“So where are the kick-ass games? The fact is, it’s a challenge
to play popular games on a Linux system. Windows emulators and
virtual machines don’t get you very far. Wine’s DirectX emulation
makes for a surprisingly good gaming environment at times
(particularly if you have access to real Windows DLLs), but Wine’s
quirks are still significant. Neither Win4Lin nor VMware support
DirectX, although VMware’s sound support means you can play a
reasonable number of Windows NT (non-DirectX)-compatible
titles.”
“Driver struggles put Linux game vendors like Loki in a
no-win scenario. If they don’t handhold customers through the
process of updating X, acquiring the right OSS driver, and
installing the latest 3D driver for the video card, people like me
get on their case for delivering inadequate installation
instructions. If they do offer advice, they get a new batch of
problems. Customers then expect additional support and
assistance with said driver installations, and the game developers
have to ship drivers and instructions that may well be out of date
by time they reach store shelves. The added costs and hassle make
the Linux gaming business much less appealing.”
“Can the spark provided by Loki make Linux gaming a success on
the desktop and console? If a few key expansion manufacturers catch
on, yes, I honestly believe that Linux will be a viable gaming
platform. If not, we’ll always have ADOM.”