Slashdot Mirror

Open source (as Torque 3D recently became) is one thing; cross-platform is another. Now, reader iamnothing writes "GarageGames is heading to IndieGoGo to port Torque 3D to Linux. The campaign is centered around hiring a dedicated developer or team to port Torque 3D to Linux. The primary target is Ubuntu 32bit with other flavors of Linux as stretch goals. All work will be done in the public eye under our Github repository under the MIT license."

New submitter DangerOnTheRanger writes "Torque3D, the game engine behind games such as Blockland and Tribes 2, has gone open-source. The engine itself — in addition to four game templates — are all included in a Git repository hosted on GitHub. Documentation is available in a separate repository. Quite the exciting time in the world of game development!"

New submitter iamnothing writes "Eric Preisz, CEO of GarageGames, announces, 'Eleven years ago, The GarageGames founders did an incredibly innovative thing when they sold a full source game engine for $100. We are excited to continue in their footsteps by announcing that we will be releasing Torque 3D as the best open source game technology in the world. Once again, GarageGames will be changing game development.'"

New submitter iamnothing writes "Eric Preisz, CEO of GarageGames, announces, 'Eleven years ago, The GarageGames founders did an incredibly innovative thing when they sold a full source game engine for $100. We are excited to continue in their footsteps by announcing that we will be releasing Torque 3D as the best open source game technology in the world. Once again, GarageGames will be changing game development.'"

TBBScorpion asks: "Lately I have been investigating 3D game engines. I was mostly paying attention to open source engines like Ogre3d, Irrlicht, Crystal Space 3D, and the like. Then I found out about cheap Indie licenses for commercial game engines like Torque Game Engine ($150), Torque Game Engine Advanced ($295) and the C4 Engine ($200 + free upgrades). I found a list of top commercial and open source game engines at devmaster.net in case anyone is interested (I didn't want to take the time to list all the engines, but there are more good ones that I did not list on this page). Now for my questions. Now, here's my dilemma. Which of the engines are worth investing in? Should I buy an indie license or hold out for open source? Or should I start with an indie engine and switch later if open source catches up?" "Torque Game Engine 1.5 works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux but lacks modern shader support (except for something about a free modernization kit). I mostly do cross-platform software development so I like this feature.

However, there is Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA) which adds shader support, the Atlas terrain paging feature, and a few other nice features, but since is DirectX9 based it is no longer cross-platform. I have also heard rumors about support for the engine to be a little on the lacking side, yet the Torque community seems to be rather large compared to other commercial engines. Are the complaints just from people who don't really know how to program expecting to be able to edit the C++ of the game engine, or are capable people really having trouble? I've heard rumors about stability of TGEA compared to TGE? For those of you who have used TGE or TGEA, would you recommend it over other engines?

The C4 Engine looks nice as well, but seems to be under active development and less mature, but might it potentially be a more modern game engine? Also, it supports Windows XP and Mac OS X, which is better then just Windows.

Here are the features I am hoping for are: a cross-platform engine, if possible; modern shader support; a built-in terrain paging system; and model, material and animation import from Blender 3d.

When it comes to the open source engines like Ogre3D, the main thing that seems to be lacking is the built-in editors, and at least Ogre3D is currently mostly a graphics engine rather then a complete game engine (i.e. physics built-in; does provide wrappers for ODE and other physics engines). My assumption is that is just a matter of time before Ogre3D and other engines catch up with the top Indie commercial engines?

Lastly, I will be using the game engine for not only making games, but for some scientific applications as well. Also, I started using C++ 10 years ago and have been using Python since January 2002, so I'm ready to dive into the engine code."

