LINUXGAMES

Bill Kendrick of NBS wrote in to announce the a new release of Tux Paint. Changes and or fixes for this release include:

• Moved documentation into “docs/” to reduce clutter.
• Auto-save on quit (and auto-load the picture when you start back up)
• A few “Magic” tools (special effects): Blur, Blocks and Negative.

Download: http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/

David Hedbor wrote in with the following announcement:

Eon Games just released a beta of the Bust’em demo for Qtopia / OPIE devices (most notable, the Sharp Zaurus). Check out the screenshots or go directly to the download page.

Version 0.5.6 of the KDE-based chess interface Knights (screenshots) has been released; changes include:

• will now handle invalid ICS logins in a sane manner
• if your opponent on ICS resigns, Knights now handles it properly
• you now setup Timeseal for each individual server
• added a combobox that lets you select the level of profanity filtering your ICS preforms on incomming messages
• bugfixes

Knights 0.5.6 downloads: knights.sourceforge.net/download.php

Version 1.1.5 of the game-authoring software Cog Engine has been released; changes include:

• complete GUI interaction with objects on the graphic panel
• audio support added to events
• improved text-to-speech under Linux
• save functionality restored under GTK+/SDL
• word-wrapping enabled for all GtkText widgets
• better Text-Only Interface support

Cog Engine 1.1.5 downloads: cogengine.sourceforge.net/downloads.html

Version 0.9.0rc2 of the Advanced Linux Sound Architecture has been released; changes include:

• new drivers (Hammerfaull H-DSP & USB audio driver)
• changes for 2.5 kernel
• added 64bit integer support to the control API
• bugfixes

ALSA 0.9.0rc2 downloads: ftp://ftp.alsa-project.org/pub/

Version 5.5.2 of the multiplayer amorphous blob combat game Liquid War (screenshots) has been released; changes since version 5.5.0 include:

• network bugfixes
• i386 assembly code so the game runs faster
• correctly handling the “close button” in windowed mode

Liquid War 5.5.2 downloads: @ www.ufoot.org

Several people wrote in to let us know that the Neverwinter Nightsdedicated server for Linux has beenreleased. Unfortunately,the installation method requires a full NWN install under Windows (patched to 1.19, andcurrently the only way to patch is within NWN itself); moreover, there’s no workaround I’m aware ofto date, as it appears neither Wine or WineX can run either the installer or NWN proper. Finally,even copying the required/recommended directories from a Win32 partition is daunting, as it’s over agigabyte of data. There’sa forum thread here(thanks NW Vault)where server admins are hashing out issues with the ded server, so be sure to check it out if yourun into any problems.

As far as the client goes, this is what BioWare lead producerTrent Osterhad to sayon June 18th:

The server is pretty much ready to go. The Client is a little worse off. I haven’t got any official date for when theClient will be available, but we are pushing as hard as we can to get it done.

I only hope that there will be some kind of installer/file extraction utility to get around the current Win32requirement. In any case, it’s good to see that BioWare is working on the Linux builds :)

Neverwinter Nights Linux Dedicated Server Download:
http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/linuxserver.html

Version 0.2.9 of the Wing Commander-inspired space combat sim Vega Strike> has been released; changes include:

• Splitscreen Multiplyaer keybindings that work for linux
• Mouse and Joystick support for linux
• Autopilot and debris spinning speed
• Fixed Money loopholes that would allow people to sell things for more than they bought them for
• Fixed combat speed of purchased starships
• Fixed a system with no exit points (new detroit)
• Fixed a pirate star system
• RPM and DEB packages released with above fixes.
• MAN pages and easy install tools available.

Download: http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/download.html

David Hedbor sent in the following bit of information:

Eon Games just announced two upcoming Sharp Zaurus titles, namely PurpleBlaster and Bust’em. Stay tuned for demo releases and more product announcements within the next week or two.

