Linux gaming made easy
We've brought you news of several projects involved in porting the popular open-source operating system Linux to differentgames consoles, but if you're already running Linux on your PC and want to play games, you may be finding it tricky.
Several commercial games have been ported to Linux, including Quake 4, and there are many open-source games that ship with various distributions or can be downloaded. However, you may find yourself gritting your teeth and dual-booting back into Windows occasionally to play the latest commercial releases or feed your World of Warcraft addiction.
If that?s the case, and you don?t mind splashing out with a little cash, you can put a stop to the dual-booting and run your games in Linux by using Transgaming Technologies? Cedega, a subscription-based application that implements a Windows compatibility layer on top of Linux. A fork of the open-source Wine project, it?s been optimised for gaming and focuses on DirectX compatibility.
One of Cedega?s main strengths is its ease of installation and use ? while Wine can perform many of the same tasks, installing Wine or the CVS version of Cedega can be difficult, and it?s tempting to pay the subscription price of $5 a month instead. Subscribers also get support with their installation, and can vote on which games should be focused on for future versions of the product.
Having used Cedega for over a year, we?ve found it to generally be an excellent and easy way to run games under Linux; the product has matured a lot over the last 12 months, although there are several concerns. Frequent patching of games like World of Warcraft often means that the Cedega developers have to release corresponding patches, which can take a day or longer?not so good if there?s a scheduled raid. Also, not every game is supported or runs well; there are user-created lists of how games shape up, but Transgaming?s list of supported games shows only a few with official support.
The performance comparison is surprising?we found that World of Warcraft appeared to run faster under Linux, especially when switching in and out of the game, or running in windowed mode. Other games showed little difference.
The major downside to using a program like Cedega to run Windows games is that developers have less incentive to port their games over, leaving Linux gamers out in the cold unless they want to pay a subscription to Transgaming or continually tweak alternatives. Also, there is some friction between the open-source community and Transgaming regarding the extent to which the latter gives its developments on Wine back to the community.
However, from a gamer?s point of view, Cedega represents the best solution for gaming under Linux?hassle-free and reasonably comprehensive, it should end your dual-boot troubles. If gaming is the only reason you still use Windows, now might be time to switch.
