Manticore’s French translation of Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood is now available to order online (thanks Jeux Linux). Robin Hood, which was originally developed by Spellbound Entertainment and ported to Linux by Runesoft, is also available in English and German from TuxGames.
Freedoom version 0.4 has been released today. Freedoom is the project tocreate free (as in speech) replacements for DOOM’s resources, tocomplement the game engine (which is available under the GPL).
This is the first release in over a year and features updated versions of E1M1 and E1M8, a new MAP04 and a handful of new sound effects. A lot of work has gone on “under the hood” to make future releases much more straightforward. Thanks to Jon for pointing this out.
Download: [ Freedoom 0.4 ]
Phoronix has posted an ATI retrospective for the past year:
As 2005 comes to an end, both NVIDIA and ATI have fought a competitive battle not only when it comes to their hardware lineup but also display drivers for alternative operating systems. When discussing this subject matter, GNU/Linux users have been quick to criticize ATI Technologies whether it is due to poor installation support, distribution compatibility, rudimentary control panel, or simply the performance level of its drivers. On the contrary, even though NVIDIA had unveiled its GeForce 7 series, 2005 has not been the best year for the green developers.
We received this announcement concerning FreeOrion :
In 1993, Micropose and Simtex released Master of Orion. In 1996, Microprose was back with Master of Orion II. In 2003, Infogrames and Quickviler released Master of Orion III. A lot of people in the MOO community felt that there was a great deal of potential untapped by MOO3 or its predecessors, and so FreeOrion was born.
A few days ago, the development team released FreeOrion v0.3, the first edition of the game to incorporate production and research. While it’s still early on in the development process, v0.3 showcases enough of the design, development, and art behind the project that we felt it was time to come out of hiding. FreeOrion can be downloaded from Sourceforge; basic information on FreeOrion is available from our Wikipedia entry, and more details can be had on the FreeOrion web site and forums.
If you like what you see, we hope you’ll consider becoming involved with the project. With AI, tactical combat, diplomacy, and more still around the bend, we always welcome developers, artists, and designers — not only is it a chance to work with some very talented people, it’s also an opportunity to showcase your work and carry the ‘Orion’ torch a little bit further.
Pioneers, a game based on the Settlers of Catan, has been updated to release 0.9.40.
Download: [ Pioneers 0.9.40 ]
As 2005 draws to a close, the staff of LinuxGames wishes all of our readers a safe and happy holiday season. Have fun out there!
NVIDIA has released version 1.0-8178 of their Linux display drivers (x86 README / x86-64 README). This release contains only a few bugfixes:
Matrox has released version 1.4.3 of their driver for the Parhelia and P650/P750 graphics cards on dec. 15. The new driver is not called a beta anymore.
It supports Linux up to 2.6.14 and XFree86 4.3 or X.Org 6.7.0 “or later”, and features the new TripleHead Independent (THI) mode that allows to set different resolutions and refresh rates for the displays.
– Some OpenGL based game engines do not work (ie. UT2003, UT2004) properly with this release and may crash or cause display corruption.
– Screen corruption may appear while using Blender.
The Readme has grown considerably with an “Advanced User Notes” accompanying it.
Matrox Driver 1.4.3 Download: [ matrox.com ]
After nearly a decade, the first major release of the X Window System has been released. The X11R7.0 release is the first release with complete modularized and autotooled source code base. X11R6.9 is the same code base, but uses the more traditonal imake build system.Press Release:
These changes in source code management, giving openness and transparency to the source code base and employing current technology, invite a new generation of developers to contribute, building on the long tradition of the X Window System. The new modular format offers focused development, and rapid and independent updates and distribution of tested modular components as they are ready, freed from the biennial maintenance release timetable.
X11R6.9 comprises many distinct components bonded in a single tree, based on imake. X11R7.0 splits that set of components into logically distinct modules, separately developed, built, and maintained by the community of X.Org developers. This simulaneous release gives a transition point for developers, builders, and vendors to adapt their practices to the new X.Org modular process. X11R7.0 supports Linux and Solaris at this time, with other support pending. X11R7.1, the first modular roll-up release, is scheduled mid-2006. While the monolithic tree will continue to be fully supported and released, new feature development is expected to be concentrated in the modular code base.
