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Tuxracer is rubbish, but the other games mentioned on that page look pretty awesome. I'm downloading a few of them to try out now.

Does anyone actually play tux racer? The only time I ever pay it is to see if the 3d card is working. I play for a level remember why the game was trash and forget all about it. It's like tradition to list it on a top 10 linux game list just to have people talk about it.

As far as the rest of the games do any of them have a worth while single player mode, as in a story and not a bot death match?

My kids play it a lot. They love that game. I don't see any use for it for an adult to play however. The kids do get frustrated though, because it's near impossible to complete a level in the time alloted and catch all those fish!

I can tell you about Sauerbraten's single player, which isn't spectacular.

It features a mode that involves getting through a map on a certain route and come out alive. I would compare it with the 1st Quake single player in terms of gameplay. It has switches and hidden areas and monsters that react to triggers, but it's seriously impaired by the lack of advanced machinery that appeared in Quake2 (lifts, advanced doors, complex switches and triggers, and so on), plus its limited to a small set of enemies, a set of Quake skins that were in the public domain, albeit of exquisite quality.

Except the AI is quite dumb (forgets about you once you're out of sight and won't follow around more than one corner). It's very simple to stand on a ledge out of the line of fire, wait for them to gather at the foot of the ledge like sheep and then safely rain rockets or grenades on them. You need a convoluted map to make them avoid this behaviour, but then it means they'll get blocked in some nooks and crannies and you have to look for them. And sometimes, if the map has open edges, they'll fall outside but not quite die, so they're out of reach and you can't finish the levels.

True, the Sauerbraten team focuses on good looking maps and multiplayer rather than single player. Most FPS's do that.

I don't want to diss their work, the maps are superb and I very much enjoy playing multiplayer. Bot deathmatch is ok too, once I've added skins and weapons from Doom and play at high levels in closed maps so they can give me a fair fight, if only in terms of sheer numbers. But indeed, there's no much of a storyline. I heard they're working on a RPG mod, perhaps that will work out better.

Having a "story mode" usually increases the production time of a game project, and is usually out of financial reach for these types of games. You need writers, voice actors, animators specialized in cut-scene animations. It's also not in the spirit of most of these games, which are meant for high replayability and online competition.

Not to say that it's impossible, but it's rare.

The best is ppracer and I play it often, and my girl friend even more.
Sure it doesn't feature blood and explosions and big guns, but it is quite fun actually.

I enjoy ppracer. Even if this presents scant interest, I may add that at each version of Ubuntu since Dapper, I improved my time, probably due to technical enhancements of the distro and of the 3D display.

Really.

Sorry for making you unhappy ;-)

I've never heard of that game. So, you play it often, but you play your girlfriend even more?!

I think its more there to break up the endless stream of quake 2 variations then anything else

Its very idea is taken from a commercial project like almost all the games on these lists. Without commercial software none of this free (clone) stuff would exist.

That is the most stupid argument I have heard on this site in ages.

How is it stupid? The fact of the matter is that tons and tons of these free Linux games are clones of commercial projects.

Had these commercial projects not existed it is VERY doubtful that the bedroom hackers would have come up with it.

Look at 'Frozen Bubble' below. Look familiar?

Don't all the FPS's ever made look familiar too? Aren't they all clones of Wolfenstein 3D? The bastards.

What exactly, pray tell, is wrong with taking one idea and implementing it from scratch all over again, your own way, with original artwork?

"Had these commercial projects not existed it is VERY doubtful that the bedroom hackers would have come up with it."

I disagree completely. How do you think a lot of game companies got started? Some person hacking it out it out for fun. To be honest, someone else would have came up with the same idea at some point.

You are correct in that a lot of free Linux games are merely clones. However, pretty much everything is a clone of something else. At some point calling something a clone is as worthless as saying all new books are 'clones' because they have words in them.

Many of the original implementations of those games types (e.g., WolfenStein 3D and Doom for FPS games, Dune 2 for RTS games, etc.) were shareware games or small-time commercial games created by very small groups of people, just like most freeware projects are.

