Now that CMx2 is out, 4 reasons to care for the linux community with CMx1

Rosen Billblatt · September 30, 2007

A question to BFC: why don't you go down the 'neverwinternights' path with CMx1?

That is, making CMx1 (or at least CMBB and CMAK) disponible for the linux community, as the neverwinternights guys did with their three creations.

If possible (better) publishing (opening) its source code, with a GPL license, if not possible, or deemed economically inconvenient, at least doing it exactly "à la neverwinternights", so that all people that have (or buy) a legit copy can play it on linux.

The advantages for BFC would be, imho, quite multifold and big:

1) following the vista flop, more and more people are turning to recent (and quite powerful) linux distros like ubuntu, and this trend will grow more and more during the next years. So you would have an extra base of aficionados for CMx1, a game that you are not developing any more, while still getting your money with your new CMx2 from the windows mob: a win win situation.

2) even if the recent distros have banalized linux and made it so easy that my old parents can run it (in fact they really do: I installed ubuntu on their box and they said kinda "thanks, windows runs much better now", not realizing they were now running a different OS) most linux users are still quite programming savvy, and could - and prolly will - help finetune and ameliorate the old CMx1 giving it ten more years of life, especially if you release the code.

3) if CMx2 does not turn out the success it should have been, for whatever reason, you would have already gained a (big) foot on an alternative and promising platform that has just one deficit vis-à-vis the windows world: games. Exactly your speciality.

4) announcing that CMBB and CMAK will be released and will run natively under linux would guarantee a BIG advertisement campaign for BFC, given the 'hunger' for games inside the growing linux community. As you probably know, both Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS have a growth rate, especially among younger people, that shames older distributions like Redhat and Suse.

Additionally I may add that games like the combat mission series (as opposed to the ususal shoot them up frenzies) will probably be even more appreciated by the 'more mature' linux community. Most of the time and with the due exception of the revered populace of these forums, the 'point and click' windows guys seem conditioned by the zelda and mario approaches they had to endure in their infancy, no offence intended.

I have listed above the advantages for BFC, I don't need to list the obvious advantages for the many among us that use linux for almost everything but are compelled to keep a dual boot and to start windows just in order to play a couple of games that don't run (yet) under wine. Our wish is to ditch windows completely once for all, and it is sad to have to keep a windows partition (or an extra dedicated box) just in order to run a couple of games

Michael Emrys · September 30, 2007

Interesting. Let me ask you: is there a version of ubuntu that will run on a Mac and be able to play Windows games?

Michael

War RaVeN · September 30, 2007

Hi Rosen Billblatt,

A very intresting point of view!

But again Mac users will say the same, the best Os, a Mac works for you not otherwise, the market is growing, easy to use (even for grandparents) much less viruses and other BÚll shît. (This all is no offence to any platform)

And again you have statistics look here who proves the number one users.... a good software or games salesman or whatever will always try to reach the big sheep herds (no offence) and for sure it are M$ users. The little sheep herds will join sooner or later the big herd.

A prove of this is the new Mac intel?

@ Michael Emrys

Maybe this is possible on the Mac Intel? Most Mac Intel users use BootCamp for running Windows games or software.

Greets,

War Raven.

Rosen Billblatt · September 30, 2007

This is a tag off topic, since the whole point of my post was to convince BFC to release CMx1 for linux, which is as you know a non-proprietary OS (no offence for MAcs intended).

But yes, I reckon you can use either parallel and bootcamp on a Mac to run windows games (up to direcX 8.1, I think).

And you can of course run ubuntu in vmware inside a (intel) mac and try it out to your heart's content

Again. I was just suggesting that BFC could get huge rewards releasing a game engine, a game engine they don't develop any more, to a quikly growing community of millions of young people that have a bazillion superb applications (k3b is for instance a free open source copy/burn appz that puts nero to shame) but, dunnow why -prolly coz linux was until recently a OS for geeks- have just a few good games.

Ah, a last thing: "market share" does not mean nothing, since free operating systems are not purchased, making linux usage (not so for MACs) VERY under-represented in those stats. It's hard to say how many people are using linux nowadays, but the general consensus is that linux usage has been growing quite a lot since late 2006, thanks vista among other things, and ubuntu being the most famous example of it (not by chance Dell and HP have now begun selling boxes with ubuntu preinstalled, an unheard of fact one year ago).

Cheers.

