[Leaked Engines And SDK (CE, UE, Unigine, XT, Source, GFX)
Kody Coste
Linux-based operating systems can be used for playing video games. Because many games are not natively supported for the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, such as Wine, Cedega, and Proton, and managers such as Lutris and PlayOnLinux. The Linux gaming community has a presence on the internet with users who attempt to run games that are not officially supported on Linux.
Linux gaming started largely as an extension of the already present Unix gaming scene,[1] which dates back to that system's conception in 1969 with the game Space Travel[2][3][self-published source?] and the first edition in 1971,[4] with both systems sharing many similar titles.[5][self-published source?] These games were mostly either arcade and parlour type games or text adventures using libraries like curses.[6][7] A notable example of this are the "BSD Games", a collection of interactive fiction and other text-mode amusements.[8][9] The free software philosophy and open source methodology which drove the development of the operating system in general also spawned the creation of various early free games.[10][11]
The beginning of Linux as a gaming platform for commercial video games is widely credited to have begun in 1994 when Dave D. Taylor ported the game Doom to Linux, as well as many other systems, during his spare time.[22][23] Shareware copies of the game were included on various Linux discs,[24] including those packed in with reference books.[25][26][27] From there Taylor would also help found the development studio Crack dot Com, which released the video game Abuse,[28] with the game's Linux port even being distributed by Linux vendors Red Hat[29] and Caldera.[30] The studio's never finished Golgotha was also slated to be released by Red Hat in box.[31] Ancient Domains of Mystery was also released for Linux in 1994 by Thomas Biskup, building on the roguelike legacy of games such as Moria and its descendent Angband, but more specifically Hack and NetHack.
id Software, the original developers of Doom, also continued to release their products for Linux. Their game Quake was ported to Linux via X11 in 1996, once again by Dave D. Taylor working in his free time.[32][33] An SVGALib version was also later produced by Greg Alexander in 1997 using recently leaked source code, but was later mainlined by id.[34] Later id products continued to be ported by Zoid Kirsch[35] and Timothee Besset,[36] a practice that continued until the studio's acquisition by ZeniMax Media in 2009.[37] The ports of Quake and Quake II were released physically by Macmillan Computer Publishing USA,[38] while Quake III was released for Linux by Loki Software.[39] Red Hat had previously passed on publishing Quake for Linux, since it was not open-source at the time.[40]
In 1991 DUX Software contracted Don Hopkins to port SimCity to Unix,[41] which he later ported to Linux and eventually released as open source for the OLPC XO Laptop.[42] Other early commercial Linux games included Hopkins FBI, an adventure game released in 1998 by MP Entertainment,[43] and Inner Worlds in 1996, which was released for and developed on Linux.[44] In 1998, two programmers from Origin ported Ultima Online to Linux.[45] The UNIX Book of Games, a 1996 publication by Janice Winsor, described various games with an accompanying CD-ROM containing executables and source code for Linux and SCO Unix.[46]
A website called The Linux Game Tome, also known as HappyPenguin after its URL, was begun by Tessa Lau in 1995 to catalogue games created for or ported to Linux from the SunSITE game directories as well as other classic X11 games for a collection of just over 100 titles.[47] It was taken over by Bob Zimbinski in 1998 eventually growing to over 2000 entries, sponsored by retailer Penguin Computing and later LGP until it went down in 2013, although mirrors still exist.[48][49]
The site LinuxGames covered news and commentary from November 1998 until its host Atomicgamer went down in 2015.[50][51] It was established by Marvin Malkowski, head of the Telefragged gaming network, alongside Al Koskelin and Dustin Reyes;[52] Reyes passed away August 8, 2023.[53]
On November 9, 1998, a new software firm called Loki Software was founded by Scott Draeker, a former lawyer who became interested in porting games to Linux after being introduced to the system through his work as a software licensing attorney.[54] Loki, although a commercial failure, is credited with the birth of the modern Linux game industry.[55] Loki developed several free software tools, such as the Loki installer (also known as Loki Setup),[56] and supported the development of the Simple DirectMedia Layer,[57] as well as starting the OpenAL audio library project.[58][59] These are still often credited as being the cornerstones of Linux game development.[60] They were also responsible for bringing nineteen high-profile games to the platform before its closure in 2002.
