re: New platforms discussion thread

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2016-11-08 (updated 2016-12-30)
I never heard about specialized distros like DS Linux before. Does it mean you can theoretically play normal Linux games on a DS?

Yes, if an application is written in the only correct way :) and the necessary dependences are also available for the hardware, then it will compile for a specialist Linux distro like DS Linux, GameCube Linux, Pandora, etc. But it will also compile for Windows, Mac, Amiga, Android and such, as well (we are not lumping those in with Linux). First, note that it is usually dependencies that initially block ports. SDL, OpenGL, Wwise, Recast, MonoGame, Bullet Physics. Beyond middleware, what format is the content in? Are the graphics bmp, png, jpeg, tiff, SVG? Is the audio mp3, ogg, wav, flac? Are the cutscenes divx, avi, mov, mp4? Port the readers, or convert the content. Is the game written in or does it utilize Gnash or Java? All of these things that games need, have to be ported first. Now when one compiles a Linux game designed for personal computers for DS Linux, major changes are in order; it is rarely just changing architecture code. For instance, there's no hardware keyboard on the DS, it has two screens of reduced size, it has a touchscreen, some units have removable storage while others do not, will the port support link cable multiplayer? . So far I've listed the _easy_ problems. Throw anything at all proprietary into the mix and it get exponentially harder (even for the owner of the proprietary blockers)


UNIX, Solaris, BSD's, IRIX, Minix...

Minix belongs in that line even less than BSD does.
Now this is obscure territory for games. I personally don't have much knowledge about the differences of them all and whether to warrant single platform or not. From a gamer's standpoint it would be enough to have it under one platform (like now with Linux/UNIX) and tag them. Splitting could always be done later when one platform becomes more relevant to gaming. But I think to get them away from Linux platform in a first step.

EDIT: I've also started a rough timeline for UNIX
I'll pass you some basic knowledge to place the importance of UNIX to games. The gaming industry exists because of UNIX gamers. Before Atari, no videogame company experienced any degree of success without having UNIX gamers for employees. UNIX was created for Space Travel, but it is continued use and improvement was driven by Space War. Space War for UNIX lead to Space War for arcades and overall financial success in that arena. Atari was populated with UNIX gamers. Maybe in some alternate universe we owe it all to Apple, but in this universe, UVL exists because of UNIX gamers.

Windows 3.1
Should be made more clear in the platform description that this platform is also for games running under Win1.0 - 3.0. Basically for everything running under a pre Win95 Windows.

Agreed. As a technical note, Pre95 Windows is 16-bit while Win95 and later is 32-bit (until it goes extinct soon in favor of 64-bit)
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zerothis2016-11-08