A new mod / TC has hit the Unreal Tournament scene called Operation Na Pali (Screenshots). To find out more about the mod itself, you can go to its homepage here: @ PlanetUnreal

You can download the full mod here: @ PlanetUnreal

Bernd Ritter from Holarse wrote in to announce some new articles they have up on the site (side note, its all in German):

• Warcraft 3 with WineX
• SDL Installation

Version 4.0.3 of the Mesa 3D Graphics Library has been released; changes include:

• lots of T&L updates for the Radeon DRI driver
• lots of C++ (g++) code clean-ups
• updated GL/glext.h file
• corrected MMX blend code
• support for software-based alpha planes in Windows driver
• updated GGI driver
• bugfixes

Mesa 4.0.3 downloads: @ sf.net

Toys for Bob has announced that they will be releasing a new port of Star Control 2. Here’s the official announcement:

Toys for Bob is pleased to announce that we will be re-releasing “The Ur-Quan Masters”, for modern operating systems. We will be using the 3DO version as our starting point, and although we don’t have all the details worked out, just yet, we can share with you some of our goals (many of which were suggested by fans of the game. Thanks!):

• We plan to support Mac (both classic and OSX), Linux, and Windows.
• The game will be available free of charge.
• Players will be able to choose between text and voices.
• We’re looking into the possibility of allowing for independant creation of language plug-ins.
• Data, such as graphics, fonts, music, voices, sound effects, and the script will be loaded from standard filetypes. This will allow fans to choose between classic music and 3DO music, or even import their own modifications into the game.
• Improved support for modern gamepads.
• We’re looking into 2-player supermelee over the internet… Cross your fingers!

This list is by no means complete, and we’ll continue to release more information as it becomes available. If you have any comments, we’d love to hear from you, and we’ll be checking the comments at http://www.star-control.com/ on a regular basis.

Looking through the past news at star-control.com, it looks like the port will be using SDL, but just over a week ago TFB was asking for feedback on how well SDL worked. If any of you SDL coders have some advice for the TFB team, head on over to the forum regarding SDL and SC2.

Thanks, Judecca, for pointing this out.

Version 0.2.5 of the tactical war game Crimson Fields (screenshots) has been released; changes include:

• support for campaign games
• slightly improved computer player
• new events and triggers for map creators
• bugfixes

Crimson Fields 0.2.5 downloads: @ www.lanipage.de

Version 1.17.1 of the RTS game engine FreeCraft (screenshots) has been released; changes include:

• fixes some flaws in the new network code
• memory corruption bugs in the harvest wood and garbage collector code were fixed
• problems around the dark portal teleportation have been removed
• resolution and full screen can now be choosen in the option menu
• an editor is integrated direct in the engine

FreeCraft 1.17.1 source: freecraft-020624.tar.bz2

Version 0.6.8 of the electronic boardgame front-end Q Universal Boardgame has been released; changes since version 0.6.6 include:

• RustyDieGCom now deserializes correctly
• click-to-raise on game pieces works again
• all saved data is now compressed using zlib compression
• shift-middle-click now deletes pieces
• multi-select support
• new configuration options

QUB 0.6.8 source: qub-0.6.8.tar.gz

Version 0.1.5 of the NES emulator FakeNES (screenshots: 1 | 2) has been released; changes include:

• fixed a serious masking bug in PRG banking
• added support for ROM trainers
• video output changes
• ability to implement combined filters added
• basic scanlines filter added

FakeNES 0.1.5 downloads: @ sf.net

Version 3.9.7a of the commercial implementation of the OSS/Free sound drivers included in the Linux kernel Open Sound System has been released; changes include:

• 4Front Virtual Mixer now comes standard with the OSS drivers
• the soundconf program now provides an Audio-Self-Test option
• PCI audio devices have been reordered
• a new option in soundconf allows you to select which soundcard becomes the default audio device
• the Virtual Mixer devices are automatically assigned and allocated by OSS when audio applications are started

OSS 3.9.7a downloads: http://www.opensound.com/download.cgi

Version 1.1.2 of the RPG utility suite OpenRPG has been released; changes since version 1.0.3 include:

• changed the Map interface
• moved the tape measure to the r-click button
• added Fog of War layer to the miniature map
• improved the whiteboard
• added a role system
• updated dnd3e tool
• bug fixes

OpenRPG 1.1.2 downloads: @ sf.net

Version 2.01 of the dungeon-creating library DungeonMaker has been released; changes include:

• better compliance with the C++ standard
• compiles under gcc3
• added “using namesspace std;” where appropriate
• switched from old -header files to the new -versions.

DungeonMaker 2.01 source: DM2_01Release.tgz