I think you'll find that most innovative software ideas over the years have come from either individual developers or very small groups of developers, not large commercial game operations.

Ah, you mean like how the Diablo series is just a copy of Nethack?

I never played nethack, but when I first saw Diablo, I really thought it was a fancy skin on top of rogue... I was much disappointed to learn that it wouldn't run on my Dad's Sparc machine

Nethack = Rogue, I believe.

It's a "roguelike", but not Rogue itself. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike

I personally prefer Dungeon Crawl:Stone Soup, but it's quite challenging. (Tiles version exists for you graphics whores.) ;-)

http://crawl-ref.sf.net

I presume the game you're referring to is Guitar Hero.

Which, of course, completely ripped off GuitarFreaks.

Point being that 95% of *all* games are, to some degree, ripoffs of other games. This applies to commercial games just as much as it does open source ones.

RTCW is not a free game !

RTCW - Enemy Territory on the other hand is free, and imho is one of thje best games of all times.

download that and have a look for me on the following server 85.236.100.205:27960

My name there is Harry_Greywolf, you will die, multiple times by gun, bomb and knife,,, maybe some airstrikes, dynamite, satchel charge, depends how I feel

BTW - whats this crap about ? everyone know Linux cannot run good games :p

panzers and airstrikes are for noobs.

Frozen Bubble is one of the very first things I install on a new Linux setup.

Actually... it isn't 3d.

uhm yaeh, but the lotus trilogy are among my favourite games of all times
because fun != realism

Lotus Challenge was an Amiga game. The PC couldnt really do anything graphically or aurally impressive in 1987, unless you count making your eyes bleed and driving you insane with bleepy noises.

Agreed. TORCS is not very realistic. The first time I tried it (with a keyboard) I was disgusted. With a racing wheel & pedals it is 10x better. Still nowhere near to other racing sims like rFactor (The reason I have Windows installed on my desktop).

Seconded. I have wasted many hours on xmoto. Great game for when you just want to kill some time.

Hear, hear!

Personally, I can't be bothered with a game that has no storyline or characters whatsoever - i just don't like the idea of running around some random arena map with a gun just for the sake of it (not counting racing games, but you can hardly compare those mentioned there to anything even REMOTELY decent in the commercial world).

John Carmack once said: "Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important."
And I agree completely with him.
Also chess has no storyline, its not high-tech and its really simple to play but does that mean its dull?

I don't. Well, it depends on what games we're talking about.

On Carmack's games story might not be that important because he focuses on fast paced FPS, but there's a reason why I found silent hill 2 to be an art piece and silent hill 3 to be dull, even when gameplay was pretty much the same on both.

I'd say story on a game is like story on a movie, and then you have genres where it matters and others where it does not.

Maybe it's because id Software is the only one to release their engines under the GPL. And that Top 10 is crap, as many commenters already said, there's a bunch of other interesting games which have nothing to do with FPS.

Not everyone likes deathmatch. ... But where are the games with an interesting plot, well-designed levels and an interesting single player mode?...

Maybe it's because id Software is the only one to release their engines under the GPL.

Uh, Id Software does a great job of making games with intense and addictive single-player action, unlike the games on this list.

Games with clever storylines and elaborate single player modes rarely come for free. The problem is that those kind of games require a lot of effort to complete (there is not much point in releasing a half-finished story-driven game) and they are not much fun to play for the developers themselves.

It is far easier to create free games based on a timeless concept, either something simple (but often fun and challenging) like deathmatch shooters or something more inspired. You can release early and often and you can have fun playing your own game with a lively community.

Note that this is a list of free games, not merely Linux games. The situation with free games isn't any different on Windows and there are obviously far more interesting commercial games on Linux, too.

If you don't like Frets on Fire even a little bit, you are very hard to please though!

If you don't like Frets on Fire even a little bit, you are very hard to please though!

I don't like it. I rather play real guitar:) ...and have PS2/PS3 for gaming. So this thread is useless for me, but I can understand why the addiction to Frets of Fire, Rock Band, Guitar hero...

