Good Old Games

[marelooke]

Really, it all comes down to the unknown.  Windows is like a long term relationship.  Even if the relationship has been bad at times, people are scared of change because Windows is all they've known for so long.  As far as hardware, pretty much all common hardware (and most uncommon hardware) is supported "out of the box".  As far as gaming peripherals go, your typical peripherals work just fine, as I can attest to with my 360 controller and Thrustmaster Flightstick.  More niche and specialized peripherals may not have the same level of support on Linux at this time.  They will likely still work, but may not have some of the same fine tuning capabilities that come with applications written by the manufacturer.  If Linux gains traction, naturally greater hardware (and software) support will follow.  I would guess critical mass would be around 10% market share (Linux is around 1-2% on desktops now I think, via browsing statistics, which isn't exactly an exact science).

 

 

The last game  we worked on only took a few days to port because Linux shares some similarities to the PS4's operating system (which is based on FreeBSD, a fork of Linux).

That's not entirely correct.  Both Linux and FreeBSD are based on Unix, different flavors of Unix (Linux was based on MINIX, while FreeBSD was, as the name implies, based on Berkeley Software Distribution).  Through POSIX compliance, which, to the best of my knowledge, both Linux and *BSD still strive for, there are a lot of similarities between the systems.

 

That's still not 100% correct Linux was developed separate from other projects to be a UNIX-like kernel and wasn't based on Minix at all (Minix' license wouldn't allow it and Tanenbaum refused to change it). The BSDs are all based directly or indirectly on 386BSD which was based on the original BSD.

 

The other part of what is commonly referred to as just "Linux" is "GNU"* which was developed by the Free Software Foundation to be a free (as in freedom) alternative to UNIX (iow be POSIX compliant and all that goodness). However, they lacked a kernel (well, they had one but it wasn't ready), which is where Linux came in: GNU + Linux = complete operating system.

 

*just to be politically correct: I'm ignoring embedded use here (eg: Android) as it's perfectly possible to use GNU without Linux and Linux without GNU, though those are specialized uses and not really relevant to the discussion.

 

As an aside, I believe Mac OSX is based off Unix also, though I forget which flavor of Unix.

Apparently NextStep (which forms the core of OS X) used bits of both NetBSD and FreeBSD while the OS X userland borrows mostly from FreeBSD.

[sesobebo]

pardon me, but what's this got to do with gog.com? {:

[BruceVC]

pardon me, but what's this got to do with gog.com? {:

 

Linux games are coming to GOG, thats the connection.

[Keyrock]

The other part of what is commonly referred to as just "Linux" is "GNU"* which was developed by the Free Software Foundation to be a free (as in freedom) alternative to UNIX (iow be POSIX compliant and all that goodness). However, they lacked a kernel (well, they had one but it wasn't ready), which is where Linux came in: GNU + Linux = complete operating system.

13 years later and GNU Hurd still isn't ready.  I'm not convinced it ever will be.

 

And yes, Linux was built from the ground up, but Minix is what Linus was working with at the time, so it stands to reason that it would be the flavor of Unix that Linux most closely resembles, or did at its inception.  There are, of course, differences in design between Minix and Linux, not the least of which being that Minix uses a microkernel design, while Linux uses a monolithic kernel design.

 

Edit: I'm derailing this thread, aren't I.  I'll stop now. 

Edited March 19, 2014 by Keyrock

[Lexx]

Commandos and stuff is cheap on GOG right now:

http://www.gog.com/promo/team17_blue_moon_red_owl_merge_games_weekend_promo_210314

 

Buy it and then play my mission pack ~~ shameless advert ~~

http://www.moddb.com/mods/commandos-bcd-mission-pack

[Keyrock]

Do me a favor, fine folks.  GOG is running a Battle of the Games promo where they put two sets of games against each other and the one to get more votes gets the steeper discount.  Today's battle is Caesar III, Pharaoh + Cleopatra, and Zeus + Poseidon vs. Empire Earth 1,2 & 3.  Zeus: Master of Olympus is my favorite city building game of all time.  I still have the disc somewhere, but the last time I tried to get it running on a modern distro, it laughed at me.  So, if you're not keen on picking up the Empire Earth games yourself, then be a peach and drop a vote down for the Caesar/Pharaoh/Zeus team for me.  I would dearly like to scoop Zeus up on the cheap so that I can play it again without having to jump through hoops.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Keyrock: Voted. Btw, the game looks great, and as I couldn't find it on Steam, I may pick it up as well tomorrow.

