Well, as the game integrates parts of Stardock's Object Desktop suite, and that suite is only available for Windows... That's another mark against Linux. I wouldn't hold your breath at all.

The best you'll be able to hope for is support through Cedega (formerly WineX)

...it's not the Windows programmers who should be the ones to make sure their product works on "alien" OSses

Aw, come on. Didn't you see the movie "Independence Day"? We all saw how easy it was to write a computer virus which disabled the alien shields. Can't be that hard!

If you're a PC gamer, why don't you just have a partition with Windows XP installed on it? You'd have access to a lot more games and you won't have to run stuff in an emulator.

Seriously. I'm not trying to be snide.  I just don't understand why you wouldn't have a Windows XP partition. 

As an aside to the possibility of getting good Linux support for any Stardock game: I can't even upload a small .jpg to use as my avatar. My guess is that the Website is choking on the path, which is your basic Unix style /home/username/.../filename.

The first error message that popped showed that the Website has been built on a .NET framework. Now, it's certainly /possible/ to build websites using .NET that are browser and OS agnostic. My company's developers do it all the time. However, Microsoft certainly doesn't encourage the practice in any of their tools, templates, or documentation.

Sigh. Too bad.

Sorry, but there's just far too little potential (let alone guaranteed) return in putting the budget into a linux port. It's not even there yet for multiplayer, and that's something that at least 1/3 of the people on this forum would be willing to pay for.

Holy ¡"@!

Are you really serious?? Mind telling me how you did it (the install process and so on) so I can try it too? This would be really awesome if it works! yar, now I might consider buying the expansion too

Ah great, will try that out! one question though, does stardock work under wine? I don't have acess to a windows computer (it's on service)... So how do I install/update it if stardock dosen't work?

Well.. After some testing I don't belive that it is fully playable yet. I had several crashes when trying to play.As for the font issue, it seems to be connected to newline marking.

But this gives hope that we can play GalCiv2 from linux someday.

Well, when GalCiv3 will be in beta stage, if you want a linux tester just contact me ^^
It would be quite easy for you to port it if you natively develop it with "OpenGL" in mind for the rendering engine, DirectX closes much doors to portability, and it will be even more archaic with the comming of DirectX 10 which is ONLY vista compatible... (so DX10 games won't even run on XP (and I hope that some dev teams will just switch to opengl, so make much more games portables... so they could make more money by selling it to a larger panel of people...))

And if you want to port it to other "M$ specific hardware" at any cost (such as xb360), just modularize the rendering engine, and let the user choose between opengl and directx, so porting to other platforms will only need a few adjustements in the source code

You can also count me in when you will need beta testers for Linux version of your next release of GalCiv (or any other 4X game). Also don't forget to send out the call to various Linux gaming sites. I'm sure you will get enough people who will be willing to do testing on Linux.

I will add my .02 as well.
I have no intention of ever getting Vista - or any other Windows OS.

Linux is getting more user friendly all the time, and it won't be long before it is the mainstream OS (in whatever flavor).

I just bought a second hard drive to try out the newest Ubuntu distro, and it is hands down as easy, if not easier, to use than is Windows. Dependable and reliable automatic updates, good documentation and support, as well as being a no cost option. And with Beryl, I don't even care about multi-monitors anymore. It is at least as good as anything Vista can provide in 3D desktops.
(still working on getting my TV tuner card to work, but...)


If Stardock will heed the growing number of Linux users, they will seriously consider coding for more than M$ Window$.

So I add my support to all the Linux users out there, and the offer to beta test the next version or expansion of GalCiv under a Linux platform.

C'mon, Stardock. Get with the program. Windows is on its way out, just as Linux is on its way in.
I too would buy a Linux version, as opposed to expecting a free 'upgrade', just to remove myself just that much more from the M$ monopoly.

I understand the reasons Stardock and other game developers write for Windows. However, if more game developers were to write games that can be played on Linux (not so much written specifically for Linux but with porting to other platforms in mind), you would find significant numbers of users leaving Windows entirely for Mac and Linux. Also the there is the added bonus of increased sales. You would be amazed at how many people there are that use Mac or Linux exclusively and won't touch anything that can't be run with Cedega or Cider.

Most people do not want to switch to Vista, it has received alot of bad press, it is said to take longer to boot, it uses alot more resources, and many gamers that have bought it for DX10 have been complaining about gaming performance. Microsoft knows this, which is why it is doing everything it can to force people to buy Vista. If given a choice most Windows users would continue to buy their new systems with XP pre-installed.

Games are the only thing that has kept Microsoft alive. If it wasn't for games I believe most people would be using Linux because it is inexpensive, while a large number of others would be using Macs. With the release of Vista more and more people are looking to Mac and Linux for their next computer purchase. If game developers start writing games that are only playable on a Vista machine, I believe they will find a noticeable drop in sales. I truly believe that by forcing gamers to switch to Vista to keep gaming you will alienate all but the most hardcore gamers.

I am currently running a dual boot machine with Windows XP and Xandros Linux. For my next computer upgrade I still plan to run Windows XP for gaming and Linux for everything else. Ideally I would like to have dedicated systems, so I don't have to dual boot, but that doesn't bother me much because XP is a good Windows OS. However, if I'm put in the position where the only version of Windows I can purchase is Vista, I will not buy it. Other than games (due to the way they are coded), Linux and Mac can do everything Windows can do and even some things Windows can't do. I find no need to purchase MS Office when Open Office and Star Office can do all the same things without the price tag.

I would happily beta test Stardock games or Stardock Central in Linux. If Stardock wants to continue to make games that are not Linux compatible, but are still Windows XP compatible, I will still buy them. However if I'm given the choice of buying Vista to play games or not being able to find games compatible with my system, I will stop buying new games.