Is LGP Going The Way Of Loki Software?

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Is LGP Going The Way Of Loki Software?

Born out of the demise of Loki Software in 2001 was Linux Game Publishing, but now a decade later the fate of LGP is not looking good for the company that has ported about two dozen game titles to Linux.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=15063

[Qaridarium]

Copy-protection DRM kills LGP!

i think about buying LGP port of X3 for linux but the bad DRM-Copy-protection news stops me.

i have tonns of broken drm/Copy-protection games buyed in the past if you try to play a starforce3 32bit-ide-driver copy-protection on an 64bit windows or linux you FAIL

i don't buy DRM or Copy-protecten games!


in that point of view DIE LGP! DIE!

[movieman]

There's another issue too: the rate that Linux interfaces change, the odds aren't exactly low than a binary-only game released five years ago simply wouldn't be able to run on a modern distro. From that viewpoint Wine is actually a better option, since Windows games are written to a fairly standardised API which Wine supports and always will support.

I've been surprised by how well my older games do run in Wine; as the poster above says, the biggest issue is DRM, but since I've bought most of my favorite old games DRM-free from gog.com, that's no longer a problem. If they can just get the NOLF series and Carmageddon that would be about it.

[MaestroMaus]

There's another issue too: the rate that Linux interfaces change, the odds aren't exactly low than a binary-only game released five years ago simply wouldn't be able to run on a modern distro. From that viewpoint Wine is actually a better option, since Windows games are written to a fairly standardised API which Wine supports and always will support.

I've been surprised by how well my older games do run in Wine; as the poster above says, the biggest issue is DRM, but since I've bought most of my favorite old games DRM-free from gog.com, that's no longer a problem. If they can just get the NOLF series and Carmageddon that would be about it.

If the port is written well this should not be an issue. Look at UT2k4 for exampel; it still works.

[Delgarde]

There's another issue too: the rate that Linux interfaces change, the odds aren't exactly low than a binary-only game released five years ago simply wouldn't be able to run on a modern distro.

Interfaces grow, yes, but most major libraries are pretty strict about maintaining API/ABI compatibility over a long period. I've not tried them recently, but some of the old Loki ports were still working fine on my system as recently as last year...

[NeoBrain]

i have tonns of broken drm/Copy-protection games buyed in the past if you try to play a starforce3 32bit-ide-driver copy-protection on an 64bit windows or linux you FAIL

If YOU seriously want to compare starforce to LGP's drm then YOU fail.

[V!NCENT]

Games of today are scripted movies and all suck. Multiplayer is not the answer as you can't beat it.

I wanted to make my own game ever since I was 4 and with the disgust of the current situation I am actually gonna do it. As a matter of fact; got the OpenGL programming book sixth edition with me righg now... The offical gazillion pages C++ book I have at home and the initial blender learning is done.

[bell]

Games of today are scripted movies and all suck. Multiplayer is not the answer as you can't beat it.

I wanted to make my own game ever since I was 4 and with the disgust of the current situation I am actually gonna do it. As a matter of fact; got the OpenGL programming book sixth edition with me righg now... The offical gazillion pages C++ book I have at home and the initial blender learning is done.

Sounds like an epic endeavor I wish you all the best! (I'm pretty confident that you already know how much work this is, and how many game developers that fail miserably? Compared to how few that really succeed)

[V!NCENT]

Sounds like an epic endeavor I wish you all the best! (I'm pretty confident that you already know how much work this is, and how many game developers that fail miserably? Compared to how few that really succeed)

If I break into your house late at night when you're in REM sleep and wake you up and ask you what the three best, still played and most memmorial and legendary games of all time are, chances are extremely high it will be:
1. Pac Man
2. Tetris
3. Pong

You know why? Because of the gameplay. How many devs does it take to make such a game and how long? 1 dev and about half a year in spare time.

Now then as I already pointed out I am not going to make a 1080p HD Holywood sript game...

[Julius]

But it was/is also their horrible website, the limited digital payment options (Paypal, Google, Amazon???) and their refusal to sell purely digital copies for prices that are somewhat competitive.

Sacred Gold (one of their strongest recent titles) can be bought as a windows version for 5€ here in Germany (maybe 10€ depending where you go), something below 20€ for a digital copy of the linux version would be fine I guess, but 27 pounds (32€) give me a f***ing break!