Hooray! Yet another Linux convert! I switched to Ubuntu (or rather Kubuntu) a while back, and I haven’t found a reason why I’d want to switch back to Windows except for gaming. And the nice thing is that slowly more and more game developers are starting to release Linux versions of their games.

I’ve tried developing some games for Linux myself, just to see how hard it was, and it turns out that it really isn’t too hard. In fact, if you use SDL for the base, with OpenGL for graphics and OpenAL for sound, you can use the exact same code across all platforms, which is quite nifty indeed. (Granted OpenGL won’t quite give you the graphical power of DirectX, as it isn’t updated that often, but by now it really isn’t all that noticeable. Besides, since when did games turn to rely so heavily on graphics anyway?)

In any case, for almost every major game out there there are requests for a Linux version nowadays. Hopefully we’ll see more of those in the near future . . .

Good for you! It’d be nice if you did decide to try and push SDL+OpenGL+OpenAL development.

I’m guessing that Bad Day L.A. is DirectX based since it’s headed for the Xbox? Oh well.

Yes! Good to hear! Reading the first paragraph, I said to myself “I hope he considers using an alternate OS for his everyday tasks after this fiasco.” Looks like my thoughts were right on the money.

I would suggest you check out Gentoo, if you haven’t already. Nothing beats having control over each and every package that is compiled on your system from start. XFCE4 is a great window manager, and works very well on the least powerful of machines.

Anyway, not to clog up your comments area with more geeky ranting. Enjoy your new found freedom from Big Brother!

Beware that you will recieve a lot of zealotery from this community, like: “Seems there is still a long way till PC is not used as a synonym for Windows anymore”.

the only thing i like about linux is the BITCHX but im talking about redhat dunno about ubuntu.

i think i have the same problem as with your windows xp thingy, the difference between us is that i just avoid the whole machine and pretend it doesnt exist. i moved on to another pc. i love windows. lick

This is good to hear!

I wish more people would choose to switch off Windows instead of saying “Oh well” at constant bugs and annoyances like the “Windows genuine advantage” crap.

CONGRATS!

I switched years ago (way before WGA) and vow to never go back. I LOVE linux (Gentoo personally)! I just wish more companies would release games for Linux. Then maybe others would make drivers (CREATIVE!) or just better ones (ATI! , NVidia’s are decent…).

Any hope for Linux game support from you in the future?

Yeah, good work man… I have been Windows free for years and years and have never missed a thing. I play all the popular games and have far better applications…

Enjoy the freedom man

Joe

Good for you; I hope you enjoy your new OS.

On a selfish note, I hope this means your future games are more likely to be Linux compatible too. I like what I’ve seen of your work.

Welcome to the club, American McGee! Many have switched, if ONLY to avoid the obnoxious problems presented by WGA- like yourself. Now, if only we could see more games on Linux so it’ll even be easier for people to be able to make the choice… (Yeah, I know, hint…hint… You can’t blame me TOO much for asking, considering who I am and whom I work for as a consultant…

I work at a computer store and the WGA program does not work at all. I have so many machines coming through the store that fail the WGA test, which actually do have a legit key!

Well it is good to see more people go on to linux, i myself use ubuntu, while not all the time i do use it at least once everyweek.

When the new ubuntu version comes out, i may be switched for good, the changes look promising.

I do hope you consider releasing more games for linux now!

Well done! I just hope you go on further to publish source code and make cross platform applications, but one step at a time!

I did exactly the same as you recently, I’m about a month in with Ubuntu. Hell of a lot better than Windows as far as staying upright . I was hugely surprised, first time I’ve ever been to your blog and you happen to have just made the same OS switch as me for partially the same reason… Bizarre.

Oh, and I loved Alice!

Excellent choice, I love the combo of ubuntu & synaptic. I moved to linux over 3 years ago, and it keeps getting better.

