OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/19026/Top_10_Free_Linux_3D_Games Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:21:17 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289784 http://osnews.com/thread?289784 If mention Linux and games and Tux Racer pops up, you've instantly derailed any favourable point you were trying to make.

This is coming from someone who has used Linux almost exclusively for years. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (JMcCarthy) Comments RE: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289785 http://osnews.com/thread?289785 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (evangs) Comments RE: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289786 http://osnews.com/thread?289786 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? Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Square) Comments RE: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289789 http://osnews.com/thread?289789 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (agrouf) Comments Some more http://osnews.com/thread?289791 http://osnews.com/thread?289791 Some more of my favorite linux 3d games not mentioned are:
FPS:
Cube and Cube 2 "Sauerbraten" - http://cubeengine.com/ and http://sauerbraten.org/ - Very cool 3d fps for online deathmatch
Urban Terror - http://www.urbanterror.net/news.php - Former q3 mode, now has a standalone version too

RTS:
Glest - http://www.glest.org/en/index.html - Very cool and complete warcraft-like strategy game, pity there's no multiplayer yet.

RPG:
PlaneShift - http://www.planeshift.it/ - Free MMORPG (haven't played it in ages).

Cars:
Racer - http://www.racer.nl/ - Car simulation
VDrift - http://vdrift.net/ - Drift simulation
Trigger - http://www.positro.net/trigger/ - Simple rally game

Small:
Neverball - http://icculus.org/neverball/ - Try to balance a ball thru levels
Armagetron Advanced - http://www.armagetronad.net/ - Race light bikes against other players and the cpu

And finally, not really 3d, but I would like to mention:
Wormux - http://www.wormux.org/wiki/en/index.php - Worms clone, very cool
Liquid War - http://www.ufoot.org/liquidwar/v5 - Unique multiplayer puzzle game
Endgame: Singularity - http://pcburn.com/game_review-Endgame_Singularity.php - You are a computer that has gained self-awareness, and are trying to expand your capacities and evolve

I've tried almost all of these games, and love some of them. I know there's not that many games for linux, but there are some very nice games that aren't well known, that should be. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Knuckles) Comments The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289793 http://osnews.com/thread?289793 ... game in that list is Frets On Fire! Seriously worth installing on any linux or windows machine - everyone whoe sees it wants it, and when you tell them its free, they are amazed! Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (JCooper) Comments RE[2]: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289794 http://osnews.com/thread?289794 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 ;-) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (roger64) Comments how lame... http://osnews.com/thread?289797 http://osnews.com/thread?289797 RTCW not included ! That is not to say they forgot - it is simply not top 10 ;) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Googol) Comments FrozenBubble http://osnews.com/thread?289798 http://osnews.com/thread?289798 It's not an actiongame or something like that, but is it 3d and addictive.... and cute:)

check it out: http://www.frozen-bubble.org/Edited 2007-12-10 09:53 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (parentaladvisory) Comments RE: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289800 http://osnews.com/thread?289800 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (PJBonoVox) Comments RE: how lame... http://osnews.com/thread?289803 http://osnews.com/thread?289803 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 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (raver31) Comments RE[2]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289804 http://osnews.com/thread?289804 That is the most stupid argument I have heard on this site in ages. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (raver31) Comments RE[2]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289805 http://osnews.com/thread?289805 Ah, you mean like how the Diablo series is just a copy of Nethack? Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments torcs http://osnews.com/thread?289806 http://osnews.com/thread?289806 TORCS only looks just-about-decent but playing it sucks big time. The level of realism is comparable to that of an excel macro which moves a box on the worksheet. Actually, forget I said "realism". Replace it with "the feeling that the bunch-of-pixels on the screen is an actual car". I myself recall it being achieved already in "Lotus challenge" on DOS 20 years ago. A slideshow of pretty pictures that evolves somewhat depending on the keys you press != a good driving game Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (manjabes) Comments RE: torcs http://osnews.com/thread?289807 http://osnews.com/thread?289807 uhm yaeh, but the lotus trilogy are among my favourite games of all times ;)
because fun != realism Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mart) Comments RE: torcs http://osnews.com/thread?289808 http://osnews.com/thread?289808
I myself recall it being achieved already in "Lotus challenge" on DOS 20 years ago


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments X-moto http://osnews.com/thread?289809 http://osnews.com/thread?289809 http://xmoto.tuxfamily.org/ is not 3d but it's pure drug, with its bunch of user-generated downloadable maps i've trown away way too much hours ;) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mart) Comments RE: FrozenBubble http://osnews.com/thread?289810 http://osnews.com/thread?289810 Frozen Bubble is one of the very first things I install on a new Linux setup. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bsharitt) Comments Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289814 http://osnews.com/thread?289814 Either some stupid arcades or plain deathmatch games.. >_> Not everyone likes deathmatch. Besides, there's like twenty gazillion deathmatch/CTF/etc type games out there! But where are the games with an interesting plot, well-designed levels and an interesting single player mode? Or even more preferably, coop play? Haven't seen coop in any proprietary game in ages but atleast most of them have single player mode available.

