LG staff member Zachary Slater foundmention of a Rune expansionpack in an interviewwith Human Head artist Ted Halsted at RuneNews.com;hopefully the expansion pack will work with the Linux version (which is beingported by Loki and is currently in beta-testing)without too much trouble, such as with the UmodPackutility.
HOLARSE.de’sBernd Ritter let us know that they’ve posteda Rune beta testingreport(screenshots areincluded).
Also, they have instructions from Linux-Wine.de’s Bernhard Suttnerfor getting Sudden Strike working in Linux with the aid ofWine.
Jera of the German gaming siteZocks let us know that they’veposted a screenshots(English)from Anarchy Online, the sci-fi MMORPG which is in its third beta-testingphase.
In addition, Zocks has areview(English) ofthe Viking-themed third-person hack&slash game Rune up; Rune’s Linux port,which is also being beta-tested at present, is being developed by Loki.
The Urban Terror team’s Oswald updated the projectsite to announce a new installerfor Linux users (thanks Telefragged). Moreover, ISPGN has aguide for Linux Q3UT serveradmins.
Stu wrote in to announce the release ofQ3A Freestyle! 1.27a over the weekend(Download – [ 1.27 |1.27a Patch]):
It allows for different styles of play, based loosely on other ‘classic’quake mod styles, and features such things as a client-configurablelaserhook with adjustable air-accleration built-in, runes, and bot supportin that they can, and do, rocketjump and use the hook like the pros! (It isquite something to see Xaero rocketjump and then rail you while he ismid-air, multiple times ;)
Q3 Gridiron 2.35 has also been released(Download); in additionthe dev team was interviewedby Silent Games.
Finally, version 2.3 of Alliance CTF was made availablelast night to fix a server crash bug (Download – [ Alliance 2.0| 2.3 Patch]).
mechanix mentioned in our comments section thathe has posted several screenshots from the Linuxbeta of Rune, being ported by Loki.Rune is a third-person melee action game set in the realms of Norse mythology, and was originally developed by Human Head with the Unreal Tournament engine.
Penguin Computing’sGarrett Mickelsonsent in the following tip for Red Hat users:
I found out today of a small issue regarding installing the nVidiakernel module on Red Hat’s Public Beta (7.1) called Fisher. To be ableto do this effectively, i.e. without errors :-) then you need only to gointo the /usr/src/ directory as root and create a symlink that someoneat Redhat seems to have forgotten.ln -s /usr/src/linux-2.4.0 /usr/src/linux
Then download and install the module by either rebuilding the sourceRPM:
rpm –rebuild NVIDIA_kernel-0.9.6.src.rpmor by downloading the tarball, uncompressing and doing the make compile.
tar -xvzf NVIDIA_kernel-9.0.6.tar.gz
makeThat should do the trick. I advise that you don’t use the precompiledbinary RPMs as they may not work right. Don’t forget the GLX driverseither…….I.m a beta tester for Loki and the Rune beta looks excellent at1600x1200!!!
Also, as Garrett noted above, Loki’s Linux portof Rune (which appropriately featuresthe Norse mythology inherent to Loki Sofware) is in beta testing.
Human Head’s Ted Halstedspoke with Gamespy recentlyabout his work as an artist on projects such as Rune, whichis being ported to Linux by Loki. Several Rune screenshots are included with Ted’s descriptions of his contributions to the game development process.
Michael Simms sent in the following news:
Pre-release ordering is now available at Tux Games for Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.2, and Rune.
Gerhard Schroeder of Zocks.desent in notice that they’ve posted(English version)a pic of Human Head developers standing in front of ablue-screened (well, technically the machineis rebooting)Rune demo; hopefully it won’t be too long beforeLoki releases a Linux demo so that we needn’t worry about such things :)
Also, LinuxUser hasreviewed the AI puzzlegame MindRover(English version); thanks to Linux3D.net for the news.
Loki Software updated their site to announce a partnership with the Gathering of Developers (GOD). Right now the ports of Rune (developed by Human Head) and Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2 (Ritual Entertainment did this one) are being put into beta and Loki is asking for beta testers to sign up at odin.lokigames.com.
UPDATE: Loki has issued a press release regarding these two titles.
Marko Harjula wrote in to let us know that the initial planning has begun for an “OpenSim” project on the CombatSim.com forums. Gilman Louie (who worked on Falcon 4.0 while at Hasbro/Microprose), appears to beleading this effort to develop an open-source flight/general-combat simulator; however, actualdevelopment has yet to begin.
