Left 4 Dead on Linux

[SuperJeRoT]

I know Linus was excited when steam was released for Linux. We also know Linus likes Left 4 Dead. So I heard L4D was released for Linux on Steam, and here is a little article about it :)

 

 

Linux gamers, rejoice! Yesterday, as announced, Valve has released the beta version of its successful first-person shooter Left 4 Dead 2 for all game owners. The game is based on the current Valve's game engine Source and is especially popular with the co-op fans.

Now, It would be interesting to know if the game actually runs faster on Ubuntu than on Windows. Porting of the game, Valve has implemented a special software layer which translates DirectX API calls to OpenGL on the fly. According to Valve, the execution speed of 3D applications with the help of this layer is about 11% faster than with DirectX.

The beta version not only contains a Linux version, but also the new "Extended Mutation System" and new content. However, during the beta phase, the game can only be played on the special beta servers.

[CornOnJacob]

If they can actually improve performance on the Linux version compared to Windows, then that is huge! Usually we get a big performance hit when switching away from DirectX. When we start getting AAA titles launching with Linux support, I am switching and never going back to Windows.

[SuperJeRoT]

If Windows continues only with touch friendly operating systems then Linux is the way to go. But if they split OS's in to 2 categories, touch friendly and standard like W7, they are just going to rule for a long time. And just as Linus sed, Microsoft is never going away, but Windows.... We will wait and see.

[XiaoPigs]

Hopefully more and more big titles will start being developed for Linux. I look forward to this bright future that gaming will have if this does happen.