Linux is perceived by most as a system for developers and geeks. Something terrible, without an interface and the ability to "normally", comfortably use. The gaming industry also sidestepped the system due to the fact that its audience was very specific and limited. As time goes on, today Linux has acquired a new, beautiful and friendly face.
Linux for games. Is it possible?
Already Yes. If we consider the system in the context of the gaming industry, then Linux is clearly inferior (in principle, to this day inferior) to the platform from Microsoft and game consoles. It was impossible to find at least a little worthy project. The system itself was extremely unfriendly, because even with the advent of graphical interfaces it was not clear how to install the game. Linux was merciless to those who did not want to understand it.
The situation changed a lot in the mid-00s. Then one of the most important stages of “humanizing” Linux was the release of Ubuntu. The system had a “combed” and accessible interface, as well as an app store (conditionally), in which many games could be found. Third-party developers pulled themselves up, cross-platform graphics engines and the like began to appear. Free games for Linux became available to users, which included all kinds of small casual projects. Later, more significant ones began to appear, such as Heroes of Newereth or Oil Rush.
Steam Appearance
The next confident step in becoming Linux as a gaming platform was the adaptation of the Steam playground. Gabe Newwell said that Linux for games is more than suitable, and he is ready to work on it. Already, there are a huge number of projects ported to Linux. Valve first rewrote their legendary games. These included the famous Half-Life 2, which won the hearts of millions of players around the world, the continuation of which is expected even by people far from the world of games. Newer games are also available: Linux users can easily fight Zombie in the modern Left 4 Dead 2 and many others.
All features of the Steam platform are also available on Linux distributions, no difference, except for the catalog of games. The assortment differs in comparison with what is available on Windows or even on Mac, but this is a matter of time. It seems that a company like Valve would not trust the system if it had not been for potential.
Wine and Playonlinux
To be honest, how the Linux gaming platform could grow much earlier thanks to the Wine emulation and project. Yes, the developers did not waste time in vain and looked for ways to run .exe files and Windows libraries on free distributions, because many of them were terribly lacking Microsoft Office and other exclusive utilities. The solution was found, unprepossessing, of course, that which is popularly called the “crutch,” but it worked and was suitable for the game. Linux for games became reality at that moment.
With the help of Wine, with a grief in half, I managed to launch certain games, something worked, something crashed, mostly problems were with advanced and modern games, they simply lacked power.
The situation began to improve with optimization. New versions of the Wine utility have been sharpened for specific games. For example, the popular World of Warcraft works great on modern distributions thanks to this emulator.
Then the game optimization process was undertaken by other developers, creating a project called Wine based Playonlinux. It includes the best games. Linux has finally become more like a complete gaming system. Playonlinux worked just like Wine, the difference was that this program immediately offered a list of well-functioning games and automated some of the processes for installing and configuring them, unlike Wine, where manual configuration is required. Powerful computers with adapted video cards coped with the launch of new products without any problems and continue to do so to this day.
Summary
Linux for games exists. Thanks to Valve's support and the work of independent developers, the result has been achieved, and now free, open distributions are even closer to people. To make sure that you can play by installing Linux, check if your any games are compatible with Wine and Playonlinux. Also get a powerful computer, preferably with an Nvidia graphics card. Linux itself is very undemanding, but the games will make the system and components sweat, and given that they run in the emulator, the task of the video card and processor is complicated. And finally, do not forget to update all the drivers, recently there are a lot of solutions from Nvidia (which is why it’s worth buying a video card from this manufacturer).
Otherwise, difficulties should not arise, just install Playonlinux and Steam.