I REALLY hope something comes of this. But at the same time, I'm not sure if I would buy one myself. Compatibility with x86 is massively important to me, and I can't really divorce myself of it outside of portables. I just have too much investment in legacy software. Mostly video games to be fair. Which might be part of the reason for the push to RISC-V.
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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I feel like most of the software I use nowadays is open source, so it wouldn't be too difficult to move over to RISCV once things get recompiled against it.
Yep. But PC video games are all x86. And I do like to escape.
There are already "layers" with which you can emulate x86 on ARM with almost no performance drop, you can even play Crysis (!) on a phone now. The PC version.
Calling it that because im too lazy to explain rn and it works basically like the layers of a sandwich or burger
We could use more open-source games. It would be nice to be able to have open-source versions of RimWorld, Victoria 3, Factorio, etc. I know there's open source versions already for each of these games, but they are in super alpha builds (I'm not counting Mindustry as an alternative to Factorio, even if it is a good game). Many open source versions are written in C#, too, or use Unity or Unreal Engine.
I would like to see more games that I can install with a package manager and have extra packages for mods, and games that are written in less Windows focused languages, like C, C++, Rust, Zig, Clojure, etc. Mods for most games are mostly config changes, reskins, new models, etc., and they feel inadequate. I would like to see people be able to fork games and create entirely new experiences, like the GZDoom and other Doom engines for example. Part of the fun of gaming for me is tinkering them, creating servers in containers like a sysadmin, and compiling games with different use flags. Open Source games are fun, but most of them don't scratch the itch like the games I mentioned provide.
Some other things I want to see with games:
- Follow the XDG Base Directory Specification
- Luanti could use more development support, but it would be nice to see other Minecraft alternatives built in languages like Rust. Playing MineClone2 is a very clunky Minecraft experience, and the UI is a little shitty. Also Luanti and Minecraft both don't follow the XDG specification mentioned above and refuse to do so like most developers, which is infuriating.
- Seeing more games start from scratch by developing their own engines (or start without an engine) would be nice. (Examples: 1, 2, 3, 4)
- More Vulkan and Wayland support.
- More terminal games. Kind of wish there was a Dwarf Fortress I could play in emacs, or games that used vim/emacs keybindings, even as far as mimicking programming with binds like 10j, yy, Ctrl+v I, @(letter for macro), g/G, Ctrl+0/$, etc. Sort of a game like Screeps where the game is played by writing code, but also a game where playing the game isn't necessarily writing code but is played using the binds. A top-down roguelike would seem to be like a good example, or a strategy or sandbox game, especially one about automation.
Anyway, the reason I am mentioning all this is because if we could see games start from scratch and support this architecture, it would be a good time to start building games that properly support open source operating systems instead of being slopped together like most Windows games ported to Linux are. Proprietary code in games hold their potential back in chains, and open-source games are made by people that are not well financially supported and make them in their own limited free time.
Most are, because most video games are made by developers who want to make money and they see that x86 is currently the most used platform so they focus on that. Personally I don't care for most games because of this. I rather play an open/libre source game made by some person who values their craft and thinks what they're doing is fun.
Bruh just because people gotta eat doesnt mean game devs dont love the art form. Actually game dev is like THE worst job a software developer could have people only do it BECAUSE they love video games, the corpos is charge dont give a fuck obiusly but indie game devs do and the actual devs in game studios do too again its not a good job to make money.
If we were talking about a world were people didnt need to money to eat then this would be a different conversation but here and now what u said is just ridiculous.
Even during the PS2 era, games like Ratchet and Clank: Up Your Arsenal had 9 month development cycles, with developers working 60+ hours a week. Many games are built with developers essentially sleeping in the office, ordering junk food, gaining weight, neglecting their families, sleeping 4 hours a day for months (nearly killing themselves), etc. because their passion is heavily exploited. While I miss the era of PS2 when many genres were explored and experimented with and games were more of an art form instead of some generic slop to sell microtranscations, season passes, etc., I passionately want game development to do away with abusive, crunch culture.
Adding to the discussion of multiple commenters' desire for libre game development expressed here, it would be nice if China were to invest in its gaming industry, supporting open source games that can outcompete games made with blood in Amerikkka and the West (and the exploited Global South slave developers especially). To add to my previous comment here, I think China could really take advantage with developing open source games under the open source architecture and operating systems which they have been investing in. I believe it would be a massive soft power win. If they could make more professionally maintained alternatives to popular games like Minecraft, for example, and I think a lot of people would jump ship as they are fed up with Microsoft's and other corporations'/studios' bullshit, though the US pigs would probably ban the games because of tErRoRiSm. It already looks like China's games, film, and animation production are starting to outcompete the West, though it would be nice to see them create and optimize their games like Black Myth Wukong under their sovereign open source tech and let their gaming industry skyrocket like their AI tech industry has due to open source tech and open collaboration across their provinces.
I don't doubt that there are professional game devs who love the art. But they're being limited either by their masters since they're just workers who sell their labor, or in the case of indie they need to do whatever it takes to stay competitive. In either case the art is secondary. But a person who practices the art in their free time can express themselves to the best of their ability because there is no pressure from capital.
I'm not trying to discredit game developers as a profession, I was just sharing my personal preference. I still buy and play professionally made games sometimes if they intrigue me.
