Currently, many Windows games can run on the Linux platform with minimal problems in a compatibility layer called Wine. The Wine project hosts a user-submitted application database (known as Wine AppDB) that lists programs and games along with ratings and reviews which detail how well they run with Wine. Many games are rated as running flawlessly.
FreeCiv, a well known remake
of the popular Civilization Series
In July 2012 game developer and content distributor Valve Software announced a port of their Source engine for Linux as well as stating their intention to release their Steam digital distribution service for Linux. The potential availability of a Linux Steam client has already attracted other developers to consider porting their titles to Linux… More>>
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Background
Linux gaming refers to all game titles that can run on Linux based operating systems. This can refer to free / open source games, which may also be commercial,[1] that run natively on Linux, or proprietary games that have Linux ports. Linux gaming can also refer to Linux based gaming devices such as the Pandora gaming console, or gaming oriented distributions such as SuperGamer. Linux gaming can also be considered to be related to gaming on the Android platform, although there are distinct differences between the two systems and industries. In recent years Linux gaming has also become more closely related to gaming on other alternative platforms, such as Mac gaming.
As far as development is concerned, library support for Linux gaming is provided by OpenGL, ALSA, OpenAL and SDL, a cross-platform multimedia wrapper around system-dependent libraries, as well as Pygame. The DRI project provides open source video card drivers, and NVIDIA and ATI also release binary kernel modules for their video cards. Linux also runs on several game consoles, including the Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, GameCube, and Wii which allows game developers without an expensive game development kit to access console hardware. Several gaming peripherals also work with Linux, such as gaming mice from Roccat which have official Linux drivers and even a free software user-space utility. Several game development tools also run on Linux, including Game Editor and GtkRadiant.
History
Doom was one of the first major
commercial games to be released for Linux .
Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already present Unix gaming scene, with both systems sharing many similar titles. These games were either mostly original or clones of arcade games and text adventures. A notable example of this is was the so-called “BSD Games”, a collection of interactive fiction titles. The free software and open source methodologies which spawned the development of the operating system in general also spawned the creation of various early free games. Popular early titles included NetHack, Netrek, XBill, XEvil, xbattle, Xconq and XPilot. As the operating system itself grew and expanded, the amount of free and open source games also increased in scale and complexity.
The beginning of commercial gaming on Linux is often credited to have begun in 1994 when Dave D. Taylor ported the game Doom in his spare time to Linux as well as many other systems. From there he would also help found the development studio Crack dot Com, which released the video game Abuse, with the Linux port being published by Linux vendor Red Hat. id Software, the original developers of Doom, also continued to release their products for Linux. Their game Quake was ported to Linux in 1996, once again by an employee working in his free time. Later id products continued to be ported by David Kirsch and Timothee Besset respectively. In 1995 DUX Software contracted Don Hopkins to port SimCity to Linux. Other early commercial Linux games included Hopkins FBI, an adventure game released in 1998 by MP Entertainment, and Inner Worlds in 1996, which was released for and mostly developed on Linux.[15] In 1998 two programmers from Origin ported Ultima Online to Linux.
On November 9, 1998, a new software firm called Loki Software was founded by Scott Draeker, a former lawyer who became interested in porting games to Linux after being introduced to the system through his work as a software licensing attorney. Loki, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry. Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup),[18] and supported the development of the Simple DirectMedia Layer, as well as starting the OpenAL audio library project. These are still often credited[by whom?] as being the cornerstones of Linux game development. They were also responsible for bringing nineteen high profile games to the platform before its closure in 2002. Loki’s initial success also attracted other firms to invest in the Linux gaming market, such as Tribsoft, Hyperion Entertainment, Macmillan Digital Publishing USA, Xatrix Entertainment, and Philos Laboratories. During this time Michael Simms founded Tux Games, one of the first still active online Linux game retailers
After Loki’s closure, the Linux game market experienced some changes. Although some new firms, such as Linux Game Publishing and RuneSoft, would largely continue the role of a standard porting house, the focus began to change with Linux game proponents encouraging game developers to port their game products themselves or through individual contractors.[22] Influential to this was Ryan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee who would over the next decade port several game titles to multiple platforms, including Linux.[23] Around this time many companies, starting with id, also began to release legacy source code leading to a proliferation of source ports of older games to Linux and other systems. This also helped expand the already existing free and open source gaming scene, especially with regards to the creation of free first person shooters.
The Linux gaming market also started to experience some growth towards the end of the decade with the rise of independent video game development, with many “indie” developers favouring support for multiple platforms. The recent Humble Indie Bundle initiatives have helped formally demonstrate this new trend, with Linux users representing a sizeable population of their purchase base, as well as consistently being the most financially generous in terms of actual money spent. The release of a Linux version of Desura, a digital distribution platform with a primary focus on small independent developers, has also been heralded by several commentators as an important step to greater acknowledgement of Linux as a gaming platform.
In July 2012 game developer and content distributor Valve Software announced a port of their Source engine for Linux as well as stating their intention to release their Steam digital distribution service for Linux. The potential availability of a Linux Steam client has already attracted other developers to consider porting their titles to Linux
Free and open source games
Clones and remakes
There are a large number of open source clones and remakes of classic games
Micropolis, an open source port of SimCity
- FreeCiv is a clone of Civilization II.
