On Wed, 2003-01-01 at 00:26, Tathagata Banerjee wrote: > On Tue, 2002-12-31 at 20:31, Russell McOrmond wrote: > > > These things 'seem' like 'native' programs, but are just better > > optimized emulations very similar to what you would get running the > > Windows version under the emulators directly. > > oh, okay. but i wonder how then the linux binaries often run > better/faster than the natively compiled windows versions. for instance, > sumeet says ut2003 runs 10-15% faster under linux than it does on > windows, both on his machine.
Well, let me clarify this on the basis of a few facts I was able to collect. 1. Transgaming indeed does their own kind of "porting". 2. The games they have "ported" till now are the Kohan series and Sims- Mandrake Gaming Edition. 3. This "porting", however, is based on their WineX technology and hence the use of the word "port" is debatable. 4. Developers like TimeGate let rights to their ports go to TransGaming. >Russell McOrmond wrote: >It is my understanding from chatting with them over the years that most >of their money is made in porting for the game companies. When game >companies offer a "linux version", it is often a version compiled with >the emulator libraries. I believe one of their largest clients was >Loki. If that is a statement made by Transgaming, then I am afraid, its a blatant lie. 1. WineX is a recent phenomenon. Transgaming forked the Wine code just about 1 and a half years back. Loki ran out of business almost a year back.WineX developed serious gaming capabilities with WineX 2.0, which was released in March 2002 possibly. 2. Basically, all major games that have been ported by Loki to the Linux platform and released, never needed to be compiled with an emulator library, because all they were doing is using generic OpenGL routines. All that needed to be done is, add a few optimizations, and release the Linux binary. Which is why some ports were released in a matter of days. 3.The sources for these games which were released later, never needed the presence of any emulator libraries, for compilation. 4. If Loki did use any Wine code, then they would have been very stupid, cos Wine had support only for Open GL apps( No DX, mind you) which when compiled for Linux, run much better, natively. TransGaming encourages the misconception that their product is not an emulator, despite the fact that the founder of the Wine project refers to it as such. In order to replace the term "emulation", they refer to WineX as a "portability technology", stretching definitions of both "portability" and "technology". If TransGaming really wishes to avoid the term "emulation", they should replace it with a phrase that actually reflects what WineX does, such as "compatibility layer". I use WineX and hence I know about its evils. Support for games varies wildly between releases, and even their vaunted "DirectX 8.0 support" is already one rev behind and about to be a second rev behind. It still doesn't provide access to all the nice features that the cards, DirectX, and the games support. As the anti-cheating software, by Valve (this identifies Half-Life CS/WineX players as cheaters and kicks them from the server) demonstrates, TransGaming does not control it's own destiny. If a game works, it is pure coincidence, and it can never be guaranteed that it will work with a future patch. Obviously, TransGaming does not, and cannot control the development of DirectX, it's a moving target they can't hit. This is the carrot on the stick for the gamer, to keep you subscribing in the futile hope that some day, the emulation will be near perfect for whatever game you want. > I believe WINE is a great thing, partly because it can demonstrate >to people that it is possible to impliment Windows in a more efficient > manner.Not only does FLOSS out-do Microsoft Windows in native code, >but in some cases it out-does Microsoft Windows for Windows code. I support the Wine Project because it is FLOSS. I subscribe to Transgaming, because I dont have an option. But when companies like ID software and Epic Games release their linux binaries, I'd prefer to use their products, because those are finally long term solutions. "Emulation" definitely isnt a bad word, but it can never be perfect, 'cos it is always trying to hit a fast moving target. The Wine project too, is a great effort to provide a compatibility layer to Windows, but then the main aim , ie to run Doze apps is defeated, when M$ stops supporting the 9x API. As long as M$ doesnt freeze code on a particular API, which we know is impossible, emulation/compatibility layers will never be perfect, and hence, never a solution. > - t. /Sumeet -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sumeet Madhukar Moghe | mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] C/O Mr PK Das, Ghola C Block, | Phone:+ 91 - 33 - 2595 1420 Opposite Checkpost, Sodepur, | + 91 - 33 - 2565 7575 Calcutta 700 110 - INDIA | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Some of my readers ask me what a "Serial Port" is. The answer is: I don't know. Is it some kind of wine you have with breakfast? -- To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the body "unsubscribe ilug-cal" and an empty subject line. FAQ: http://www.ilug-cal.org/node.php?id=3
