Linux and games
 

im currently a windows user, but recently joined a Linux class learning about linux and mainly learning how to use Red Hat. i like it a lot more than windows but the only problem is i like to play games. i was wondering if that affects my games or not, or if some games only run on Windows. any other information would be helpfull too. trying to find a distro to choose from... not quite sure which to go with yet, looking for a free one.

Windows applications can only run on Windows, execpt if you're running a Windows emulator like wine. I'm not an expert on this area, but I think using an emulator isn't a good idea for games. A better solution would be to set up a multiboot system so that you can run windows and linux on the same machine.

the "Which distro" question is often asked here at the forum. Use the search function or try www.distrowatch.com

I myself use Debian. It's considerd to be less user-friendly than other distros, but I don't think it's very difficult to use (I'm a noob). If you're learning Red Hat then you might want to have a look at Fedora Core, which is a free version of Red Hat, I think.

There are some games which are native to Linux. Enemy Territory, Tremulus, Wormuz, bzflag and so on.

There are some Windows games which you can play through a sort of emulator called wine, or a commercial branch of wine called cedega, although for sure not everything can run like this.

You can also dual boot, keeping your Windows installation just to play games.

You could buy a console and scrap Windows.

Most of the games you currently own are Windows only. Some of them will run on a Windows API created for linux called Wine. I don't do much gaming, but I've heard various results depending on the game of success or failure. A few of the newer games may have linux ports available now. Most hardcore gamers keep what they call a dual boot machine. When they want to game, they reboot into Windows. When they want to work or just surf, they reboot into linux.

Also note that linux has a lot of its own high quality games of different varieties. I personally am highly addicted to Frozen Bubble and The Battle for Wesnoth.Free as in beer or Free as in freedom (or both)? You can try taking the quizes in my signature to find a starting point, or go to distrowatch.com and select one of the top 5 or 6 distros from the popularity poll. If you like Red Hat you're learning in class, try Fedora, it will be most familiar.

EDIT: beaten to the punch!

in able to run windows and linux on the same machine dont i need to create a partion? and if so, how do i do that.

id software generally releases its games for Linux: Doom and Quake both run fine. Doom 3 actually runs better on my PC under Linux than it does under Windows. Not a Quake fan, so can't comment on that one..

Yes,you must create partition,and i advice you to try Partition Magic 8.0.

Get it here : http://www.soft32.com/download_151.html

plus you must use some boot manager and this i use:

http://www.boot-us.com/

you may notice that you will get in Partition Magic package Boot Magic,but i advice you to use Boot-US.

regards,

^dark_c0de^

Yes, you will need to create a partition (or two) or you'll need to add a hard drive (linux can live on the 2nd hard drive). I like to use the GParted Live CD to do my partitioning. It's a lot like Partition Magic you can buy for windows.

Here are the steps to making partitions when you entire hard drive is used by windows:
1) Backup important information, files, docs, etc
2) Disable Windows virtual memory and hibernation
3) Defrag windows
4) Boot Gparted LiveCD.
5) Resize Windows partition and create linux partitions
6) Reboot into Windows.
7) Enable Windows Virtual Memory (and hibernation if you use it). Make sure everything works fine.
8) Reboot with the linux installer of your choice and select the partitions you already created.
9) When prompted, install Grub/Lilo to the 1st hard drive (hda or sda) Master Boot Record.
10) Finish installation.

You can use any scheme you want, some people separate the /home partition, or /var, for different reasons. Be aware that linux write support to NTFS is still experimental. So you should have a shared partition for any files you want to access from both linux or Windows.

When I dual boot I usually have a setup like this:
hda1 - Windows (NTFS, 15GB)
hda2 - /boot (ext3, 100MB) - used to keep the grub/boot files
hda3 - /swap (swap, 2x RAM up to 512MB max) - same thing as windows virtual memory
hda4 - Extended Partition (rest of drive, you can only have 4 primary partitions on a drive)
hda5 - / (ext3, 15GB) - root linux partition, contains the whole filesystem including /home
hda6 - /shared (FAT32, rest of drive) - used for all files you want access to when in linux or Windows

Just my :twocents:

going along with the games that run under linux. Unreal and the mission pack 1, UT and UT 2004. its great.

Yes i'm also hoping Epic releases UT2007 on Linux too. Now if someone could get the attention of EA, greedy bast****.

ok im on the step where it says reboot with the linux installer of your choice. im not exactly sure what to do here can anyone help please?

also, that partion magic thing doesnt work. it says i have to buy it...

That's why pjvaldez reccomended the GParted LiveCD.

When you have the disk partitioned like you need it, put in the installation disc of whatever distribution you're trying to install.

There is always Neverwinter Nights I, which has a native linux version. It's a bit like westnoth but much better.

Mat

Well, these days I am playing Quake3 using wine with the same performance which I used to get on windows.

I also tried Max Payne 2 but, it crashed after the intro movie.

My suggestion would be to setup a dual boot machine (Windows and Linux) initially and test your favourite games on Linux to see if they are comfortable with it. And, if they are, then you may convert your machine to a dedicated Linux system and visa versa.