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Emulation (Games) Graphics Open Source Software Windows Wine Games Linux

Wine Makes It Possible To Run Vulkan Windows Programs On Linux (phoronix.com) 52

The cool Wine-related news of the week isn't just for Android Remix; an anonymous reader writes with some news applicable to a wider set of users: While no Windows-only Vulkan games have yet to be released, Wine developers are ready and have worked out experimental support for wrapping Vulkan Windows programs on Linux. Assuming you have a Vulkan Linux driver, the latest Wine-Staging build allows for Vulkan Windows programs/games to be dynanically translated and run on Linux 32-bit and 64-bit. Wine's Vulkan wrapper is passing all Khronos conformance tests, but hopefully the ever-expanding Linux game catalog will make this 10k+ lines of code not necessary moving into the future.
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Wine Makes It Possible To Run Vulkan Windows Programs On Linux

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  • Cool! Now I'll be able to run Vulcan/Windows programs on my Linux machine before I'll be able to run them on my Windows computer! Way to get ahead of the curve wine-guys!

  • by Anonymous Coward

    All 14 Linux gamers are reported to be very excited by this new development!

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by ledow ( 319597 )

      1% of Steam gamers, given the recent hardware/software survey.

      That's 120,000 players playing JUST at this moment, and probably 1.25 million "active" Steam accounts, by the latest stats that Valve release.

      You can keep mocking, but in terms of games available to them, it's an upward slide.

      I remember when people used to mock Linux for not having a "proper GUI", couldn't join Windows networks, etc. etc. etc. Turns out, it's one of the world's most profusely deployed operating systems, in various guises.

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        Haters will hate, no matter the facts. Vulkan will eventually make it very cheap (or free via engine support) to also publish a Linux version of a game, and then 120'000 potential customers is a very good argument investing this little additional effort.

        • by guruevi ( 827432 )

          With OpenGL you have been able to do that as well. Back in the day, we could port OpenGL games just by changing the launcher (eg. Unreal Tournament ran under Linux so pretty much any Unreal-based game was able to run using said launcher).

          The problem is so many devs using DirectBlah because it used to be easier to start with (and a lot harder to actually maintain/do something useful) than plain C/C++.

          • by gweihir ( 88907 )

            Exactly. I really hope DirectTrash goes out the window. Probably most developers will look to get rid of it anyways, due to consoles, Android and Apple. Hopefully most/all new gaming engines will be Vulkan.

    • by cfalcon ( 779563 )

      Lack of support for Linux games doesn't hold Windows back, but somehow lack of support for Windows games does hold Linux back. It's an unfair double standard, but it is what it is. Linux gaming, and Windows gaming under Linux, will definitely decrease the barriers to entry to Linux for a lot of power users and gamers. More importantly, this REVERSES the calculus of a game developer- currently the options for cross platform support result in more hassle and cost in order to support the, as you say, 14 Lin

      • by Bengie ( 1121981 )
        It's not a double standard, Windows is the standard, Linux is not. The hope is the new standard is for all games to be cross platform.
        • by cfalcon ( 779563 )

          It's a double standard because no one judges Windows by its non-existent native cross platform support, but routinely people will say stuff like "Linux doesn't run XYZ", meaning the developers of XYZ never made a Linux version. Even the fucking language is backasswards.

          • by LWATCDR ( 28044 )

            The job of the OS is to run software. If the software is not available for the OS then the OS is less useful.
            And yes I am a Linux user as well as an OS/X user and a Windows user.
            Linux is great for a server and it works well for almost all web based tasks.
            It is a good desktop if you do not want to game or must use program that is not available.
            It is not a double standard it is simply a fact of life.

      • Re:Very excited! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @12:43PM (#51753637) Homepage Journal

        "Lack of support for Linux games doesn't hold Windows back, but somehow lack of support for Windows games does hold Linux back. It's an unfair double standard, but it is what it is."
        Here let me fix it for you.
        The lack of AAA class games for Linux are holding it back. The lack of AAA class games for OS/X are holding it back. Windows has the most AAA class games.
        Name 3 great games for Linux that are not available for Windows?

        • by cfalcon ( 779563 )

          So if AAA titles on Linux deliberately cut their Windows versions, this would be better for Linux? If Linux somehow did some shenanigans to be hard to run in a VM, this would somehow be better for Linux?

          Get real. And get your language correct: Linux doesn't lack game XYZ. Game XYZ lacks a Linux version.

          • by LWATCDR ( 28044 )

            Let me make it simple for you.
            1. Game companies want to make money.
            2. To make money you have to reach the largest number of users.
            3. The cost of each user must be less than the cost of supporting those users.

