An Analysis of Operating Systems to run StarMade

[Commodore Decker]

This is my experiences with various operating systems to run StarMade.
All tests were performed using a desktop with the following specs unless otherwise stated:

• Intel Pentium G3258 @ 4.3GHz
• 8GB DDR3 Ram
• EVGA Geforce GT630 1GB GDDR5

1. Windows
This is probably the best operating system to run StarMade, everything works out of the box. Tested on 7 & 8 runs great.

2. Mac
Can't test because I don't own a Mac.

3. Linux
This operating system has excellent performance, however all the distros I tested have issues with sounds. There are no sounds

• Linux Mint - Terrible, do not use. Starmade doesn't like to run full screen and a great deal of difficulty getting it setup. ~60FPS
  
• Zorin OS - really nice, and ready to go out of the box. Official drivers are easy to install. Will run fullscreen, but if you alt-tab the window will go blank. >200FPS
  
• Fedora 20 - My Favorite, this is a lot of effort to get setup, but it is well worth it, Starmade runs flawlessly on this OS. Even without offical drivers it will run at 60FPS. >300 FPS

 

[MossyStone48]

Try ARCH.

 

[Qweesdy]

There's about 100 different Linux distributions (see http://distrowatch.com/ ).

If you test one each day, by the time you reach the end of the list so much would've changed in the first distributions you tested that you'd have to test them again.

 

[MossyStone48]

I say ARCH because that's what some most of the Bootable PC Games project images were using. If we could build a near-universal StarMade bootable image how sweet would that be? Stick that on a thumbdrive and always have your universe with you. If it also functioned as a PortableApps drive then even if the machine didn't run SM out of its native environment just have it boot of the drive. BAM. StarMade EVERYWHERE.

 

[der_scheme]

This operating system has excellent performance, however all the distros I tested have issues with sounds. There are no sounds

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$PWD/StarMade/native/linux:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

(The game does even tell you this. :P )

• Fedora 20 - My Favorite, this is a lot of effort to get setup, but it is well worth it, Starmade runs flawlessly on this OS. Even without offical drivers it will run at 60FPS. >300 FPS

Fedora is awesome. I've struggled with my switch to Linux, because I was always trying out the latest Ubuntu release (or something derived of it), and always had issues with it. Anyone interested in Linux: Do not try Ubuntu, this crap casts a bad shadow over GNU/Linux.
I've been using Fedora (started with 16) for three years now, without any trouble worth mentioning.

 

[Commodore Decker]

I've tried the export on Zorin, however it didn't work. On fedora, it worked right away. Fedora is amazing[DOUBLEPOST=1415057250,1415057007][/DOUBLEPOST]

Try ARCH.

I really don't want to mess with my computer with a fresh install of any new OS's, but I'll try this in a virtual machine.

I say ARCH because that's what some most of the Bootable PC Games project images were using. If we could build a near-universal StarMade bootable image how sweet would that be? Stick that on a thumbdrive and always have your universe with you. If it also functioned as a PortableApps drive then even if the machine didn't run SM out of its native environment just have it boot of the drive. BAM. StarMade EVERYWHERE.

That is an awesome idea, however it should work on almost any distro.

Edit:
I changed my mind about using Arch, it's going to be a pain in the rear end to set up, and I don't like the download option for Arch (there are way too many mirrors and most are one's I wouldn't trust).

 

[Jananton]

...Fedora is awesome. I've struggled with my switch to Linux, because I was always trying out the latest Ubuntu release (or something derived of it), and always had issues with it. Anyone interested in Linux: Do not try Ubuntu, this crap casts a bad shadow over GNU/Linux.
I've been using Fedora (started with 16) for three years now, without any trouble worth mentioning.

Interesting, my only experience with Linux years ago was Mandrake, later called Mandriva, what is now a commercial product I believe.
My experience was that the initial install was very stable, better then windows, certainly when one let it run overnight day after day. Sadly, when it came to installing new applications it highly mattered how well packages where put together to get them to run without problems. When it didn't work you entered the dependency jungle, something I still have nightmares about. <g>
Personally after some time I found the ease of installing something in windows too tempting to keep on struggling with Linux, so I went back to the dark side.

I'm due for a new pc soon, so maybe Fedora is something to try out on the current one in the future. Mandrake had a very nice C and C++ programming environment, if Fedora has too that would be a reason...

Greets,

Jan

 

[MossyStone48]

Try Arch as a live file system. This will allow you to use it and even update it to a volume file on the HD without affecting your other OSes.

 

[Commodore Decker]

Interesting, my only experience with Linux years ago was Mandrake, later called Mandriva, what is now a commercial product I believe.
My experience was that the initial install was very stable, better then windows, certainly when one let it run overnight day after day. Sadly, when it came to installing new applications it highly mattered how well packages where put together to get them to run without problems. When it didn't work you entered the dependency jungle, something I still have nightmares about. <g>
Personally after some time I found the ease of installing something in windows too tempting to keep on struggling with Linux, so I went back to the dark side.

