In addition, I think the most important step is that more and more developers start with multiplatform in mind. It's not just a matter of OpenGL or DX or Vulkan, but also any additional middleware. I can't find it now, but I seem to remember that for some game the Linux port was cancelled because they used Adobe Air and Adobe stopped supporting Linux a while back. Similarly, the Republique devs as well stated that they can't port to Linux due to middleware, though I don't know what exactly. This is why I'm always skeptical whenever developers promise a Linux version but say they'll only start working on Linux when the Windows version is basically done.
Fair point, although I have to admit I have knowledge gaps when it comes to middleware. I know what AIR is and I know what it did, but is middleware a dying breed due to the fact that engines run natively on linux nowadays? Like Unity for example, or Source 2
I really wish that Valve would start contributing heavily to Wine and start a program to help developers migrate to a Wine on Linux setup for SteamOS.
I don't really care about the performance issue as I totally overbuilt my system, and it's worth the money to me to be well ahead of the curve.
Wouldn't that mean that you had to optimize Wine for every single new release? This seems like a lot of work, keeping Wine patched up and optimized for every single new game.
Besides, I understand your point of not caring about performance since you have a beast, but that's not really applying for the majority of users and would make PC gaming even less attractive for newcomers.
I'm not seeing a reason for the hostility. No blatantly incorrect facts, no FUD, no flaming, no trolling. Just a different opinion. And I'm coming at this from a pro-SteamOS guy.
I will address this one last time. Go back and read his posts. He's been inappropriately condescending from the get go and has been presenting his unfounded opinions as facts, which I've refuted several times, and asked him for his sources, which he never provided.
And I'm coming at this from a pro-Microsoft side. I bought a Surface RT, I've had 4 Windows phones since WP7, I made my dad buy a WP, I have an original XBOX and a 360. I used to work together with brilliant MS people when I worked at IBM.
They even sponsored one of my research projects.
However, I'm an economist and anti-monopolist at heart, and a firm believer that true innovation can only come out of competition. Microsoft has proven several times that competition is good for it - people just like to forget. How many people remember Office 2007? It was vastly superior in form and function due to the fact that open source alternatives had caught up to Office XP/2003 because MS did shit for years.
It boils down to this: Just because I like to play games shouldn't mean that I have to stick to windows because of monopolistic path dependencies. Windows can exist on its own merits, in several aspects it's a great OS. Furthermore, competition against Windows would help the customer too, since MS might start to drop its data mining bullshit and offer something the customer really wants.
I don't have any delusion about replacing windows for gaming or for general computing. Gaming on linux is important for the same reason Linux itself is important: It just needs to be there. So there can be a choice. It can stay small, and if there are major fuckups on microsoft's part there will be somewhere for us to flee to.
Well, yeah, that too - although as stated above, I would welcome a freedom of choice from the start.
At this point, you are indeed delusional. Xbox One's existence is IRRELEVANT to PC gaming at large. There is an order of magnitude difference between the two market's size.
And besides, if you had any idea about how development goes, you would not assume so little at developers. Once an engine is supporting Vulkan bindings, it is not a question of "should I", but a "why would not I?".
We had this dance before, and you have an assumption that people will irrationally stick to DX12 no matter what, and you are prepared to ignore anything that goes contrary to your belief. That is fine, but do not act surprised when everyone points at your logical inconsistencies.
He tends to ignore those and saves himself into believing everyone dislikes him. He has proven several times he has no idea what he's talking about and won't listen to anyone else, why do you waste your time?
I think it's very clear that the intention in the long run from Microsoft is to make PC games (and also applications) become more like iOS-style apps, and in the even longer run start taking a cut. They haven't stated as much but the signs are clear. Why else would they do what they have been doing with W8/W10/UWA. I mean, they are building a standard that is essentially competing with their own other standard, Win32 applications. If their intention was to actually support the PC gaming industry for what it is, they could move their support to win32 applications, and making sure Win10 was the most open, mod friendly and DRM free environment out there, while also having the best driver and development support (for games). They have this golden oppertunity where the sit upon the win32 standard, a great OS (Win10), best-in-industry drivers and developers that love creating win32-games, a bunch of better and better gaming platforms (Steam, Origin, ...) and they decide to take a shit in their own backyard with anti-customer shite that no one asked for.
Looking a few years ahead, I think phone/tablet/wearable devices with good capabilities to utilize big home screens when needed are going to limit the use for a home PC for many people. Microsoft is trying to combat this in the totally wrong way, by not playing on their strengths and instead trying to mimic what Apple (and to some extend Google) are doing. And mark my words: They will fail (my prediction, obviously).
Because of all this, SteamOS and Linux gaming moving forward is very important for those of us that like all the nice stuff that PC gaming offers (already outlined perfectly in the PC gamer article by Durante). If Microsoft doesn't change their stance, but continue on the path they are treading down right now, Windows will _not_ be the convenient, top quality platform it is today in a few years. It will be a closed eco system with limited options/moddability, with more expensive games (due to lack of competition and MS-fees) and likely less and less hardcore games. Kind of like App store.
Edit:
Also, there's another aspect in this that is easy to forget. I have worked in the games industry, and right now I work with middleware that is utlized by the games industry and it cannot be understated how influencial "the nerds" are in this industry. Sure, the big companies sit on the money, but money alone don't make great games. You need the hardcore developers, the smart guys; people like Carmack and Tim Sweeny, to make the best games and technologies. And these guys don't like what MS are doing right now. Ideologies and "radicalism" (as some might put it) might not be that important to a huge portion of the end customers, but it is very important to some of the most influencial and important people in the industry.
Bolded for truth. I mean, sure, Apps are great for idiot proof "plug and play" behaviour, but as Valve say in their Steam Controller video, PC Gaming has always, always, always been about options. About freedom. TF2, CS and Dota, some of the most played games right now, were bloody mods for crying out loud. Whoever doesn't understand that has absolutely no comprehension of PC gaming. Valve and Kojima (Homo Ludens text) understood that those who play have the capability or drive to create too.
As long as nobody can show me efforts by Microsoft to keep the options, freedoms and mods alive and well, I won't have it.
I've been a steam user since October 31st 2004, and no, I'm not pulling rank on anyone, I just like to point out: People like to forget. I remember times when Steam was the devil incarnate, nothing more than a then-considered unnecessary DRM and update tool. I remember the problems e-sports had when a CS update would hit during or before a match and people had to wait for 30 or so minutes because the servers were atrociously slow. I personally hated Steam. But Valve listened, they innovated, they added. Nowadays we have non-direct-profit-generating features like inhouse streaming, family sharing, centralized modding communities - and
that's the standard to beat. This has been a development for over 10 years, I'm not gonna give MS 10 years and the reason of doubt to catch up on all of that. If MS wants people to move, they have to offer more than Steam, not atrociously less.
