Are there any plans to release World Machine for Linux? Thanks.
Hi there,
This is something that I would love to have happen. I can’t promise anything at the moment, as it is a significant amount of work to port World Machine away from its windows codebase. In the long term view WM is due a user interface makeover, and if I go ahead with that I will probably move it to the QT framework which makes cross platform much easier. But again, this is just vague speculation at this point.
Sorry I don’t have a better answer for you!
Thanks, it’s cool.
this is a kind of features that i really love to see in WorldMachine!
I created an account here just to message on this thead.
I would probably buy World Machine if it was Linux. I use Terragen 2 but that is now the only program on Windows that I use. We are now getting Modo on Linux and that is a good app for landscapes. Even Terragen 3 will have Linux node rendering. Linux is a great OS for graphics stuff now. Several really good 2D apps and you also have Blender. Also Wings3d which is a fantastic modeler. Modo is a big step. Maya and Nuke are also Linux. Modo is now Foundry who own Nuke. There will be better integration so things look really good.
Also, World Machine is quite unique and certainly would be totally unique on Linux.
Some people make the argument that there are problems with support due to all the distributions but that’s not really a big issue. it’s just a case of making sure you have the correct libraries. It’s not usually a big issue for most Linux users and apps packaged as binaries don’t usually need a bunch of extra libraries.
Another point. We have 3D Coat on Linux now as well. That’s a really good sculpting app and can tie in with something like World Machine for hand sculpting parts of the terrain or even starting the terrain then editing in World Machine.
Hi Ryan,
I appreciate hearing from you – certainly hearing from interested mac and linux users is one of the best ways to learn if there is actually a viable market for WM on those platforms!
We’re inching closer to potentially having cross platform World Machine. The core code is all platform-agnostic; the main catch has always been the GUI. I’m not sure when, but sooner or later a complete UI overhaul is in order, and when that happens it becomes exponentially more likely to have WM support on other platforms.
What’s wrong with the GUI? I actually find it pretty nice!
For the meantime I run World Machine in wine on Arch Linux and I do get the occasional crash for reasons I haven’t identified, but I load up the scene again and carry on working. I haven’t found a single element not to work, other then the top left visual area that only seems to appear when I move the light around…
If the price point stayed the same I would be more then happy to purchase a new license specifically for Linux!
@remnant: could you elaborate why the ui overhaul is in order, cause i like the interface. whatever you plan to do, please do not change the device view. that’s the most intuitive visual programming i’ve ever seen. although a virtual camera for 3d view instead of explorer view would be great. if os independence is an issue, you could shift to python for pdk and scripting (keeping xml as an alternative still), and qt for core code.
Yes, I should clarify : When I say a UI overhaul is in order, I don’t mean to fundamentally change how you create terrain, such as replacing the device view. It’s mostly an internal thing : It’s currently much harder to add or change UI related items than it should be.
I’m a Mac user and I’d definitely be interested in WM for Mac. I really like the intuitive nature of the program. Really don’t feel like purchasing Windows to run one program!
I also would buy another license in support to a native port for Linux. Years ago I tried to use WM with wine but I never was really satisfied. A native Linux version would be great! 
I would also be very interested in WM for Mac.