I miss having less of a choice of games, but strangely I got into older games more than I was interested in windows and now buy more games than I did before, although I do buy more older games than new ones. I’ve found that one can be quite happy with the limited selection, although my gaming is divided between computer and nintendoDS .. and I’m considering getting a wii too.

Great, now you’re going to need some games to play on that Linux. How about some ports, baby?

And definitely switch up to Kubuntu. I’m not personally a fan of the Debians (I run Slack) but gnome is just too much to bear!

Congratulation !

I hope you will now contribute to remove Windows only advantage over Linux : the lack of real games !
But since we got you on our side, I’m pretty confident, you will make GREAT games !

[insert insightful comment about WGA and Linux adoption]

Does that increase the chance of Alice being ported to Linux?

Pretty please?

Good choice!

Don’t listen to all those people telling you to try another distribution and stuff - if you’re happy with ubuntu, go on using it, it’s not such a bad distribution after all. Especially if you actually want to work (and not only compile, like on gentoo), Ubuntu is an excellent choice.

And, please, consider developing platform-independent games in future. Games like Quake 4 show, Linux is perfectly capable to run modern games.
Plus there are quite good free tools for game-developers available, like gimp, blender or gtkradiant. And some non-free ones like Maya - so you don’t need to boot windows ever again

Hi American. Wow I didnt know you had a Blog. i linked from Linux Games
I am very concerned of these new Microsoft robots with Lego etc and if there would be some sort of activation code that can turn into Physical harm as well. Seriously.
DRM sucks.

well made decision.
i disagree with gnome being that bad.
it became really fast recently and looks really smooth now.

http://easyubuntu.freecontrib.org/

http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/

Congratulations!!!
I did the same and I followed the same path –> Ubuntu / Automatix.
A wonderfull new universe had appeared.

@Footissimo

No.

American McGee do not earn the copyright for Alice, it is a property of E.A.

Welcome to the (hopefully) wonderful world of Ubuntu! Hope you will like it and that this means even more gaming for us in the free world.

One thing that the Linux world sure could use is help and guidelines (and tools?) for creating games on the platform (no matter for what target). Maybe a professional like you could help out there, at least with tips.

Another user above mentioned SDL/OpenGL/OpenAL, but I was more curious if you’ve looked for any DirectX->OpenGL/AL wrapper programs/libraries. I’d remembered seeing a GFX-only one a while back, but if you could get one that did the whole kit acceptably enough to have low overheadmaybe you could start pushing practices that would allow you to release linux versions in the future. (Mind you I think there’s a few things library-side on linux that need to get fixed first… I have as many broken linux games as Winxx ones, and finding and installing an old OS is a big no-no to me.)

For anyone who does not want to fully switch to Linux because of gaming I would suggest taking a serious look at:

http://www.transgaming.com/products_linux.php

welcome aboard

Oh noes! Your blog made it onto digg. Now why didn’t I think to digg it? If things seem to run a little slow, this is why.

I switched to Ubuntu in December 2004.

I persevered, mainly with my inability to adapt, but when I discovered Automatix it was a real ‘Damascus’ moment. I doubt that I will be switching back. I also changed my work pc to Ubuntu (i am the boss).

i hope your future professional work is made available for linux users to enjoy

for some more information about automatix visit this website:
http://www.getautomatix.com

Windows was unstable long before the new anti piracy software, i left a year ago, because I was just fed up with the standard windows (things not working/crashing) piss, I am now on UBUNTU and SUSE, both are great…suse is my office and Ubuntu is where I go when I want to play and with EASYUBUNTU I got all the proprietary stuff I needed on the system, no probs.

Join the crowd. I have just recently fought with WGA on a legal copy of windows. Like you this came preloaded on a computer I bought from Gateway. I will say it again, WinXP is the last MS OS that I will aver buy.
I have been a longtime linux user (Fedora Core 1-5) but always kept a Windows machine available, but no longer I have had it!
Long live Tux!!!

WELCOME McGEE!

We’ve been waiting for you.

vranash: I think you’re talking about winelib.

