Linux for Gaming?
 

Hello
Has anybody tried using Linux for an Internet Cafe particularly on a
multi-user gaming environment? Are there compatibility issues?
Windows XP cost an arm and leg here..So, I would like to experiment
using Linux as the alternative gaming OS..
Pls share your experiences ..thanks

To be honest, my gut reaction is that Linux will not suit your needs. Your customers will presumably demand a wide range of windows games and the odds of getting them all to run flawlessly in Linux are pretty small.

There is a commercial solution in the form of Cedega which will help you a lot, but it hasn't lived up to the hype in my personal experience. The unofficial Transgaming Wiki would be a good place to start to see if your games are listed, but unfortunately it's no guarantee that it will work on your machine.

At only £9 for a 3-month subscription it's well worth giving it a spin however on one machine and testing the games you have - you may have better luck than I did :)

Oh, and if you have NVidia cards you made your life an awful lot easier!

You won't have quite the range that Windows has, however I hear that HL2 and CS:S both work well under Cedega. There are Doom 3, Unreal Tounament 2004 & mods, Americas Army, Nexuiz, Return to Castle Wolfenstein & mods incl Enemy Territory, Neverwinter Nights that all have native clients. I'm sure there are more games but that's a start.

Thanks guys.. Think I'll give cedega a spin.

Hello guys........... :)

If I try to used CEDEGA in online games... do I have to pay for them like ragnarok online what is the difference of it to winex. ???:(

You will have to pay Ragnarok a subscription just as you normally would - the charge is to use their servers. How you play the game doesn't matter.

Cedega is simply the new version of WineX, just a name change.

Hello,

No need to use wineX or Cedega for games such as UT or CS. They both have native linux implementation.

Have fun.

CS is native to Linux now? CS = Counter-Strike?

Thanks.....for the info guys.
But I mean is If I used CEDEGA in downloading games do I have to pay for it. Because in CEDEGA site I have to login or subcribe to be able to used their site.... Do I have to subscribe or to pay for it? :)

Rose_love: Yes, Cedega is not free. If you really like your gaming though then it's worth the money because their support is very good.

Agrouf: Heh, I'd love to see this CS port your talking about... ;)

Sorry, my bad.
CS is not ported.
UT is though.

ohh thank you :)
cs_cam: Did you used Cedega? How much ?

thanks :)

Me too! how much is Cedega. If I want to able it

;) thanks everyone

a TG account is roughly $5 USD a month per account. IIRC the EULA is 1 account per user. so in the case of a gaming cafe you would need $5 per month per workstation running cedega/Point2Play.

I so far have ONLY used Cedega for playing World of Warcraft and with a Nvidia card i get between 15-30% better performance under Linux then i do under windows on the exact same hardware. One system was a dual boot, the other was windows that i converted to Debian.

For the most part if you have good enough hardware and are running one of the better distros for using Cedega and Nvidia cards so you do not have to deal with the BS that is ATI and linux you will be good for MOST games out there today.

Your big games like the FPS (that is what i see played at most gaming cafes) will either have a native port to linux or will play good enough via Cedega that the customers will never know they are using Linux unless you advertise it, and that is something i sujest.