[Shorel]

Linux is one of the best Win-API platforms.

It is the absolute best for backwards compatibility: it runs 16 bit apps.

Now it is getting faster for gaming.

And the reverse relation is also true: In Linux, the best backwards compatible stable API is WinAPI.

I can play 30 year old Windows games in Linux. They just work and run better than ever.

For the same project (https://www.descent2.de), I can not even install the dependencies to compile it in a modern distro, as every library is deprecated and removed from the repositories. The precompiled native Linux binaries also can't work.

[mappu]

I used to love Descent 2!

People say this a lot about Linux and it somewhat rubs me the wrong way - sure, the Windows binary works if you install its library dependencies (wine). Likewise (OK, ever since libc5/glibc2 changeover in 2001) the Linux binary should work if you have its library dependencies (SDLv1 it looks like?). So what's really the problem? Your distribution stopped distributing the dependencies, making them harder to find? "DLL Hell" was a thing too.

I didn't see any binary downloads for Linux on that website, only source code.

I gave it a try anyway, the dependencies were actually not a problem for me, Debian has libsdl-{net,image}1.2-dev, libglew-dev, and so on, and if your distro does not have SDLv1 there is libsdl1.2-compat. But after the dependencies, there was a problem with the source code doing something involving bitfield packing that does not compile on x86_64.

I do see the source code has lived on, i can `apt install d2x-rebirth` on Debian 13 which has a comment about https://www.dxx-rebirth.com/ ...is that helpful?

[badsectoracula]

> the Windows binary works if you install its library dependencies (wine).

Yes but all it takes is an `apt-get install wine` or `zypper install wine` or `pacman -S wine` or your distro equivalent and if you are using a Linux distro with any sort of desktop functionality, 99% of the time wine will be there.

> Your distribution stopped distributing the dependencies, making them harder to find?

Yes, this is a big problem because these dependencies not only are harder to find but even if you track all of them (there is a chance they too have their own dependencies) you still need to figure out how to build and install them. And if they are old enough for distros to drop them, then chances are building them isn't going to be a straightforward `./configure && make && make install` ("straightforward" is very relative here :-P). And woe is you if there are conflicts with newer (yet API/ABI incompatible) versions of these libraries and/or their dependencies.

Of course since you have the source, technically you can make things work, but that doesn't make the process any less of a major PITA.

[skywal_l]

After a few fixes, it builds on a debian-13. You just need to install a few dependencies (glew, SDL, curl).

The real problem here is the tooling. New versions of automake and C++ compilers are stricter than they used to be.

Indeed, for long term conservation, you need to vendor your dependencies AND your tools to make sure that the project is sustainable without intervention. But with the magic of LLMs now, this is not a problem anymore. Claude was able to fix it in less than 10 minutes.

And having the source code beats playing the original game. You can recompile in high def and make all the modifications you want to make it feel like a modern game (or not!) and sill get you your dose of nostalgia.

[babypuncher]

I have been arguing for years that Win32 is the most stable Linux ABI. Commercial games are all proprietary software, so they're more prone to breakage as the libraries and APIs they depend on change or even disappear over time.

[naniwaduni]

"We now have a complete, futureproof free software stack with decades of backwards compatibility! It just has win32 in the middle."

(2019, from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21776370)

[_joel]

Descent, Heretic, XCOM: TFTD.. All games that take me back to a special place :)