But on the other hand, Frets of Fire might be even more interesting if Rock Band controller would work with it. As I gather Rock Band controller is just a small deviation of PS3 Sixaxis controller, which already works in linux.

Edited 2007-12-11 11:53

Rune was bloody briliant in this respect. A FPS based on melee-weapons, with a great storyline and plot, rich levels, coop mode, deathmatch, excellent weapons and clever enemies. Unfortunately the Linux port went down with Loki Games and nowadays it's difficult to buy a copy. Blessed are those that got one. It's been years and I still get the urge to play through every once in a while. There are a select small number of other FPS's I ever enjoyed this much: Oni, Half Life and Descent.

Wesnoth, Widelands, Bygfoot, bzflag (not a clone of anything), freeciv, Risk.

POSIX is the better game platform.

Yeah, the half-finished graphics, the half-finished gameplay. Problems getting the games installed in the first place. Yeah, the average Joe would probably have a great time playing games with Linux.

Are you talking about Windows games or Linux games?

I'd say he's talking about non-console games in general.

The first half sounds like it is about games in general, but the part about installing gives the necessary hint about non-console.

//Are you talking about Windows games or Linux games?

I'd say he's talking about non-console games in general.//


Funny, I've installed about 100 Windows games in the past five years ... and none of them were hard to get working.

Which Windows games don't work for you? I've had very few problems...

None the linux games gives any trouble for me. Just install them and off we go.

Making Diablo 2 run on Windows using an Intel chip-graphic fake-thing does however require fiddling the a text configuration file. Found out about that when a friend had that problem (a good reason to buy a PC with a real graphics card).

Or the endless problems with Steam not connecting to servers, requiring you to delete the client-blob thing in order to play - or with Win2K trying to play Worms 2. Forget about the animations. They won't play.

Lots of endless issues with games on Windows.

"Anyone who says Linux is not a gaming OS need to rethink their ways".

Gaming is not just about having good graphics drivers. You also need good sound drivers, good drivers for game controllers (supporting force feedback). Only if you have all of those AND support from the big guns in the market ("big" meaning the caliber of Ubisoft, EA, you get the idea) you can say that linux is a gaming OS. I just don't see that happening in a year or two

Of course, Joe Average is perfectly happy playing Solitare at work on his WinXP workstation but you can hardly call that gaming...

Actually that is gamings biggest market, the casual gamer. Even though most of us hard-core gamers would to think otherwise when it comes to market size we are in the minority.

Linux has Force Feedback support, by the way. I don't think most distributions enable it in the kernel, but the support is there. And I haven't really seen a gamepad lately that isn't supported. Even the Playstation 3 controller works. Someone is even hacking away at getting the motion sensors working in it. I know the Wii controller works as well.

As far as support from the big names.... It's been my personal experience that most of the games by EA suck, and Ubisoft unfortunately is going down hill. It's usually the indie developers that actually crank out the better games (though some of them need better voice actors).

Exactly. The average joe doesn't really play games beyond solitaire, and the average gamer plays games like CS:S, WoW, and Bioshock, and aren't really interested in stepping back in time ten years.

As someone said earlier today, it is so great that there never are any Windows advocates who hijacks Linux threads and attempt to create flamewars...

I am a linux, mac, and windows users. I also used to be a gamer and still know alot of people who are. I am not trying to start a flame war, I was being completely serious. I thought the end of the parent comment was quite insightful. Linux games have moved incredably far in the last few years, and alot of people would be happy with it. But I know gamers, and they would not.

My roomate is hardcore, he barely works, barely has a social life, doesn't have a girlfriend, and basically spends his life in front of the computer and game console. WoW is his drug of choice, and he would never even CONSIDER a platform it doesnt support. After that, he is a HUGE cs source guy, and I doubt he would find a q3 variant to be good enough. I brought up Bioshock, cause imo that was the best game of the last few years. I actually played through it, and I barely even game anymore. The story was beyond fantastic, the graphics were great, and the gameplay was innovative (if not that challenging).