Volition’s James Hague respondedto requests for a Linux port of Summoner, a fantasy RPG, in the Summonerforums last week:
Nah, there are people here who like Linux. I think it’s more an issue of it being difficult to put a tremendous effort into a port–Summoner is an absolutely huge game–for what’s not really a game consumer’s OS. You know?
Not too promising, but not a flat-out no either.
Kazi Wren of the Rune fansite Ragnarok sent in word that she has confirmationfrom Human Head’s Paul MacArthur, the company’s lead programmer,that the Viking 3rd-person action game will be ported to Linux. Furthermore, Ragnarok has postedseveral MP3 samples from the upcoming game’ssoundtrack. More information on Rune, an Unreal-engine title, can be found at Ragnarok here (screenshots).
Brandon Reinhart of Epic Games made a .plan entry today to comment on Zoid’s departure from id, and reflects on how CTF forged the mod community which exists today (which is the subject of further commentary in the article mentioned in his .plan update):
I gotta say “Good Luck Zoid!”
I remember when Quake 2 CTF was first released I stayed up allnight playing it. I had a comp sci test the next day. I was30 minutes late for the test, but was the first one done. A coupleweeks later I decided to drop out of college and dedicate allmy time to working on games.
Zoid has definitely had some very visible achievements in theFirst Person Shooter arena. You can see the influence of hisideas in UT. Four of the Relics in the bonus pack were basedoff of Zoid’s original Runes.
Zoid’s original Quake CTF mod more or less demonstrated that a goodmodification could be of top notch professional quality. GameSpy.comis running “mod author week” this week and the opening paper is by me,about the problems that face mod authors. Give it a read. The modscene has come a long way and has a long way left to go.
So hats off to Zoid and hats off to all the mod authors currentlyout there walking in his footsteps!
Brandon Reinhart of Epic Games updated his .plan with more info on the upcoming Unreal Tournament expansion pack:
We’ll soon be releasing an “expansion pack” for Unreal Tournament.Some of the fan sites have mentioned it and maybe posted a fewscreenshots, but nobody has really had many details. The packis a freely downloadable set of additional toys for UT.Its not a patch and its not a required download, but will have somecool stuff. New models, new maps, and our runes system. Some ofthe runes are classics, some are new.
Here is a list of the Relics (runes) and their functions:
Relic of Strength.
Doubles your damage.Relic of Defense.
Halfs damage taken.Relic of Regeneration.
Regain 10 health every 2 seconds.Relic of Speed.
Increase movement rate by 30%
Also improves air control.Relic of Redemption.
If you die while holding this relic, you are teleported awayfrom battle with your weapons intact and health restored.
(Instead of dying)Relic of Vengeance.
If you die while holding this relic, a skull floats above yourbody for a brief period of time. About 1.5 seconds later, theskull explodes killing with the force of a Redeemer blast.This pack will be a free download. We are still playtesting theRelics so their rules might change over the next few days.
Furthermore, Alan Willard and Cliff Bleszinski made .plan updates to note the release of the Darkmatch UT mod.
Unrealism made mention of a post that Mike Wreckle from HumanHead wrote concerning porting Rune to alternative OS’s:
We haven’t really determined yet what our ports will be. That is something we are still discussing with our publisher and with Epic. We would love to do both a Mac port and a Linux port, but it all comes down to the market, how much time, effort and money have to be spent on doing the conversions, and if we can at least break even on the effort. With that said, we would be interested in hearing from serious parties who want to do either a Mac or Linux port for Rune. The UT code is already being ported, but there is significant work that would have to be done to perform our conversions to these technologies.There is the possibility that female characters could be made available for deathmatch. I’ll make no promises, but this is something that I would like to see, if not in the boxed version, then released for download at a later date…
Loki Entertainment Software has issued a press release regarding the Loki Hack contest which was held at the Atlanta Linux Showcase:
LOKI HACK WINNERS ANNOUNCEDContestants Hacked the Linux Source Code for Activision’s Hit Title,Civilization: Call to Power
Atlanta, GA. — October 15, 1999 Winners of the first annual LokiHack were announced in an afternoon press conference at the Atlanta LinuxShowcase at the Cobb Galleria Centre.Loki Entertainment Software, in cooperation with Activision, Inc., theAtlanta Linux Enthusiasts and VA LiNUX Systems, kicked off Loki Hack 1999on Monday, October 11. During the Hack, enthusiastic and talented hackersfrom across the country and around the world had 48 hours in a securesetting to make alterations to the Linux source code for Activision’spopular strategy game Civilization: Call to Power.
