
Crytek jumps on Steam Machine hype train, announces Linux support - guardian5x
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/crytek-jumps-on-steam-machine-hype-train-announces-linux-support/
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wlesieutre
Great news for Steam OS and Linux in general. It's not as popular as UDK or
Unity (especially at small studios), but this definitely opens the doors to
getting games on Linux that wouldn't have been otherwise.

Off the top of my head, Star Citizen is using the next gen CryEngine. Along
with the next Crysis game and who knows what else.

~~~
skrowl
I haven't seen ANY Unity devs commit to making native linux ports rather than
just using Unity. Until SteamOS can make it as simple as Unity, it's going to
be a tough sell to anyone who is already using Unity.

~~~
jjoonathan
For those about to jump on the downvote bandwagon, I think the argument here
was poorly phrased but might actually makes sense:

> [Despite the fact that Unity supports building native linux binaries] I
> haven't seen ANY Unity devs commit to making native linux ports rather than
> just using Unity [to build binaries for the usual platforms]. Until SteamOS
> can make it as simple [to build native linux binaries] as Unity [already
> does], it's going to be a tough sell to [, at the very least,] anyone who is
> already using Unity [and doesn't build linux binaries, since this sizable
> population has already been given the choice to "check a box and build for
> linux" and declined].

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DrStalker
Assuming that is the argument my counter argument would be that making a Linux
version involves more than a checkbox; you now have extra platforms you need
to test on and extra complexity in supporting your game in return for very
little benefit. If there are issues on the new platform you then need dev time
to address them; Unity might support multiple platforms but that doesn't
guarantee your code will 100% work everywhere.

If steambox provides a known Linux environment with users wanting games it
becomes a much better proposition to make a Linux version, even if official
support is only for Steam Linux and not Linux in general.

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jjoonathan
> my counter argument would be that making a Linux version involves more than
> a checkbox; you now have extra platforms you need to test on and extra
> complexity in supporting your game in return for very little benefit.

I don't think that's a counterargument, I think you're agreeing with what he
said ;)

> If steambox provides a known Linux environment with users wanting games it
> becomes a much better proposition to make a Linux version

 _That_ is a counterargument. I tend to agree. I hope you're right!

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pippy
I'm really hoping to see Linux become the go-to Operating System for gamers.
The idealogical basis has little to do with it: it's mostly personal laziness,
less hassle getting a pirated Windows install with spyware, hassles of
installing legitimate copies across machines.

But most importantly it we need competition on the desktop. Like it or not,
Microsoft still has a monopoly in this market. This can only be good for
people who like technology.

~~~
ekianjo
There is already competition on Desktop. I see more Macs nowadays (clear bias
though, but the user base has definitely grown over the years), and the Linux
user base is stable and slightly growing. Linux won't be the go-to operating
system for gamers for a long time, though, unless publishers and indie game
makers alike decide suddenly to drop windows and so Linux only from now on.
It's not going to happen anytime soon.

~~~
hrkristian
It's all resting on Valve and their SteamOS. If they're able to make it a
viable gaming alternative, we might just see a pretty significant change.

The best part is, a game made for or ported to SteamOS (and Steam Machines)
runs perfectly fine on my Arch install, played Portal 2 beta just yesterday.

By contrast, a game made for X360/XOne (Steam Machine competitor) does not by
default run on a desktop OS, even Windows. The same goes for PS3/4.

You still have the fragmentation of the PC market, but much less so as
optimization on the developer level can be reserved for Steam Machine
hardware, I'm confident my GTX 660M will run stuff just fine even so.

That's a potentially huge win for Linux as both a desktop OS and a platform. I
can easily see it snowballing, with teenagers going "Yeah, I ditched Winlol
and OS-SuX for Fedora, rippin' though Crysis 4. Yo have you tried extensions
in GNOME Shell? Shit's so cash", that's a culture change in favor of Open
Source. Might not happen, might just happen.

/I obviously have no idea how teenagers talk these days

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Yuioup
Wow I am amazed at the negative tone of this article, the author clearly being
dismissive about Steam and Linux. I thought that Ars was supposed to be one of
the better tech blogs out there but I think I need to reevaluate my opinion.
This is pitiful journalism at best.

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the_ancient
I have always found Ars to be hostile to Linux in General. Really all things
open source, which is funny given their coverage of patent and copyright law

~~~
dublinben
I think this attitude stems from their lack of an editor dedicated to that
subject. Their Android/Google reviewer, Ron Amadeo, is the farthest they stray
from the dominant Microsoft/Apple ecosystem. If you've ever wondered why their
coverage seems so slanted, just look at the overwhelming number of MacBooks in
any of their "what's in my bag" posts.

[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/ars-ces-gear-its-
tota...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/01/ars-ces-gear-its-totally-my-
bag-baby/)

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SixSigma
Surely "hype" involves some sort of unrealised promise. As far as I can see,
the SteamOS is going to be a success. As to whether it is a runaway success
remains to be seen but you can't deny its potential. Cross platform dev is not
so hard if you commit to it from the get go.

