From the mouth of Patrick:
Last week, I once again installed Linux on my computer. (For those of you who've been around for a while, I think this is the third or fourth time for me.) It's been over two years since I've last had Linux up and running, and over four years since I've had the pleasure of delving into Gentoo's dark code. Yes, Linux and I have certainly had an strong on-again, off-again relationship.
For all of the things that I've loved about Linux, the main thing that's always turned me back into Windows has been a lack of proper game support. Sure, you can find an almost infinite number of decent freeware games and a handful of good commercial games that run on Linux, the majority of the games I play run solely on Windows. And that main fact is what's kept bringing me back to Windows time and time again.
This time, however, I was intrigued to go back after reading a new article on two new programs that claim to make playing Windows games on Linux easier than ever. Both programs take the basic Windows emulator (WINE) and create an easy installation interface. While it's not entirely perfect, it certainly looks promising.
In my case, I chose to give my favourite online game,
Team Fortress 2, a try and install it on my fresh 8.10 Ubuntu installation. Steam loaded up perfectly on install, and while there were a few font issues, they were easily corrected through a bit of research and a bit of copying from my hard drive. While I did manage to get the game loading perfectly, there are still some settings I need to tweak, mainly because I was getting horrible FPS rates.
Afterwards, I installed and loaded up
Audiosurf (and if you've read my articles before, you know my stance on the game). While it did have some issues with Linux's filesystem, I was able to play songs perfectly. Graphics were a little choppy at certain points, but never enough to make the game either unplayable or ugly.
My goodness! Does this mean that there's no need for Windows anymore for gamers? Sadly, no. Frame rates, font issues, and various other problems still plague most Windows games, meaning that a dual-boot system is still going to be in the forseeable future.
Still, as impressive as this is, I find myself wondering if this could potentially hurt the Linux gaming industry. If some other developers are going to spend the time to get Windows programs running on Linux, what's the point for a game developer to spend the extra time and resources to make a Linux native port of a popular game?
Linux isn't going to take off until developers start to support their applications on it, and that's what's holding Linux back. For the most part, computer gamers are an elite group filled with people who are willing to take their computer apart simply to learn everything about it, so if we could get some commercial game developers to follow the lead of independent game developers and start making proper ports of their games, Linux might turn into a viable option for all computer users.
But until the day I see
Grand Theft Auto 4: Linux Version, Vista's still gonna have a spot on my hard drive.
DROD RPG gets a Band-Aid.
DROD RPG wasn't perfect upon its release. Yes, yes, I know it's hard to believe, but upgrading to 1.1 can make it that much closer to the perfect game. There are two ways to upgrade your game. Either you can just get the bugs fixed by installing the small 1.1.0.54 patch file, or you can download the full DROD RPG installer again. While larger, there is good reason to get the full 1.1 installer: There are some beautiful, upgraded sprite graphics in 1.1 and also some fixes to the "
Tendry's Tale"
hold. The bug patcher doesn't contain these changes, but you don't need to uninstall any existing version and can install 1.1 on top of it.
If you have registered your order of DROD RPG to your Caravel user account, then simply visit the download links below to get the version you need, and then you can get back to squashing more bugs! Or, um, maybe it's less bugs now.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/downloads.php (Downloads Page)
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=27129 (List of Changes)
If the above explanation doesn't make sense or you can't find where to download version 1.1, just write us and we'll help you out or answer any questions you have.
The Fifth Annual People's Choice Awards
Ahhh, it seems like only yesterday I decided to try an award show for holds out. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that it would take off the way it has! Well, the awards are back upon us now, and last I checked, it was still possible to get your nominations in before the deadline. As well, there are a couple of interesting new categories, so be sure to contact CuriousShyRabbit! Go ahead and vote for your favorite hold!
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=27430 (Official Announcement/Categories)
And I fully intend on updating the website's page on the Deadlies at one point in time. Don't be afraid to remind me though.....you've seen how badly I procrastinate!
Topic Picks for November
The Popularity Poll
Well, not really, but Vike wants to know how many friends you have online and in real life.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=27460
World of WarDROD?
As scary as a thought of a DROD MMORPG is, I'm fairly confident that there is a way to make it work. I can only imagine how much
more of people's time it would eat up though.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=27540
Thoughts of the Future
What would you like to see in the next version of DROD? This curious, non-official poll would like to find out.
http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewtopic.php?TopicID=27445
Have a great month everyone!
-Patrick
____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.
[Last edited by mrimer at 11-17-2008 12:42 AM]
