LINUXGAMES

The Parsec -a free (non-GPL) spaceship sim (with a demo that’s currently LAN only)- team posted their screenshot for thismonth, demonstrating “some already functional stargates”.

Tribsoft’s Mathieu Pinard wrote in to announce that their Linux port of Jagged Alliance 2 has gone gold:

Jagged Alliance 2 for Linux was tested and approved by Sirtech. The CDs were sent to Titan Computer for manufacturing!!!

Jagged Alliance 2 can be pre-ordered at Tux Games at $26.

The official Neverwinter Nights site has been updatedwith a development update from BioWare’s Trent Oster.Oster breaks down the update into code, art, and design elements; also, the newlylaunched Quarter To Three (who really need to work on their HTML) has fourscreenshots from the upcoming multi-platform AD&D RPG game.

Linguica from Doomworld conducted aninterviewwith the newest employee, animator Fred Nilsson. The questions mainly concernNilsson’s background and past work experience (which includes animating the memorable Homer 3Dsequence from a Simpsons Halloween special). With regards to the next Doom title, Nilsson states:

My main focus will be setting up the characters (bones,skinning) and making them all move in whatever way we need them to, whether it’s players/monsters in game, or cinematics. I’ll also be working with Jim Dose so we can figure out how this new animation system will work. Currently I’m using Maya to animate, and it seems like a great system. So far so good.

Also, Graeme Devine updated his.planto apologize for yesterday’s Q3A master server downtime:

I’ve been working on the master server these past few hours and just noticed the pile of emails coming inregarding its status. Apologies for the down time, it was meant to be invisible to the outside world.

Indrema’s John Gildred has posted a new developer’s diaryentry at Gamespyfor the month of November. This edition discusses the recently launchedIndrema Developer Network, controller layout for the L600, UI requirements,and certification procedures.

Marv forwarded an e-mail from Ritual’sSteve Hessel concerning a petition demanding thedevelopment of a SiN sequel:

Not sure if you’re interested in this kind of news, but there’s a petitionto get a Sin 2 going at http://www.petitiononline.com/sin2/petition.html.Great response so far… a few more names and we will have no other choicebut to make it ;)

The Linux version of SiN is being developed by Hyperion Software; a demo is availablefrom here.

Also, Matthew Johnson fired in a link to apetition designed to gauge interest in a Linux portof the MMORPG Shadowbane, which is a possibility according to the developers.

Natas of the Altered God projectsent in news that they are developing a general sprite editor for their isometric game:

This sprite editor is not a project just for Altered God…theyare working to make it dynamic as possible so others can use it. It willincorporate plugin ect. Anyway we will be doing a 1st release real soon!

A screenshot can be found here.

Loki Software has released a patch for their card game collection port,Eric’s Ultimate Solitaire. Changes in version 1.00a include:

• Fixed the command line handling. –nosound now works.
• Fixed a bug in Calculation where the second card thrown to the top discard pile would corrupt masking for the duration of that run of EUS.
• Fixed a bug where users could not add their own midi files.
• Pressing the shift key highlights the currently available moves, as advertised.
• Menu accelerators are now saved, for each user, between EUS runs.
• EUS now releases /dev/dsp if sound has been turned off.
• Dialog enhancements:
  • Added a progress bar to the “Choose Backgrounds” dialog.
  • File operations now work in the file selection dialogs.
  • Added stricter file checking support for save and challenge games.
  • Menu accelerators are disabled while dialogs are displayed.
  • Many other minor enhancements…
• Window position now saved between EUS runs.
• Fixed the rare occasion where the mouse cursor would not change, reflecting the state EUS was in.
• Fixed the window sizing code so that:
  • Buttons now appear after a window resize.
  • the original window size is restored if cancel was pressed.
• Fixed sound on newer Macs.
• General binary size reduction.

Eric’s Ultimate Soliatire 1.00a:
[ 3D Downloads | Loki ]

Alexandre Duret-Lutz wrote in to announce the release of Heroes 0.7 (Screens, ChangeLog), a Nibbles-style game with five game modes. Heroes features 12 original sound tracks, 94 levels (with 10different tile sets) plus a level editor, and effects similar to many popular demos. Alexandre also notes that this is a source release and although the download page lists binary packages, they may not be available yet.

Heroes 0.7 Downloads:
http://heroes.sourceforge.net/download.html

Anthony “madcow” Cowley let us know that id Software coder Jim Dose noted in a VoodooExtreme comment that, while discussing Team Arena’s player models, id has hired a new animator (thanks to Jim for the quick confirmation):

Actually, Steed animated and modelled the player models in TA. He had been done for a while before he was let go. Check page 2 of the credits in the TA demo.