TBBScorpion asks: "Lately I have been investigating 3D game engines. I was mostly paying attention to open source engines like Ogre3d, Irrlicht, Crystal Space 3D, and the like. Then I found out about cheap Indie licenses for commercial game engines like Torque Game Engine ($150), Torque Game Engine Advanced ($295) and the C4 Engine ($200 + free upgrades). I found a list of top commercial and open source game engines at devmaster.net in case anyone is interested (I didn't want to take the time to list all the engines, but there are more good ones that I did not list on this page). Now for my questions. Now, here's my dilemma. Which of the engines are worth investing in? Should I buy an indie license or hold out for open source? Or should I start with an indie engine and switch later if open source catches up?" "Torque Game Engine 1.5 works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux but lacks modern shader support (except for something about a free modernization kit). I mostly do cross-platform software development so I like this feature.

However, there is Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA) which adds shader support, the Atlas terrain paging feature, and a few other nice features, but since is DirectX9 based it is no longer cross-platform. I have also heard rumors about support for the engine to be a little on the lacking side, yet the Torque community seems to be rather large compared to other commercial engines. Are the complaints just from people who don't really know how to program expecting to be able to edit the C++ of the game engine, or are capable people really having trouble? I've heard rumors about stability of TGEA compared to TGE? For those of you who have used TGE or TGEA, would you recommend it over other engines?

The C4 Engine looks nice as well, but seems to be under active development and less mature, but might it potentially be a more modern game engine? Also, it supports Windows XP and Mac OS X, which is better then just Windows.

Here are the features I am hoping for are: a cross-platform engine, if possible; modern shader support; a built-in terrain paging system; and model, material and animation import from Blender 3d.

When it comes to the open source engines like Ogre3D, the main thing that seems to be lacking is the built-in editors, and at least Ogre3D is currently mostly a graphics engine rather then a complete game engine (i.e. physics built-in; does provide wrappers for ODE and other physics engines). My assumption is that is just a matter of time before Ogre3D and other engines catch up with the top Indie commercial engines?

Lastly, I will be using the game engine for not only making games, but for some scientific applications as well. Also, I started using C++ 10 years ago and have been using Python since January 2002, so I'm ready to dive into the engine code."

TBBScorpion asks: "Lately I have been investigating 3D game engines. I was mostly paying attention to open source engines like Ogre3d, Irrlicht, Crystal Space 3D, and the like. Then I found out about cheap Indie licenses for commercial game engines like Torque Game Engine ($150), Torque Game Engine Advanced ($295) and the C4 Engine ($200 + free upgrades). I found a list of top commercial and open source game engines at devmaster.net in case anyone is interested (I didn't want to take the time to list all the engines, but there are more good ones that I did not list on this page). Now for my questions. Now, here's my dilemma. Which of the engines are worth investing in? Should I buy an indie license or hold out for open source? Or should I start with an indie engine and switch later if open source catches up?" "Torque Game Engine 1.5 works on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux but lacks modern shader support (except for something about a free modernization kit). I mostly do cross-platform software development so I like this feature.

However, there is Torque Game Engine Advanced (TGEA) which adds shader support, the Atlas terrain paging feature, and a few other nice features, but since is DirectX9 based it is no longer cross-platform. I have also heard rumors about support for the engine to be a little on the lacking side, yet the Torque community seems to be rather large compared to other commercial engines. Are the complaints just from people who don't really know how to program expecting to be able to edit the C++ of the game engine, or are capable people really having trouble? I've heard rumors about stability of TGEA compared to TGE? For those of you who have used TGE or TGEA, would you recommend it over other engines?

The C4 Engine looks nice as well, but seems to be under active development and less mature, but might it potentially be a more modern game engine? Also, it supports Windows XP and Mac OS X, which is better then just Windows.

Here are the features I am hoping for are: a cross-platform engine, if possible; modern shader support; a built-in terrain paging system; and model, material and animation import from Blender 3d.

When it comes to the open source engines like Ogre3D, the main thing that seems to be lacking is the built-in editors, and at least Ogre3D is currently mostly a graphics engine rather then a complete game engine (i.e. physics built-in; does provide wrappers for ODE and other physics engines). My assumption is that is just a matter of time before Ogre3D and other engines catch up with the top Indie commercial engines?

