Idea #2142: A open game platform

This idea is a duplicate of idea #365: Compete with directx.

Written by Willem Fokke the 1 Mar 08 at 12:12. Category: Gaming.
Related to: Nothing/Others. Status: New

Description

A open game platform.

Ubuntu and Linux are getting better every day but one of the thing it lacks is gaming.
It's one of the most reasons people around me wont try out Linux and I cant say I blame them. Even I use Windows to play games because its to much trouble to do this under Linux with Wine and Cedaga.

I think there shut come a “open DirectX” like the MS DirectX but than open :P .
Now I now this is to big for Ubuntu to do this alone but I think Ubuntu is in the position to get the ball rolling.

Ubuntu shut form a alliance whit other Linux distributions, Apple and perhaps game developers like iD Software. This way every one in the alliance can have a say in the development of the “open DirectX” so its more likely the will accept the new product and support it.

To give “open DirectX” a change it must be able to run on Linux, Mac and Windows operating systems. Also it would be nice to support future game console like the Playstation, Nintendo and perhaps even the Xbox (why not :) ). This way porting a game to a different platform will be faster and cheaper and so more interesting for game developers to work with “open DirectX”.

This will be a big project but if it succeeds it would be very positive for Linux and of course Ubuntu.

Sorry for my bath English I'm Dutch and a to make things even worse I have dyslexia :D

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Comments

Auzy wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 12:24

I suggested once that there should be a linux gaming base, that composes of:

OpenGL
SDK (or something similar)
OpenAL

At least. I was told it was a dumb idea, but I agree, it would be great, if we started really pushing set libs.

sammyf70 wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 12:29

For graphics, it's called OpenGL, and if I'm not mistaken, it even pre-dates DirectX. The problem with commercial games on Linux is not due to lack of standardization but lack of userbase.
Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_games for some of the games that run natively in Linux. Many are old, and most are not as slick as commercial windows games of course ... but there are quite some gems in there (Scorched3D, Nexuiz, Urban Terror, Vendetta Online... just to name a few ...)

Dolanor wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 12:48

I've woked for a 3D company, not in the video game though.

I don't think we need a simili directX. DirectX sucks. But we should provide a good framework helping developping games.

There are a lot of free 3D engine, but far less Game engine.

Game engine are one level higher than 3D engine and should be better designed than DirectX (which is not a game engine too, just some sort of game library).

Delta3D (delta3d.org) is one of the free game engine, but it doesn't have a lot of communication around.
I have tried to include it into ubuntu, and right now, I'm trying to include the brand new version.
The only problem I see for Delta3D is that it doesn't surclass the free underlying libraries like OpenSceneGraph or HawkNL. You can/should use the base library to use Delta3D.
I think the game engine designed in this idea should mask all the underlying libraries. (So it must provides maybe every features of those lib). So only knowing this game engine suffice to develop a game. You won't have to learn the specific 3D lib to render something special.
But I know it will be a very very very hard job, since every games have other needs. And a lot needs to be done to permit anybody to create any games.

But I really push this idea nonetheless !

Eldmannen wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 12:49

Its called OpenGL. ;)

qense wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 12:59

Yeah, OpenGL already exists, but it would be great if Ubuntu would create something to make things easier for Game Developers. Some kind of tools to create them easier.

Auzy wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 13:04

Apple I noticed provides for instance a tool to help create shaders with xcode, thats an example of something that would be nice.

Some investigation could be employed to make things easier

andrewfenn wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 14:19

It's already quite easy to develop games on Ubuntu, the problem is peer pressure, game developers all do Windows and no one wants to re-learn everything when they're quite happily getting paid to work on Windows only binaries.

mm wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 14:23

Isn't the free counterpart to DirectX on other platforms SDL ?

Jadd wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 15:01

Already implemented: OpenGL.

Willem Fokke wrote on the 1 Mar 08 at 15:46

The idea is to create a Software Development Kit (SDK) like suggested in the above comments (Thanks for that).
- OpenGL for rendering 3D graphics
- OpenAL for the sound
- A API for handling inputs from game controllers like the joystick en game pad
- Perhaps even a API that can handle the Physics

A collection of APIs that makes it for the programmers easier to program computer games for different platforms like Linux, Mac and Windows. Not to make a DirectX clone so you can play DirectX games under Linux.

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