All that being said, frozen-bubble, solitaire, and et are pretty much the extent of my gaming nowadays, but I am not a gamer. For people like me, linux is more then good enough. For someone like my roomate, it is not even close.

EDIT: and my DS. I love my DS. My roomate has a PSP and thinks I am a retard for buying a DS even though the PSP is dirt cheap. It is another great example of the difference, I bought it because every game is designed to be picked up, and played for 15-45 minutes, then put down. The PSP is more geared towards long gaming sessions, which I really don't have the time or inclination for.

Edited 2007-12-10 17:01 UTC

"The story was beyond fantastic, the graphics were great, and the gameplay was innovative (if not that challenging)."

I'd say the gameplay is another iteration of the SS series, which certainly makes it great but not really innovative.

Your friend is then obviously not an average gamer, nor sane in any way.

###begin lol_area_###

Fact is that no games released the last 10 years are worth playing. Therefore a real gaming OS needs C64-emulators and DOSBox of course.

###end lol_area###

Your behaviour in this thread is getting rather close to that of moulinneuf. There are games on Windows not available on Linux (or *BSD) but the games available are equivalent to those on Windows.

Who gives a shit about WoW apart from your nowhereman-friend, living in nowhereland? There are several good 3D-games for POSIX-systems.

My friend is what the term "gamer" applies to, a person who defines themselves by the fact that they play games.



Over 6 million, five hundred thousand people so far. It is one of the most successful games in history.
http://www.mmogchart.com/



And you compare ME to moulineuf??



When did I ever say that? What I implied was that if you are a serious gamer, the choice between windows and linux is self-evident. If you think that is irrational trolling, either you are a religious fanatic and need some help, or woefully ignorant about what you are talking about and shouldnt be throwing stones.

I wanted to play Alpha Centauri in Linux the other day and it turns out that the games Loki Games released for Linux a few years ago don't work anymore (something with glibc).

Linux's incompatibility with its own software rears its ugly head again...

"Linux's incompatibility with its own software rears its ugly head again..."

A couple of weeks ago we tried to play system shock 2 coop on some laptops. There are some manuals online to get it to work on winxp, but we tried everything and still the game refused to run.

Then we decided to give diablo2 a try... and for some reason it didn't run either, giving no explanation other than asking if we wanted to send a report to MS.

You mean like the games you can't play in Vista. If a games company doing games for Windows fell through then would you still get a patch?

Hey, Tux Racer isn't that bad. The only problem is that the tracks are,well, not that great.
When I first played Mean 18 on the Amiga way back I too thought it would be cool to have holes that was 99% water, spelled my name or looked like a penis. It was cool...for about 5 minutes then it became tedious and frustrating. The Tux Racer tracks are pretty much like that.

Ah yes, we must not forget the great and original games of Kenta Cho:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/index_e.html

And the Linux ports:
http://www.emhsoft.com/

Edited 2007-12-10 16:35

Linux is about sharing. The "free" in free games stands for freedom.

You probably meant that there aren't many commercial games exclusive to Linux. Which is perfectly normal and not disheartening in the least. Game companies work for money first and they'll go for the largest userbase. Second, to develop for Linux means using OpenGL and that automatically means portability.

Linux is about sharing. The "free" in free games stands for freedom.

You probably meant that there aren't many commercial games exclusive to Linux. Which is perfectly normal and not disheartening in the least....

I understand and appreciate your reply post.

But no, I'm not distinguishing between free and commercial products, but refering to the overall state of Linux gaming.

My thoughts are in regards to who uses games on Linux, and how and why. If the idea is to provide entertainment for existing Linux users, then ports/mods/clones of Windows games could be enough.

But if "Linux Gaming" wants to be taken seriously, what's needed is software titles that are original, exclusive, and memorable. Part of that is having stimulating 3D graphics and sound, but it also requires developers to offer an engaging story, create an overall atmosphere, develop reasonable AI of computer characters, and expand into new game styles and genres. I'd say that ~none~ of the games on this Top Ten list make the grade with regards to any of those criteria.