5 of the ten games are deathmatch type games..It's like those are considered the most important types of games.. And out of those 10 I couldn't find any single one I personally would like. I'd add Frozen Bubble there but it ain't 3D and it too can only keep you entertained for so long.

Oh well...Linux definitely is NOT for gamers. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WereCatf) Comments RE: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289816 http://osnews.com/thread?289816 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). Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ultimatebadass) Comments RE: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289822 http://osnews.com/thread?289822
Either some stupid arcades or plain deathmatch games.. >_> Not everyone likes deathmatch. Besides, there's like twenty gazillion deathmatch/CTF/etc type games out there! But where are the games with an interesting plot, well-designed levels and an interesting single player mode? Or even more preferably, coop play? Haven't seen coop in any proprietary game in ages but atleast most of them have single player mode available.

5 of the ten games are deathmatch type games..It's like those are considered the most important types of games.. And out of those 10 I couldn't find any single one I personally would like. I'd add Frozen Bubble there but it ain't 3D and it too can only keep you entertained for so long.

Oh well...Linux definitely is NOT for gamers.


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:54:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (merkoth) Comments RE: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289825 http://osnews.com/thread?289825 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! Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Daniel Borgmann) Comments RE[2]: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289827 http://osnews.com/thread?289827 I've never heard of that game. So, you play it often, but you play your girlfriend even more?! ;) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mlauzon) Comments RE[2]: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289828 http://osnews.com/thread?289828 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! Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (whittmadden) Comments RE: X-moto http://osnews.com/thread?289829 http://osnews.com/thread?289829 Seconded. I have wasted many hours on xmoto. Great game for when you just want to kill some time. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MiliTux) Comments Battle For Wesnoth http://osnews.com/thread?289830 http://osnews.com/thread?289830 Battle for Wesnoth is an extremely addicting game without the 3D graphics. I'd say in Linux, I spend more time playing this game, than any other one. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (whittmadden) Comments Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289832 http://osnews.com/thread?289832 Comes on people, these sorts of games were golden and still are despite not looking as good as their propitiatory counter parts. Anyone who says Linux is not a gaming OS need to rethink their ways(Nvidia drivers are of a high standard to boot), Linux has the potential to be just as good gaming OS as Windows bar nothing.

The average Joe would be more than happy with these games on Linux but lets face it, most people dont play games anyway.Edited 2007-12-10 14:19 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:18:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (SlackerJack) Comments RE: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289834 http://osnews.com/thread?289834 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Coxy) Comments RE[3]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289835 http://osnews.com/thread?289835 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? Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (PJBonoVox) Comments RE: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289836 http://osnews.com/thread?289836 "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... Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Ultimatebadass) Comments RE[3]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289842 http://osnews.com/thread?289842 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 ;) Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tsuraan) Comments tuxracer http://osnews.com/thread?289843 http://osnews.com/thread?289843 Do these always have to mention tuxracer... Mon, 10 Dec 2007 14:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (eggs) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289849 http://osnews.com/thread?289849
Yeah, the half-finished graphics, the half-finished gameplay. Problems getting the games installed in the first place


Are you talking about Windows games or Linux games? Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:19:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments RE[3]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289852 http://osnews.com/thread?289852
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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:34:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (anda_skoa) Comments RE: tuxracer http://osnews.com/thread?289853 http://osnews.com/thread?289853 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments Also http://osnews.com/thread?289864 http://osnews.com/thread?289864 BlackShades. Single player with no actual story, but kinda addictive.

MetalBlobSolid, Abuse, noiz2sa and rRootage are fun as well (although no 3d). Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments RE: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289865 http://osnews.com/thread?289865 I think its more there to break up the endless stream of quake 2 variations then anything else Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:29:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments RE[2]: how lame... http://osnews.com/thread?289866 http://osnews.com/thread?289866 panzers and airstrikes are for noobs. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:32:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments RE: Also http://osnews.com/thread?289867 http://osnews.com/thread?289867
noiz2sa and rRootage


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 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments Underwhelming http://osnews.com/thread?289868 http://osnews.com/thread?289868 That's an underwhelming list for sure. Five team-based shooters, three race games, and two others...

