Linux Gaming Opinion

The state of gaming on the GNU/Linux operating system is getting better, but it still is not quite there. Now that steam has come to linux natively, and indie developers are providing linux ports of their games, interest is rising, but to what end?

Indie games are great, and most of them are great fun to play, but they don't offer the publicity and following that the triple A titles do. While the triple A titles may be horrible, they are still huge games and many people play them.

You may be saying "I don't care if anyone else uses Linux or plays games on Linux", and I would have to agree with you, but think about this for a moment: if more of the big name developers start porting their games over to Linux, then others will follow. If Blizzard ported WoW, Diablo III, or Starcraft II over then I would play nothing but Blizzard games for a long while. If game like Planetside II, Skyrim, and Dishonored were ported over, then they could reach more people that may or may not be able to play these games on Windows. The game companies always say they wouldn't make enough money to make it worth it, but Valve (the owners of Steam which is the largest digital distribution service for games) is doing this right now, and have a lot of their games ported.

The studies these companies are looking at say that a very large majority of gamers play games on Windows and the Linux game side is abysmal. This is because the games that have to be ran in wine count as playing a game in Windows. I think if the studies did actual operating systems instead of what the game reports, the results would be surprising. Linux gaming is extremely close to overtaking mac gaming (if it hasn't already) according to the Steam stats, and if one or two triple A titles were ported over, then Linux would start to become "worth it" to them.

See, the games have to be available on the platform before they can be played, so why are these companies saying that it isn't worth it? How do they know if they haven't tried? Valve is going to prove them wrong.

I am writing this post because I have spent a lot of time in my Linux partition lately because of my programming classes for university. Sure I could do it in Windows by installing a lot of GNU software, but it is easier on Linux, and since Steam is now native, I can play a few games and still talk to my buddies. After this semester MS Office is pretty much not needed, and if it is, I can write papers on my tablet or Windows partition (or even the online version of Word). The rule of MS Windows will not go away, but it is nice for it to be challenged. I enjoy Windows on my Surface RT and it does everything I need for school that Android doesn't (the Surface RT comes with MS Office Student Full so I do a lot of my work on it for writing, and my school love the .doc and .docx format), but with no writing classes anymore, I can use Latex or just plain Abiword if I want.

Definitely something to think about.

Gentoo Linux Maintenance Program

I am currently writing a program to help out with Gentoo Linux maintenance. It introduces nothing new at all, but it is good practice for me. All it does is put a lot of normal day to day options in a nice console menu driven application so I don't have to type all of the stuff out every day. Just hit a few buttons, and my system is getting updated.

I hope one day it becomes a nicer app, but for now, it is perfect for my home boxes. I may or may not post it here, or on github, or anywhere, but if you would like to try it, just leave a comment. It is a really crude program, you have been warned. It is written in C++, and I work on it in my spare time. I add things as I need them, or remember them, and any suggestions are always welcome.

No Gud Riting

I am a member of a lot of forums, and I browse them throughout the day trying to help others with problems they are having such as writing code, grammar, papers, math, and anything else I may be able to help them with.

That being said, I have one question. Are people recessing in the grammar and spelling areas? It is like they just cannot possibly form a complete word, and you can forget about a legible sentence. There are the common mistakes that I see people make constantly, such as no and know, their, there, and they’re, but it is getting progressively worse. Most don’t know basic spelling, and cannot be bothered with looking up a word, such as foresee. I saw it spelled for see, forsee, and forse all in the same paragraph from the same individual. Do they think that if they can just get one right it will be alright? Wow. I cannot stand to have typos or misspellings in my posts or paragraphs.

On top of that, browsers now have this nice option to check your spelling while you type that is enabled by default. Those red marks on your screen are not telling you that you did a wonderful job typing. Re-read what you typed/wrote, and correct it. If you don’t, the majority of people reading your writing will automatically assume that you are an illiterate person that shouldn’t be giving advice.

Alright, that is my rant for the day. I will try to type with better grammar and spelling that I have been, which hasn’t been all that bad, but there is always room for improvement. It has actually gotten to the point that when I read someones writing, if they make more than just a few mistakes, I stop reading and move on.

Over My Head

Deep into my Structured Programming class, and I am having a blast. I don't really understand why they assign homework on stuff that we haven't went over or that we are not going to go over for a long while, but they do. Luckily, I knew some C++ already and it is really paying off.

This weeks assignment was 3 different programs. Find the bugs and fix them in one program, write a math with prediction program, and a division algorithm program that would divide and correctly output a statement making the algorithm true. The last one was the hard one (for me and my class anyway, it is only our third week!).

I ended up doing 2 or 3 if/else statements for various situations the program would be put in, but wow, I will be much better because of it. I will post it later after I turn it in and get the grade for it, but not until then in case someone else needs to do it.

More and more coming soon.

Working out, yet again.

I have started working out again because well, I got lazy being unemployed. I started school and had convinced myself that I was too busy to workout. I wasn't, I was just too busy gaming.

So now I have started working out on my Bowflex and elliptical again. It feels great. I got heavier than I wanted to be, and I hate it. I hate feeling miserable after I eat.

So it ends. Starting to feel good again.

Spring Semester 2013

Just started the new spring semester of 2013, with TAA paying my way. I still don’t have it all worked out, and they are very stingy with the details of what they want. All I know is they paid my tuition, give me money weekly, and I have to pass. No big deal.

I love my classes so far this semester, my favorite so far being Structured Programming I. We have our first lab today to begin our developing life so to speak. I am looking forward to it, because I have dabbled and learned a bit in c++, and it will be nice to finally learn the language the right way, and get some credit for it.

I also have some other classes that aren’t bad, but I have a lot of time in the library because of the way mine and my wife’s schedules are. Good thing I have a laptop to do my homework on, because I am swamped this semester with it.

Off to do homework.

Guild Wars 2 Guardian

Guild Wars 2. Everyone should play.