A reader has created pyKsoko, a version of the classic Japanese puzzle game Sokoban (the original game of SOKOBAN was written by Hiroyuki Imabayashi), which concerns the troubles encountered while moving boxes in a maze.
Download: [ sourceforge.net ]
Our friends at GamingOnLinux served notice that the open source Age Of Empires-like RTS game 0 A.D. recently released a pre-alpha version to demonstrate the project’s intentions and status. Moreover, the date for the alpha release has been announced:
Sorry for the long lull in news, everyone. To compensate, you can mark your calendars: July is the month we plan to release the very first alpha version of 0 A.D.!
We can’t commit to a particular date yet (though we have one in mind), but what we mean by “Alpha” is that by then we should have a version that has all the bare-bones components of a playable game. These are detailed in our Alpha Release Roadmap, which is itself a work in progress, and include a new in-game GUI design, basic victory conditions, basic enemy AI, floating ships and some bugfixes. More music, sounds and art will probably be thrown in the mix as well, but the details are still being worked out.
The screenshots are very impressive, and while I never got into AoE, I did play Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, which used the same engine and (for some insane reason) kept the food-gathering mechanic. Lord Vader demands an update on the berry-picking!
The always-appreciated and prolific c3rb3rus (seriously, thanks), also sent in this notice about a game we haven’t noticed yet:
When I read about the Humble Indie Bundle, which I instantly bought, I remembered reading about The Indie Love bundle. Unfortunately, this bundle is no more available and only part of the games (Machinarium, Osmos and Auditorium) are for Linux, while the others (And Yet it Moves, Aztaka and Eufloria) are Windows/Mac only.
While LinuxGames reported about Machinarium and Osmos already, Auditorium so far was not covered here in this place. That’s actually a pity, since this is a great game and you can run it on Linux as well (since it’s a flash game).
In auditorium you influence the flow of audio-visual particles with the help of attractors, direction controls, deflectors and others. You try to hit audio containers which have the same color as the particles thus starting harmonies of music. If you manage to hit all audio containers on the screen you will be rewarded with nice ambient music (and you finish the level as well). Later in the game your goals change and some obstacles try to make you life harder.
Here are some screenshots:
Play Demo: [ playauditorium.com]
Alien Arena 2010 has been released today! The latest edition of this open sourced, freeware FPS has been updated with new levels, several new weapon models, and a host of bugfixes, gameplay tweaks, and client improvements. Some of the new features include:
For a complete changelog, click here
Download: [Alien Arena 2010(v7.40) ]
Thanks to c3rb3rus for sending in the following:
Frictional Games, which produced the successful Penumbra Game Series have announced recently, that since the Humble Indie Bundle is such a great success (close to 50000 contributions so far) they’re offering Amnesia: The Dark Descent for pre-order at 50% discount (which amounts then to 10$) until May 11.
The Game:
Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a first person survival horror. A game about immersion, discovery and living through a nightmare. An experience that will chill you to the core.
Pre-Order: [ amnesiagame.com ]
Thanks to the many, many readers who notified us (seriously, this may be the most e-mailed/submitted item in the site’s history) about this incredibly awesome venture from the developers of World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD and Penumbra Overture: The Humble Indie Bundle.
Pay what you want. If you bought these five games separately, it would cost around $80 but we’re letting you set the price!
All of the games work great on Mac, Windows, and Linux. We didn’t want to leave anyone out.
[...]
Your contribution supports the amazing Child’s Play charity and Electronic Frontier Foundation. By default, the amount is split equally between the seven participants (including Child’s Play and EFF), but you can tweak the split any way you’d like.
Get amazing games, support independent game development, support amazing independent game development FOR LINUX, contribute to deserving charities… seriously, there’s no downside here people! I already have most of these games but I don’t mind re-buying them under these circumstances.
The sale only lasts another six days, so don’t wait around if you intend to participate!
Edit: I just realized that this is the first opportunity we’ve had to purchase Aquaria on Linux at all, so there’s at least one game that none of you should have!
S2 Games has announced that their Defense of the Ancients-inspired multiplayer strategy game Heroes of Newerth, will launch on May 12th. As the game has been in an open beta testing period, a FAQ has been prepared:
1.) What happens when HoN goes retail?
When HoN goes retail it will require a paid account to play. If you have not purchased your account you may do so by visiting https://www.heroesofnewerth.com/purchase_account.php2.) Will HoN be free? How much will it cost? Are there any recurring fees?
HoN will not be free, it will cost a ONE TIME $30.00 USD payment with ZERO recurring fees.3.) What will happen with stats, replays, PSR, and SMR after retail?
