Gaming

From TheLinuxVault

Typically, commercially released computer videogames are made for Windows to make profit, a few exceptions includes a Mac version, and virtually none of these offers Linux support. But this doesn't mean there's no gaming under Linux.

The Linux Vault maintains the following lists of Linux games:

1 Native Linux Gaming
- 1.1 External Links
2 WINE

[edit] Native Linux Gaming

Despite there being a hard core of gamers who would appreciate, and often be willing to pay for, commercial games written for Linux, with Linux's comparatively small user base against Windows, most game manufacturers do not find it viable both economically and time-wise to develop for Linux.

However, with all this said, many thousands of games of all different types and genres exist for Linux, and there are even some commercial manufacturers that develop for the platform. Best of all, like much software for Linux is available free of charge, there are many free Linux games too.

It is not unusual for an opensource game offering Linux support to also offer support for Windows or Mac, such as Battle for wesnoth (turn based stragegy) or Frets on Fire (Guitar Hero clone)

[edit] External Links

here are a few links to help you find games for Linux:

[edit] WINE

WINE, a recursive acronym for "WINE Is Not An Emulator", is an "Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix.". In other words it's a piece of software designed to allow programs originally written for Microsoft Windows to run on all sorts of *nix operating systems, including Linux. This implies that games written for Windows might also run on Linux. Games that may run on Linux with a compatibility layer such as WINE will be listed under Compatibility Layer Games.

[edit] Downside Of Cool

WINE, being an open source project, is a work in progress which has greatly improved through time and is still improving and working towards improving compatibility. Trying to run Windows software on Linux with WINE leads to different results, from not working at all, to working flawlessly. Games may crash, run but not be playable, not run, requires some configuration, or work straight out of the box.

[edit] Compatibility

To help identify which applications or games are compatible with WINE and to what degree, the community has been building a database [1] separated into categories. This database is far from being complete, it needs user feedback, if your favorite game is not yet in the database, don't be shy, give it a try and share the results with the community.

Here are the categories and a few examples of games in each of them, keep in mind that YMMV:

Platinum: Applications which install and run flawlessly on an out-of-the-box Wine installation, such as: Max Payne, Warcraft III, Heroes of Might and Magic III, Deus Ex, Diablo 2, Mafia, Hitman 2, Prey,...
Gold: Applications that work flawlessly with some special configuration, such as: World of Warcraft, Day of Defeat Source, Counter-Strike Source, Starcraft Broodwar,
Silver: Applications with minor issues that do not affect typical usage, Such as: Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars 1.x, Supreme Commander, Guild Wars, Battlefield 2, Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 2, Half-life, Starcraft, Diablo, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate 2, Total Annihilation, Team Fortress 2...
Bronze: Applications that work but have some issues, even for 'normal use', such as: Battlefield 1942, Doom 3, System Shock 2, Anarchy Online, Ages of Empires, Ages of Kings,
Garbage: Applications that don't work as intended, such as Flight Simulator, Grand Theft Auto, Civilization 3, Need For Speed Underground, The Sims 2