I’ve been a heavy user of SUSE for years. Both my laptop and my wife’s have suse 10.1 on it and we do everything with them. The one exception is a few games that I keep a Frankenstiened Windows PC around for.

Your experience is exactly why I think Microsoft is on a slippery slope. Open Source is the future of software. Microsoft needs to realize that or they won’t last a decade.

[...] Game dev American McGee has switched permanently to Ubuntu Linux, all because of Windows Genuine Advantage. Read the full story here. [...]

On Windows SDL uses wrappers around Direct3d I beleive. Maybe DirectX.

I beleive by defualt Microsoft uses wrappers to run OpenGL on Direct3d/DirectX.

Of course there is nothing stopping you from running SDL and using other things. For instance at least in Linux Quake4 did away with a lot of ID-specific stuff on the Doom3 engine and replaced it with SDL. Of course the rendering engine and all that is OpenGL for maximum performance. SDL, I suppose, is used for sound, controller input and maybe menus and such. I dont’ know for certain.

As for DirectX vs OpenGL.. I don’t know if it matters so much anymore. All the top-level gaming engines run on Linux anyways even if they run on directX in Windows. Except for Halflife2 engine, of course.

For more low-key stuff things like CrystalSpace and Ogre3d are open-source gaming engines are usefull. They are Linux-originated and seem to offer a lot for more budget-concious game makers. Ogre3d runs on DirectX in Windows even and obviously OpenGL in Linux.

And there is nothing stopping commercial game makers from using these things other then some technical nagging issues (probably). I like how ID released their engines as open source, but they are still compatable with ID’s game packs. I think that a commercial gaming company could follow a similar path from the get-go and get lots of attention.

I’ve just gone through the same thing. I had to call some number, and decided that i’ve already spent ENOUGH on Microsoft by buying their defective products, for me to make a lengthy phone call and interact with some shitty IVR so I moved to Ubuntu myself and Boy was I surprised!! I’ve written about it in my blog. http://www.skaag.net

Enjoy Ubuntu, and do give Compiz + XGL a try, use Quinn’s packages, it’s SUCH a joy to use Linux suddenly!

Skaag

Ubuntu is the best Linux distro for the desktop HANDS DOWN!

When Linux receives more games the mindless millions who are still asleep in their land of Wintendo will finally awake and M$’ desktop days will be over.

That’s the only hurdle preventing Linux from being more well known, aside from good marketing.

Every time you see a M$ advertisement in a magazine you own, RIP IT OUT and throw it away before you give the magazine away to someone else. The same goes for anything you own before you give it away, if it advertises M$ in some way, reshape the ad yourself with a permanent ink marker or just remove it.

@Footissimo:

Alice works perfectly under WINE. Try the latest version of WINE (http://www.winehq.org) and see for yourself.

I too had enough of Windows, except I switched to a Mac instead (in May). It’s way better.

I’m a big linux fan too, but it’s still too rough around the edges for my liking.

Congrats, welcome to the club!

Ogre is an excellent cross platform, open source graphics engine that is a great place to start for linux games. Check out more at http://www.ogre3d.org.

Oh, and Ogre3d wraps DirectX and OpenGL. The user can choose whichever he wants. Of course on Linux your only choice is OpenGL.

Cant anyone interested in making OpenGL as good as DirectX just contribute code to it?

[...] read more | digg story « Microsoft Unveils Vista Upgrade Matrix [...]

Welcome to Ubuntu, I first installed kubuntu horay about a year ago on a dual boot machine. Since then I have upgraded to brezzy and now dapper, and I wiped out my windows partition a few weeks ago for some much need extra HD space for Linux.

Get a mac already. Ubuntu is cool, but nowhere near as functional as OS X. While you may have stepped up from Windows, you’ve stepped backward from where you could potentially be. In the ver least, you owe it to yourself to spend a few weeks with OS X to properly evaluate the its strengths and weaknesses.

