Hey people, Whilst posting in another thread about an unrelated topic, someone mentioned the fact that developing games commercially under Linux may not be a good idea. Upon reflection, i realised this guy may have a point, but i can't really afford to dish out cash for a copy of windows. Also, i've pretty much learnt my way around Linux, and i love the way it all works together, to have to switch O/S to something as restrictive as Windows would really piss me off. Now what i'm wondering is, do i stand a chance of becoming a professional games developer whilst developing under Linux, or is it unrealistic to think this due employers wanting you to be able to use their programs? Obviously i've had one guys' opinion, now i'm intrigued as to whether there's anyone in this(slightly more appropriate) forum who agrees with this guy, or disagrees. At the moment i'm using SDL, OpenGL and FMod in terms of libs. Blender for 3D art, Gimp for 2D art, Scite for general programming, and the latest compilers/interpreters. And either way, i wouldn't be developing games FOR linux, simply using it as a dev. platform, opinions? :-D

Maybe I won't give You advice, but I want to show my point of view on this case...

Linux is great because is FREE and OpenSource. One cannot earn a lot of money, but it's great system to learn programming. There is SDL, OpenGL, FMod, etc.. so everything what is needed in game development is there.
In my opinion a great 3D games can be created under Linux... but if You want to make a money, go to Bill Gates... ;)

Who can afford MS VC++ (or .NET)...?

Well this argument has been brought up many times. I personally don't use Linux as a serious gaming platform for a number of reasons. First of all I have an ATI card(enough said), My wireless drivers are not excactly perfect(rules out online gaming). But I do use Linux as my development platform. I think you probably do stand a chance of becoming a comercial developer(if you have the skills). Linux is a platform that really teaches you computing(how are you going to learn more: by letting someone do the work for you, or by getting your hands dirty and doing the work yourself). Many modern developers are becoming focused on cross platform development(and having experience programming in Linux is always a plus when doing console development). Many people would say that using Linux as a development platform will only allow you to work in the amateur industry. That is not nessesarly true. What I do have to recommend is that you learn Windows programming(with it's dreaded Win32 and DirectX). It never hurts to be well rounded.

IM(very)HO, Linux offers a good development platform, what is lacking is the marketing platform. It should very well be possible to develop games with SDL, Allegro, OpenGL, OpenAL and a lot of other cross-platform libraries. Hell, there are whole cross-platform engines out there (e.g. Torque). So it should be possible to develop a game with those and port them over to Windows and the Mac with rather little hassle, thus giving you three target platforms where going purely DirectX would give you only one. You probably won't see a huge increase in sales just because of this, but it should be possible.

Sadly, I don't know of any commercial game that went multi-platform all the way. Neverwinter Nights is still anchored in the Windows world due to the Aurora toolset and the OpenGL renderers that come with the UT series are Not So Good and the editor is a VB application.

What i didn't mention was that i'm not yet a professional games developer, it is simply the platform i am developing on to learn how to develop games. Once i finish university, and during university(which i start next year), i want to be mainly using linux as my dev platform. I've already delved into some Win32 programming, and it really doesn't seem that difficult, XLib is far harder imo, but shares the same concepts.
Direct3D just seems like the same thing as OpenGL, and the rest of DirectX just seems like the same thing as SDL... Once you understand those underlying concepts, to me it's just a matter of coding it in a different syntax, but i'm probably wrong.

Quote: Original post by malune
I've already delved into some Win32 programming, and it really doesn't seem that difficult, XLib is far harder imo, but shares the same concepts.

Then again, pure Xlib is just painful.

Quote: Original post by malune
Once you understand those underlying concepts, to me it's just a matter of coding it in a different syntax, but i'm probably wrong.

No you aren't wrong it's true. But some of the Windows APIs are just horrible(Win32 has to be one of the worst looking things out there)

Quote: Original post by malune
Once you understand those underlying concepts, to me it's just a matter of coding it in a different syntax, but i'm probably wrong.

You're wrong. :)

While at the theoretical level you are correct, at the practical level where I have to pay you as an employee you are wrong. Why? Because I want a person fluent in the language or API in question, not someone who has to translate everything they do. You will eventually get the job done, I have no doubt. You will also cost me more till you bite the bullet and give up on your superiority complex and go with the flow and learn what I need in an employee.

To the AP : It would take me as much time to code a win32 app as it would to code an Xlib app because of understanding the underlying theory... so i think you missed my point. When i code something, i plan out what i'm going to use and why before hand, this is part of the design of the application. This isn't translating knowledge, simply planning and using the appropriate tools.

Since you obviously hate Windows, you should stay away from it. This may lessen your chances of getting a paying job in the games industry, but you can still have fun doing it as a hobby.