Lastly, I will be using the game engine for not only making games, but for some scientific applications as well. Also, I started using C++ 10 years ago and have been using Python since January 2002, so I'm ready to dive into the engine code."

Dubane writes "After launching just over a week ago, the IGDA's Casual Games SIG has just released both the 2005 Casual Games White Paper (2MB, 125 page pdf), as well as the inaugural issue of the Casual Games Quarterly. The White Paper is the work of over 30 volunteers in the casual games space, and the list of contributors reads almost like a who's who of the industry including; AOL, TryMedia, Skunk Studios, Large Animal, Pogo, Shockwave, Garage Games and many others. One of the most interesting sections for developers may be the Games to Market section which asks the same questions of 18 different publishers and gets answers about a variety of topics including Commission Breakdown (50-65% rev share from Garage Games) and even who/how to contact each company. The Quarterly focuses entirely on technology and consists primarily of Oberon, iWin, PlayFirst, HipSoft, Reflexive and Skunk Studios answering questions about their development platform and technology."

GarageGames writes "GarageGames, creators of the popular indie-focused Torque Game Engine, announced at MacWorld 2005 that their new Torque Game Engine will support Apple's OS X platform, Tiger. Torque 2D is all about rapid development for games. It takes care of the technology, and the developer can focus on gameplay and art. By extending the current Torque Game Engine platform, indie developers will have a powerful tool to compete in the exciting and growing arena of 2D gaming. In addition to Torque 2D's support of the upcoming Tiger OSX, other GarageGames products like the Torque Game Engine 1.4, Dark Horizons: Lore Gold, Torque ShowTool Pro, Zap! and many more will also be supporting Tiger."

GarageGames writes "GarageGames, creators of the popular indie-focused Torque Game Engine, announced at MacWorld 2005 that their new Torque Game Engine will support Apple's OS X platform, Tiger. Torque 2D is all about rapid development for games. It takes care of the technology, and the developer can focus on gameplay and art. By extending the current Torque Game Engine platform, indie developers will have a powerful tool to compete in the exciting and growing arena of 2D gaming. In addition to Torque 2D's support of the upcoming Tiger OSX, other GarageGames products like the Torque Game Engine 1.4, Dark Horizons: Lore Gold, Torque ShowTool Pro, Zap! and many more will also be supporting Tiger."

We passed on your questions to Tycho and Gabe of Penny Arcade a while back, and today we have their answers. Tycho primarily answered the questions with consultation from Gabe and discusses the PA comic creation process, their views on the industry, and the possibility of an animated Penny Arcade venture. As usual, they do so with wit and verve: "I am not an industry analyst, so I dont feel like I'm qualified to talk about ebb and flow of hojillion dollar industries. However, it is easy to imagine a universe where small developers don't huddle in blasted out wreckage, waiting to be vivisected by the the next wave of EA Scion-class sawbots." Read on to check out their responses.

1.) Tools by cbrocious

My question is very simple: What tools do you use (both physical and digital) to create your comics?

I'm a long-time reader and have always wondered :)

Tycho:
He uses a pencil and paper for starters, and once he's scanned that in he does all the finishing work with Photoshop 6.1 and a massive 12x24 Wacom Intuos.

2.) Your Job by JediLuke

How much of your personal life does Penny-Arcade consume? On that note, great job, I love your strip.

Tycho:
Thank you for saying so. It is hard to know, actually, where to draw the line between our personal lives and Penny Arcade. The scripts come from our normal conversations. You knew almost to the moment when Gabriel was born. The site is virtually our diary, so I'm hard pressed to determine what corner of my life it hasn't yet been dominated by.

