The eighth beta release of FreeCiv version 2.0.0 is now available. FreeCiv is an open source Civilization-style game project; the changelog is available here. Bug reports can be sent to bugs@freeciv.org as 2.0.0 nears completion.
Freeciv 2.0.0 Beta 8 Download: [ freeciv.org ]BioWare has released patches for theirPremium Furthermore,
Queasy Games sent in the following press release:
February 24, 2005 (Toronto, Canada) – Queasy Games has released a massive update to their futuristic action/strategy title, Gate 88 and is available for download at the Gate 88 download site. Warcry.com describes Gate 88 as a “fast-paced, frenetic blend of real-time strategy and 2D space shooter.” Players dogfight in an upgradable command ship while developing base defenses, issuing squadron attacks, and researching new technologies. Though Gate 88’s abstract vector-art is unabashedly old school, Gamehippo.com says, “the gameplay is anything but retro. It’s new, fresh, and exciting.” The update includes many gameplay tweaks, single player adjustments, and a new Alliance feature, which allows players to coordinate cooperative attacks against the enemy. Conversely, betrayals become a strategic possibility as broken alliances will cause former allies to suddenly turn against you in a vicious backstab. This often marks the decisive moment in a match. The single player mode is also vastly improved with player adjustable practice mode settings and a new enemy unit, the devious Repair Drone. An all-new in-game stats feature allows players to gauge their performance in singleplayer and multiplayer modes. This latest release also sports a graphical update and many more gameplay tweaks, all of which are detailed in the following changelog:
http://www.queasygames.com/gate88/version_history.html. Gate 88 is inspired by classics such as Herzog Zwei, Star Control, Subspace, Homeworld, and Parsec 47. It is currently available for Windows and Linux (x86). An OSX port is currently in development.
Screenshots of Gate 88 are available here; WarCry and GameHippo.com have also published previews.
A new version of Steambird’s ‘playful retro-shooter’ Love Invaders is out; notable changes since 1.0:
Love Invaders 1.0i Download: [ steambird.com ]
Ryan “I *HEART* Alix Olson” Gordon updated his internet home page to let everyone know that Unreal Tournament 2004 version 3355 is available for Linux. This version requires the ECE bonuspack to be installed before you install this patch, if you want the bonus pack at all. The complete list of core-UT2004 changes is here. This is Ryan’s list of Linux version update highlights:
Unreal Tournament 2004 Version 3355 Download: [ 0day.icculus.org | 3D Downloads ]
The New York Times ran an article (registration required) last week concerning the US Department of Defense-funded first-person shooter America’s Army, which relates how the developers undergo Army field training to help facilitate the game’s “realism”:
Aside from the atmospherics and surrogate soldiering, the developers came away with a lot of concrete information. Toward the end of the summer they hope to release a module called Special Forces: Overmatch, which will allow gameplay as a member of the Green Berets. Many of the vehicles they rode and weapons they fired will appear in the game.
Lightkey sent in word that version 0.2.3 of the free Infinity Engine re-implementation GemRB has been released; the Infinity Engine was utilized in several BioWare and Black Isle RPGs such as the Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale series, as well as Planescape: Torment. The changelog can be found here.
GemRB 0.2.3 Download: [ sourceforge.net ]Stella (multi-platform Atari 2600 emulator) version 1.4.2 has been released. The major changes:
Stella 1.4.2 Download: [ sourceforge.net ]
A reader sent in the following:
Hi! I’m working on Tux Bowl, a new OpenGL American Football game for Linux. Development is currently at a very early stage but I just wanted to ask the community if any other developers would be interested in joining me to work on the game.
When I say the project’s at a really early stage, I mean it! No releases have been made so far and the player models look kinda like Pyramids but the aim is to eventually have something like the Madden NFL series or the ESPN NFL series, though that’s admittedly a long way down the road!
