We were able to get the Product manager of Cedega to make an Interview with us regardless of the lack of time they have right now.

First of all thank you for the opportunity to make an Interview with you.

Would you like to introduce yourself shortly for the linuX-gamers out there?

Sure, I am Lucas Smithen known to many TransGamers and non-TransGamers as either Wulfie or Wulfram. I was originally hired to lead TransGamings QA and Support team but have recently been promoted to be the Product Manager for Cedega.

What did you do before you joined TransGaming and how did you become a developer at TrangsGaming?

Actually working for TransGaming is the second in a line of very cool jobs I've had. My previous employment was with Royal Carribean International. I ran a small network of 150-200 computers onboard the Voyager of the Seas, sailing from Miami, Haiti, Jamaica and Mexico. My official title was Head ITV Technician. Before that I worked at Compaq Computers as a Technical Support Technician.

How did I join the TransGaming team:
Well I've known Gavriel State for a number of years. We both belonged to the same fencing group (the swordplay not the illegal goods kind of fencing). In between bouts, while Gav was trying to recover from the sound thrashing he had just received, we would talk about some of his ideas for the project and the company. Eventually this led to my employment.

Which bleeding-edge games do you play at the moment and whats your favourite Linux game?

I was able to get into the World of WarCraft beta. What can I say but its all kinds of fun. I am currently a level 33 dwarven paladin. In my position I get to play a lot of games and this one will be keeping me from having any boring rainy days this spring, thats for sure.
Favorite Linux game:
I know its going to sound a little silly but my favorite Linux game is in fact KMahjongg. I enjoy the puzzles as well as the mindless repetition. I can sink myself into a few games and forget about my troubles for a few minutes. Its almost meditative.

As the product manager of cedega, what is you special responsibility in this position?

As the promotion is fairly recent I am working my way into the roll somewhat. Basically I work with the head of Linux development, Peter Hunnisett, to decide what should be working on and what we can actually do in a release period.

Could you please state how long the developement of cedega last in the end to its actual status?

The length of a development cycle depends on a number of criteria. Whats going into the next package, whats currently broken, what games we expect to be released between now and the suggested release date and available resources. Basically we have two methods for choosing. For minor releases, we generally pick a date and try to determine what can be done by that date, while for major releases we generally pick out the content and the date gets set based on how long we think the content will take to complete

How important do you consider game support for linux?

As Linux keeps growing and moving more and more into the mainstream home desktop market users are starting to look at whats missing. The biggest thing on many peoples minds these days are games. For many homes a computer is just another part of the home entertainment system, along with a TV, a game console, dvd player, etc without the ability to play games, a computer is just a big calculator that lets you surf the web. Games turn the same machine into a playground for the whole family.

What about the cooperation of software companies for TransGaming/Cedega - is there anything that you especially like or that you would like to get better in future?

Our cooperation with game developers, hardware vendors and game publishers is growing. Just a year ago if we wanted to contact a game developer about an issue there was generally a period where we needed to tell them who we were, what we did and why they should talk to us. Lately, however, we have been finding game developers coming to us to see what we can do for them.

How do you decide which game to support in the future and what influence do the software companies have in it?

Well the two most important items affecting game choices are our voting section and what a game requires. I think the TransGaming voting section is one of our best features. It lets the people who use our product to tell us what they want working. Once we know what our customers want, we look at what we can do to make it happen.

Can you tell us anything about planned games yet, that the the
linuX-gamers community may look forward to?

With the release of 4.0 many of us took a little personal time for a little rest and relaxation. Once that ten minutes was over we got back to work. We are looking at a number of issues that may be causing some performance loss in Cedega, working with ATI to increase our support for Radeon video cards and waiting, with much anticipation, for the release of Half-Life 2.

What do you think about linux-gamers.net?

I really like linux-gamers.net. I like that I don't run into the personal politics that often limits my appreciation of many Linux gaming sites.

Do you wana tell the linuX-gamers community out there something?

Looking to play the best games on the best operating system? Check by www.transgaming.com and check out Cedega!

Thanks for the time and attention for this interview