Thinking of going Linux Mint: Are PC Games about as likely to be Linux as Windows?

[gorfias]

Thinking of going Linux Mint: Are PC Games about as likely to be Linux as Windows?

I'm guessing Direct X is a windows only sorta thing. I've heard that buying games for MAC is a bear, which makes me think that is likely true of Linux.

Your advice is apprectiated.

 

[Esotera]

If you want to game on PC but also want to use Linux, then dual-boot both of them, so you can choose which at start up. It's what I do & is really easy to setup, especially with Linux Mint.

 

[DoPo]

Dual boot. It's not worth the hassle. That's precisely what I'm doing, I have Linux Mint and Windows 7 and installing both will take less effort than making a game run under Linux. Even if it's theoretically possible it still might be impossible on your machine or at least improbable.

Alternatively, if you really feel you want to go Linux only, for some reason, install VirtualBox or VMware Player and run a Windows virtual machine inside the other OS. It's not really hard and it works, I have a fiend of mine who does just that - a Windows 7 VM runs all his games and he didn't have any problems playing StarCraft 2, for example. If you really feel like it, you can even install the Mac OS X on the VM and play the Mac games...why would you want to do that, I don't know, but you can.

 

[gorfias]

If you want to game on PC but also want to use Linux, then dual-boot both of them, .

Dual boot. It's not worth the hassle..

Dual boot with Windows and save yourself the headache.

I think you guys are trying to tell me something!

Sorry to hear even Wine is a PIA. I checked the wiki on something calling itself Wine that Works and the newest game they will assure you works is Oblivion (6 years old).

 

[targren]

If you want to try and use linux for gaming, seriously, don't bother. It's a pain to get working and it's just not worth it. I'm sure there will be people telling you it's possible using Wine or whatever, but it won't be easy and the performance probably won't be as good for all your efforts. Dual boot with Windows and save yourself the headache.

Pretty much this. Other than a few strange edge cases (Back in the early days after launch, I got better performance out of WoW in Wine than I did in Win2k). But for the most part, Stocks nailed it. Other than some Humble Bundle games and the standard solitaire/minesweeper type clones, gaming on Linux is a losing proposition.

 

[DazZ.]

I really would love to solely use Linux but it's not worth it if you play games. Dual booting is necessary, might want to check out Desura though aand see if the Linux selection would be enough for you, but I highly doubt it.

Humble Bundles are really good though, but I'd only have a mainly Linux computer as a laptop that wasn't powerful enough to run anything past 2003

 

[Esotera]

If you want to game on PC but also want to use Linux, then dual-boot both of them, .

Dual boot. It's not worth the hassle..

Dual boot with Windows and save yourself the headache.

I think you guys are trying to tell me something!

Alternatively you could use VMware, which I hear great things about. It lets you set up a virtual linux environment within windows. Or you could use wubi (to install ubuntu within windows). Depends how dedicated you are to the linux cause...I'm perfectly fine with using Linux pretty much every day, and windows every fortnight.

 

[DoPo]

Alternatively you could use VMware, which I hear great things about. It lets you set up a virtual linux environment within windows.

Yes, I mentioned something similar but sort of the opposite, make a virtual Windows machine within Linux. I personally prefer it that way but there isn't much wrong with doing it the other way around.

Or you could use wubi (to install ubuntu within windows). Depends how dedicated you are to the linux cause...I'm perfectly fine with using Linux pretty much every day, and windows every fortnight.

But isn't wubi just the installer and you still get a dual booted OSes? It's not a huge deal different than just installing Ubuntu (does it handle other distros?) aside from maybe being slightly easier for a newbie Windows user to work with. Still, if you are thinking of installing Linux, I'm pretty sure you have the skill to install it "properly" - it's not much different than installing Windows, really - pop the disk in, select a partition to install it on[footnote]Ideally, have two sets of partitions - one for the OS and one for the swap space, i.e., *NIX's equivalent of the windows page file. The swap space can be about as equal as your RAM but I don't think it's too important these days. Note: there are even "better" ways to partition your hard drive but this is enough.[/footnote] and wait a while.

Whatever the case, installing Linux is a good decision, even if you mess around with it for a while and then stop using it. You never know when the skills could turn up useful.

 

[Esotera]

Or you could use wubi (to install ubuntu within windows). Depends how dedicated you are to the linux cause...I'm perfectly fine with using Linux pretty much every day, and windows every fortnight.

But isn't wubi just the installer and you still get a dual booted OSes? It's not a huge deal different than just installing Ubuntu (does it handle other distros?) aside from maybe being slightly easier for a newbie Windows user to work with. Still, if you are thinking of installing Linux, I'm pretty sure you have the skill to install it "properly" - it's not much different than installing Windows, really - pop the disk in, select a partition to install it on[footnote]Ideally, have two sets of partitions - one for the OS and one for the swap space, i.e., *NIX's equivalent of the windows page file. The swap space can be about as equal as your RAM but I don't think it's too important these days. Note: there are even "better" ways to partition your hard drive but this is enough.[/footnote] and wait a while.

