Half Life 2 for linux?

[thenerdguy]

Do you thik that Half life 2 will be made for linux like ut2003 has?
I sure hope so, I get ten times more performance playing ut2003 in linux than win im playing in Winxppro.

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

maybe...

if the process of making it linux compatible isn't too difficult and cumbesome, it would prolly make sense to get to that part of the market too(read: the more people that are able to play the game, the better sales)

 

[simmo]

i hope they do, more people, more money, more maps,more mods, bigger community

 

[Apos]

I really wish they could make a mac port: I have friends who only have macs.

 

[[Matt]]

Well if they include openGL support for the game then a port would be easy.

 

[The Mullinator]

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft will try to do whatever power they have to make sure it does not get ported to Linux.

There is that possibility, I mean HL2 has been announced for the Xbox and PC only.

 

[[Matt]]

Evilsof...*cough*... Microsoft has no control whatsoever over Valve.

 

[The Mullinator]

Originally posted by |MaTT|
Evilsof...*cough*... Microsoft has no control whatsoever over Valve.

Some of Valve's employees, including Gabe Newell used to work at Microsoft, it has been announced for only the Xbox and no other console system and Vivendi Universal (parent company of Sierra) seems to be ready to sell off its gaming division and the company expected to end up getting most of those companies is Microsoft.

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

it's still up to the developers to descide which platforms to port their games to...and it would make no sense for Valve to restrict it's audience to Windows users only, unless the port to another platform/OS is simply too difficult or costly...

 

[The Mullinator]

it's still up to the developers to descide which platforms to port their games to...and it would make no sense for Valve to restrict it's audience to Windows users only, unless the port to another platform/OS is simply too difficult or costly...

Thats very true. Its only speculation that they would only release it to windows users.

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

yes of course...

but I doubt they would limit it only to Windows users, if it's no big hassle making the port to Linux..

 

[Straylight]

Originally posted by The Mullinator
Some of Valve's employees, including Gabe Newell used to work at Microsoft, it has been announced for only the Xbox and no other console system and Vivendi Universal (parent company of Sierra) seems to be ready to sell off its gaming division and the company expected to end up getting most of those companies is Microsoft.

Valve is still pretty independent because they got so much money from Half-Life 1. This allowed them to develope HL2 with no external funding. As cool as it is to develope a game for five years in secret, they wouldn't be allowed to do this if they were under the control of another company or had debts that needed to be paid. Also, even if VU sells out to MS they don't own Valve they are just the ones publishing HL2.

-Straylight

 

[SpuD]

They made half life 1 for linux, since they know the impact that got they probably will make this one for Linux aswell.

 

[The Mullinator]

True but the publisher has a whole lot of power on deciding what platforms to release a game under.

However I do think HL2 will get released on Linux. Like I said, just speculation.

 

[PriNcE oF SpAcE]

it's been seen before...developers getting someone else to publish their games on a different platform...

so if for some reason whoeevr is behind publishing HL2 don't wanna do a port of a game...Valve can simply pick someone else, and btw I doubt that anyone would refuse to publish such a title...

 

[[Matt]]

Originally posted by The Mullinator
Some of Valve's employees, including Gabe Newell used to work at Microsoft, it has been announced for only the Xbox and no other console system and Vivendi Universal (parent company of Sierra) seems to be ready to sell off its gaming division and the company expected to end up getting most of those companies is Microsoft.

Games publishers tend to stipulate strict terms within thier contracts that mean a game studio has to do what they say. i.e. "release the game now or else!" Sierra which is now owned by Vivendi universal has a track record of doing just that with other games such as Tribes 2.

I know the situation but the fact is both Valve and the Half-Life franchise are big enough for valve to be able to negotiate thier own terms in a publishing deal and if Sierra or Microsoft dont like that fact then Valve can basically say 'f*** you!'.... There would be no shortage of other publishers queing up outside valves office with a nice fat briefcase full of cash.

Im also sure the games Xbox and PC only for now because the xbox is just a PC at its heart. Any port onto another system would take far longer as systems such as the PS2 and GC would take a lot more coding and both consoles are graphically inferior to both the Xbox and PC. The PS2 port of splinter cell was announced 8 months after the xbox version came out although im sure the lateness was partly down to exclusivity deals.

 

[Apos]

It seems as if they are relying pretty heavily on DX for their visuals, so it doesn't sound like an OpenGL port is really in the works. Doh.

 

[DeBaan]

Originally posted by PriNcE oF SpAcE
it's still up to the developers to descide which platforms to port their games to...and it would make no sense for Valve to restrict it's audience to Windows users only, unless the port to another platform/OS is simply too difficult or costly...

No, it's not. It's up to the management. Management follows $$, Marketing, and FUD. Which takes us back to the original problem.

Of course, paying one developer for a year of work, at $80, to port to a platform that will sell 10000 copies at $20 profit each.... hmmm. MacOS X and Linux are cousins. Sounds like there actually *is* money to be made in the non-windows arena. Otherwise, Q2/3/4, Doom2/3, and UT2kXX wouldn't be working natively on linux. Those other companies follow the $$, too.

Unfortunately, Valve is more shortsighted than iD et al. Valve has taken a pre-emptive move that cuts off lots of ppl and their $$.

Helaas pindakaas