~~~
kayoone
I think SteamOS is a very tough sell for gamers who run windows and steam
anyway and mostly don't give a damn about linux.

Even Steamboxes are much more useful if you just slap windows & steam on it.

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SixSigma
PC sales to homes are down, think tablet / smartphone users who want a box to
hook up to the TV. Valve already have the software distribution part solved
and a catalogue of proven games. For users the SteamBox isn't so much of a
gamble and cheap enough for people to take a punt.

What's more, the upgrade path is there, imagine an XBox where you can buy next
year's model and the games you already bought look better.

Xbox One games are _already_ last gen graphics, even some smartphones have
better res.

[http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/09/console-
crisis/](http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/09/console-crisis/)

[http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/](http://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/)

~~~
kayoone
I don't doubt that, i just don't see alot of value in SteamOS right now. Id
just get a Steambox and put Windows on it and have the same experience, just
with the full catalogue of games.

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zobzu
i don't care if its the hype train, i care that it runs linux :)

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2mur
That's exactly how I feel. These days all I'm playing is TF2, Minecraft and
Starbound. All on Ubuntu.

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higherpurpose
Choo choo, all aboard! From what I've seen in recent comparisons to other
engines, Cryengine remains the best in "photorealism" and graphics quality, so
this is great news. I hope that means they will offer great support for Oculus
Rift, too, in the near future.

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bstar77
My god, I hope this leads to Star Citizen being released for linux. Maybe
this'll be the $50 million stretch goal?

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wlesieutre
That game has piles of stretch goals already. Maybe they'll just say "We're
doing Linux because it's easy and will help us make money" instead of trying
to juice more preorders out of it.

Then again, whether it helps moves sales would depend on whether the Steam
Machines get any sort of adoption _and_ on RSI releasing the game before Linux
has a lot of notable titles supporting it. Who knows?

~~~
bstar77
The stretch goal comment was meant to be sarcastic.

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wlesieutre
Oh thank god. With all of their stretch goals and what they're charging for
preorder ships that you can look at in a pretend hangar, it's awfully hard to
tell. I'm looking forward to the game, but their crowdfunding is a kind of
strange mess.

~~~
sbarre
Their crowdfunding is a _hot_ mess, as they just passed $40M..

Hard to argue with their success there...

~~~
wlesieutre
Yeah, I'm just not a big fan of the endless stream of stretch goals. Some of
them are notable things like an improved mission editor, but a lot of them are
"not particularly remarkable star system" and "extra class of fighter that we
hadn't mentioned before." As if they weren't going to have a huge pile of star
systems and several types of fighters anyway.

It comes across like they're trying to guilt people into upgrading to higher
preorder tiers because otherwise there won't be any more ships or worlds. I
backed it on Kickstarter for whatever tier buys the game, but I'll pass on the
$275 in-game spaceship and spaceship shaped flash drive (plus a pile of other
stuff).

But hey, it's their money and if people want to invest it in this, that's up
to them. Hell of a lot better than Candy Crush, if you ask me.

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dmix
Good news for Debian (base OS used by Steam). I hope this results in better
video driver development and kernel contributions.

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AnotherDesigner
That's great news but I'd love some Mac support too.

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yulaow
There is not mac support for the cryengine? This is really strange considering
that apple has surely a bigger installed base in consumer computers compared
to linux

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redthrowaway
Macs have sucked, do suck, and likely will suck for all time to come as far as
gaming is concerned. They ship with shitty graphics cards, have bad cooling,
and there's simply not much in the way of interest from Apple in supporting
gaming.

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AnotherDesigner
If enough large games were released for OS X, even as a port, Apple may put a
little more effort in. And yes, the graphics cards are weak (mine is an Intel
HD 4000.) But look at the Mac Pro. They invested a ton on engineering it for
performance, including a lot of effort on the cooling. Apple can do it, they
just need a little push. And now is a great time for it, they have no place
else to go. They can't keep marketing the CPU speed or how thin the machines
are for much longer. They need a new metric to push and gaming performance
would be a great one.

~~~
redthrowaway
The only way Apple would become a good choice for PC gamers is if they started
shipping computers that competed on price with gaming PCs while offering
comparable performance.

I could easily see "casual" PC gamers (people who play games casually, not who
play casual games) buying a Mac for their general purpose PC and playing games
on the side, iff the Mac offered decent gaming performance (they don't) and
were priced around the same as a decent gaming PC (they aren't).

It's a chicken-and-egg problem, though. Studios don't want to invest in making
(or even porting) games for a non-gaming platform, gamers don't want to buy a
computer they can't play games on, and Apple doesn't want to invest in
pleasing a consumer segment that doesn't exist.

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X4
Yeah =) That makes me so happy, finally it's coming. Op delivered! (=Gabe)

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baq
my guess it's not a hype train, it's a cash train with gaben as the conductor.