Loki's initial success also attracted other firms to invest in the Linux gaming market, such as Tribsoft, Hyperion Entertainment, Macmillan Digital Publishing USA, Titan Computer, Xatrix Entertainment, Philos Laboratories, and Vicarious Visions.[61] During this time Michael Simms founded Tux Games, one of the first online Linux game retailers,[62] later followed by Fun 4 Tux,[63] Wupra,[64] ixsoft, and LinuxPusher.[65] The Indrema Entertainment System (also known as the L600) was also in development since 1999 as a Linux based game console and digital media player,[66][67][68] but production halted in 2001 due to a lack of investment,[69][70] although the TuxBox project attempted a continuation.[71]
The period also saw a number of commercial compilations released,[72] such as 100 Great Linux Games by Global Star Software,[73] Linux Games by Walnut Creek CDROM,[74][75] Linux Games++ by Pacific Hitech,[76][77] Linux Cubed Series 8 LINUX Games by Omeron Systems,[78] Best Linux Games by SOT Finnish Software Engineering,[79][80][81] LinuxCenter Games Collection,[82] Linux Games & Entertainment for X Windows by Hemming,[83][84] Linux Spiele & Games by more software,[85] Linux Spiele by Franzis Verlag,[86] and play it! Linux: Die Spielesammlung by S.A.D. Software.[87] Numerous Linux distributions and collections packed in Loki games and demos,[88] including Red Hat Linux,[89] Corel Linux and WordPerfect Office,[90][91] and the complete Eric's Ultimate Solitaire bundled with PowerPlant by TheKompany.[92]
The release of ScummVM in 2001,[93] Dosbox in 2002,[94] as well as video game console emulators like MAME from 1997 and released as open source in 2016, helped make Linux a viable platform for retro gaming (facilitated by the RetroArch frontend since 2010).[95][96] This is especially the case for the GP2X series of handheld game consoles by GamePark Holdings in addition to the community driven Pandora and DragonBox Pyra. Dedicated emulation setups are also built on single-board computers like the Raspberry Pi released in 2012, which are most often Linux based including with Raspberry Pi OS.[97] Wine is also useful for running older Windows games,[98] including 16-bit and even some 32-bit applications that no longer work on modern 64-bit Windows.[99] The Sharp Zaurus personal data assistants adopted a Linux derived system called OpenZaurus, which attracted its own gaming scene.[100][101] This was also the case with the Agenda VR3, advertised as the first "pure Linux PDA".[102][103]
After Loki's closure, the Linux game market experienced some changes.[104] Although some new firms, such as Linux Game Publishing and RuneSoft, would largely continue the role of a standard porting house,[105] the focus began to change with Linux game proponents encouraging game developers to port their game products themselves or through individual contractors.[106] Influential to this was Ryan C. Gordon, a former Loki employee who would over the next decade port several game titles to multiple platforms, including Linux.[107]
Around this time many companies, starting with id Software, also began to release legacy source code leading to a proliferation of source ports of older games to Linux and other systems.[108] This also helped expand the already existing free and open-source gaming scene, especially with regards to the creation of free first person shooters.[109] In addition, numerous game engine recreations have been produced to varying levels of accuracy using reverse engineering or underlying engine code supporting the original game files including on Linux and other niche systems.[110][111]
The company TransGaming marketed as a monthly subscription its own proprietary fork of Wine called WineX in October 2001, later renamed Cedega in 2004 and discontinued in 2011, which aimed for greater compatibility with Microsoft Windows games. CodeWeavers also offered an enhanced version of Wine called CrossOver Games.[112][113] The reliance on such compatibility layers remains controversial with concerns that it hinders growth in native development,[114][115] although this approach was defended based on Loki's demise.[116][117] PlayOnLinux, established in 2007, provides a community alternative,[118] with various guides being written on how to get games to run through Wine.[119] A special Gaming Edition of Mandrake Linux 8.1 was released that featured WineX packed in with The Sims.[120] The fact that the fork of Wine did not release source back to the main project was also a point of contention, despite promises to release code after achieving a set number of subscribers.[121][122]
The Linux gaming market also started to experience some growth towards the end of the decade with the rise of independent video game development,[124] with many "indie" developers favouring support for multiple platforms.[125] The Humble Indie Bundle initiatives inaugurated in 2010 helped to formally demonstrate this trend,[126] with Linux users representing a sizable population of their purchase base, as well as consistently being the most financially generous in terms of actual money spent.[127][128] The Humble Indie Bundle V in 2012 faced controversy for featuring a Wine-based release of Limbo prepared by CodeWeavers,[129] while a native version was later released in 2014.[130] Humble eventually began offering Windows-only games in their bundles and on their store.[131][132]
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