Trivia Games for Linux?
December 16th, 2002 by AlkiniTim Jung wrote in with a question that I was unable to answer:
I was wondering and doing some Googling and can’t seem to find any Triviagames that run on Linux. I am looking for games that are similar to “YouDon’t Know Jack” or “Jeopardy” or “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” thatare Open Source or licensed under the GPL and there doesn’t seem to beanything like that at all out there. Any ideas?
I realize that Linux games often don’t cover the full spectrum of thedifferent genres in gaming, but it suprises me to a certain extent nobody hasreleased any trivia games for Linux. It seems that it would be fairly easy towrite such a game and the hardest part would be to come up with all of thetrivia questions themselves. So, do any of you have any ideas? Are we overlookingany such projects? Please post your comments below.
December 16th, 2002 at 2:23 pm
Why must “run on Linux” imply “open source” ???
December 16th, 2002 at 2:59 pm
http://www.triviashock.net
I don’t think it’s GPL, but it looks like you get the PHP source with it.
December 16th, 2002 at 4:51 pm
$ apt-get install bsdgames
$ quiz
December 16th, 2002 at 6:10 pm
I think I’d be willing to code one in the near future, but I’d have to make the questions easily customizable/expandable…
I never thought much about it before.
I’m not sure how I’ll do this, but I’ll try to not forget about it, and once I have something working, I’ll let everyone know… But be warned! I suck at programming, and don’t rely on me, since I am kinda busy.
Well, if you find a way to keep me off IRC, I’d have much more time, but anyhow…
I hope someone else will take on a project like this, since my game wouldn’t be any good… But I guess we shall see. :)
December 16th, 2002 at 6:16 pm
I remember a long time ago playing a trivial bot on the IRC with an eggdrop bot.. I think the game was in TCL, but the important part (ie the questions) were in a plain text file…
December 16th, 2002 at 11:48 pm
A mythical game. You could meet cyclops, medusas et all on a board like plan. 2 out of 3 questions answered correctly was a success!….if you were strong enough! A mix of beefing up your character and the same time have a cool strategy game. Just brilliant game….Now, go and MAKE one for me! ;-)
December 17th, 2002 at 12:57 am
Trivia games are definitly under represented on Linux. Whoever takes it upon themselves to create a trivia game needs to put deep thought into the packaging they distribute it in. I realize the Open Source software is customarily distributed over the internet, but authors do often offer the service of selling CDs with the software burned onto it. This service is essential for any large games, say over 3 megs in size.
Unfortunatly these cds are generally distributed in paper sleeves or jewel cases, instead of a high quality DVD case. Poor packaging is just as much a black eye on Linux Gaming as the cheap non professional graphics and sound that most developers put in their games. If developers continue to ignore the quality of their products, Open Source games wont be able to compete against developers who put together excellant products, such as Ion Storm Dalls. DVD cases are only a single step, but it is a significant one.
December 17th, 2002 at 6:20 am
try to install a printer or something,
enough of trivia.
December 17th, 2002 at 10:40 am
I know it just kills some people here, but most of the old jellyvision games run fine in both Wine and WineX. The newer ones (Like “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”) tend to have installer problems. Oddly enough, I was really thinking about writing a YDKJ clone a while back. Questions are easy to come up with, the real trick would be making the interface as entertaining as the jellyvision offerings. From what I’ve read, their game engine is a combination of Java and C (mostly Java.) I get the impression it would be rather simple to port their engine (if they were willing.)
December 17th, 2002 at 4:21 pm
Ahhh, brings back memories. Have over three buddies, driking beers, and then play “You Don’t Know Jack”-demo from one PC Format CD.. And it was ALOT of fun.. I only had the demo, but it was great!
And I want to do it again! And this time, I am willing to be a co-developer on such a game. I actually had this idea for some weeks now, so if someone is starting to develop a game like “You Don’t Know Jack”, please send me an e-mail!
December 18th, 2002 at 2:37 pm
I was needing something for our church youth group that wouldn’t cost much or preferably something free (as in beer) for them. I don’t mind making my own questions and answers, which actually is part of why I want something open, so I can add/make my own questions.
I was aware of http://www.triviashock.net ($100 US), but it is a bit pricey for the particular project I have in mind here. Which is why I asked this question. Not to mention their requirement of Apache and MySQL seems a little bit excessive for playing a simple trivia game under Linux. It appears geared more towards running a trivia game on a web site on the net rather than something simple you play at home or whatever.
Tim Jung
tjung@igateway.net
December 19th, 2002 at 12:49 am
What features are the most important to a good trivia game? My hallmate and I are considering making a project of this, so answer carefully, since your own answers may influence development…
Also note: throwing together a simple Perl script trivia game is stupidly simple – I’m assuming people want something a little more graphical here.
-Erwos
December 19th, 2002 at 8:55 am
Mysql based DBs on a website that accept form based querys based on the type of quiz you are using. These web based systems are open to regular updates to the different categorys by the community, moderated of course. The output could easily be cut and pasted to a text file if one chose. Or a nice gui, be it GTK, QT or Win32 could be build to query the server directly. I’m sure this could be tweaked for performance but the idea is simple and extremely open.
December 22nd, 2002 at 1:18 pm
I just created a project on sourceforge.net, called “trivia pool”. The main purpose is to gather questions for trivia type games and bundle them into nice XML files. When the project will be accepted I’ll upload a first draft of the XML format and a few initial questions. The projects (and my) native language is german, but it’s oriented towards localization. I’ll post a link as soon as i get the o.k. from sf.net
April 24th, 2012 at 9:17 pm
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