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StarCraft18 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

Broken Arrow

[s]starcraft[/s]

Windows XP, 112.88 €; StarCraft, 8 €. Running StarCraft on Linux (free) - 8 €. In other words, someone has developed Starcraft for Linux, hardcore.



As a free, open source, operating system, Linux is on the verge of breaking into the desktop market with unstoppable force. The myth that there are no good games for linux is and will no longer be true. As it gains popularity, developers will have no choice but to create Linux versions of their games. In the meantime, however, we can rely on the kind hearts of strangers, programmers who are devoting their spare time to liberate PC games from the Microsoft monopoly.

In the not-too-distant past, Linux users had to run StarCraft on a windows emulator, which could often be buggy and incompatible. Battle.net was difficult or impossible to connect to, and even a network game was a difficult task. Non-Windows versions of StarCraft have been made for the Mac, so a Linux port is not exactly doomed to fail considering the expansion of Linux over the past years. If SC for linux gains enough popularity, Blizzard may offer patches, but it's a long shot. Is there sarcasm in my rant? A little.

4e76b681ecdb076d7964f7e342adaf87762f386ee48fe9aae7d5fe248a.jpg
United States Toshok

Who made this happen? It may raise some eyebrows but Starcraft fans walk in many places and wear many shoes. His aka is Toshok, and he used to work for Netscape, chipped in its development and now as a Novell programer. Toshok was the guy who left Netscape when it was all future, mainly because he disagreed with their screwy development management. He also made a good part of his fame when the FBI tried to nab him for a HalfLife Valve leak (disproved today). He is pretty much a broken arrow himself when it has come to his career, life choices and his curriculum vitae*. Now I am not going to explain what some one like Toshok could add to our community if his Starcraft addiction grows. Was he the only one? No.

First it was the open source Battle.net server emulators, such as BNETD and PvPGN, then the myriad of StarCraft Mods, even across game engines, then more fan made game software tools than most games can boast (to name a few Jca's BWChart, Ashur's BWLauncher tool & BWTV, Superpenguin's PenguinPlug.) The list of non-Blizzard software developers is huge if we make a list. Now finally a version developed that can run in an open source OS like Linux!

It seems that StarCraft is gradually becoming a broken arrow for Blizzard. We should add to our bag of self-determination the fact that we took over the gaming culture of a nation, such as what happened in South Korea, because one thing for sure, it was not a Blizzard intended plan. Changing the face of e-Sports? Maybe too arrogant but that we have played a huge part in it.

Starcraft truly beats to its own drum now. StarCraft gamers are after all Blizzard's forgotten sons when compared to their other games and thus leaving us two choices, die as a gaming community, or alternatively, to grow on our own without guidance or major limitations - and that, we have done, beyond all expectations.

//Co-article by Canada varaon and Argentina Entropy

Thanks Martian~Blood for the find!

Links
SqueedlySpooch.com - Homepage of the developers
Wikipedia.org - /whois Toshok

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