The Witcher 2 - In Need of Linux Fixing

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Couchpotato

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Softpedia has news about patching the Linux version of Witcher 2.

Linus Torvalds is not known to interfere with other projects than the Linux kernel and it must be something really special to get him involved. Well, it looks like the Linux port of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings proved to be interesting enough.

There has been quite a debate around The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and the fact that it wasn't really a port. A special kind of wrapper was used to make the Windows version of the game run on Linux systems, similar with Wine. As you can imagine, the performance on Linux systems took a hit and users felt betrayed because they thought that they would get a native port.

The game was a mess right after launch and it has problems running on many systems. It didn't even work on AMD video cards. A few patches were released since then and some improvements were made. Even the AMD guys pitched in and made some fixes in their drivers. From the looks of it, the Linux kernel was also responsible for some of the problems and that's something quite important for Linus Torvalds.
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Pretty rare. Even more so non-flaming Linus getting media attention. I'm more interested in whether the new REDEngine will natively support Linux(OpenGL) or if it'll be a half-arsed job again.
 
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Dear Green Place
And this, dear people, is why everyone should just use OpenGL and cross-platform capable code everywhere and be done with it.

There is no benefit in using DirectX other than some bleeding edge features you cannot use (because almost no machine supports it) and possible support by Microsoft.
 
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It is running on PS4 so I guess it'll be no problem this time around.

On the other hand it looks like a bug in the kernel this time around, so no reason to blame DX.
 
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Why would you use Linux for gaming in the first place? I mean, you're begging for a performance downgrade no matter what.
 
Not sure I totally agree and (at least for me) there are huge advantages of linux ranging from diagonstic (hardware/software) to managing files and identifying bit rot.

DArtagnan said:
Why would you use Linux for gaming in the first place? I mean, you're begging for a performance downgrade no matter what.
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you said:
Not sure I totally agree and (at least for me) there are huge advantages of linux ranging from diagonstic (hardware/software) to managing files and identifying bit rot.
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I agree. I can't be bothered with a Linux/Windows debate, but suffice it to say that I'm a modding/hacking/scripting sort of geek, and Linux as a fully open-source viable gaming platform would by very welcome indeed.

I see these teething problems with Linux gaming in a positive light - a necessary, awkward stage to go through, but one that demonstrates progress.

There are definitely drawbacks to OpenGL from a coding point of view (lots of legacy cruft and unintuitive ways of doing things), and it's understandable that devs have gravitated to DirectX. Things are improving quite rapidly, though. It's a shame that the flawed Steam controller knocked the SteamBox initiative back a few months, but I think we will see it return to the limelight. I believe Valve's strategy is the correct one, longer term.

For mainstream gamers who just want to play with a minimum of fuss, I definitely wouldn't bother with Linux yet. Very early days, and the extra effort and problems will be with us for a while yet.
 
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While I respect his accomplishments, Torvalds talks like a drunken pox-riddled sailor on a brothel visit. His keyboard should be scrubbed down by a bio-hazard squad.

Joking, of course… :p
 
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Yes - in all fairness, Linus can be a bit of a dick.
 
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Ripper said:
Yes - in all fairness, Linus can be a bit of a dick.
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Heh, he is the ÜberGeek of all! ;)
Also, do not forget the game shows his baby as a degenerate reject, so I guess it is okay to defend his creation against a 3rd party erm.... game.

Also, regarding the OpenGL debate: I'm a programmer of sorts (but mostly a manager, that is: the person who mops the sh*t after someone else), so here is my totally unprofessional opinion:

OpenGL is GOOD.
Problem is, that Windows game development systems are optimized towards DX. You see: DX is Microsoft, Visual Studio is Microsoft - the two fits like a pair of comfy shoes.

If you want to create a truly multi-platform game, you MUST leave your professional comfort zone - and in my experience, this bothers developers the most.
Believe me, they are really creative explaining why they would rather not do this or that... ;)
 
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The other drawback is that Windows drivers for openGL haven't been great for years. You're quite right though - there's nothing fundamentally wrong with GL, or Linux for that matter. Both are excellent technologies.

Like the guy at Aspyr media said, they're now at the point of break-even when investing in Linux versions, and that's with a tiny market share. If Valve can get the ball rolling with Steam boxes, things should move into profitable territory pretty quickly.
 
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It's not all that surprising, really. The Witcher games tend to be pretty buggy on release even on Windows. I wouldn't expect the games to be even more stable on Mac or linux with their smaller customer base!
 
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I'm a developer and use linux and windows in server form. Also familiar with DirectX and OpenGL but not professionally and I will say that OpenGL is a mess to work with. Much like browser javascript, Linux and git, its way over complicated and messy and requires other tools to clean up its interface (glew). The advantages are its free and if you get through the mess by understanding those systems as well as the original developers then it can be extraordinarily powerful. You basically will have a bunch of workarounds required for every device and may get things to a working cross-platform implementation with sufficient testing.

The Dolphin emulator guys did a blog post over a year ago on OpenGL state and you can see the unevenness. Basically, stick to NVidia if you are on linux and hope for the best and you will be safe as the drivers for other devices are questionable (or at least were 16 months ago). Seems like that advice still applies here. Maybe Valve and Unity and things like this will move this in a good direction.
 
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