Re: [Fwd: Linux and Independent Games Festival]

[Christian Reiniger <warewolf@mayn.de>]

Jorrit Tyberghein wrote:

>>This is a mail I got from Brandom Van Every. Could be interesting!


>I wanted to call the following to your collective attention.
>
>The Independent Games Festival, a commercial contest,
>http://www.gdconf.com/indiegames/homepage.htm
>is currently being discussed in c.g.d.industry and c.o.l.d.apps.  Linux
>games are currently not eligible to enter the contest.  The questions are
>threefold:

>Aside from the newsgroups, the guy you want to get in contact with about
>these matters appears to be Alex Dunne, Editor in Chief, Game Developer
>Magazine, adunne@sirius.com .  Not me, I'm just a person trying to point you

Hmmm, I already talked to that guy some time ago (don't know who suggested
that back then) and he seemed to be interested...


Well, ok, I saw the discussion on c.g.d.industry and wrote a followup to
Brandon's posting there (which was generally similar to this one):

----------------
Brandon Van Every <vanevery@earthlink.net> wrote:

> commercial publishers for independent game projects.  Linux is not on the
> list of eligible OSs for the competition, and this might concern more
> independents than an Atari Jaguar platform would.

> Clearly, it would be unreasonable to ask judges to install Linux systems to
> review Linux games.

Well, perhaps if the Festival organization people could contact a local Linux 
User group for that. Those people are usually very willing to help and they 
should manage to set up a number of dual-boot Windows/Linux systems within
some hours.

Having a dual boot system doesn't have any negative impact on Windows game 
testing and doesn't cost much (well, only some time for the installation in
fact). I think such preparations can be expected from the Festival 
organitzators (sp?).

> game on garden-variety PCs?  Did this stuff go anywhere?  Alternately, are
> general-purpose Linux installs to the point where one could cough up such a
> technology in fairly short order?  Make it plug-and-play + non-invasive?

Well, Everything except the setup of the X Windowing System is really easy
with almost every modern distribution. That last part is being worked on, but 
will take some time until it's really easy.
But I don't think that's important here. We're not talking about a system
Joe and Jane user have to be able to install, but about a small number (10-20)
PCs set up by competent people (the Festival organizators or local Linux users)

> If not, and in any event, there's another solution: get enough Linux game
> developers organized with a sponsor, and get Linux machines into the hands
> of judges.  Someone flush like Red Hat, with its recent Intel investments
> and partnership with Corel?  Or Red Hat's competition?  Or whoever thinks it

Sounds like a good idea. VA Research (sells PCs and Workstations with Linux
preinstalled) is another good candidate.

> would look cool for their business.  I've lost track of how organized or
> good the Linux games community is, but if you think there's enough stuff
> that's worth showcasing, maybe you should get organized and lobby your
> cause.

Hmmm, real organization has just started and things will have to stabilize
a bit now. But if anyone wants to discuss on how to approach that, we offer
our help. Have a look at the (not yet officially announced) Linux Game
Development Center site (http://www.linuxgames.org) for more info.

> rate, does anyone develop games on Linux for the express purpose of porting
> to the PC, with the expectation of attracting a commercial publisher?

I'd be very interested in that, too.


Cu
	Christian
----------------------


So - is there someone thinking about participating in that festival?


Cu
	Christian
-- 

I see no reason to stand here and be insulted. -Spock



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