Version 0.9.1 of sdljava, a Java binding to the SDL API, has been released. Changes include the removal of the dependency onJDK 1.5 and the addition of the OpenGL binding via GLEW and a binding to FTGL.
sdljava 0.9.1 Download: [ sourceforge.net ]Version 0.6.0 of FreePop, a game based on the classic Populous I and II games, is now available. Screenshots of this latest version are available for your viewing pleasure.
Download: [ FreePop 0.6.0 ]London Law, an online adaptation of the popular Scotland Yard, where a group of detectives attempt to track down the popular Mr. X, has been updated to release 0.2.0. In this release changes to note include , the network code has been rewritten to use the Twisted Framework and players can disconnect and rejoin network games at will.
Ryan “perhaps I am icculus, perhaps not” Gordon, updated his icculus.org today with news of an America’s Army update for Linux. America’s Army is the free multiplayer First-Person-Shooter game from the United States Army. Version 2.3.0 adds a tournament mode and two new multiplayer missions (Woodland Outpost and Urban Assault.)
America’s Army 2.3.0 Full Installer Download: [ 0day.icculus.org | 3D Downloads | 3D Gamers | 0day.icculus.org Bit Torrent ]
America’s Army 2.3.0 Patch from 2.2.1 Download: [ 0day.icculus.org | 3D Downloads | 3D Gamers | 0day.icculus.org Bit Torrent ]
ATI has released version 8.10.19 of their proprietary Linux graphics card driver (documentation); changes include support for the FireGL V5000.
ATI Graphics Driver 8.10.19 Download: [ ati.com ]Shacknews mentioned earlier this week that 3D Realms would be utilizing the Game xStream service for online distribution of their games (similar to Valve’s Steam service).
While none of 3D Realms’ current projects are likely candidates for Linux support, DiStream’s Royal O’brien sent us the following in response to our query about future developers using Game xStream on Linux:The team and I wrote the code primarily in C++ and assembly, so we can support those platforms. We are initially working with windows becauseof its mass adoption and software offerings, however, with that said,OSX is indeed an attractive platform that I would like to see it runningon, and of course Linux as well. It would really depend on how muchsoftware could be offered on those platforms. Technically, it would befun, but on the business side, it would have to make sense.
GarageGames has announced that Dark Horizons: Lore is now available for purchase by users of the Linspire Linux distribution; it’s also mentioned that support for other distributions is coming soon. Dark Horizons: Lore is a 3D action game from Max Gaming Technologies; a demo is available here.
The Max Gaming dev team was also recently interviewed at GameDev.net about the game:Adrian: We now have a core of 8 team members, since the recent addition of a full-time QA person, that have been working on Lore specifically. We then have some others that we tap when times are tight. We actually have remained pretty steady with the development of this project as in team members, recently in the last 4 months adding a much needed additional Linux developer to help us prepare for the addition of Linspire support and improved Linux support
GarageGames also attended this month’s Desktop Linux Summit, where they held a Linux gaming tournament; mo has written a summary of the event where you can see pictures of their booth (thanks Slashdot).
Once intended to be a commercially sold game, the 3D space shooter No Gravity (previously known as Space Girl) from realtech VR is now available under the GNU GPL. While there is no GNU/Linux version of the game, the source is available right now and a MacOS X port has already been done, which hopefully means that ports to other UNIX-style systems might be fairly easy to complete. According to the licensing, the data file necessary to play is not currently redistributable except via the official Sourceforge site. However, the developer says this may change in the future, with realtech VR retaining the copyright but allowing unmodified archives of the data files to be distributed by anyone in the future.
Download: Source code, data files
Source: Liberated Games
A reader let us know that Rush2005 version 0.4.9a has been released; changes include a graphics facelift.
Rush2005 Downloads: [ sourceforge.net ]A reader let us know that the Nexuiz site has been updated with 14 new screenshots; Nexuiz is a open source 3D deathmatch game project.
PCBurn sent in the following news:
Cedega and Point2Play are two pieces of software from Transgaming Technologies that enable Windows games to run on Linux. We’re taking a look at these two packages to see what they’ll do for your Linux gaming experience. Check out PCBurn’s Cedega review to see if it’s worth your hard earned money.