LINUXGAMES

Our friends over at LinuxEmu have done an interview with Niels Wagenaar who is behind the SDLemu team, which has ported various emulators to Linux using SDL. A nice read for the fans of emulators of all types.

Our friends at RelicNews have let us know that the source code to HomeWorld has been released. The source code, which was NOT released under GPL, contains everything Relic Entertainment has IP rights to. Missing from the code are the Bink SDK sound tools. Please peruse the license to see if the restrictions that have been placed on this code are acceptable for your project. The code can be downloaded from the Relic Developer’s Network.

In a few short hours, our very own Michael Vance and the lovely Judith Young will be man and wife. Many dear friends will be in attendance to witness the event in Pasadena and wish them well while many others, myself included, will be celebrating from afar, the joy no less for the distance. Truly, I tell you, they are a beautiful pair and I hope you’ll raise your cup in honor of the couple on this day, the first of their life together as wife and husband.

Update, Mon Sep 29 08:50:28 CDT 2003: Matt just loves stealing the little bit of the spotlight I have, but since it’s Mike’s time, I thought it appropriate to keep the focus on him and add what I had prepared last week for this occasion: Congratulations are now in order for LinuxGames groupie, er, staff member Michael Vance! Yesterday his fiancée Judith managed to pry him away from his game consoles just long enough to take his hand in marriage. Our best wishes go out to the newly betrothed as they begin to deal with the inevitable and incessant questioning: “when are you going to have kids?”

Octico fired in a link to this forumpost byEpic Games’ Mark Rein:

UT2004 will support Linux (both client and server) as well. As with UT2003, Linux support will be included in the box with UT2004. This time we’ll make sure it gets mentioned on the box.

Unreal Tournament 2004 is the latest title in the series of first-person shooters; a trailer for the game wasreleased earlier this week:

Unreal Tournament 2004 Trailer – [shacknews.com]

Release 1.32 of Neverwinters Night Linux client has been released. Changes in this version include:

- Made some fixes to prevent game/character/server hacking
- Fixed a nasty frame rate killing bug
- Made a fix to wounding
- Fixed some display issues in the internet multiplayer server list

A second client has been released for people who have been unable to get the game to start. This second client ‘may’ have compatibility with a wider range of video card/driver configurations.

Recently there has been a flurry of news items related to GarageGames (GG) and their Torque engine:

• Version 2.1 of Orbz (based on the Torque engine) has been released. This version includes reduced download sizes and better support for lower-end video cards. Demo download: orbz_gg_2_10.sh.bin
• GG have made available a demo of Mutant Storm, a RoboTron style arcade game, which was previously unavailable for Linux. Demo download: MutantStormDemo_1_33.sh.bin (8.8MB)
  Update, Thu Sep 25 02:37:48 CDT 2003: OK, it’s way past my bedtime, so I apologize for the confusion; there has been a demo of this for a while now.
• GG will be present at this year’s Indie Games Con (IGC) which is taking place Oct. 10-12th in Eugene, Oregon. The IGC is “a fun, informal and informative gathering of independent game developers from around the world.”
• GG has relaunched their GameMechanic (GM) newsletter with a August 2003 Issue. GM is a monthly newsletter “focused towards providing valuable and inciteful articles and information on the issues and concerns that matter to our ever growing independent development community.”

As many of you probably already know, Savage hit store shelves earlier this month as was planned. Jon Shiring from S2 assures us that the Linux client is on the CD and Linux support is mentioned on the box. He also pointed out that IGN published a review of Savage giving it an 8.7 in the end. And, on top of all of that, Jon said that they will be releasing a demo of the game (including a Linux demo) that will include a demo of the dedicated server.

Derek Gaston, an LG reader, also pointed out the handy ordering option available for Savage. Through iGames (the publisher) you can purchase a CD key and gain access to download the game and a downloadable version of the game manual. There are, of course, other ways to purchase the game, including through Tuxgames: [order Savage from TG]

Timothee Besset sent in a link to a forum poll at Team 17’s site asking the Worms 3D community if they’d want a Linux port of the game. Timothee notes that there is already a Mac port, and that the engine utilizes OpenGL. If this sounds like a good idea to you (and why wouldn’t it!), head on over and vote.

The development team for Legends (screenshots), a Torque engine-based (of Tribes 2 fame) first-person shooter, letus know that they have released a Linux client-server package for their project:

The game isdesigned to take advantage of the beautiful environments in the Torqueengine while still offering the breakneck pace and variety of gameplaystyles available from classics such as Quake and Tribes.Our game has been made for gamers, by gamers, and will always remainfree (as in beer), supported, and improved as long as there is interestin it.