- FreeOrion is inspired by Master of Orion.
- Frets on Fire is a clone of Guitar Hero.
- Frozen Bubble is a clone of Puzzle Bobble.
- Grid Wars is a clone of Geometry Wars.
- Head Over Heels, a ZX-Spectrum action platformer, was remade for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, and BeOS.
- Hedgewars is a clone of Worms. Worms replaced with hedgehogs.
- Minetest is a clone of Minecraft. It is free, open-source, and faster (because it is written in C++).
- OpenTTD is a remake of Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
- OpenXcom is a clone of UFO: Enemy Unknown game. It is an open-source, multiplatform reimplementation meant to faithfully mimic the original game, with optional add-ons
- Performous is a remix of the ideas behind Guitar Hero, SingStar and Dance Dance Revolution.
- Pingus is a clone of Lemmings.
- Scorched 3D is a 3D adaptation of Scorched Earth.
- Spring[39] originally is a clone of Total Annihilation, but actually is a platform for real time strategy games.
- StepMania is a clone of Dance Dance Revolution
- SuperTuxKart and TuxKart are clones of Mario Kart.
- SuperTux is a clone of Super Mario Bros.
- The Zod Engine is an actively developed open source remake of the game Z.
- Train Simulation Framework is a train simulator which can read the formats originally used for BVE Trainsim.
- UFO: Alien Invasion is heavily influenced by the X-COM series, mostly by UFO: Enemy Unknown.
- UltraStar is an open source clone of SingStar
- Ur-Quan Masters is based on the original source code for Star Control II
- WarMUX is a clone of Worms using free software project mascots instead of worms.
- Warzone 2100 is a real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game. Originally published by Eidos Interactive and later released as open source.
- Widelands is a clone of The Settlers 2.
- Bill Kendrick has developed many free software games, most inspired by games for the Atari 8-bit and other classic systems.
Original games
A few original open source video games have attained notability
Vega Strike, a space flight simulation
- 0ad is a real-time strategy game of ancient warfare, similar to Age of Empires.
- AssaultCube is a first-person shooter.
- AstroMenace is a 3D scroll-shooter.
- AlienArena is an arena style first person shooter.
- BZFlag is a 3D First person tank shooter (With jumping).
- Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based strategy game.
- Blob Wars: Metal Blob Solid is a 2D platform game.
- Chromium B.S.U. is a fast paced, arcade-style, top-scrolling space shooter.
- CodeRED: Alien Arena is a sci-fi first-person shooter derived from the Quake II engine.
- Crimson Fields is a turn-based tactical wargame.
- Cube 2: Sauerbraten is a 3D first-person shooter with an integrated map editing mode.
- Glest is a real-time strategy game, with optional multiplayer.
- NetHack and Angband are text-based computer role-playing games.
- Netrek is a Star Trek themed multiplayer 2D space battle game.
- Nexuiz is a first-person shooter. Although, this has been replaced by Xonotic.
- Project: Starfighter a multi-directional, objective based shoot-em-up.
- Slingshot two-person spaceship shooting near planetary gravity.
- TORCS (The Open Racing Car Simulator) – considered one of the best open-source racing simulators, with realistic graphics and vehicle handling.
- Tremulous is a 3D first-person shooter/real-time strategy game.
- Tux Racer is a 3D racing game featuring Tux.
- Urban Terror is a standalone Quake III Arena first-person shooter. (Proprietary mod).
- Vega Strike is a space flight simulation.
- Warsow is a Quake-like, fast-paced first-person shooter.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games
WorldForge is a free software
MMORPG that runs on Linux
- A Tale in the Desert III (2003, eGenesis) – A trading and crafting game, set in ancient Egypt, pay-to-play.
- Auteria (2007) – A fantasy 3D free-to-play MMORPG.
- Crossfire (1992) – A medieval fantasy 2D game.
- Diaspora (1999, Altitude Productions) – 2D Space trading MMORPG. (Project Diaspora version has a Linux client.)
- Dofus (2005, Ankama Games) – A 2D fantasy MMORPG.
- Eternal Lands (2003, Radu Privantu) – A 3D fantasy free-to-play MMORPG.
- PlaneShift – A 3D fantasy free-to-play game.
- Regnum Online – A 3D fantasy game, free-to-play with premium content.
- RuneScape – Java fantasy 3rd person MMORPG.
- Spiral Knights – Java fantasy 3rd person game.
- The Mana World – 2D medieval fantasy MMORPG, free to play and open source (GPL’d) – Home page, first released at 2005.
- The Saga of Ryzom – has a Linux client and source code available.
- Tibia – A 2D Medieval fantasy game. Free-to-play with premium content.
- Ultima Online has an unofficial Linux client.
- Vendetta Online – A 3D spacecraft MMOFPS with growing RPG elements, pay to play. Maintains both Linux/32 and Linux/64 clients.
- WorldForge – A game engine. There are Linux clients available.
- Wurm Online – A Java-based MMORPG.
- Wyvern – A 2D fantasy MMORPG that runs on Java.
- Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates – A puzzle game which runs on Java.
- Many Virtual Worlds – (such as Second Life) also have Linux clients.