[ September 30, 2007, 05:41 AM: Message edited by: Rosen Billblatt ]

thewood · September 30, 2007

Gartner Resaerch does look at freeware markets for Linux relative to market share. I'll see if I can find the numbers. Even with Linux freeware counted, Linux is tiny (almost negligible) in the home computing market. It really only becomes relavent in the server market with support from companies like IBM. IBM uses it as counter to MS becoming too powerful in IBM's customer base.

War RaVeN · September 30, 2007

I have always interested in alternative platforms, Os, Mac or Linux and I hope for you that they patch this CMx1 engine

Free or non-proprietary related Os is not important! The games Os wins always And this is a big reason why most people stays with there old plaform or buy a new one!

Btw, The statistics of Market share are no sales! But web hits!

Also sometimes when I set my firewall in hard stealth mode some other web users or Admin‘s thinks I’m a Linux user :confused: (but none offence taken)

Regards,

War Raven.

Rosen Billblatt · September 30, 2007

Please, yes, windows has still MANY more users than linux has, and yes, linux users are growing very fast. Both assessments being true, let's stop quabbling about the simple and known fact that linux usage -even for the older distros like novell and redhat- is growing fast (again: thanks the vista flop) and windows is QUICKLY losing ground even on "their" desktop market after having already lost the battle for the server market. This is quite off topic imho.

Please let's get back to the point of the thread.

I think that BFC could NOW have a chance, releasing to the linux community a game (CMx1) that they don't develop any more. Doesn't matter if they do release the source code (better) or if they chose a solution "à la neverwinternights" where only those that have bought OR WILL BUY -note the uppercase- a legit copy of CMx1 will be able to play it.

A chance that could well turn out to bring them some ADDITIONAL money in and could represent in perspective a major card up their sleeves in a very difficult moment of their existence (as I fear CMx2 failed acceptance to have provoked).

Maybe I don't understand much about marketing, maybe BFC couldn't care less about the linux users base, but this is a possibility that BFC should at least evaluate, and then eventually ditch, or eventually accept (and enjoy).

[ September 30, 2007, 07:51 AM: Message edited by: Rosen Billblatt ]

Sixxkiller · September 30, 2007

Vista is a flop? Maybe you should go look at the sales figures before you make such statements. Infact its been a better seller than XP was. Convincing BFC to make a game on a platform that hardly exists while making statements that are wrong isnt convincing.

thewood · September 30, 2007

I would assume that any SW company would evaluate OS options. The answer is usually listed on the side box. Its known as supported Operating Systems.

September 30, 2007

I dunno, even "transparent" Linux distros can still be a PITA. This coming from someone who owns something on the order of twenty Linux boxes, as well. Even Ubuntu isn't perfect if you've got odd hardware and Gnome still ain't the fastest crayon in the box. If Fluxbuntu gets off the ground with a decent release (and I do mean Fluxbuntu, not "install Ubuntu and then install Fluxbox on top of it") I'll be happy.

That said, if Charles was (as he seems to've been) keeping his options open for a port to MacOS with CMx2, he could probably port it to Linux as well with about the same amount of effort.

I'd agree that the Linux market is growing; unforunately I'd think that most new-customer Linux boxes aren't going to be new and/or top-end hardware. Gotta be careful about porting games to old tech. (I also think that's part of the reason why nobody (save that one company) bother porting games to Linux. None of my Linux boxes are gaming boxes in the slightest.)

As for CMx1, I think a port's highly unlikely given what we've been told about the nastiness of the codebase and Charles' lack of free time. Might be time to offer a bounty on that one, Rosen, and pursue a re-development of the engine rather than a port from BFC.

War RaVeN · September 30, 2007

Staying more or less on topic

Harware sales

Gartner

Maybe BF will consider your points, I don’t know! But I hope!

I also know that some Mac users don’t forgive BF for dropping the CM1 engine when Os X came out and this in the glory days of CMBO and CMBB

I also don’t understand marketing..... and for sure not theirs.

Maybe it is time for re-open the CM1 engine for both platforms, Linux and Mac? For sur it will give more resources to BF

Regards,

War Raven.

thewood · September 30, 2007

I have access to Gartner's and IDC's reports at work. I'll see if I can find the right ones.

Rosen Billblatt · September 30, 2007

Sorry about this.

I believe we drifted to a useless and subject to controversies "how many people are using linux" thread.

I'll reformulate the original question to BFC, which - quite amazingly - had almost nothing to do with the *contingent* and hard to assess relative quantities of windows, linux and MAC users (eventually had indeed something to do with the future, and even harder to assess, relative quantities, but let's please leave all these pissing contests aside)

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