I really enjoy making computer games in C++ and SDL but from a market point of view, is it really worth the trouble of porting a game to linux?

Don't get me wrong but I was under the impression that all linux users want their games/programs to be free.

Obviously that isn't conductive to keeping a business.

Since the games in themselves are programmed using a cross-platform library, actually porting the games would not be terribly difficult.

Also another problem is the installing part.

Since it would be a business, the source code would not be available to the customer.

That and since every linux distro is different on how it manages things, it would be nearly impossible to make it 100% compatible with every linux distro.

Being as such, What distros should be supported?

Wouldn't that be a little bias to only support "some" linux distros but not all?

Only supporting some linux distros would also hurt the profits.

Would it be worth the trouble of porting games to linux?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the way, my development PC is running windows but pretty much everything else is done on my linux PC.

Well, if you ask me regarding the "incompatibility" of some linux distributions then I would say that maybe they would need to create some kind of library like directX for installing games ported from windows to linux I'm sure (my own opinion) that linix ppl would pay for a game like for any other commercial product. If you would like to play lets say Diablo 3 dedicated for linux then don't expect the game to be for free (for me its obvious the same like : water boils at 100 degrees). I think that the entire FREE thing with linux is about applications and the freedome to access the source code of every part of the OS / application that you have / or can install. The only problem with not many games for linux is with the business side (all about $$$$$). How many linux users are out there in comparison with Windows ?? Everyone is familiar with windows as that is the first OS (most of the time - 99%) you see when you get your first PC (unless your dad is a linux geek and buys you linux box )

I think that this is a space just waiting to be occupied. I, for one, would be quite willing to plunk down some cash for a quality commercial piece of Linux software, especially a game.

I have to admit, though, that the Linux community would be scary to me as a commercial software developer. As a group, they are more savvy and would be less constrained by DRM efforts. Also, as you touch on in the original post, they are used to getting software for free, and widespread piracy would be a concern.

Maybe some very clever DRM would help, with software requiring online activation which then generates some kind of hash needed for the app to run in the future; a hash derived from the serial number of the motherboard, the registered user's last name, and the activation key, for example. Whatever you do on this front, though, it can be overcome by someone determined.

Binary software distributions can be installed on Linux systems just as easily as they can on other systems. I don't understand the issue here.

Static binaries could be built and would then be executable on any system with a compatible glibc . . . really almost all Linux distributions are identical when it comes down to the nuts and bolts as far as static binaries are concerned. You'd only have to test your software on Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, and SuSE . . . others are going to work if those do. Really, more important than testing a game on different distros would be testing it with different graphics and sound chip sets and drivers, just like with other operating systems.

I think that there should be a Linux only game studio as proof of concept. Once a viable market was proven, we'd start seeing every new game ported to Linux.

Linux is approaching a 5% web-going market share, which is comparable to Mac's 7%. If there's money in Mac software, there's money to be made in Linux software.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

I want everything, not just games, to be free. Unfortunately my wishes will never come true.

Rubbish. Consider World of Warcraft (WOW).

There's nothing wrong with providing the source code; the way you make money is selling the licence to use the product.

Nothing is ever going to be 100% compatible, but you can provide an installation script that checks to ensure that the user's system has the appropriate s/w libraries to support the operation of the game.

You shouldn't worry about this; just include a note indicating that the game has been tested with Distros A, B, and C. For example, RedHat, Ubuntu, CentOS, Mandriva, and SuSe.

No.

That's an oxymoron... how can profits be "hurt" if you have not even made a sale yet.

That's up to you to decide. Personally, I do not play computer games.

Well, if you enjoy THIS, porting shouldn't be much of an issue any more. For my last project, it took me much more time "porting" the thing to win32 (building statically linked import libs for SDL to finally get a statically linked .exe).

Whether it's worth the effort to RELEASE the game for linux ... I don't know, depends on the game. I think there are quite a LOT very fine open source games out there, so if you want to SELL a game, it has to astonish ppl. But that's IMHO not so different for the windows platform.

If you want to release it for linux, I'd suggest to build three packages: A .rpm, a .deb and a generic .tgz for "exotic" dists

So, why not try to polish 'wine' instead ?

YES.

http://www.hemispheregames.com/2010/...x-the-numbers/

M2C ... would have to be YES as well. Imagine what would have happened if Bill had scruples and asked himself, "Should I steal DOS and see what all this computer stuff is about or not?" (sorry couldn't help a little slander) But seriously, I amongst many others would be happy to lay down cash for a linux
driven version of something like Crysis.
Yes you will have to compete with piracy, but that doesn't make you any different than any other company currently ... does it?

Also, on the front of linux users "only" want free software, IMHO this is not true at all, if it were how would companies like Redhat make a living out of supporting stuff?

I too have played games running under wine or cedega and whilst I have even had situations (rare) where the game actually performs better under an emulator
like these I would still like to have something run natively out of the box

Lastly, as many other have also pointed out, if you pick the most popular distros to test on nearly all others will find a way themselves to either follow suit
or make the necessary changes to accommodate your software.

In fact, this is not an issue of the preferred operating system I think there are at least as many kiddies wanting ANYTHING for free using windows as there are using linux. I'm a software developer myself and I prefer either using software that is just free or else paying for it. The only issue I could imagine about linux users is: they are more likely to know and use great open source games. But, if your game really IS great, so people really WANT to have it, I think it will pay out releasing it for linux, too.