The X games, Linux and Steam

MrPopinjay · Post by **MrPopinjay** » Thu, 20. Dec 12, 03:54

Hello! I'm the happy owner of 3 copies of X2 The Threat and 2 of X3 The Terran Conflict for windows (1 of each on my steam account) and I've recently started to feel the itch again. My problem is that I no longer own a Windows machine, only Linux ones.

So, assuming I do not wish to use the WINE compatibility layer (I mean there are native versions) what's my best option here? Currently it seems I have to buy *yet another* copy which I'm pretty reluctant to do, especially since I have no idea if the old port is going to run well on a modern OS. That and it's a DVD- I don't even own a working CD drive any more ;P

As Steam for Linux is now upon us (and I got in the beta!

) are there any plans to add the Linux versions to that site?

Thanks for reading,
Louis

Carlo the Curious · Post by **Carlo the Curious** » Thu, 20. Dec 12, 04:45

MrPopinjay wrote:As Steam for Linux is now upon us (and I got in the beta! ) are there any plans to add the Linux versions to that site?

Yes.

StarSword · Post by **StarSword** » Thu, 20. Dec 12, 07:19

Yeah, they're working on in-house ports of the whole series.

Post by **CBJ** » Thu, 20. Dec 12, 10:51

Yes, we are in the process of bringing the porting of our games in-house. Unfortunately the news arrived a little too late for the upcoming X-News mailing but I can tell you that we have found someone to help us with this process, and I am pleased to be able to report that he is already making good progress. I don't have any specifics such as dates for you, but I can say that we do indeed plan to support Steam for Linux with our ports as soon as we are in a position to do so.

Rive · Post by **Rive** » Thu, 20. Dec 12, 20:55

Well... I never thought that I will ever be a Steam user, but if both the X-series and Steam will be available under Linux, then I will give it a try

SkyBon · Post by **SkyBon** » Mon, 24. Dec 12, 16:02

CBJ wrote:Yes, we are in the process of bringing the porting of our games in-house. Unfortunately the news arrived a little too late for the upcoming X-News mailing but I can tell you that we have found someone to help us with this process, and I am pleased to be able to report that he is already making good progress. I don't have any specifics such as dates for you, but I can say that we do indeed plan to support Steam for Linux with our ports as soon as we are in a position to do so.

Will it happen in next six months? Or 2013 at all?

Aragosnat · Post by **Aragosnat** » Mon, 24. Dec 12, 20:33

SkyBon wrote:
CBJ wrote:Yes, we are in the process of bringing the porting of our games in-house. Unfortunately the news arrived a little too late for the upcoming X-News mailing but I can tell you that we have found someone to help us with this process, and I am pleased to be able to report that he is already making good progress. I don't have any specifics such as dates for you, but I can say that we do indeed plan to support Steam for Linux with our ports as soon as we are in a position to do so.
Will it happen in next six months? Or 2013 at all?

I believe the auto-bot reply would be. When it gets done when it is done.

Post by **timon37** » Wed, 26. Dec 12, 12:53

Hi everyone,

I'm the one responsible for the port. So if it fails in any way feel free to blame me;p
In the meantime you can ask me any personal questions (though an off-topic thread might be better?).
Basic bio:
- 26 years old, lonely male;p
- using gnu/linux as my main os since about 8 years
- current distro: gentoo, over the years used mainly it and debian
- played around with: gobolinux, exherbo, funtoo, arch, ubuntu, fedora, slackware, and actually more
- editor of choice: geany or kate (actually scedit but that's not a text editor)
- fully played X3: Reunion, and quite a bit of TC (got a bit late into the X games;p)
- other spacesims played: freespace 1&2, tachyon, and others but not as much (orbiter rocks!)

