No Linux, No Open Beta for Rage?
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Rage, PC, Game, Linux, OpenGL | Themes: Software, Digital Entertainment
Rage may not be heading to Linux.
This forum post reveals an email exchange between a recent member and id Software's John Carmack. From a personal standpoint, getting any kind of information from the famed programmer without the company's PR hounds stepping in is a major feat in itself, so whether the emails are legitimate remains to be seen (even though the forum user will provide email headers upon request).
With that said, the forum post claims that the emails to Carmack ask two specific questions: is the company developing Rage targeting OpenGL 3.x, and will there be a Linux port. Carmack responded indicating that the PC and Mac versions are still OpenGL 2.x. However, he also added that id Software is not currently scheduling native Linux ports.
"If there are hundreds of thousands of Linux users playing Quake Live when we are done with Rage, that would certainly influence our decision," Carmack said, adding that it's more difficult to port than older id Software titles.
"The codebase is much, much larger, and the graphics technology pushes a lot of paths that are not usually optimized," he said. "It probably wouldn't be all that bad to get it running on the Nvidia binary drivers, but the chance of it working correctly and acceptably anywhere else would be small. If you are restricted to it only working on the closed source drivers, you might as well boot into windows and get the fully tested and tuned experience."
Outside the Linux hoopla, VG247 learned from id Software's Todd Hollenshead that he's doubtful that there will be a multiplayer beta of Rage, but he added that there may be a playable demo for the PC and Mac "from a test perspective."
“The demo question is hard to answer, because I don’t know what the development cycle will be like," he said. "We don’t have anything against demos or tests; we typically do that--probably--to a greater extent than almost anybody else in the industry, so my guess would be that we will have something, but that’s far from set in stone."
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This is making me rage.
looks like a cool game.. kinda stupid if it doesnt come out for pc well.
No Linux port. No real loss there.
i agree no loss to me at least
"If there are hundreds of thousands of Linux users playing Quake Live when we are done with Rage, that would certainly influence our decision"
Enough is said with that statement right there. There simply isn't a big enough market for it, and if it pisses off the 2% of the gaming community, so what no loss to them.
One should know better that if you plan on using Linux as your main OS you are going to have things that are just not supported, that includes games.
I could be wrong but I thought that the plan was the same as other id games, after a couple years id tech 5 and the source for rage will eventually become open source once its old enough and the community can create a port if they wish.
I could be wrong but I thought that the plan was the same as other id games, after a couple years id tech 5 and the source for rage will eventually become open source once its old enough and the community can create a port if they wish.
Basically they have no intention of porting to a platform where they don't make money. Typical of most developers. Understandable from a business perspective but still annoying that they only support the monopoly.
not a loss
You probably won't see a Linux port till the engine is open sourced and people take the time and effort to make it work with Linux.
Probably due to the ZeniMax Media influence. Many Linux users have game consoles so it's not much of a problem.
PC & Mac support but no Linux, first time THATS ever happened
PC & Mac support but no Linux, first time THATS ever happened
Ha...
I'd think the Macintosh gaming community would be smaller than the Linux gaming community.
Considering the only platofrm which could play the game is their dual socket tower and the best GPU you can get from mac is a 512mb 4870...
This is dissapointing regardless.
Every game that doesn't have linux support won't see my money.
I might be in the few percentile, but I speak with my wallet
Doesn't bother me too much, the only games I really play anymore are years old or completely open source.
Ha...I'd think the Macintosh gaming community would be smaller than the Linux gaming community.Considering the only platofrm which could play the game is their dual socket tower and the best GPU you can get from mac is a 512mb 4870...This is dissapointing regardless.
Mac's have had the option of the GTX 285 for awhile now.
Just saying.
But regardless, I think it's not very wise.. It wouldn't take all THAT much effort to port it over..
Some tux-nerd will figure it out. We'll see how many months/years it will take though.
Isn't Linux great for it's community? I don't use Linux much, if ever, but if I did, I would expect games to be ported by independant groups, not by the companies themselves.
Why bother with OSX then if not Linux? Nobody buys a Mac to game on, and a marginally adequate Mac costs as much as a really nice high-end PC. Surely great effort goes into the Mac port, Linux is easier to develop for than OSX. They could just support WINE rather than native Linux, and it would all be good.
No Linux port = fail. 'nuff said.
It doesn't affect me too much 'cuz I'm not one of those if it ain't on Linux, I won't get it. I probably might get it on Windows if it indeed is a good game. Hey, at least it's an OpenGL game, so that's a plus...
no demo.... i smell a money-grab console-port coming up.... just like far cry 2.
A real shame.