Whatever the case, installing Linux is a good decision, even if you mess around with it for a while and then stop using it. You never know when the skills could turn up useful.

Wubi actually installs it from within windows - I've never used it but assume that it works in a similar way to VMware, by creating a single file that is used as an OS. The advantage to dual-booting is that this is less permanent than a proper installation. I don't think wubi works with others distros, but VMware definitely does.

OT: it's so easy to install linux these days. You can boot it live via a CD, USB, or install it persistently, and pick from loads of distributions. Plus there's loads of help (ubuntu forums, the user group here, and many other places). Just do it with whichever method you feel most comfortable with & you will almost certainly not regret it. There is a small learning curve but just read the forums, learn about the OS, and within 3 months you'll never want to go back.

 

[Erana]

I love my Mac and all, but my choice of computers/operating systems is not made with gaming being my top priority. If gaming comes first for you, make your decisions accordingly.
Wine takes a lot of time and extra effort, and you have to be completely willing to give up on a game if it isn't going to work. Can you make a sacrifice like that?

If you honestly think you can, go ahead and browse around on WineHQ and see which of your programs will work in Wine. Otherwise, run. Run far away, and never come back.

Or just put linux on your machine and dual-boot, but if you do a lot of gaming, I can almost gurantee that you'll use Windows the majority of the time anyway, and it becomes kinda pointless.

 

[loc978]

depending on the kinds of games you play, Linux can work without a dual-boot... but if you plan on playing current-gen AAA shooters, strategy games and/or single player RPGs... you'll need to dual-boot. Nothing destabilizes a Linux system quite like running a million different things through Wine.

 

[Weslebear]

Linux really is only good for standard PC usage, office kinda stuff, where it is fantastic and destroys windows.

Gaming? Fucking appalling. I had to deal with it for 2 months, and the only thing I could get to run was Minecraft, if you are at all serious about gaming at least dual boot, Wine really doesn't help much with many games either.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Thinking of going Linux Mint: Are PC Games about as likely to be Linux as Windows?

I'm guessing Direct X is a windows only sorta thing. I've heard that buying games for MAC is a bear, which makes me think that is likely true of Linux.

Your advice is apprectiated.

Direct X is a windows only sort of thing.

The bottom line is that the vast majority of games for PC are, in fact, relatively agnostic with respect to operating system. Of course, that includes the countless thousands of throw away web based games. If you only consider the big budget titles that garner regular conversation around here, suddenly you come to a different conclusion and realize that very few games will actually work any time soon.

Dual booting is the way to go if you insist on installing Linux on a gaming PC.

 

[LilithSlave]

Gaming is the only thing keeping Linux from being the leading OS of the world, really. And the only thing Mac has going for it is superb video editing software.

I'm sorry, but like others have stated, it's best to dual boot. I know they've had a long time to work on this, but it's still not there yet. And until they do, if they can ever manage it, you'll not want Linux to be your main OS if you're a gamer.

At the very least, Linux is quite good at most emulation. I've had no problems emulating Nintendo Wii games in Linux. So if you're not much of a PC gamer, but nonetheless love playing games on your PC, Linux can be pretty good. Because at the very least, you've got console gaming at your disposal with it.

About the only emulator you'd have trouble with and need to compile from scratch rather than just finding the repositories, is PCSX2. Which still doesn't have a Linux version as good as the Windows version.

 

[Silas13013]

Dual boot unless you are really, creepily, into writing your own drivers. Using other software doesn't work very well and if your family don't know what they are doing, your son will crash your computer.

 

[Frybird]

Unless you are fine with playing the Humble Indie Bundle Games, stick with Windows.

I don't know why you want to switch to Linux, but if you are a gamer there is not much reason for Linux.

And before anyone takes issue with my "no Linux" opinion: I'd actually say that at least the popular Distros of Linux are superior to Windows, but not by a very long shot unless you have really specific needs in what you want to do (like setting up a server or need something that handles virtualization very well).

For a "normal" user, Windows and something like Ubuntu are essentially equally good, with the differences mostly being that Linux is almost always free (and gives you immediate and convienient access to a tons of great free software) and much more customizable while Windows has strong commercial software (as in Games, or Photoshop and alikes).
Once you have something that you more or less need Windows for, the advantage of Linux disappears almost completely.

 

[tharglet]

For me, it's Linux at work, Windows at home. If you use your box mainly for gaming, Linux is probably not going to be too useful for you, but for other tasks it may be a better experience.

No harm in experiencing one or more of the many flavours of Linux for yourself - so I'm voting for dual boot too. Quite a few distros these days have a "live" version, that you can use to try before you install it.

 

[DoPo]

Quite a few distros these days have a "live" version, that you can use to try before you install it.

I think it's pretty much "anything you've heard of". There was even a distro you could directly load into the ram and it was a double digit of MB in total.