The game is still in beta, so please be sure to fire in bug reports. There’s an updater utility included as well.

Legends 0.2.2 Linux Release – [tribalwar.com]

Edit: Woops, this is indeed a dupe. Well, now you get to read about it twice! So there! ;) (p.s., in the future more effort will be made on my part to actually read what’s been posted before. Apologies for the inconvenience.)

Matthew Arnold let us know that he’s written up a procedure for installing RavenSoftware’s (which has allowed Linux ports of their games in the past) Quake 3 engine Star Wars game Jedi Academy on a Linux machine using WineX.

Installing Jedi Academy in WineX 3.1 – [thehaus.net]

Cat Mother, a software development house, that has closed their doors has released the source code to their prototype of a 3rd person action/adventure game to the gaming community. The game engine was developed in C++/DirectX9, so the amount of work to make this a portable solution is unknown. Also to note was that the game engine was released under BSD license and the content is published under GPL license.

The Legends Development has announced the release of Legends client/server for Linux. Legends is a fast-paced, FPS-style multiplayer game that use the Torque engine provided by GarageGames

PrBoom, an enhanced version of Doom, has released a new version of their public beta. Changelog is listed below:

- the OpenGL libs are loaded dynamically
- only one executable for software rendering and OpenGL
- option for sound compatibility with original Doom
- added more compatibility levels (check frontend configurations!)
- in game switching between fullscreen and windowed mode
- fix super-shotgun reload on last shot
- intermission demo sync bug fixed
- support for more and less then 8 channels
- improved response file parser
- replaced use_vsync with use_doublebuffer in cfg file and implemented double buffering
- removed old Doom v1.2 lumps from prboom.wad
- removed lumps and tables which are in prboom.wad from source
- fix translucency map file handle leak
- added a quake like console
- new menu code and much more options available through it
- reworked software renderer
- bilinear filter for software rendering- AdvanceScale2x like filter, but working on individual lines not fullscreen
- smooth edges on masked textures and sprites
- 16bit and 32bit software rendering
- sound and video settings changeable while running (Software <-> OpenGL)
- VIDD (Version Independant Doom Demo) support

If you’re a gamer with a pulse, you’ve probably heard about the impending release of Valve’s Half-life 2, sequel to one of the most beloved games of the past half-decade. As a gamer and a Linux user, I get a little stirred up about the whole Half-life situation, and the result was an article lamenting the state of things.

Read it here.

So, how are you, our readers, going to react to the release of Half-life 2? Play it in Windows? Try to run it in WINE or WineX? Wait for the Xbox version? And, if there never is a Linux client, will you still run a Linux dedicated server for Half-life 2?

The release of Xmame/Xmess-0.74.1 which is a combination of 0.72 and 0.73 release of Mame. Changelog below.

- Everything from MAME 0.74 and MESS CVS.
- Reapplied David Mitchell’s fix for the XInput inertial effect when a mouse or spinner is used.
- Added support for controllor setup via “-ctrlr”. Note that “-hotrod” and “-hotrodse” have been replaced by “-ctrlr HotRod” and “-ctlrlr HotRodSE”.
- Added support for the Sun Forte 7 C compiler.
- Added support for Mesa and Sun OpenGL on Solaris.

Version 2.56 of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory has been released; Linux-specific changes include:

• catches and disables a DGA mouse issue
• you can set r_gamma to -1 to use the current X gamma instead of client set ramp
• fixed text mode setup on glibc 2.3 systems (RH9 typically)

In addition to those, the other version changes are also included (the ones listed in the win32 changelog).

For those with BitTorrent installed, you can download with the torrents listed on zerowing.idsoftware.com/BT:

• et-linux-2.56.x86.run.torrent (full version, 258 MB)
• et-linux-2.56-update.x86.run.torrent (2.55 -> 2.56 patch, 6.7 MB)

Otherwise, traditional download mirrors can be found at Blues and we have the files mirrored locally:

• et-linux-2.56.x86.run @ LG/ 3DD (258 MB)
• et-linux-2.56-update.x86.run @ LG/ 3DD (6.7 MB)

Tuned to chords.