I'm due for a new pc soon, so maybe Fedora is something to try out on the current one in the future. Mandrake had a very nice C and C++ programming environment, if Fedora has too that would be a reason...

Greets,

Jan

To work with C++ in fedora you have to install the packages to compile, but afterwords it's a beauty to work with for C++ development.
I've never experienced the dependency jungle outside of C++, it must have improved between now and when you used it. That or Mandrake had a bad package manager. APT and YUM are both really good package managers.

 

[Jananton]

To work with C++ in fedora you have to install the packages to compile, but afterwords it's a beauty to work with for C++ development.
I've never experienced the dependency jungle outside of C++, it must have improved between now and when you used it.

Well, when you get older years ago very quickly becomes 10 to 15, so the package handling will have improved over that time. lol
I don't know of any other Linux distro that comes with a C++ compiler and linker out of the box, so having to install it afterwards, that's no problem.

Greets,

Jan

 

[der_scheme]

To be honest, I can't believe anyone's developing (especially C++) on Windows. Getting all those library dependencies to work seems incredibly tedious. :P

 

[Commodore Decker]

To be honest, I can't believe anyone's developing (especially C++) on Windows. Getting all those library dependencies to work seems incredibly tedious. :p

Developing on windows for C++ isn't that bad with Code::Blocks, and keeping all of your library paths relative to your project file in the same directory. Actually, that's a mouthful and it kind of sucks. However, it's better than learning to use makefiles on linux. I wouldn't develop in any language other than C++ on windows, simply because the dependencies are terrible.

Well, when you get older years ago very quickly becomes 10 to 15, so the package handling will have improved over that time. lol
I don't know of any other Linux distro that comes with a C++ compiler and linker out of the box, so having to install it afterwards, that's no problem.

Greets,

Jan

Zorin OS has a C/C++ compiler (gcc/g++) and Make ready to go out of the box .

 

[Jananton]

To be honest, I can't believe anyone's developing (especially C++) on Windows. Getting all those library dependencies to work seems incredibly tedious. :p

Hmm, maybe it depends on the brand you use. I've always been a Borland adept since I started with Turbo C++ 3.0 for Dos long ago. With windows I mostly used C++Builder Prof. with excellent IDE, documentation lookup and of course the VCL, a framework of visual windows components, much superior to Visual C++'s dot.NET based equivalent from Microsoft.

Zorin OS has a C/C++ compiler (gcc/g++) and Make ready to go out of the box .

The mention 'based on Ubuntu' makes me a little weary there, I'd rather go for an OS based on Red Hat like Fedora, but maybe that's the age.
Code::Blocks looks nice, sadly the windows package with mingw is only 32bits what is a little 'old school' these days...

Greets,

Jan

 

[Commodore Decker]

Hmm, maybe it depends on the brand you use. I've always been a Borland adept since I started with Turbo C++ 3.0 for Dos long ago. With windows I mostly used C++Builder Prof. with excellent IDE, documentation lookup and of course the VCL, a framework of visual windows components, much superior to Visual C++'s dot.NET based equivalent from Microsoft.

The mention 'based on Ubuntu' makes me a little weary there, I'd rather go for an OS based on Red Hat like Fedora, but maybe that's the age.
Code::Blocks looks nice, sadly the windows package with mingw is only 32bits what is a little 'old school' these days...

Greets,

Jan

Zorin is a whole lot more stable than stock ubuntu.
Also I would rather have my builds as 32bits simply, because I write a lot of code that has to run on unknown architectures (I enter a few programming competitions, some of which don't specify the machine used and want binary blobs, such as the TSA Video Game Design Competition. The rules are so generic about build requirements it's a wonder anyone knows what to hand in for it).

 

[Websterandy42]

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$PWD/StarMade/native/linux:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH"

(The game does even tell you this. :p )


Fedora is awesome. I've struggled with my switch to Linux, because I was always trying out the latest Ubuntu release (or something derived of it), and always had issues with it. Anyone interested in Linux: Do not try Ubuntu, this crap casts a bad shadow over GNU/Linux.
I've been using Fedora (started with 16) for three years now, without any trouble worth mentioning.

But I love Unity soooo much. I can just press the Win key and launch any program.

 

[Megacrafter127]

But I love Unity soooo much. I can just press the Win key and launch any program.

Where are the gnome lovers when you need them?

 

[Jananton]

Zorin is a whole lot more stable than stock ubuntu.

Okee, fair enough, I'll keep that in mind.

Also I would rather have my builds as 32bits simply, because I write a lot of code that has to run on unknown architectures (I enter a few programming competitions, some of which don't specify the machine used and want binary blobs, such as the TSA Video Game Design Competition. The rules are so generic about build requirements it's a wonder anyone knows what to hand in for it).

Well my programming has mostly been a hobby that grew slightly out of hand for my own pleasure, although I must add I build some applications for other third parties as well.

Of course 64bits is something quite recent and not yet available when I did most of my wizardry. :D

Greets,

Jan