I don’t doubt that there are professional game devs who love the art
I'm guessing all of them loved the art when they first went into the industry, but as with every job, capitalism turns it into a slog, draining all of the passion and creativity, alienating the workers, eventually laying them off regardless of their performance because the corporations want to inflate their quarter earnings with stock buybacks. However, the passion that game devs, especially professional, have for the craft is insane. They unjustly put up with so much abuse and yet many stay to make more games. I do agree the devs that develop open source clones of popular games tend to have more passion for open source philosophy than the craft of video games themselves. If open source games received more financial backing, however, we would probably see more passion and quality in both areas.
I do find joy in small games made by indie solo devs exploring interesting areas as a hobby. King's Crook is one of those games, built in C with no third-party libraries and avoids floating-point numbers, using only integers for triangle rasterization.
Exactly my thoughts. I do admire their strength when working for their masters, because I couldn't ever imagine being in that position! Imagine what they could do if they lost their chains.
If open source games received more financial backing, however, we would probably see more passion and quality in both areas.
Sure, if the financial backing comes in the form of a donations without any strings attached. Sponsorships can be a deal with the devil, I know from first hand experience.
King's Crook looks like a very interesting project! I'm also writing my own 3D software renderer in a project of mine, also no libraries (the renderer at least) and written in C99/ASM and single threaded, so I'm curious how they're avoiding floating points. Too bad they don't provide source code.
Sure, if the financial backing comes in the form of a donations without any strings attached. Sponsorships can be a deal with the devil, I know from first hand experience
I was meaning donations, or funding from a socialist state. I guess I forgot financial backing could mean manipulative sponsorships, which obviously would be risk and could damage the project.
I’m also writing my own 3D software renderer in a project of mine, also no libraries (the renderer at least) and written in C99/ASM and single threaded
That's pretty cool! If you have your source code public and care to share, I would like to bookmark it.
I’m curious how they’re avoiding floating points. Too bad they don’t provide source code.
They mentioned they would consider open sourcing the project when it is finished. https://redlib.zaggy.nl/r/GraphicsProgramming/comments/vbpk3j/comment/icauijl/?context=3
They do have some parts and related projects open sourced, including a subset of the integer-only software renderer used in the game.
It's still not entirely done (missing Cubemaps) and it's only a part of a larger project. I've been working on this project off and on for the past 4-ish years.
spoiler
I'm heavily using SIMD to rasterize triangles and all the buffers (minus the frame buffer) are swizzled in a Z pattern for better cache hits.
Shadow mapping is rather noisy in some cases. It also supports normal maps and specular reflections.
(Excuse the text having a fully transparent background)
imma be real with u i can not comprehend how u can hold that view unless u only play "aaa" slop or very few games at all. because this just doesnt hold with reality, i dont think i even know of a single successful indie game where the love for the medium itself doesnt come across perfectly clear, there are indie games out there that were clearly just made for money but guess what those dont go anywhere because people can tell its soulless, its also true for most AA/small studios. And while someone just fucking around with a medium in their free time could maybe express themselves more (tho that is debatable too) i dont think it shows that they love games more than someone who made it their fucking life. Also being able to express themselves more because they arent limited by capital is a far cry from loving or caring about the medium more.
Also this doesnt even make sense, most of the biggest open source games out there are extremely derivative, basically copies of popular games and if anything display more of appreciation for the concept of open source software than video games.
Also also genuinely curious how does this view extend into other mediums do u regard all professional authors are hacks because they make money from what they write, what about musicians and other kinds of artists. Or is it only video games cuz u like open source stuff.
There is open source software to translate x86 to ARM, check this video out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP0yUqcyY18
The same thing can be done for RISC-V. Also there is not a way to translate xbox360 games and n64 games into C++ and then compile them for PC so they run natively. So the binary compatability thing isn't an issue.
I personally have been daily driving a fully free and open source set of software on all my machines for years now, and I only really have issues with video drivers, and only then because I don't want to switch to Wayland from X11. If RISC-V takes off and is viable as a desktop I will be able to run my exact same setup on it, the same way my raspberry pi can do anything my pc can. This is one of the perks of using open source, among many more. It's a much better experience knowing that you and the community can solve any problem with a little bit of elbow grease, rather than being trapped by proprietary code with no way out. It literally feels freeing, I can't really explain it.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Ah, I do all my gaming on the Steam Deck nowadays.
Still x86.
Right, but it's a console for playing games, as opposed to my general purpose computer.
Yes, but the software has to be compiled for your architecture, or you have to emulate it. That's fine for new games that want to market in China, but emulating every other game is going to get old really fast. Hell, I have an x86 Chromebook that I'm strongly considering dual booting Linux.
I'm saying that I'm fine just having x86 console like the Steam Deck for playing games. I'm not intending to play games on my computer at all.
Unless y'all are gaming on data centers, this will likely not affect y'all personally for a while.
HPC = High performance computing, so this will likely affect cloud servers long before ending up in consumer grade hardware
I would imagine that we'll see Huawei and other Chinese companies use RISCV in their consumer devices before long. Apple already proved that RISC architecture works very well for this stuff, and RISCV is the obvious open alternative to ARM that Chinese companies can leverage.