Consoles are where the money is because you don't have to worry about support.   I wouldn't hold my breath for any other platforms.

Even so, I just want to add another vote for a Linux version of future Stardock titles. Maybe the new fantasy game? I'd gladly take part in any testing.

Would Stardock ever consider working with Transgaming, or Linux Game Publishing, to get a proper port to Linux? I can understand that Stardock may not have the resources to port it themselves, so why not go with a company that has some experience doing it?

Speaking of Transgaming, they're the makers of Cedega. And I'm wondering if anyone has this game working on Cedega. Wine is fine, but I think Cedega is a bit more stable, while Wine has more API support.

I wanted to know if anyone has had any further success with GalCiv2 on Linux.

My switch to Linux shortly after I got the original GalCiv2 is what has kept me from buying the expansion pack. If GalCiv2 Dread Lords and Dark Avatar work properly on Linux (via Wine or Cedega), then I'd go and get the expansion

I did try GalCiv2 in Wine (or Cedega, I forget) a few weeks ago. It didn't go so well. I have an LCD monitor, and I think the minimum resolution is 1024x768 (the recommended is 1280x1024, which is what I'm running at). But when I started GalCiv2, it ran at its minimum resolution, which meant it wouldn't display on my monitor. Though, the game crashed after the opening FMV, anyway. I figured out how to run it in Windowed mode, and whether I skipped the FMV, or it ran to the end, the game crashed afterward.

In the other method (Wine or Cedega, whichever the previous attempt was not), I couldn't get the game registered. It gives me an error about something not matching. It's annoying. I understand Stardock's position, but at the same time, I bought the game and I can't play it without rebooting my computer. And I don't know any other method to play it.

I don't see the big deal. Linux users have a grub partition for Windows anyway.

It's not that. I just got tired of rebooting my computer whenever I wanted to play a game for an hour or two. I've become very accustomed to Linux, and the programs I run in it, and I don't really want to keep rebooting whenever I want to play.

I'm not saying that all games should run on Linux, of course. I'm just waiting for better support for this game (and others) in Wine and Cedega. Official Linux support would be nice, but unofficial is good, too, as long as the game doesn't crash. I really want the expansion packs, but I need to be able to run the game in Linux first. I'm at the point where I don't want to boot into Windows at all, unless I can't boot to Linux at all.

(And not all Linux users still have Windows on their system.)

Rejoice my linux friends! the latest wine build plays GalCiv2 nicely, without editing 52942 lines in the registery editor. check out http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=4493


And on a diffrent matter, i think it's very dissapointing that the developers dosen't see Linux as a potential platform... I hope that they'll atleast choose a wine-friendly programming enviorment for GalCiv3

How long does rebooting take to get back to XP? 30, maybe 40 seconds? I won't complain at all about no Linux support as I still have to boot into XP for all my other games.

I feel that i don't need to explain why I don't run / won't buy windows - just as little as you need to explain why you're driving the car you have.

I find it a double standard(not sure if this is the right phase but closest one). on one hand you have developers saying that we won't develop for linux because there is not a large user base but i know a lot of people that use linux as their main OS mainly use Windows for gaming(that is the same with me). As a C++ developer working with a team building a game engine right now, we are developing the engine with support for Windows, Mac, and Linux(offically supporting ubuntu but developing so that is will work under most major distros). There are other options that are just as good as DirectX including OpenGL and OpenAL that developers can use to develop there games. If developers use cross-platform API like OpenGL AND OpenAL, for Windows/Mac/Linux would in increase the development time by a large amount(not like developing with DirectX and then have to rewrite the graphics, audio, input, and a large amount of the core "game engine".

just my 2 cents.

I thought to give some update with the Linux compatibility. I am now one of the supermaintainers for GalCiv2 at appdb and in order to get the game supported better, go to the Galciv2 wine page. There you can vote for the game. yes, this is similiar to cedegas voting - the more votes, the more chance that it will recieve extra effort to get working!

Another thing thats really really really needed is good bug reports... so get your bugspotting skills out and hunt!

Keep on the lookout on that page for Twilight of the Arnor progress in wine. I'll see if I can ask the devs to get the opportunity to betatest this baby.

Ditto! I just reformatted my XP drive (Microsoft is evil!) to a dual boot XP/Ubuntu system and I have to say that even after only one day, I'm much happier with Ubuntu! Sign me up for any future betas to run on/with Linux as well!

I would like to add my 2 cents as well. I am a long time customer of Stardock, and I have purchased a number of their games in the past. I have just switched to linux, and I would really like it if they added linux support. If nothing else, official wine support would be good. I have started playing with ubuntu, and I like it so much that I feel dirty booting back to xp (after a tiresome effort to downgrade a new laptop from Vista).

This is very much worth keeping in mind for GalCiv 3, folks. It's clearly too late for GC2 on this point, though.

Oh and FB, let me just say that some of us really appreciate the effort you put in to make this game compatible with older OS's.

Considering that GC3 will probably be based on the fantasy game's engine, the chance for beta input from linux testers will be then moreso than during GC3's development.

I agree, I would love a Linux port of any of Stardock's games, mostly Galactic Civ II. I use Ubuntu 95% of the time.

I hope that Stardock finds enough time/resources to fix the issues plaguing the game in Wine: http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=3081

Or perhaps, Stardock can come to an agreement with Crossover Games as some kind of bundle. That would be pretty cool too.

Thanks for the correction, kryo.