-----------------

OT, but related:
It's too bad that Morphix Gamer faded away. It was 'only' a LiveCD, but at that time it was also the only distro that properly recognized and initialized my system's 3D graphics card...

Edited 2007-12-10 18:58

But that's just it, you can't possibly bundle them together. FOSS and closed software have completely different dynamics.

Closed software makers will produce their stuff in-house, behind closed doors, with a well-organized team. Their goal is to make money. To achieve that goal they will identify the largest userbases, the profile of the typical gamer and the stuff he likes best. When selling they will use copy protection and try to control distribution as much as possible. They will actively promote their products using marketing, advertising, deals with stores (brick or online) etc.

So yes, in that respect your next statement is correct:



Indeed, ports, mods and clones are quite widespread and I'd dare say that they're the most succesful form of gaming on Linux.

But let's think about how FOSS works. The developers are basically people who start by scratching a personal itch. They're also very likely to be at least a bit of a geek, engineering types, programmers and the such. They're going to aim for efficiency and stuff like that, not entertainment. They'll get an engine going, throw in the minimum in terms of artwork and be done with it. They're getting their fix. Their idea of entertainment is getting collision physics just right or a new FPS engine. Not the actual gaming.

But how many of these types are going to also be enclined to produce artwork? How many are graphical artists or musicians? How many have the literary skills to write an attractive script? There are all kinds of skills that the original developers may lack and short of asking for help there's not much they can do.

Take Foobillard for instance (pool game). Good physics, gorgeous graphics, good controls, sounds, 4 gametypes. But only the simplest dumbest AI. The author doesn't know how to go about implementing better AI and so far I haven't seen anybody stepping in to help.

Sure, these are all problems that can be overcome. But it's up to the whim of strangers. Someone may come in from the street one day and help. Usually they don't.

Bottom line is, these are games created by geeks for themselves, without a lot of research or goals of achieving marketshare or making money. So there's always going to be a limit to how, well, sexy will such a game be. I presume that what we have today is as good as it gets as far as FOSS games are concerned. Sure, a concentrated effort may spark an exception here and there, but still it's an exception.

Whether commercial producers start making games for Linux remains to be seen. I wouldn't hold my breath. Windows on the PC is a small market, Linux is even smaller. So I seriously doubt it. The best chance for a breakthrough will most likely come from an emulator.

Edited 2007-12-10 23:02

For the flightsim junkie there is also X-Plane (works on Mac and Windows too). I bought a copy along with scenery for the whole world.

http://www.x-plane.com/

The version 9 beta looks ok too (not yet prepared for Linux though)
http://www.x-plane.com/beta.html

The fact that X-Plane exists dispels two common falacies about games (on Linux):

1) Linux has no commercial games and if it did they wouldn't be supported, and

2) It isn't commericaly possible to write cross-platform games (which is horsesh!t, the big companies are just too damn lazy, since little companies can do it all the time).

If games were written *only* for Linux it wouldn't make sense (since Windows has a far larger market share) but if they're written cross-platform from the start then there is no reason why Linux version can't also be written (as a few companies already do, like ID).

Remember a blockbuster game sells a few million copies (across all of PC, Xbox, and Playstation). There are 20 million (or so) Linux desktops out there, and the people who run Linux are probably more likely to pay for games than the average user. Hopefully companies will one day cotton-on that the Linux market isn't too small anymore for ports of commercial games.

Second Life doesn't have game mechanics and thus is not a game, but a 3D chat.

Um, half-right

SecondLife does have game mechanics (Havok physics, actually), but it's not a game as much as a network that you can build and play games in (as well as shop, chat, buy/sell land, usw.)

Havok 4 based viewer is in beta, I think: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/12/07/second-life-havok4-beta-previ...

Now that gambling has been banned, most of the people are interested in getting virtually laid. This does involve some mechanics ;-)

Oh, yes!

I am so hoping that there will be a remake of Privateer 2 "The Darkening" as well.

I love this game, abusing a heavy freighter as a tree turret wing-man

Because WC Universe. there is also the game that goes with the original engine: Vegastrike.

I think that's one of the better non-FPS Linux games