All stats will be reset upon release. Also all historical data of previous matches, including replays, will be purged. SMR and PSR (the ratings used for match making and public games) will be compressed, bringing all accounts closer to 1500 as we feel this will positively impact gameplay and team balances post release.4.) Will HoN still be updated and new content added after retail?
We plan to consistently update HoN with lots of new heroes, items, features, and other goodies throughout the product life cycle for free.5.) If I Pre-Purchased can my name be taken? How do I stop my name from being taken?
If you pre-purchased your account your nickname can not be taken and that is the only way to secure it.6.) If I Pre-Purchase before May 5th, can I take a non Pre-Purchased accounts name?
Absolutely, and on top of that we will make sure that all pre-purchased accounts have one nickname change credit to use for May 5.7.) Are Golden Shields, Golden Names, and Taunt available anymore? Will they ever be available again?
Unfortunately those pre-purchase incentives ended with closed beta a month ago. We will not sell Golden Shields or Golden Names again but accounts will be able to acquire Taunt and other cool account features post release.8.) I’m from South East Asia and I can’t Pre-Purchase, why? How will I play after retail?
We will be making our formal announcement for our partner and strategy for SEA early next week. If you play from SEA your nickname will be able to taken but that will not impact you moving forward past retail.
TripleA is a free turn-based strategy board game and board game, which includes single player, local (hot-seat, an underrated play option IMO) and networked multiplayer.
Recreate World War 2 with the Axis pushing through to Moscow and Japan devouring the Pacific, or recreate Napoleon’s march across Europe, or Rome defeating the Carthaginian Empire, or even Sauron conquering Middle Earth, or Zombies taking over America! If you have ever played a game where you push little plastic or virtual pieces around, roll dice, conquer the lands of your enemy, and produce new pieces to conquer with, Then you will be able to jump right into TripleA!
Screenshots: [ View ] Download: [ sourceforge.net ]
NVIDIA has released a new Linux display driver build, version 195.36.24, for 32-bit and 64-bit x86 Linux systems that utilize their graphics hardware (thanks Ant!). Changes:
As always, hit the README for additional info.
Download: [ nvidia.com ]
Guild Software sent in notice that the massive multiplayer space combat game Vendetta Online now has war convoys:
While players fighting for the opposing nations may gain and lose territory on the main war front in Deneb, each day a War Convoy is launched by the winning side to blockade the trade routes of their enemy. Should the tide of territory ownership change, so will the movements of capital ships, forcing new War Convoys to break the previous day’s blockades to reach enemy territory.
Also, they sent along new screenshots for your perusal:
…and a recent trailer (Quicktime version):
Thanks to vadi for pointing out this interview with Marc DeForest, co-founder of S2 Games @ Big Download:
The game is one of the few that will be released on PC, Mac and Linux. How hard was it to get the game running on all three operating systems?
If you make the commitment to release your game on all 3 platforms, it is just business as usual.
What’s probably my favorite Linux game from the past year, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, is now at version 0.6.0! It’s a roguelike game that comes in graphical and console flavors (don’t eat it), and is fairly easy to get the hang of. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a roguelike and you’ll probably die a thousand painful deaths (I was killed by bee stings once), but there’s a tutorial and many, many character combinations to suit different play styles.
The changelog includes:
If you don’t want to or can’t install the client, you can play online via SSH @ crawl.akrasiac.org.
Download: [ develz.org ]
Thanks to c3rb3rus and our other readers for notifying us about the following:
Only some days ago a Linux port of Osmos was started and now the port is already finished! On April 28th Hemisphere games announced in their blog:
We’re excited to announce that Osmos has been successfully absorbed by Linux, and is now available! Our newly initiated, one-man Linux warrior, Mr David Burke, has done an amazingly quick and solid job on the port, and it’s been running smoothly on a wide variety of Linux distributions and machines. (Big thanks to all our beta testers!)
In Osmos your objective is to grow your mote by absorbing other motes. Propel your mote by ejecting matter behind you, which shrinks you again!
Osmos has very moderate hardware requirements:
In addition Hemisphere games wants to share their experience about the Linux port and the statistics about the Linux sales:
1) Dave plans to write a post-mortem on his experience with doing the Linux port. Expect to hear his thoughts and feelings (and possibly gripes) on the subject in the next week or so.
2) This port is also an experiment for us as a studio. Specifically, is it worth porting games to Linux? We hope the answer is yes, but we’ll find out soon enough. And you will too. We plan to publish statistics on our sales and downloads on all three platforms in about a month’s time.
Osmos can be bought for 10$ at their homepage.
Download demo: [ www.hemispheregames.com ]