The X11R7.0 and X11R6.9 releases are the work of more than fifty volunteer contributors worldwide, working under the release management team of Kevin Martin (Head), Alan Coopersmith, and Adam Jackson, with the support of Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, and the unsupported generous contribution of effort by Adam Jackson.*
All X Window System Releases are available from http://ftp.X.Org and mirror sites worldwide (see http://wiki.x.org/Mirrors). They are distributed under the MIT (“X”) License by the X.Org Foundation LLC. Information concerning organization, activities, and mailing lists can be found at http://www.X.Org. Membership is free and open to contributors. Sponsorship is encouraged to support the global activities of the X.Org Foundation. Current X.Org Sponsors include Sun Microsystems, HP, IBM, StarNet Communications, AttachmateWRQ, Hummingbird, and Integrated Computer Solutions Incorporated [ICS].*
In continuous use for over 20 years, the X Window System provides the only standard platform-independent networked graphical window system bridging the heterogeneous platforms in today’s enterprise: from network servers to desktops, thin clients, laptops, and hand-helds, independent of operating system and hardware.
id Software and Screenshots can be found at
Quake 4 Quakemas Map Pack Download: [
Epic has released a hotfix for themost recent Unreal Tournament2004 patch; here’s the blurb from RyanGordon:
3369.2 has a server exploit fixed for both architectures, and compileroptimizations reenabled for amd64 (they got turned off by accident in3369.1).
The aforementioned
UT2004 v3369.2 Download: [ 3D Downloads ] [
Epic Games and icculus have released the Unreal Tournament 2004 MegaPack, which contains the bonus content from the Editor’s Choice Edition, and several community-created maps:
Screenshots and additional information can be found @ BeyondUnreal.
UT2004 MegaPack Download: [ 3D Downloads | icculus.org ]
Vulture’s Eye/Claw (screenshots), an isometric Nethack and Slash’Em interface based originally on Falcon’s Eye, has reached version 1.11. New features:
It’s also noted that this will be the last major release in the 1.x series of Vulture’s, as the core is undergoing a major revision to move to 24-bit graphics.
Vulture’s Eye/Claw 1.11 Download: [ darkarts.co.za ]
Sillysoft Games has announced the release of the Risk-alike game Lux version 5.2 along with a new release of their SDK for AI opponents:
Lux 5.2 is now available for your world domination pleasure. This is a free update for all registered users and you can download it here: http://sillysoft.net/download/ This update comes jam-packed with improvements. There are some graphical enhancements and new visual effects. More network commands were added, translation of network messages was improved, and autohosting was given a booster shot. Plus a lot of other stuff was included (i.e. option+control click places 50 armies). A full list of the 5.2 changes can be seen here: http://sillysoft.net/lux/changelog.php – A new version of the AI software developer kit is also now available.
This SDK contains everything you need to write an AI for Lux using the Java programming language. This updated version includes an improvedAPI allowing AIs to get more information about the board, and better send/receive chat messages. Updated example code is also provided.
The SDK can be downloaded from here: http://sillysoft.net/sdk/
So I forgot to introduce myself, although the majority will likely not care. I am not really new here but will post news myself now on LinuxGames.
I was told I could make some advertisement too, so beer for me:Attal, a turn-based strategy game, has been upgraded to version 0.10. Improvements and changes in this release include:
Download: [ Attal 0.10 ]
The 2nd maintenance release of the 1.0 release of Battle for Wesnoth has been released. Highlights of the changes in this release include:
Download: [ Battle for Wesnoth 1.0.2 ]
GalaxyMage, a open-source tactical/strategic RPG, has been released at version 0.1.1. This minor release fixes a bug where the game would crash if a person would not have a soundcard. Screenshots are available to interested parties who would like to view this up and coming RPG.
Download: [ GalaxyMage 0.1.1 ]
Matrox released driver version 4.3 for their G-series of graphics cards on dec. 5. No changes are mentioned, the Readme now explains how to config the “old style vga” mode for the virtual console instead of the usual 80×25 characters.
Matrox Driver 4.3 Download: [matrox.com]LGeneral, a game heavily inspired by Panzer General, has been updated to release 1.2beta-10. Changes in this release include:
Download: [ LGeneral 1.2beta-10 ]