It's also disheartening that not a single game on that list is exclusive to Linux. Now ~that~ would be an interesting list, "Top Ten Free Linux-Only Games," and would show the true status of Linux gaming. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bobthearch) Comments RE: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289869 http://osnews.com/thread?289869
The average Joe would be more than happy with these games on Linux but lets face it, most people dont play games anyway.


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments RE[2]: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289870 http://osnews.com/thread?289870 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bobthearch) Comments RE[2]: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289872 http://osnews.com/thread?289872
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?


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289873 http://osnews.com/thread?289873 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... Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Soulbender) Comments RE[4]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289874 http://osnews.com/thread?289874 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? Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments RE[3]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289875 http://osnews.com/thread?289875 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 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:57:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments RE[4]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289877 http://osnews.com/thread?289877 "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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:05:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments RE: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289878 http://osnews.com/thread?289878
But where are the games with an interesting plot, well-designed levels and an interesting single player mode? Or even more preferably, coop play?


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments Mods http://osnews.com/thread?289879 http://osnews.com/thread?289879 There are many people out there making story driven mods that don't make money. Similar to OSS community. The momentum is building for linux gamming, but we just haven't reached the flashpoint. If we took a great opensource engine and made good enough modding tools, I think we'd have plenty of good single player and multiplayer linux goodness. Think of all the half life, neverwinter nights, battlefield '42 mods... If you search for open source game engines, you get some interesting results. I think in a few (2?) years things will firm up in this area, and I could be happy with a Linux/GPL Lan party. Right now, it would be kinda lame. I need something better than Q3 graphics. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:21:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bounty) Comments RE: Underwhelming http://osnews.com/thread?289882 http://osnews.com/thread?289882
It's also disheartening that not a single game on that list is exclusive to Linux.


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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments Don't forget http://osnews.com/thread?289883 http://osnews.com/thread?289883 Warzone 2100 - 3d RTS http://wz2100.net/home Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (shapeshifter) Comments Warsow!!! http://osnews.com/thread?289884 http://osnews.com/thread?289884 Warsow should have been there! IMO the best free PvP FPS currently. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:47:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (werfu) Comments RE: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289888 http://osnews.com/thread?289888
Linux has the potential to be just as good gaming OS as Windows bar nothing.


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... Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:01:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bending Unit) Comments freespace http://osnews.com/thread?289890 http://osnews.com/thread?289890 Descent freespace 2 is now a free game. They must have known they were going out of business when it shipped because the EULA actually says you can give away copies for free to your friends. As such, it is easily found online. They have even redone the engine to run natively on Linux. Plus there are some really good mods for it, like the babylon 5 mods. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TechGeek) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289898 http://osnews.com/thread?289898 "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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:52:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments RE[2]: Underwhelming http://osnews.com/thread?289899 http://osnews.com/thread?289899 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 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bobthearch) Comments RE[4]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289900 http://osnews.com/thread?289900 "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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vimh) Comments Well http://osnews.com/thread?289903 http://osnews.com/thread?289903 Linux/Unix will theoretically have similar capability to Windows gaming once the OpenGL 3.x specs and APIs are released and supported by future graphics cards and drivers.

As of now, however, DirectX 10 arguably surpasses any API for game development on any other platform.Edited 2007-12-10 19:45 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Xaero_Vincent) Comments Two of my fav 3d games http://osnews.com/thread?289910 http://osnews.com/thread?289910 glTron - great time waster, you win some you lose some
http://www.gltron.org

FlightGear - Not really a game but a simulation, but they had simulations on the list
http://www.flightgear.org Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (TaterSalad) Comments RE: torcs http://osnews.com/thread?289912 http://osnews.com/thread?289912 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). Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (fignew) Comments RE[2]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289917 http://osnews.com/thread?289917 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (AdamW) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289920 http://osnews.com/thread?289920
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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:12:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (RIchard James13) Comments RE[4]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289921 http://osnews.com/thread?289921 //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... Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rockwell) Comments How about Second Life http://osnews.com/thread?289922 http://osnews.com/thread?289922 This works pretty well
http://secondlife.com/community/linux-alpha.php
just the phone among players does not work.
Otherwise it is on pair with Windows version, probably crashes less.
The viewer is open source (no license wars, please), and you can play for free if you do not need own land.
The new Windlight version looks spectacular (still beta, but usable)
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/29/new-windlight-first-look-view...
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/14/windlight-first-look-is-back/ Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dpeterc) Comments Why 3D http://osnews.com/thread?289923 http://osnews.com/thread?289923 And what a pathetic list. Personally I would have put a few other 3D games on it like oolite, neverball, Auteria, lincity ng, planeshift etc.