Just a few Games running under Linux (in case you’re bored They are all in 3D, you only need Nvidia oder ATI hardware acceleration:

World of Warcraft (with Wine)
Glest
Tremulous
Cube
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory
Unreal Tournament (wineX)
UT 2003
Nexuiz
Tribal Trouble
X2
Eternal Lands
Second World
PlaneShift
Orxonox

kermitX

Woo! Another convert!

I recently switched to Linux, a few months before WGA was forced on users (I think my switch was around a year ago now), And the only thing I’ve found that beats Linux is Mac OS X. And I’ve found a way around the Linux == no games thing, put Linux on the Xbox! Voila!

When I tried to switch back (Wanted to learn Visual C#) It was painful, and I could not get the updates I needed, my Windows box: Attempt0 went up in flames about 20 mins from the start thanks to malware/viruses/other generic windoze crap.

I hate Windows

Hey Tokay hows life, I hope you enjoy linux. Last night my legit windows install came up and said it was invalid i found out that if your time is way ahead it will freak out.. ? does this mean the dreaded WGA Selfdestruct button exists?

I’ve got the best of all worlds - Running OS X Tiger on my new Intel iMac, simultaneously running Ubuntu 6.06 and FreeBSD 6.1 in Parallels. And I’m in the process of buying WinXP to run via BootCamp so that I can play some cool games.

Funny how times have changed. When I had my first MacPlus, people used to laugh and say it was a toy only capable of playing games. Now, the only reason I want/need Windows is to play games.

@meme:

“Get a mac already.”

NO! I switched AWAY from Windows and the offerings of Microsoft to Ubuntu Linux because I wanted FREE and OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE and SOLUTIONS! Mac and closed source zealots get it through your head: FREEDOM DOES NOT EXIST IN CLOSED SOURCE! If we wanted to live in the world of restrictions and DRM, we would have chosen Windows and/or Mac BUT WE DIDN’T. If you enjoy your sandbox of closed source and DRM, by all means pour the bucket of sand over your head but leave us alone.

Consider, for a moment:

Is the popular iTunes application open source? Can I modify ITunes to work how I want it to or change it how I want to at the code level? Why not?

Are the media format(s) that most iTunes users use on a daily basis open and free formats?

Does iTunes run on Linux without WINE? What about all of the other applications for Mac? The OS itself?

I shouldn’t have to PAY for a closed source operating system just to use a closed source program to open closed source document and/or media formats.
I’ll go with Linux and free/open software ANY DAY vs. closed source!
It’s all about philosophy, which IMO most people don’t understand let alone hold to.

I don’t CARE what shiny applications exist on a commercial FOR-PAY operating system, if it isn’t free and open source then it doesn’t have a philosophy that I agree with.

“Ubuntu is cool, but nowhere near as functional as OS X.”

I call bullshit, did you read before posting? It said: ** Negative bullshit won’t post, so don’t even bother ** Free and open source software is more functional than shiny closed source applications could EVER HOPE TO BE. If I or someone else cannot modify an application for free or audit it for ourselves than we are right back where we started with the philosophy of limited closed source and we shouldn’t go there in our current state of human evolution, to do so would be to roll back over for certain corporations to continue to plunder us for another 10 to 20 years while we sleep wrapped in their closed source and DRM blankets of ignorance.

I want my operating system and its programs to be free and open source. If a certain project stops, *I* or someone else can pick the ball up and roll with it instead of it dying in a stale version never to be updated.

Some of us have been using computers for longer than Microsoft and Apple have existed and KNOW BETTER.

Closed source zealots will either ignore or attack this post not because it contains errors, it doesn’t, but rather because it insults their low-brow nature.

Hello James

I’m part of the german Ubuntu forum ubuntuusers.de On our news portal we publish success stories about the switch to Linux. And it looks like, your story is a successfull one

Do you mind if we translate your article into german and publish it inside our blog?

Every so often I go through the same revelation and decide to give linux a try…in the past, I’ve tried fedora, etc but in the end, I have to come back to windows for my game development activities primarily because the mass gaming customer base uses windows.