[Drowsy Emperor]

Voted. I'd bet that it would have won anyway. Those games were always more popular than the EE series.

 

Edit: I just saw that the votes are public. Its closer than I would have thought.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Drowsy Emperor

[Keyrock]

Keyrock: Voted. Btw, the game looks great, and as I couldn't find it on Steam, I may pick it up as well tomorrow.

Thanks.  Caesar III, Pharaoh, and Zeus are all great games and all very similar, as Pharaoh and Zeus are basically modified versions of Caesar III.  It's really a matter of which culture strikes your fancy the most.  I'm a huge fan of Greek mythology, so Zeus is my jam.  If you're into ancient Egypt more, then Pharaoh might be more your taste.  If you're into the Roman Empire, then Caesar would likely suit you best.  

 

Voted. I'd bet that it would have won anyway. Those games were always more popular than the EE series.

 

Edit: I just saw that the votes are public. Its closer than I would have thought.

Thanks.  Yeah, I would have thought the vote would be more heavily skewed toward Caesar III/Pharaoh/Zeus also.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Np!

And like you I get my sweetest mythological fix from the Greek pantheon. I have loved those stories since I was a kid.

[Humanoid]

Fine, fine. Although at $1.50 difference, it hardly matters whether a game wins or loses in a given round...

[Volourn]

My biggest issue with GOG is I'm addicted to it. I spam buy old games, play them for a while having fun, then stop them midstream. Wasted 100s of dollars on that silly site. L0L

[Humanoid]

I spam buy old games with no intention of ever playing them, which is probably worse. Probably have played about 30-40 games GOG games total, about half of which would be games I own on disk/CD already and purchased for convenience purpose. That'd a decent chunk of games, but the current count of GOG games owned is 203.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Well, I bought that Zeus-Poseidon game at GOG (Yay! We won!! A few cents...). Downloading it now.

[Keyrock]

Well, I bought that Zeus-Poseidon game at GOG (Yay! We won!! A few cents...). Downloading it now.

Same here.  The difference between winning and losing would have been the price of a cup of coffee, but I'll gladly keep that in my wallet.  I need to set aside a weekend to jump back into Zeus, not this weekend, though, since I'll be away visiting my folks.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Keyrock

[TheChris92]

For the love of all that is holy -- Gog.com please get a hold of Grim Fandango. I. Want. It. So. Much.

[Guest Slinky]

For the love of all that is holy -- Gog.com please get a hold of Grim Fandango. I. Want. It. So. Much.

 

I've gotten the impression they have been trying to get Grim Fandango and the other Lucasarts masterpieces as long GOG has existed without any luck. Must be one frustrating legal hell there.

[Hassat Hunter]

Not just with those, many long-loved and much asked for titles (including my own 'I wanna' No One Lives Forever) have been waited for a long time... :/

That it's often unknown who even owns rights these days doesn't make it easier.

[babaganoosh13]

It's kinda weird, the old LucasArts games on Steam (Loom, Dig, IJ LC/FoA) don't even suffer from $1=1 euro.

[Mamoulian War]

It's the No DRM thing which is no deal for these games I bet.

[babaganoosh13]

The insomnia sale is back on. The stupid one without the time limit. However, this time the freebees are done differently. There's a random chance you'll a free game when you check out.

 

EDIT: Arcanum is the game on now for $1.49. 200 copies left. It's going slow, so people probably don't know about it yet.

Edited May 12, 2014 by babaganoosh13

[Malcador]

I will buy Omerta when it shows up for the Greater Good.  Is funny how well this kind of sale works.  Either that or I'm just bored today.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Malcador

[babaganoosh13]

Raiden Legacy is finally the first game that's come up that I kinda want. So far I've either already got it there, elsewhere, or don't want it.

[babaganoosh13]

Alan Wake @ $6 could wind up being this sales Jack Keane 2 if they want it to be.

 

EDIT: or Divinity Dragon Commander @ $13. Difference is, there's a lot of plus side to Dragon Commander for that price.

Edited May 12, 2014 by babaganoosh13

[Guest Slinky]

Picked up Sam & Max Save the World, will pick up the two other seasons too if they pop up. Also wondering will Papers Please be on sale too, it's been on sale at Steam and humble bundle but never seen it on sale at GOG.