Why 3D, so many people think Graphics is the game but it is not. Graphics is just something that goes on the top. There are many more excellent Linux games that are 2D than there are 3D games. Actually that comment goes for Windows/DOS too. Just because a game is 3D does not make it good. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:25:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (RIchard James13) Comments RE[3]: Underwhelming http://osnews.com/thread?289927 http://osnews.com/thread?289927
But no, I'm not distinguishing between free and commercial products, but refering to the overall state of Linux gaming.


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:

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.


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 Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments RE[4]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289930 http://osnews.com/thread?289930 Nethack = Rogue, I believe. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (archiesteel) Comments Privateer http://osnews.com/thread?289931 http://osnews.com/thread?289931 The Linux game I've spent the most time with is the Privateer Remake. Of course only a fraction of that time has been spent playing it. For me it's often the case that working on something (a map, a skin, a mod) can be far more fun than playing something, and PR took that to an extreme ;)

http://wcuniverse.sf.net Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MamiyaOtaru) Comments RE[2]: Railgun to the foot. http://osnews.com/thread?289933 http://osnews.com/thread?289933 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. Mon, 10 Dec 2007 23:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (archiesteel) Comments RE: FrozenBubble http://osnews.com/thread?289945 http://osnews.com/thread?289945 Actually... it isn't 3d. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Alleister) Comments RE: How about Second Life http://osnews.com/thread?289946 http://osnews.com/thread?289946 Second Life doesn't have game mechanics and thus is not a game, but a 3D chat. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:23:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Alleister) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289954 http://osnews.com/thread?289954 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? Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:03:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (SlackerJack) Comments RE: Privateer http://osnews.com/thread?289958 http://osnews.com/thread?289958
The Linux game I've spent the most time with is the Privateer Remake.


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 ;) Tue, 11 Dec 2007 01:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (anda_skoa) Comments RE: Two of my fav 3d games http://osnews.com/thread?289960 http://osnews.com/thread?289960 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. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 02:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (StaubSaugerNZ) Comments RE: Privateer http://osnews.com/thread?289977 http://osnews.com/thread?289977 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 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:50:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (flav2000) Comments Flightgear http://osnews.com/thread?289978 http://osnews.com/thread?289978 How come no one has mentioned Flightgear yet?

I know it's more of a sim than a game.. but MS Flight Sim is always place with the games.

The realism with Flightgear is pretty amazing. I still remember how I had torque steer and ended up plowing into the ground in no time. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:53:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (flav2000) Comments RE[5]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?289984 http://osnews.com/thread?289984

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 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Rugxulo) Comments RE[2]: How about Second Life http://osnews.com/thread?289986 http://osnews.com/thread?289986 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... Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (adricnet) Comments RE[2]: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289987 http://osnews.com/thread?289987 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 Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (somebody) Comments RE[2]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?289992 http://osnews.com/thread?289992 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). Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (leech) Comments RE[2]: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?289999 http://osnews.com/thread?289999 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? Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dimitar) Comments RE[4]: The most fun... http://osnews.com/thread?290009 http://osnews.com/thread?290009 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. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rcsteiner) Comments RE: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?290018 http://osnews.com/thread?290018 Wesnoth, Widelands, Bygfoot, bzflag (not a clone of anything), freeciv, Risk.

POSIX is the better game platform. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dylansmrjones) Comments RE[5]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?290019 http://osnews.com/thread?290019 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. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:00:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dylansmrjones) Comments RE[4]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?290022 http://osnews.com/thread?290022 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. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dylansmrjones) Comments RE[2]: How about Second Life http://osnews.com/thread?290023 http://osnews.com/thread?290023
Second Life doesn't have game mechanics and thus is not a game, but a 3D chat.

Now that gambling has been banned, most of the people are interested in getting virtually laid. This does involve some mechanics ;-) Tue, 11 Dec 2007 18:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dpeterc) Comments RE[5]: Games are games http://osnews.com/thread?290055 http://osnews.com/thread?290055
Your friend is then obviously not an average gamer, nor sane in any way.


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


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


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

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.


And you compare ME to moulineuf??

###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###


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. Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (google_ninja) Comments RE[3]: Bah http://osnews.com/thread?290245 http://osnews.com/thread?290245 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. Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ichi) Comments