If you notice anything I should pay attention to and I'm not, please pm me since I'm to busy with the port to pay too much attention to the forums.

perkint · Post by **perkint** » Wed, 26. Dec 12, 13:24

Welcome and good luck

Tim

SkyBon · Post by **SkyBon** » Wed, 26. Dec 12, 21:47

Hi!

Will you be doing the port from scratch or take LGP port of X3R as a base?

Post by **timon37** » Mon, 31. Dec 12, 12:50

SkyBon wrote:Hi!

Will you be doing the port from scratch or take LGP port of X3R as a base?

I'm doing it on current X3:R code, so mostly from scratch.
Though I'm reusing some of the code from the LGP port, so it shouldn't take "forever" to finish.

etonbears · Post by **etonbears** » Wed, 2. Jan 13, 00:45

CBJ wrote:Yes, we are in the process of bringing the porting of our games in-house. Unfortunately the news arrived a little too late for the upcoming X-News mailing but I can tell you that we have found someone to help us with this process, and I am pleased to be able to report that he is already making good progress. I don't have any specifics such as dates for you, but I can say that we do indeed plan to support Steam for Linux with our ports as soon as we are in a position to do so.

That's great news. Do you intend to release these Linux variants under "Steam Play", or will they be separate purchases?

I already own the X3 retail games for Windows, and I am happy to buy them again on Steam, but I don't intend to use Windows any more. If the Linux games are going to be "Steam Play", the I will buy the existing bundle, but if they will be separate purchases, I'll wait for the ports to be completed.

Thanks,

R.

Post by **CBJ** » Wed, 2. Jan 13, 17:42

The plan is for them to be released under Steam Play, so that people who have already bought the Windows version on Steam can play them on Linux too without having to buy them again.

etonbears · Post by **etonbears** » Wed, 2. Jan 13, 18:12

Thanks for the reply CBJ.

That is what I hoped to hear. I will go buy the X SuperBox on Steam.

( Don't worry, I know you won't be porting the older titles - I'll see how they go under Wine on Linux )

MrPopinjay · Post by **MrPopinjay** » Sat, 12. Jan 13, 11:07

One month on I finally remember that I drunkenly made this post (apparently at 3am) so I prepared myself for disappointment and went looking for it. But now that I'd read through this I'm stunned! It's actually happening! And with Steamplay! I couldn't be happier.

Best of luck to you timon37, I hope you don't run into too many tricky problems!

So- playing with an xbox 360 controller- is this going to be possible without third party tools? I recently got one (switched to just mouse and keyboard ages ago) and I'm really enjoying being able to lounge about again while I save the princess again

SkyBon · Post by **SkyBon** » Sat, 12. Jan 13, 21:41

( Don't worry, I know you won't be porting the older titles - I'll see how they go under Wine on Linux )

X2 and X3R have been ported to Linux already

etonbears · Post by **etonbears** » Sat, 12. Jan 13, 23:09

SkyBon wrote:
( Don't worry, I know you won't be porting the older titles - I'll see how they go under Wine on Linux )
X2 and X3R have been ported to Linux already

True, but they are no longer available, and the first 2 X games were not ported. I believe that X3: Reunion is the first one that will be steam-enabled.

jiveaxe · Post by **jiveaxe** » Tue, 15. Jan 13, 10:46

Hi, few hours ago I noticed a new entry in Steam CDR database:

http://cdr.xpaw.ru/linux/

It's, quite obvious, X³: Reunion. Unfortunately it isn't downloadable by linux' steam client.

How near is linux porting? Are you planning a sort of beta release?

Very thanks.

Post by **CBJ** » Tue, 15. Jan 13, 11:51

If you signed up for DevNet (just basic membership, no NDA required) you'd know the answer to that.

jiveaxe · Post by **jiveaxe** » Tue, 15. Jan 13, 14:19

CBJ wrote:If you signed up for DevNet ... you'd know the answer to that.

Answer found

Thank you.

egosoft.com

egosoft.com

The X games, Linux and Steam

The X games, Linux and Steam