xnsine

Yeah, i agree with what youre saying, but a linux port of the BiA games would have to use openGL for rendering images anyways. So what you are calling for is just a video renderer, which would still have to run under windows, right? DirectX dependence really, like all microsoft technologies-related dependence, comes down to one thing: Windows dependence. Direct3D, which is a part of the entire DirectX technologies, is in direct competition with OpenGL. Other technologies like audio, user input, interface, etc would have to be provided, if BiA indeed allows linux clients for their games to be made, by technologies like SDL, for example. If OpenGL is going to release the BIA games from Direct3D dependence, why not try to release them from windows dependence as well?

So, the petition site is over 100 signatures, awesome. :) Hey, if anyone of you guys use digg or stumble upon, can you please digg the linux group or the petition site? thanks!

Thanks, I joined. :)

That's a very good idea. Do you have any suggestions as to which platform to use for setting up such linux users social group?

Well, I have talked with representatives from Bohemia Interactive before, and they have been very welcomed to open lines of dialogue. This is an on-going effort, so while we can contact them again, we'll have put together a long list of signatures as a compelling argument for them to consider. :)

Well, I just posted about the petition on the boards Raedor mentioned, let's see if this gets enough momentum. :) BTW, Im thinking of making some banners that anyone can put on their signature to support this. :D What do you people think?

Im not very acquainted with the FADE copy protection system in ArmA. So, do you need to have the CD inserted in order to paly online with the latest patched up Arma 1? Does FADE specifically need to detect windows? Since WINE only provides a compatibility layer, would runnig it under WINE trigger FADE? BTW, the online petition is working now! :)

Really? Damn, yeah, it's timing out for me right now. Hmm, it worked last night when I made it. It was very unresponsive though. Well, in the meantime, you can register and post a comment as a backup solution at the petition's site. :) It can act as some sort of verification system for the signatures.

Thanks! And, whew, after a long delay, I finally managed to write the online petition. You can review and sign it here: http://www.petitiononline.com/saf3509/petition.html "But online petitions are rarely taken seriously." Some may say. That's why I'm doing things a little different for this petition. First, it will mostly be an effort to reach as high as it's possible the scope of the ArmA/Operation Flashpoint playing community from the sites you posted. And second, I made a forum specially for this effort, where anyone interested can post ideas, suggestions, comments, and such. The boards are located here: http://gameslinux.proboards.com/ All your input is welcomed, and thanks to everyone again! :)

Actually, that's a great idea. I'll do it. Lets see the amount of response it gets. :) Can you please tell me which are the most imporetmat ArmA/OpF BiS news games sites? I didn't know there wasn't a linux dedicated server yet for ArmA. Maybe that could be a start. But the idea is to eventually have a native linux client for the BiS games, so they can run in debian, ubuntu, zenwalk, etc.

Well, maybe if enough community members show here their interest, we could start a formal petition to BiS here to ask for their approval in allowing Operation Flashpoint and ArmA to be ported to linux. The talent and expertise needed is there. LGP would do all the work. BiS only has to give the approval.

Yes, but virtualisation is just a patch, it's not a good solution. VmWare is still a windows application that need to run under windows to emulate. Having native linux and other platform games would truly remove the requirement for players to have windows installed in their computers to play their games, to effectively avoid paying the "windows tax" they pay when wanting to play their games. WINE is more or less the same, it doesn't address the situation of truly multiplatform games.

Are you 100% certain of that? So BiS owns the game's engine for example then?

I just opened this account to post here. I was surprised to find a thread about this on the bistudio boards, while looking for info on ArmA 2. I'm the one who contacted BiS on behalf of Svartalf from Linux Game Publishing, and regular board member at phoronix.com, for a possible business partnership to get ArmA ported to Linux. We were all excited when BiS actually replied to my email saying that they were going to bring this to their dev. team to see. After a short pause of about 6 weeks, they finally replied with a standard "We're not interested." Took them a month and a half to say no. Wow, that's considerate. It was such a letdown. But, it's k, such is the gaming industry, it has its caveats. LGP has so far closed a deal with another popular game called Caster, and now is working on more porting candidates. Operation Flashpoint would have to be talked about with Codemasters, since they own the rights to that game.