3.) First gaming webcomic by genessy

Was Penny Arcade the first, regularly produced gaming webcomic? I read approximately 20 webcomics on a daily basis, and many of them are dedicated to gaming humor or frustration. Were you guys the first, and if so or if not, who or what inspired you?

Tycho:
No, I don't believe so - in terms of a gaming focus, that honor goes to Scott Kurtz of PvP, by five or so months. We didn't know about him when we started, but we did know about Iliad from User Friendly who covered games from time to time, typically Quake. As for inspiration, we've always made little comics, but never considered doing them in strip form until we entered an online contest that Next Generation Online (now defunct) was holding. I can honestly say that if we had not entered that contest, there would be no Penny Arcade. It never would have occurred to us.

4.) Question Two by dgrgich

A question for both of you: Name the console and three of its games that you would take to that mythical desert isle.

Tycho:
Gabe suggests that a Playstation2 would suffice, with Disgaea, Phantom Brave, and Rez. If he had Internet access, and I submitted that this island might have some kind of satellite uplink, he would gladly bring along an Xbox, with the local staples Halo 2, Pandora Tomorrow, and Links for good measure.

Consoles are, in general terms, not my bag. I have come to enjoy them but they are not my preference, but I will answer the spirit of your question. It is clear to me that I would bring along a custom PC, with System Shock 2, Missionforce: Cyberstorm, and (this is a recent addition) World of Warcraft. That is, of course, provided their game begins to work properly.

5.) Gabe and Tycho: by mcc

Just curious: Are there any webcomics you read?

Tycho:
Sure. Gabe reads Kazu's Copper, Machall, and PvP regularly. I cast a fairly wide net, but the strips I read whenever they are updated include Boy On A Stick And Slither (which I crave beyond reason), PvP, Shaw Island, 8-bit Theatre, Machall, Wigu, Deisel Sweeties, Creatures In My Head, Scary Go Round, Exploding Dog, Goats, Ctrl-Alt-Del, and VGCats.

6.) Domesitification ... by SuperRob

Jerry's bought a house, Mike's had a baby boy. How has becoming bona-fide adults changed your lives, and do you find your priorities changing away from drawing comics and playing games.

Bonus Question: What advice would you give to geeks looking to in some way ensare geek grrls?

Tycho:
We are lucky enough to have really unorthodox jobs. Drawing comics and playing videogames is what we do for a living. It is an odd loophole, I admit, but if I don't play Half-Life 2 or whatever I'm actually slacking off.

As regards the laydays, Gabriel suggests the most important thing is that you simply be yourself, unless you are poor. Then, try to be someone who is richer and better looking, because you are kind of ugly. I am only only speaking for myself, but I have had good success with traps.

7.) Halo and Bungie by SilentChris

You guys absolutely roasted the original Halo, then gradually grew to like it. You've said you've met with Bungie since then. Were the meetings amicable?

Tycho:
It's important to note that what we came to like was the multiplayer mode, and the console LAN party culture it fostered, but yes - we did come around. As for the guys at Bungie, they have never been anything but nice to us, which always makes me feel bad.

8.) Collaboration... by kayser_soze

How far does the collaboration between you two go?

Does Tycho usually come up with the text/idea for the comic, then Gabe does the art as a separate process or is it more of a collaborative venture?

Tycho:
It's the collaborative venture you suggested there at the end, for the comic at least. They are written first, in a tag-team manner suggestive of the WWE, and then the art is created. For longer form projects, the full page stuff we've done for PA Presents, I handle the writing itself almost completely - but that's only after we've both come up with what happens on a page, and he has given me a light sketch of the events we've agreed on for me to write to.

9.) Rise of the Megapublishers by CarrionBird

Do you think that the industry is doomed to be under the thumb of less than a handful of publishers, buying up every promising studio?(and keeping the cost of promotion so high that small guys could never keep up)

Or is there a chance for a new wave if independent developers breaking free from the EAs of the world?