The hackers had full reign to add features, alter logic, and implementadditional library support. Upon conclusion of the contest on Wednesday,Entertainment Software, Greg Hankins of the Atlanta Linux Showcase, andJeff “Hemos” Bates of Slashdot evaluated the hacks.
“This is the closest we could get to Open Source with our commercialproducts,” said Scott Draeker, Loki president and founder. “The worldcan’t see the source, but the contestants did. And all the hacks, mods,and changes will be posted in binary form for free download from ourwebsite next week. This was our chance to show the gaming world what theOpen Source community can accomplish, and the results have beenincredible.”
At the press conference Draeker awarded first prize to Christopher Yeoh,a developer from Denver, Colorado. Yeoh completed several modificationsto Civilization: Call to Power, including the addition of extra unitssuch as land carriers and stealth carriers. Yeoh also enhanced the Spyunit by allowing it to infiltrate an enemy city. If successful, the Spyis destroyed, but the player can view the infiltrated city’s statisticsuntil payment is received from the enemy.
First prize is a StartX MP Workstation from VA LiNUX Systems. Runners-upwill receive their choice of Gamer-X sound cards from Creative Labs,Inc., 3950U2 Ultra2 Dual Channel SCSI cards from Adaptec, Inc., andMillennium G400 video cards from Matrox Graphics, Inc. All contestantscompleted at least one hack and will each receive a prize.
Loki Hack 1999 was sponsored by Activision, the Atlanta Linux Showcase,VA LiNUX Systems, Creative Labs, Adaptec, and Matrox Graphics. VA LiNUXSystems provided the development machines used by the contestants andcontributed the first prize. Creative Labs, Adaptec, and Matrox Graphicscontributed prizes for the runners-up.
“We are happy to be supporting hackers in their efforts to fiddle thebits of Civilization: Call to Power,” said Jason Della Rocca, DeveloperRelations Manager of Matrox Graphics, Inc. “Matrox has be a ferventsupporter of the Linux community, with recent efforts made on supportingthe GLX project. Perhaps the winner of this event can have a look at ourdriver code base…”
For more information on Loki Hack and it’s sponsors, visitwww.lokigames.com/hack/. Profiles of the contestants and their hacks areavailable at www.lokigames.com/hack/profiles.html.
About Loki Entertainment Software
Based in Orange County, CA, Loki works with leading game publishers toport their best-selling PC and Macintosh titles to Linux. Loki meets apent-up need in the Linux community by providing fully-supported,shrink-wrapped games for sale through traditional retail channels.Founded in 1998, Loki is privately held and takes its name from the Norsegod of mischief. For more information visit www.lokigames.com.About Activision, Inc.
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leadingworldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactiveentertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision postedrevenues of $436 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999.
Activision maintains publishing and development operations in the US,Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Australia, anddistribution subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlandsand Belgium. More information about Activision and its products can befound on the company’s World Wide Web site, which is located athttp://www.activision.com.
About The Atlanta Linux Showcase
The Atlanta Linux Showcase is the community’s premier technical andcommunity show organized and run by a group of computer professionalswishing to help promote Linux. ALS was founded in 1997 and is runentirely by volunteers. Last years show was the largest Linux event in1998 drawing its attendees from 23 countries. The Atlanta Linux Showcase,Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation. For more information visitwww.linuxshowcase.org.
Nicolas Brunel wrote in to the Freeciv mailing list to announce he is resigning his position as administrator of the Freeciv project. Brunel’s contributions to the development of Freeciv were indispensable, and his advice on project suggestions will be missed. Freeciv will now be administrated by Tony Stuckey, and newbie questions will be handled by Reinier Post.
I’ve posted an interview I conducted with Freeciv gurus Nicolas Brunel, Martin Willemoes Hansen, and Vasco Alexandre da Silva Costa here. The interview covers the recent changes in 1.8.0, current development plans, Civ: CTP thoughts, and possible future directions for Freeciv.
Loki has announced that UGO Networks has agreed to set up a discussion forum devoted to Linux gaming. People interested in being the moderator for the forum are to e-mail support@lokigames.com.
UPDATE: The forum appears to be up and running in UGO.com’s bulletin board section… I’m not sure if this means they are still hunting for a forum moderator or not…
