Show us some linux love - Linux Port?

[Remolay]

Wait really?

like in Dilbert; The TTP Project

[Uzrname]

Originally Posted by Remolay

What does WINE actually stand for anyway? I know the joke of WINE is Not an Emulator.

Isn't it WinE btw, i.e. "Windows Emulation"?

[Leak]

Well, while I only ever use Linux on servers I'm sure there's quite some untapped (monetary et al ) potential in porting Telltale's games on Linux... but ultimately it's of course up to them.

[jpalko]

If Telltale Games would start making Linux versions I'd buy the games again for that!

So far I've been able to play the games okay via wine/cxgames but native gaming is always native gaming.

[jpalko]

Originally Posted by Uzrname

Isn't it WinE btw, i.e. "Windows Emulation"?

Nope, it's "Wine Is Not an Emulator."

[Zhadnost]

What about We Ignore Neccessary Enhancements, based on the way they seem to reject commits that fill in big holes in what is supported.

Still a fantastic piece of software though.

[Uzrname]

Originally Posted by jpalko

Nope, it's "Wine Is Not an Emulator."

That doesn't make any sense since nobody knows what "wine" itself is in this case. The original acronym stood for "win emulation", hence all the rest.

[xorrbit]

I would definitely support a linux port. I just recently started playing ToMI because of the mac port available, and now that I can play at work, it would be nice to be able to play at home as well (/me runs mac at work, linux at home).

Wine really isn't an emulator, its an implementation of the windows api for linux (and mac, *bsd, ... etc.).

Also, IMO, people who run primarily linux also hate DRM, so it would almost be pointless throwing up a linux version with DRM. Although I have had no issues with the DRM of ToMI yet, and applaud the developers for not using some of the crazy systems other developers use, I can see that being a reason not to buy any of these games for linux users.

That being said, I would grab a linux version the moment it becomes available, DRM or not

Cheers,
-Andrew

[ChemBro]

Originally Posted by Uzrname

That doesn't make any sense since nobody knows what "wine" itself is in this case.

It's a running gag in the Unix/Linux-world. It does not have to make sense at all.

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by ChemBro

It's a running gag in the Unix/Linux-world. It does not have to make sense at all.

It can be expressed in BNF as:

<Wine> ::= <Wine> 'Is Not an Emulator'

Or in Java as:

public String Wine() {
return Wine() + "Is Not an Emulator";
}

If you learn about recursive functions for the first time that usually leaves a certain impression. Look at a classic example, Fibonacci.

long fib(unsigned long n) {
    if (n <= 1) {
        return n;
    } else {
        return fib(n-1)+fib(n-2);
    }
}

You write a function by using the function you are currently writing as if it was already working, which might seem kind of absurd if you're new to it.
Recursive acronyms probably don't make more sense to you now, but at least i got you to read this geek stuff.

[Uzrname]

Originally Posted by DjNDB

It can be expressed in BNF as:

<Wine> ::= <Wine> 'Is Not an Emulator'

Or in Java as:

public String Wine() {
return Wine() + "Is Not an Emulator";
}

If you learn about recursive functions for the first time that usually leaves a certain impression. Look at a classic example, Fibonacci.

long fib(unsigned long n) {
    if (n <= 1) {
        return n;
    } else {
        return fib(n-1)+fib(n-2);
    }
}

You write a function by using the function you are currently writing as if it was already working, which might seem kind of absurd if you're new to it.
Recursive acronyms probably don't make more sense to you now, but at least i got you to read this geek stuff.

Err... you lost me at BNF.

[GozzoMan]

I would definitely love a linux port.

I use Ubuntu as the main system for everything, games, when supported natively, just as anything else.

Wine does run TTG games, but not as well and as hassle-free as windows. In fact this is the ONLY reason I still tolerate to have also a windows installation on my PC, and I would love to finally get rid of that hopeless junk.

I spare you the technical details, but the various linux distros are really a non-issue. In fact supporting various linux distros is BY FAR less work than supporting, say, both WinXP and Vista.


Furthermore, Wine is not only a binary launcher, it can ease the porting itself.

[Will]

This is in no way a comment on the feasibility of a Linux port, just pure uninformed curiosity to the local linux community: is it easier for Linux users to run windows programs or mac programs?

For example, now that the mac build is out, will that become the go-to version for linux users to fiddle with or will they stick with the windows builds?

[Ripcord]

Windows.

There just isn't the infrastructure to run Mac-specific programs like ToMI (and most Mac-specific) on other OSes, even though they're both Unixy. ToMI for Mac still uses the MacOS X Cocoa APIs, which are OS X-specific, and there's pretty much ZERO project out there to run that on other OSes, whereas there's a pretty strong series of projects (WINE, etc) to run Wndows API-using binaries on various OSes.

Though I imagine it'd probably be somewhat easier to port ToMI to Linux now that the Mac port is out of the way (especially since it uses a lot of QT and other cross-platform things). But all of the Cocoa API stuff would have to be replaced with things that work on Linux.

And it MIGHT be easier to build a Cocoa API implementation from scratch than a Win32/etc implementation, but there's 15 years of serious work already done on the Windows APIs =)

[GozzoMan]

I agree with Ripcord, windows builds for sure, no way I know to run mac builds on linux.

I also second the statement about cross-platform libraries which could ease linux port through the mac port, but I also would suggest to consider the option to use wine (which again is not only a binary launcher but also a tool and collection of libraries for porting windows-specific code to linux) to start the linux port from the windows version. If all needed features are supported by wine libraries, it maybe could be faster.

Of course, moving the game engine to cross-platform libraries (is SDL still en vogue?), and building up future games upon that from the start, would very likely be the best overall solution in perspective.

[DjNDB]

Originally Posted by GozzoMan

I also second the statement about cross-platform libraries which could ease linux port through the mac port, but I also would suggest to consider the option to use wine (which again is not only a binary launcher but also a tool and collection of libraries for porting windows-specific code to linux) to start the linux port from the windows version.

As far as i can see in the Mac version we have:

Launcher: Qt
Audio: Fmod
Graphics: OpenGL

They are all usable for Linux as well. It makes more sense to take the Mac version and adapt/rewrite the platform specific code for Linux, than taking the Windows version and wrapping it into Wine. Wine would increase the complexity for no good reason and create a dependency on foreign code. Also it doesn't make much sense to use its DirectX->OpenGL mapping if there is a native OpenGL solution available already.

If the goal however is not a native port, but just better Wine support that could be a different way to make Linux users happier.

[jeykey]

please do a linux port, would love to play this game on my ubuntu machine!

[M1AU]

I just registered to let you know, that I'm absolutely willing to buy the game if there is a Linux client.

[GozzoMan]

Originally Posted by DjNDB

As far as i can see in the Mac version we have:

Launcher: Qt
Audio: Fmod
Graphics: OpenGL

They are all usable for Linux as well. [...]

Interesting, I'm persuaded

Originally Posted by DjNDB

If the goal however is not a native port, but just better Wine support that could be a different way to make Linux users happier.

Another good point.

[Will]

Originally Posted by DjNDB

If the goal however is not a native port, but just better Wine support that could be a different way to make Linux users happier.

Again, asking for my own personal edification since I'm not a programmer nor a project scheduler, but what would be required to make things more wine friendly?