[dahalb]

With the increase in popularity of Linux based OS's rising, I was wondering whether or not Jumpgate Evolution will be supported on these platforms?

[Aphelion]

Hmm... got any statistics? I wonder what percentage of Linux users are out there that would play a game like Jumpgate. (besides dahalb )

[-Vomir-]

Me, but we must be reasonable, there aren't enough to officially support a linux port.

However, as I see they might kick out directplay, so you might be able to run it somehow (read wine or similar).

somewhere I've seen scorch posting about getting the network code into Jumpgate Classic, it might be worth a try...

[dahalb]

I don't currently have a linux system operational but with the likes of Dell now shipping its hardware pre-loaded with Linux (at least in Australia) and with the backlash against Vista now being seen more readily I just thought it might be an option.

As for me, I'll be sticking with XP and Linux on my machines.

[vorlon31]

vendetta online has pc and linux (and mac(?)) downloads and although i dont think that particular space games is all that successful (I loathed its zoom), it would be the place to ask and see how many space sim linux players are out there.

[Powo]

Well Windows and Linux uses different real time rendering systems.
Windows series uses DirectX or Direct3D. And Linux and the rest of the other unix systems use OpenGL.

So if Jumpgate Evolution has the ability to switch to different render systems between Direct3D and OpenGL, then yeah the porting to Linux is a possibility but it sounds like it's a very difficult thing to do.

[Dolia]

Originally Posted by Powo

Well Windows and Linux uses different real time rendering systems.
Windows series uses DirectX or Direct3D. And Linux and the rest of the other unix systems use OpenGL.

So if Jumpgate Evolution has the ability to switch to different render systems between Direct3D and OpenGL, then yeah the porting to Linux is a possibility but it sounds like it's a very difficult thing to do.

that i was ready to say

but if we take the sample of WOW (bad sample but it is one ^^), which is openGL and DirectX compatible, opengl game are mostly compatible but rarelly port to linux. WOW works really fine under linux but only with Wine (or Cedega) and i dont think it will ever port to linux :/

only hope that Jumpgate Evolution will be OpenGL

[Wild_Cujo]

Originally Posted by Aphelion

Hmm... got any statistics? I wonder what percentage of Linux users are out there that would play a game like Jumpgate. (besides dahalb )

I only stuck to Windows for jumpgate I actually dual boot Jumpgate and HOMM are the 2 reasons I keep Windows around. Oh by the way hello everyone!

[Powo]

only hope that Jumpgate Evolution will be OpenGL

Or better yet, have a feature to be able to switch between two different rendering APIs(DX or GL).

[dahalb]

Originally Posted by Aphelion

Hmm... got any statistics? I wonder what percentage of Linux users are out there that would play a game like Jumpgate. (besides dahalb )

Its not just Linux. Mac's now run on a Linux kernal and more and more, ppl are using linux based OS's. I just wondered if Jumpgate Evolution will be supported on any of these OS types rather than any specific linux distro.

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by dahalb

Its not just Linux. Mac's now run on a Linux kernal and more and more, ppl are using linux based OS's. I just wondered if Jumpgate Evolution will be supported on any of these OS types rather than any specific linux distro.

[linux nazi mode] Mac is based on Darwin which is based on FreeBSD which is a derivative of the original Berkley/at&t Unix. Linux kernel and BSD kernel are quite different. [/linux nazi]

A package made for linux, will not nesseserly work on BSD or Mac. If it's compiled from source, or if it's a bash script that gets the files it needs originally from server (a la Vendetta), then it should work.
----

A linux version would be extremely nice. Linux is in sort of.. catch 22. It needs software (popular games), but it's not being written/ported cause there are "not enough users", but users won't switch until the software is there. I am all for Jumpgate Evolution on linux, unless it takes away resources from getting it out to us sooner

[dahalb]

Thanks for the correction. I don't profess to be an expert but for MMO's isn't the end user system relatively moot. Most of the code back and forth would be standard stuff. I understand that the client would need to be rebuilt for each platform but the network code could be universal.

As i say, i'm no expert but it makes sense to communicate in a standard fashion across platforms. The WWW works that way, is there a reason Jumpgate Evolution couldn't?

[Poseidon]

Network code is not quite universal. While the actual packets are standard, different OSes have different APIs that may handle information differently, thus network code is not universal. Everyone has their own take on the "standard".