Tycho:
I am not an industry analyst, so I dont feel like I'm qualified to talk about ebb and flow of hojillion dollar industries. However, it is easy to imagine a universe where small developers don't huddle in blasted out wreckage, waiting to be vivisected by the the next wave of EA Scion-class sawbots. None what I'm about to say applies to closed platforms, consoles and so forth, where the relationship between the developer, the product, and the platform locked to varying degrees.

If you are not already familiar with Garage Games, Totalgaming.net, and of course Valve's Steam, I can understand why you might feel dread. As for the costs of promotion, I'm confident that community sites like this one can recognize quality and deliver shrewd gamers unto products missed by larger sites or publications. I'm very curious to see if, for example, the Steam platform gives rise to a number of retail quality mods for cheap. We'll see how it goes.

10.) Favourite comic? by ecliptik

Out of all the comics you've done, which one is your all time top favourite, and why?

Tycho:
Gabriel has suggested to me that his current favorite is Mr. Period Returns, where Mr. Period and his Bad Boys of Punctuation resolve issues in a collected, helpful manner. It often changes for me, typically I say Red and Blue in: We Deliver to deflect the question. Honestly, I just went into the archives looking for my favorite comic and I was stuck there for like forty-five minutes. The last strip we did is usually our favorite one.

11.) Life outside of games by hng_rval

How do you spend your free time outside of gaming?

Tycho:
I guess we don't understand the question.

And on that note, what do you and your spouses do for fun (outside of the apartment)?

Tycho:
Gabe and Kara don't really leave the apartment. They do escape from time to time to see a movie, but he just suggested that a fire might also make them leave. I typically accompany Brenna to interesting cultural events, like shows and plays, that are very interesting and cultural.

12.) Do you feel the pressure to self-censor? by Drunken_Jackass

As you get older and as PA's popularity increases to more of a mainstream level (thanks to the great job you did on last year's Childplay), are you starting to feel the pressures of self-censorship? I mean, how many news anchors could reference the good work you do with Childsplay without giving a Within that site, there be fruitfuckers warning?

Are you becoming too popular to maintain your riske side?

Tycho:
Not censoring ourselves is what made us popular, so locking up our most depraved ideas hardly seems like a recipe for success. The question itself implies that we are monitoring some kind of meter that determines how mainstream we have become, and can altering the mix of ideas to match our audience. You're giving us way too much credit.

The Child's Play thing is an issue, though it's more an issue for Child's Play itself than it is for Penny Arcade. I think about this a lot. Is it proper that a site like Penny Arcade should host or operate a charitable organization? I'll tell you where the thinking usually leads me: Maybe not, but that doesn't absolve us of our social responsibility.

13.) Difficulty of making a living via online comics? by Zeddicus_Z

Guys,

At the last SAGE-AU [sage-au.org.au] conference in Brisbane we had J.D. Frazer (Illiad) as guest of honor.

At dinner J.D. spoke of the difficulties he faced in the early years attempting to make a living from comics - the insanely difficult process of being sydicated into newspapers, working out a revenue model for a web-based comic when he realised syndication was too restrictive, and generally attempting to make a living doing something he loved.

With PA and UF being roughly as popular as each other these days and thus (hopefully!) both providing decent incomes, I'd like to hear how you guys coped with the early years and how you faced some of what seem to be the common difficulties such as the syndication process, creating a viable revenue model and dealing with early set backs.

Tycho:
Well, we walked different paths somewhat, and that should be firmly delineated. One of the few things we have in common with J.D. is that we both upload images to webservers. Gabe and I have never sought syndication as an end or a means to it. Don't forget that Illiad also made Userfriendly a public company at one point - try to imagine buying stock in Penny Arcade. The mind reels.

The main thing we share, and this is something that we have in common with all cartoonists making a living on the web, is that we keep at it until we find something that works, and when that stops working - and it will - we try something else. We don't confuse that business model with our creative work, imagining that its failure has revealed some desperate flaw in ourselves.

