Cedega and Linux: Let the Windows games begin

Linux.com | Cedega and Linux: Let the Windows games begin

If there’s one area where Linux distributions fall behind Windows, it’s games. Most PC games are built for Windows. Where does that leave Linux users? With Cedega, a melding of Wine and DirectX developed by TransGaming. Today, Cedega 5.2.3 officially supports about 50 games, though in reality it can run a lot more.

For a mere $5 a month (with a minimum subscription of three months) you can get the latest version of the software, support, and the right to vote on which games TransGaming should work on to improve Cedega.

Browsing the TransGaming.org Games Database, you can spot blockbuster titles such as World of Warcraft, Civilization 4, Battlefield 2, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Half Life 2, Counter Strike, and Fifa 2006 — just to name a few of the officially supported titles. In addition, the database includes more than 1,300 games that are reported to work — more or less. Since Cedega is nothing more than a translation layer — it translates DirectX and Windows API calls to OpenGL, OSS/ALSA, and Linux APIs — not everything runs perfectly.

Installing Cedega is easy, but installing a game under Cedega isn’t always simple. [Read on]