 4211), but now have windows 7 pro installed. It took me forever to install steam (ended up using playonlinux base). Big problem was that i could never get directx to play ball, so nothing would work. Was intending to replay half life and op force and blue shift. Open transport tycoon deluxe worked ok, and pingus was great, but really was designed for gaming in a windows sense. Here's hoping valve release a linux native version of steam and a few games. would make it much more attractive.
ut2k4 can be installed natively on Linux. Quake Live also works perfectly (maybe quake 3 did, I don't remember) those are pretty much the only games I know that work natively
You can get native linux installers for Quakewars, Doom 3 & Quake 4, Serious Sam, World of goo... I've also had Oblivion running in Wine...there's a guide on the internet somewhere - I'll try and find it at some point. Wine is quite actively developed so things will get easier as time goes on. All it does is provides a few DirectX DLL's and a means of installing Windows .exe's in linux. Install Wine, then right click on the exe file on the disk and install it like you would in Windows. There's a bit of a performance penalty and there may be the odd workaround to do, but for older games it should be fine. Also, Steam for Linux has been announced, so we should get Half Life 2 and the episodes at some point.
Steam through wine in ubuntu works fine and most sources games should work fine (a few minor bugs). Check out playonlinux very simple to set up and shouldn't require any reading beforehand. Hopefully steam will come to linux, phoronix have found evidence of os x or linux options in the os x source code. As for it being announced i think that is questionable as far as i know the only people to say its coming out is the Daily Telegraph and i question where they got there info from cause it seems wierd that only they have been told :/.
Wow, never quite expected this amount of replies!! There'll be rep passed about in a bit Thanks man, I appreciate it! How long does it take for a game to get support into wine? Few months? Because I don't often buy a game on release, often wait a few weeks/months. Hmmm, sounds intriguing. What's the performance hit like? 'Cause I reckon it could be massive having to run Windows as a program! I believe they did. Just can't find that issue. Cheers, may have a look for these some time then! Ooooh, awesome!! So, as long as Wine supports the game I'd be able to install it just like a Windows version? And as for performance penalties, as long as it's not 10+fps I won't be too worried. Hopefully the Linux version of Steam will be out soonish, seeing as some of my most played games are on Steam. Once again, thanks for the help guys!
Very old, very mine, but maybe worth a look: http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2007/04/09/Linux_has_game/1
Have they actually announced Steam for linux being developed yet? Las time i checked they were denying it.
According to Phoronix Steam is official http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=valve_steam_announcement&num=1
Forum posts on that article seem to disagree mentioning someone from valve denied they were working on one. Still one person raised a good point when they said that Valve didn't announce anything related to a OSX steam client until it was about to be released. Really i don't see Valve having anything to lose buy releasing a linux client, it would be good news for everyone if they did (except Microsoft) who knows one day i might be able to have a pc where i don't have to pay for an OS.