Over the course of six years, we have cycled through nearly every sequence the tumbler can produce. The first year and a half, we worked regular jobs until it could support one, and then both of us. We've done advertising, outside projects, joined a content aggregator for a percentage of the revenue, supported the site solely on donations, eventually moved to the quid pro quo, donations-for-gifts method that is fairly commonplace now, went hybrid with donation gifts and very limited advertising (no more than two per month), and finally stabilized on advertising alone. We've gone back and forth from doing our own merchandise to having someone else do it a two or three times, trying to find the right balance.

14.) Strawberry Shortcake by Anonymous Coward

A little while back, PA had a run-in with American Greetings over the use of the copyrighted and trademarked likeness of Strawberry Shortcake in what was obviously a (protected) work of parody.

American Greetings got called Nazis, but American McGee's Strawberry Shortcake is still missing from the PA archives.

What are the reprecussions of the Strawberry Shortcake debacle? If you had it to do over again, either the strip, or your interactions with American Greetings, would you have done anything different?

Tycho:
I think we made the best decision that we could have, and in retrospect I haven't gained any wisdom on the subject that leads me to believe we erred in judgement. We got the best advice we could from places like the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and the final analysis was that we weren't absolutely, one-hundred percent in the right. We could have been a good deal more feisty legally, but we're still in court over something that happened five years ago and I think we were hesitant to open up another front when the first one was already as much as we could afford.

I think I would be much more unhappy about the situation if people didn't have access to the comic, if they wanted to find it - it's not difficult to type strawberry shortcake penny arcade and have it revealed in all its sensual splendor. In fact, and I think I've said as much, I almost prefer that there is this hole in the archive where a comic should be. If the strip was just there, I think it would have been forgotten by now - you wouldn't be asking me about it. As it stands, virtually every time I'm asked to speak to people the Strawberry Shortcake Issue comes up, which keeps the notion that corporations overreach in these matters front and center.

Update: 11/30 19:09 GMT by Z : Tycho sent this in to answer some questions brought up in comments -

The "ongoing legal battle," and it's still with us, is over the book we printed a few years ago. People often ask us why we haven't produced another book, and there's people who don't know about the first one. Our publisher never paid us for the first book, and then told us the second book had to be in black and white, and we'd better start writing it for them if we ever wanted to get paid. Obviously, we did no such thing, but since they own the print rights we can't make books for ourselves either. Hopefully it's something that can get worked out in arbitration here in a few months.

15.) Question for Tycho by Captain Splendid

Despite the fact that you've mentioned a few times that your aspirations don't go much beyond PA, is there any chance your unique writing style may be found elsewhere in the future? Is that even a remote consideration for you?

On a related note, what kind of offers have you received from mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) publications?

Tycho:
Not having aspirations to write outside my comfortable context is sort of my cover story, I'm afraid. I shudder to think how the things I write would be perceived outside of my own comfortable context. Even inside what I consider my own community, there is considerable disagreement about whether my output has merit. So there you go.

I've been offered this and that every now and again, but I'm not unsatisfied with my life or the way I spend my time, so I'd usually rather reserve my energies for Penny Arcade. Offers to write for gaming blogs, do community management, editorials in magazines that cover games, review sites and the like make up the bulk of such offers. I'm very lucky, which is another way of saying our readers are good to us, but neither of us needs to take work that we aren't genuinely interested in.

16.) An Animated Penny Arcade by Altima(BoB)

Have you ever considered trying an animated form of Penny Arcade? It seems that your brand of humor makes particular use of precise timing, and while you tend to be successful at conveying that through comic strip panels, the formula could translate to animation quite well.

Tycho:
When we're writing a comic, we will often become too elaborate than we can reasonably achieve with three panels. Sometimes, we try to make it fit - but more often than not, we say That's One For The Animated Series, which is to say that it would be well served by the properties of that medium. We have been approached on multiple occasions to do just this sort of thing. In fact, there is something percolating even as we speak.

