DirectX is a tool of convience, and is more like SDL + OpenGL than OpenGL alone. As a consequence you could technically develop a game considerably faster than with OpenGL alone. But then you are stuck with a windows only game and if you planned to port to a console, such as PS3, Wii or even to a lesser extent XBox, then it requires a complete re-write of major sections of code.
However. with SDL being as stable as it is, there is no reason a developer could not write the game for SDL and OpenGL in the beginning and have it run pretty much the same on all platforms. Also there is no DirectX for Macintosh. The "MacinUser" is considered a lucrative demographic and game buying demographic by developers and publishers alike, and at least with the games I've seen, there's not much needed to get a Mac game to run under Linux. Sometimes its a simple recompile. There is also now a huge indie game developer movement, and with Microsofts XNA initiative, pushing those aspiring devs towards M$ lock in, there has never been a better time than right now, to let game publishers and developers know you'ld preffer a Linux version (or heck even a Mac version), of the game. Regards, On 1/30/07, Hill, Greg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> #2 Having developers make Linux ports of their games as their being > developed. One good way to encourage this, is to let a developer of > a game you choose not to buy because it wasn't available for your > platform, well let them know you didn't buy and instead did #1 >From my understanding of a lot of the bigger game studios, it's the publisher that prevents things like this in most cases (they hold the purse strings and aren't willing to invest the money). Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to be the case based on interviews I've read. The market share for Linux doesn't adequately compensate for the difficulty of the port, in most cases, especially since most studios use Direct3d instead of OpenGL. Greg /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
/* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