Our new animator, Fred Nilsson, is pretty bad ass. He’s a professional animator who’s worked on a few animated films. He only arrived a month or so ago, so he didn’t do anything on TA except animating the new logo movie, which was modelled by another new artist, Seneca Menard. Both these guys are incredibly talented and have a style all their own.

Doomworld’s Andrew “Linguica” Stine found the IMDb entry for Nilsson, which lists a stint at Pacific Data Images where he worked on the sci-fi movie The Arrival. Presumably, Nilsson will be animating the new rogue’s gallery of hellspawn that will be found in the Doom sequel, which went into development earlier this year.

Stomped, in a look at 2001 titles,pointed out adisappointing possibility regarding Tribes 2:

However, it’s looking more and more like the game will not make the Christmas tree. Dynamix and Sierra stated at E3 that the game would be released in the fall, but recently they have back pedaled on that statement, citing a need for more beta testing. The external beta was just released a couple of weeks ago to over 1,000 testers, and it seems unlikely that the finished product will be ready to hit store shelves by Christmas. Indeed, calls made to various software retail stores by Stomped indicate the game’s current release date is a few days after Christmas.

On the positive side, a post-Xmas delay will increase the already excellent odds of a simultaneous Linux/Win32 release.

Two Tribes 2 previews have also been posted in the past week (thanks TribalWar):

• Media & Games Online
• Gaming Unlimited

The Russian gaming site Freelancerhas posted a reviewof the Win32 Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Businessrelease, which presumably will be identical to its Linux counterpart in terms of gameplay.Tribsoft, who ported the game’s predecessor,Jagged Alliance 2, is portingJA2: UB to Linux.

Version 1.6 of Vavoom, themulti-game Doom-engine source port, has been released. Changes:

• Progs are now split into client progs and server progs
• Added Quake style key bindings, togglable mouse look, and lookspring

Vavoom 1.6 Downloads:
http://www.raven-games.com/vavoom/download.shtml

ridicully wrote in to let us know that the most recent test releases in theLinux 2.4.0 kernel series have broken NVIDIA driver support, which has not yet been patchedby NVIDIA. For those of you who live on the bleeding technological edge,Christian “phoenix” Zander has released a patch for the NVdriver kernel modulewhich should render the driver functional again; obviously, this is an unofficial solution for the time being.

NVdriver Kernel Module Patch for 2.4.0-test10/11:
http://www.linuxgames.com/misc/patch-nvdriver-2.4.0-test11-2

Michael Simms of TuxGames sent in the following Indrema-related query:

At Tux Games we have been debating if we should stock the Indrema and its games. Whilst we are a Linux based games company, theInderma is a Linux based console for gamers.What opinions do people have? Should we stock this for completeness of range and support for the community, or wouldwould people prefer weremain purely a company selling games to use on basic mainstream Linux systems? If you have an opinion please drop anemail to comments@tuxgames.com

GameSpot was sent 34 newscreenshots of the upcoming RTS Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns.Kohan will be ported by Loki and theprojected release is sometime early 2001.

Vasileiou Nikolaos wrote in to let us know that the U3D game engine has reached version 0.6. The new release fixes some run-time crashes and contains alot of new features, like particle system, and networking. More info about this new release can be found at http://utopia3d.sourceforge.net.

Vasileiou made a note in the email also, read below:

With 0.6 we, as a team, have a good platform to create 3d graphics andwe will be using it to start a game project for the linux platform. Soon aweb page will be set-up about the game project so that you can see whatsall about.

Download: u3d-0.6.src.tar.gz

David Hedbor has released SDLRoids, his SDL-based Astroids clone.
Ch-ch-ch-changes:

• Version 1.3.3 released. Adds support for joystick control.
• sdl.c (IsKeyDown): Now it doesn’t crash when there are no joysticks present.
• configure.in: Added check for setenv.
• sdl.c: Added support for joysticks.
• getargs.c (pov), getargs.h: Added new joystick related options.
• hyperoid.c (DrawPlayer): Fixed analog joystick control.
• graphics.h: Changed prototype for IsKeyDown.
• sdlroids.6.in: Added documentation about the new joystick support.

Loki Entertainment Software updated their main site topoint out that Linux Journal presented them this year’sBest Game Editor’sChoice Award for their port of Soldierof Fortune.

Also, in a Gamespy article relating thevarious origins of game development company names, Loki president Scott Draeker relates how both the Loki nameand logo were decided upon.

Eavy has released an updated version of hisAssault Bonus Packwhich adds two additional maps and other enhancements to theUnreal Tournament modification. Documentationcan be found here, and apatch for those who downloaded the previous build is alsoavailable.

Eavy Assault Pack Version 418:
FilePlanet