Thanks to Garage Games for their submission of "Dark Horizons: Lore is available for all Linux distributions. Dark Horizons is a breakneck-speed first-person shooter based in a universe where the unfolding history of a war-torn Earth is revealed before the player's eyes."

Thanks to Garage Games for their submission of "Dark Horizons: Lore is available for all Linux distributions. Dark Horizons is a breakneck-speed first-person shooter based in a universe where the unfolding history of a war-torn Earth is revealed before the player's eyes."

Ophelea writes "Anyone who knows Jay Moore of Tribes fame may know about his great company Garage Games. Today it was announced that Marble Blaster Gold, one of their best games was bundled on the iMac G5. Woot! Go Go Garage Games!"

Ophelea writes "Anyone who knows Jay Moore of Tribes fame may know about his great company Garage Games. Today it was announced that Marble Blaster Gold, one of their best games was bundled on the iMac G5. Woot! Go Go Garage Games!"

zratchet writes "The IGDA Independent Game Development Special Interest Group is just getting started - this group is for game developers interested in pursuing game development and distribution outside the standard channels as presented by the mainstream industry today. For purposes of this SIG, the definition of 'indie' is: 'Not having any formal relationship with a publisher.' The purpose of this SIG is to provide information and resources to help build the community of indie developers and support their efforts, and we're currently identifying 3 types of Indie Game Developers: Commercial (small self-publishing companies and those using small publishers - for example Sunspire Studios of Tux Racer fame) and GarageGames), Open Source, Shareware, Freeware, and Public Domain (including OSI and Creative Commons licensed games) such as those listed at Sourceforge, and 'mods', such as those hosted at PlanetQuake."

Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to the official Produce Panic webpage, which now has a free PC download (23mb, 5 maps) of "the first Penny Arcade [themed] game for the PC", based on the Garage Games Torque engine, in which the player can "run (or fly) around as your favorite juicer in an all out death match, or play cooperatively with friends and compete against other teams of Fruit F@*kers to capture their receipt so they can be taken back to the store." The guys at Penny Arcade seem to approve, noting "There is even a movie theater in hell which, in addition to Tomb Raider and the Tetris Movie, also shows the latest strip up on the screen", and mentioning: "It is free, as I mentioned, but the guys at Plan B Games are accepting donations for their work - if you enjoyed it, please let them know."

Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to the official Produce Panic webpage, which now has a free PC download (23mb, 5 maps) of "the first Penny Arcade [themed] game for the PC", based on the Garage Games Torque engine, in which the player can "run (or fly) around as your favorite juicer in an all out death match, or play cooperatively with friends and compete against other teams of Fruit F@*kers to capture their receipt so they can be taken back to the store." The guys at Penny Arcade seem to approve, noting "There is even a movie theater in hell which, in addition to Tomb Raider and the Tetris Movie, also shows the latest strip up on the screen", and mentioning: "It is free, as I mentioned, but the guys at Plan B Games are accepting donations for their work - if you enjoyed it, please let them know."

Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to the official Produce Panic webpage, which now has a free PC download (23mb, 5 maps) of "the first Penny Arcade [themed] game for the PC", based on the Garage Games Torque engine, in which the player can "run (or fly) around as your favorite juicer in an all out death match, or play cooperatively with friends and compete against other teams of Fruit F@*kers to capture their receipt so they can be taken back to the store." The guys at Penny Arcade seem to approve, noting "There is even a movie theater in hell which, in addition to Tomb Raider and the Tetris Movie, also shows the latest strip up on the screen", and mentioning: "It is free, as I mentioned, but the guys at Plan B Games are accepting donations for their work - if you enjoyed it, please let them know."