            Not enough people use Linux to make it worth porting AAA games to Linux.
            Some companies do like Valve and other companies like nVidia and Valve are working to make Linux a better target OS for games.
            They do not do shenanigans to make it hard to run in a VM. VMs are a pain when it comes to interfacing har

        • By the numbers.

          Steam Hardware & Software Survey: February 2016 [steampowered.com]

          Windows 96%

          Windows 10 64 Bit 34% Up 1%
          Windows 7 64 Bit 34%
          Windows 8.1 64 Bit 13%
          Window 7 8%
          Windows XP 2%

          OSX 3%

          MacOS 10.11.3 64 bit 1%

          Linux 1%

          Ubuntu 0.4%
          Linux Mint 0.1%

          The $490 Alienware Steam Machine ASM100-2980BLK Desktop Console [amazon.com] currently ranks #127 in in the catch-all "Desktop Tower" sales category at Amazon.com. A fully pimped-out $6,000 Cybertron Win 10 gamer's PC ranks #37. You'll find the MacMini here and the $99 Wi

        • by antdude ( 79039 )

          Valve really to make Portal 3 and HL3 for Linux first to make Linux hot.

        • The lack of AAA class games for Linux are holding it back. The lack of AAA class games for OS/X are holding it back. Windows has the most AAA class games.

          That's a bit like complaining that lack of 4x4 offroad packages is holding back Ferrari -- maybe in Sticksville, Missouri.

          Linux has many strengths, as does OSX, and PC gaming has become a niche market. Complaining that Ferrari doesn't have an offroad package just emphasizes your ignorance. It means you are trying to use the wrong tool for the job.

          • by LWATCDR ( 28044 )

            Really? Are you nuts?
            An OSs job is to run applications. Linux for the home users is really lacking in several areas as far as applications and Games are a huge one. OS/X has much the same issue. That is one reason that Windows is still the number one desktop OS.
            I really like Linux and OS/X but Windows is still winning the desktop and probably will for a long time.
            Frankly it is not just games but things like CAD and just about every vertical market program on the planet.
            Linux today is no Ferrari it is more o

      • This would be because there are no games for Linux only that anyone gives a shit about.

        There used to be a lot of server applications that Linux was great for, and Windows was rubbish at. Windows has probably caught up a lot since then, so this may or may not be the case, but this was something that was holding Windows back.
  • Slashdot (Score:3, Insightful)

    by eyenot ( 102141 ) <eyenot@hotmail.com> on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @11:19AM (#51752819) Homepage

    Even though the article is about things I don't use, I'm pretty sure this is what was meant by "news for nerds". The only way to be sure to reach that definition consistently is to post Linux news. It doesn't matter if the article has equivalents or analogs that don't involve Linux, or if those analogs are boring. The important thing is that if Slashdot isn't consistently like standing around a water cooler at the top of some D&D Wizard Tower, then it's just not slashdotty.

    • But just like slashdot it's very confusing about what it's really about. Is Vulkan a game publisher, a competing video hardware board, a graphics library, or what? I followed the links but still didn't figure it out. I could use the googles but at this point it's not worth the effort.

  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Tuesday March 22, 2016 @11:20AM (#51752829)

    I Beta Tested Word Perfect 2000 for Linux, and it really sucked, because unlike the previous version which was a port of a unix version. This was the windows version combined with an early version of Wine, where the code was altered to fix any problems that Wine had at the time. In general it really sucked, it made X11 remote display difficult, it was slow, and buggy even after it went live. The bugs that I did place in it weren't addressed, they were just dismissed as me being too picky. But the screen should be refreshing much faster as a Duel Pentium 200mhz system in 1999 was a rather rocking piece of hardware at the time.

    • But the screen should be refreshing much faster as a Duel Pentium 200mhz

      I think the problem may have been the CPUs fighting each other.

    • A long time ago I tested one specific piece of software on Linux and it sucked so I'm never going back.

      Thanks for the story bro

  • Let me play a pirated version of Myth! My first exposure to Linux. Good times throwing explosives at corpses and making the gibs bounce all over the screen.
  • When OS/2 came out, it supported good support for 16 bit Windows applications. At launch this was a very fine thing, and people went around saying 'A Better Windows than Windows.'

    However, this retarded the development of Native OS/2 applications, then Windows 95, with 32 bit Windows came along shortly thereafter. OS/2 could NOT run Win32 apps.

    It's a mistake to count on users being satisfied running non-native applications and games.

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