Slashdot Mirror

Linux is a competitive gaming platform.
You don't need more than a graphics card, a keyboard and a mouse to play a game.
And as far as I know, Linux supports Open GL just fine. E.g. Descent, one of my favourite games: https://www.dxx-rebirth.com/

The problem is that there are no mayour players targeting the market. I for my part would love to _write_ a game on/for linux, but I suck in marketing and doing it for free, I don't have the time.

The original Descent and its sequel were open-sourced, there are Direct3D versions of it now that run on modern OSes. I used to use D2X, but there's

http://www.dxx-rebirth.com/

which seems to be popular now. Configuring an old game controller should be a non-issue, the game supports full configuration of whatever inputs your controller supports, and the USB/Game port adapters will map all of the available controls to DirectInput pretty cleanly. I played Descent with D2X using an Xbox controller and it worked great. Today's modern controllers with dual analog sticks and buttons galore are great for Descent. :)

DOSbox.

The Rebirth project works fine (under Windows, I've not tried it under Linux, much to me shame) also.

I disagree.

I'm 40 this year and I played the hell out of Descent and Terminal Velocity for the sheer pleasure of using the full 3D experience.

I downloaded the Rebirth version of Descent after reading half his article, and I've played it for quite some time. My reflexes are OK, my brain isn't hurting and I'm WISHING that many of today's games could venture into the 3rd dimension.

I play Star Trek Online and I couldn't begin to tell you how much better it would be (for me, I dunno about these kids who can't fly) if I could actually have the ability to loop the loop in battles. The way they've done it sucks so hard after knowing how to barrel roll and loop.

One poster noted the existence of the D2X-XL project as a modern source port. There is also the DXX-Rebirth project, a source port that tries to keep to the spirit of the original gameplay, while adding standard modern features like OpenGL, multiplayer over IP, etc.

The source ports provide the engine, but no game data files. The offerings from GOG provide game data files and a DOSBox configured to run the original Descent game. If you have original CDs, or if you buy off GOG, you can use those data files with the modern source ports. You can probably get data files from the Steam offering, but I went with GOG for their DRM-free stance.

So this Slashdot article mentions that GameSpot ran an article saying how nice it would be if a new Descent game was released.

How about some actual news, about something that has actually happened in the last three months (from the time of this article being posted)?

Descent 2 @ Steam has been made available for $9.99 (on February 19, 2014). Related videos have also been released: Descent 2 video @ Steam: Opening
Descent 2 video @ Steam: Game Play ... or, for those who wish to get even greather value per penny spent: Descent 1 and Descent 2 @ GoG.com (one payment of $9.99 covers both games). Descent @ Steam ($6.99) is also available.

For Descent 3, once again GoG seems like it may have an edge:
Descent 3 with Expansion, @ GoG.com ($9.99)
Descent 3 @ Steam ($9.99)

So, regarding this parent post recommending:

For those of us who still have the binaries around

... for those of us who have suffered hard drive crashes, floppy disk damages, or were just too cash-strapped as youth, there are now some convenient, legal ways to get access to those binaries.

Descent 2 Source Code @ Descent Developer Network (DDN) @ Descent2.com,
Descent 1 Source Code @ Descent Developer Network (DDN) @ Descent2.com. The code for Descent 1 includes the MINER level editor. It does not include some of the code that was copyrighted by someone else, such as low-level code related to serial port (including modem) handling, and sound libraries. The license says non-commercial use only. A forum post indicates that there are some troubles with those download links, and recommends the Icculus D2X Project for source downloads. That website has Source Code for Descent 1 for PC @ Icculus.org, Source Code for Descent 1 for Mac @ Icculus.org, Source code for Descent 2 @ Icculus.org, plus the source code for the Icculus D2X project, and other downloads like shareware versions and Descent 2 game patches, and references to resources like Descent Developer Network (DDN) which might be of interest to anyone wanting to enhance the source code. Hyperlinks to download official updates/patches for the second game were found at that site, but not for the first game. However, patches for the first game are available, and may be found at TOOGAM's page of Retail Games: section related to Descent (my site which has hyperlinks to download from Interplay, and also hosts the game patches in case Interplay stops hosting those downloads), and mentions other projects like MacDescent3Dfx, and D1X Project.

The web page for the D2X-XL project, a project mentioned by this parent post, starts with a giant banner that states, “This Project Needs Funding”. (That seems very questionable, as it may be running afoul of the non-commercial clause of the source code release...) The Descent Level Editor (DLE) on the same website, does not have that same funding-se

You know, the day they went down, I had just been introduced to DXX Rebirth and was going to buy the original Descent 1 and 2 from GOG.com to get the game content. Then they pulled this stunt. I am less likely to purchase anything from them now. Because I hate stupid bullshit stunts like this. But then, they probably will make up for any lost sales by the simple fact that now a whole lot more people have heard of GOG.com than before...so I doubt they care.