I realize that this is a chicken and the egg scenario - but being a small developer, I have to use the platform that the customers choose.

However, I do give it a try every so often…Unfortunately, I chose SUSE when I had the same decision recently, only to suffer through the nightmare that is setting up video drivers in Suse.

Not to say that SUSE’s install isn’t slick - I was very happy with it - until I wanted to setup 3d acceleration support on the machine…

Trying to get the ATI driver’s installed for the machine I was using to test SUSE was a freaking ngihtmare.

Unfortunately, I was not aware of EasyUbuntu’s option to (hopefully) automatically setup the ATI drivers, so I’ll give that a try next, but overall, the simple process of installing drivers seriously turned me off lnux yet again.

Welcome abord! I hope you bring Alice with you! (Awesome game!!!)

Hi, glad to see one of the major “movers and shakers” of the games world making the break from windows.
I use ubuntu to and it has a large caring community of support behind it on it’s forums. it really is made by humans for humans……..

[...] WGA Converts American McGee to Linux [...]

Because of your post I am trying Ubuntu and finding that I quite like it. Automatix made it extremely easy as well.

Thanks again …

[...] * Update 6: American McGee, famed game designer has just switched to Ubuntu as well. [...]

Way to go Linux McGee.
I started with linux 10 years ago and permanantly moved all my systems to linux about 5 years ago. Then 4 years ago i opened up a linux powered game center, we started on redhat 8 and quicky moved to redhat 9 and that was great until nov 2005 completed a switch to fedora 4 Actually we still have a redhat 8 machine running our database and it has been running for almost 5 years now and has not been rebooted or shutdown in at least a year and i have been very very happy and so have my investors, and it’s unstopable in that Gaming area. we run most of the popular games UT2003,2004,quake3/4 doom3,warcraft3,medal of honour,starcraft,farcry,C&C titles, etc. And they play flawlesly in native mode Well MOH is a little buggy “come on icculus” and under wine with a few tweaks to the windows native titles. down time weve never had that problem, and i run the whole backend on linux as well not a windows box in sight.
Except the windows boxes coming in on the tech bench for that come in evey month or two for virus, spyware, BHO, rootkit removals etc…
And (sorry to mention it agian) dealing with the WGA Problems that MS says does not exist. Some of these systems coming in are custom systems we build for our gaming clients and local CAD shops and we know it’s all genuine products, Were a freakin MS OEM authorized shop. But we do alot of linux systems Preinstalled these days we use whatever the customer wants
there is a linux for every one ease of use all the way to the power users and developers needs.
We actually turned down the recent PREY game center launch “free titles” for our center/cafe because there was no native linux client even though it does run flawlessly in a recent version of wine 0.9.14 and above and we know the engine used will run in linux, we decided thats not suporting the cause and will instead purchase savage when released.
The microsoft noose is sliping and vista cant save it.
I think even the big software corps are starting to see it MS is not your friend he will sleep with you till he has what he needs and then toss you, companies like macromedia/Adobe should be flocking to linux by now, that MS now has them in thier targets do they really think that flash /shockwave will be able to run properly in vista/IE7 when MS has thier competing products out ? It’s gonna be the whole caldera dos/Win 95 thing all over again. And MS will force market share away from them and bye bye macromedia or at the least hit hard like corel.

And were just about to open 5 more centers in cities where the game centers have shut down due to the windows problems and these are centers where the guys knocked us for going with linux hmm and every one of em is shut down now.
Well who’s laughing now.
Oh and get this my insurance company insured my machines against malitious use,activity or hacking, unheard of for a business running windows.
And i took that all the way to the
bank.

[...] Doom, Quake dev American McGee is fed up with Windows hassles and has decided to switch to Linux for good. “The truth is, Ubuntu â��out of the boxâ�� is a little lacking, but with the use of an installer script called Automatix, I now have a free, highly functional, and stable OS.”read more | digg story [...]