Misc News:

• Roger Wernersson from Qube Softwaresent this in:
  

  Qube releases free cross-platform 3D engine and toolset for RedHat 9

  Qube Software, founded by the team that originally built Direct3D forMicrosoft, has made an alpha release of its Q1.1 3D engine and toolsetfreely available for Linux RedHat 9

  Q1.1 is a complete cross-platform development solution for games andinteractive 3D applications. Q’s design strengths include built-instreaming, outstanding visual quality and high-productivity developmenttools for deployment on Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, Linux andMicrosoft Windows.

• The N.M.E.S. Project wrote in to announce that they have a new website andforum.
• Randy McDowell sent this news in:
  

  Allyn Games, the makers of FakeNESand the massive in-development RTS/TBShybrid Celestial Empires, have a new host and are continuing development ontheir projects. FakeNES hasn’t seen a release in almost a year, so it iscurrently being set to high priority.

New Announcements:

• Bad Onion, a platform game: screenshot, download
• Battle for Wesnoth 0.4, a turn-based strategy game: changelog, screenshots, download
• Linux Lunar Lander 1.4, a moonlanding sim: screenshot, download
• Linux Shuttle Lander 1.2, a space shuttle landing sim: screenshot, download
• Martian Memory 1.2, a kid-oriented memory game: screenshot, download
• MistLands, an online RPG: screenshot, download
• Monster Masher 1.2, a mash’em-up action game for GNOME: screenshot, download (thanks Joe Gasiorek and Footnotes)
• PyCg 0.1, a Python wrapper for NVIDIA’s Cg development software: download (sorry I’m so slow, sabrewulf)
• Tenebrae, a quake source mod: screenshot, download (thanks George Carpenter)
• Ultima Iris 0.2, an Ultima Online client: screenshot, download (thanks Commander Nod and ERA)
• excido 0.1.3, a 3d arcade-ish game: screenshot, download

New Versions

• Attal 0.7.1, a turn-based strategy game project: changelog, screenshot, download
• Advanced Strategic Command 1.13.8, a multiplayer turn-based strategy game: changelog, screenshot, download
• Bridge Construction Set (formerly Pontifex II) 1.30, a a bridge designing and building sim: changelog, screenshot, download
• Crimson Fields 0.3.6, a tactical war game: changelog, screenshot
• GPL Arcade Volleyball 0.7.3, an Arcade Volleyball remake: screenshots, download
• Mesa 5.0.2, a 3D graphics library: changelog, download
• mupen64 0.3, an N64 emulator: screenshot, download
• Nethack 3.4.2, the classic dungeon exploration game: changelog, screenshot, download
• noeGNUd 0.8.1, an alternate ascii/2D/3D UI for nethack: changelog, screenshots, download
• Simutrans 0.82.7exp, an economic and transport sim: changelog, screenshots, download
• Slash’EM 0.0.7E3, a graphical Nethack variant: changelog, screenshot, download
• The Third Reich 1.2, a WW2 MOD for UT: changelog, screenshots, download
• Tux Paint 0.9.12, a drawing program for children: changelog, screenshots, download
• The Ur-Quan Masters 0.3, the Star Control 2 port: screenshots, download
• Vendetta Test 3.3.2, a space MMORPG: screenshots, download
• Virtual Jaguar 1.0.5, an Atari Jaguar emulator: screenshot, download (thanks Niels)
• Wine 20030813, a free Windows implementation: download

A reader wrote in regarding Battlemech, a top-down perspective shooter created with the Quake 1 engine. Bots, various maps, and internet multiplayer features are included. There’s also source code (QuakeC) should you wish to contribute to the project.

Download: [1.1 Release | Additional files (req) ] – Installation instructions

ATI has made version 3.2.5 of their graphics card driver for Linux available. The requisite (and vague) changes include:

• Many 3D fixes
• Many bugs fixed
• TV Out Support
• PseudoColor Support
• Support for Many cards added
• Full Screen Anti Aliasing Support (FSAA)

Thanks to Eric Williams for the news.

Download: [ati.com]

Update: by Alkini, Wed Sep 10 16:26:01 CDT 2003: Karoly “KillaK” Harth also wrote in to announce the ATI FAQ that he’s written.

Seven months in coming, a new version of ClanLib has arrived. The usual list of changes/bug fixes follows:

Resources are now setup via XML.
clanSDL, classic software 2d support is back.
Lots of cleanups in the Linux auto* build system.
MinGW and cross-compile support.
All examples now compile and run.
Updated documentation with cooler reference and loads more overviews.
Many clanSound fixes and additions.
Many clanNetwork fixes.
Many OpenGL optimizations.
Lots of minor fixes throughout ClanLib.

Download: [clanlib.org]