Icculus Ports Prey Game Client To Linux

[MamiyaOtaru]

a working version of the demo existed back in 2006. It was ported from the binary by the alky project (now dead) ... They have some kind of auto reverse engeneering tools (GPLed) to translate DX code to OpenGL.

Why would they need something like that when Prey was always OpenGL?

[yogi_berra]

everyone getting a Linux version out of iD and Epic in the past was out of the kindness of their hearts

And in the future, contrary to what some people want to believe those two studios will still port to Linux (and Mac). Even with all of the issues that crop up.

I wonder if this is just 2K's way of drumming up interest for Prey 2.

[Svartalf]

I wonder if this is just 2K's way of drumming up interest for Prey 2.

It could be. I can't say either way, since the publisher details haven't been revealed on the release at this time.

[edit]
Not sure if it's a PR deal from 2K or not, but it doesn't look like there's a publisher deal going on- you're on your own as for assets to install.

[Thetargos]

Great that they're supporting Icculus in his ports, but of course commercial game support on Linux is highly lacking but slowly changing. Wouldn't it be great to get same-day multi-platform support for games directly from the companies?

Oh, you mean like the "brief" joy we had with UT2004 containing the Linux installer on the game's install media? I eager to see this kind of support rise again for Linux games.

[deanjo]

Oh, you mean like the "brief" joy we had with UT2004 containing the Linux installer on the game's install media? I eager to see this kind of support rise again for Linux games.

Hey, all the moons, planets, and stars were in alignment that day.

[Thetargos]

By the way, I skipped this game when it first came out and every body (and I mean every body and their aunt) were talking about it (for the XBox 360). Never saw it, and never really cared about it... I'm quite literally getting out of the Demo, and I must confess I'm hooked. To the point that I have already pre-order it, now hopefully Icculus will be able to deliver and release the full client by Dec. 07 as TuxGames states as the general availability date.

Jumping on the wishful-thinking bandwagon, but I cannot help but ask to myself if this sudden announcement and release of Prey for Linux mean that maybe Prey 2 will come Linux-ready out-of-the-box? That's a yummy thought, and even if it doesn't, I'll buy it when the Linux client is released, just like I just did with Prey 1... But also can't help but wonder if part of the money I just spent on the game will indeed make it to 2K, 3D Realms and Human Head...

By the way, you gotta love all the references there are to Rune (Human Head [then called GoD games, IIRC] also developed it), there's reminiscence of it even in some characters! Rune is to date, one of my favorite games ever.

[mirv]

Interestingly enough, I recently finished playing Rune through wine (never could get the linux port to work).
Prey was definitely a lot of fun as well, and it's good to see a linux version in the works. Even better, performance is just fine!

[Thetargos]

Indeed! I found that pleasantly surprising. It indeed manages quite well on my system (not a high-end gaming system in any way). Icculus has done a terrific work on this title.

[RobbieAB]

Possibly 2K games are doing it as a "test the waters" with little upfront cost to them if the have the client sitting around anyway? It's an old game, so a sales jump on the foot of releasing a Linux client can be attributed in part to the client. Even if it's people buying the Windows version to play with Linux using friends, it still sales generated by having a Linux version available.

[Thetargos]

In this case in particular, it is clear that the increased sales figures may be and could be attributed to the Linux client being made available, also a not-so-good indicator of what could be an expected response would be the download figures of the Demo (I know, I know, they're not representative, but can non-the-less indicate interest rate [no pun intended] on the title for Linux).