Thanks to EvilAvatar for pointing to the official Produce Panic webpage, which now has a free PC download (23mb, 5 maps) of "the first Penny Arcade [themed] game for the PC", based on the Garage Games Torque engine, in which the player can "run (or fly) around as your favorite juicer in an all out death match, or play cooperatively with friends and compete against other teams of Fruit F@*kers to capture their receipt so they can be taken back to the store." The guys at Penny Arcade seem to approve, noting "There is even a movie theater in hell which, in addition to Tomb Raider and the Tetris Movie, also shows the latest strip up on the screen", and mentioning: "It is free, as I mentioned, but the guys at Plan B Games are accepting donations for their work - if you enjoyed it, please let them know."

An anonymous user writes "GarageGames launched the Torque Networking Library under the GPL today - this is the PC game networking technology behind Tribes and Tribes 2. It's also available under indie and commercial licenses for closed source projects, but OpenTNL.org is the home for the open source release, which also has an official FAQ online. Along with the library itself is a master server implementation for game tracking, a graphical test app, Zap and a retro-styled space shooter."

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the Game Beavers independent game site, which bills itself as "a non profit corporation owned and managed by its licensed members." This ambitious project explains that those who can participate must "...have contributed at least three game assets and have signed the legal agreement allowing the other members the rights to use their submitted assets", which "includes code, 3D models, maps, game levels, textures, music, sound, and everything needed to build a game except the engine." This game engine currently needs to be the $100-per-programmer Torque Engine from GarageGames, who also mention the launch on their site. The Game Beavers site include a sample Windows game built using shared assets, Beaver Patrol, and the site FAQ has more information on the overall concept.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the Game Beavers independent game site, which bills itself as "a non profit corporation owned and managed by its licensed members." This ambitious project explains that those who can participate must "...have contributed at least three game assets and have signed the legal agreement allowing the other members the rights to use their submitted assets", which "includes code, 3D models, maps, game levels, textures, music, sound, and everything needed to build a game except the engine." This game engine currently needs to be the $100-per-programmer Torque Engine from GarageGames, who also mention the launch on their site. The Game Beavers site include a sample Windows game built using shared assets, Beaver Patrol, and the site FAQ has more information on the overall concept.

Thanks to AVault for their feature discussing the best shareware PC titles for 2003, as the writer points out: "As software stores stock fewer new computer games, shareware titles and Internet releases offer an alternative for those who want to play on their PCs. Most of my favorite recreational offerings from the past year never made it into retail outlets." Picks include Chain Reaction ("Remember the old Dynamix game The Incredible Machine? Even though the company is defunct, its creators have developed a new 3D version"), Ultraball ("combines the fun of a Breakout game with all the action and excitement of a pinball game"), and Dr.Blob's Organism ("...a fast-paced shooter in which you blast gelatinous one-celled organisms as they try to escape from a Petri dish.")

Thanks to DIYGames.com for their report on the 2003 Indie Games Conference, held by Garage Games in Eugene, Oregon from the 10th-12th October. The Con aimed to "...not only celebrate independent developers and their work, but to provide a comfortable environment for developers to learn about the different elements of game creation, and to show their games to peers", and the Player's Choice awards for the Con showcase some interesting upcoming indie titles, with Fuzzee Teevee getting 'Best Graphics', and the Oids-inspired Bit Shifter winning 'Best Single-Player'.

jmahler writes "The Legends Development Team is proud to announce the availability of our Linux client and server downloads for Legends. Legends is a fast-paced, FPS-style multiplayer game. The game is designed to take advantage of the beautiful environments in the Torque Gaming Engine while still offering the breakneck pace and variety of gameplay styles available from classics such as Quake and Tribes. Our game has been made for gamers, by gamers, and will always remain free (as in beer), supported, and improved as long as there is interest in it." There's also a Windows version of this still-in-development Beta on their download page, and the Tribes-style gameplay looks intriguing ("jetpack use" through large, often open-air multiplayer maps.)

Thanks to DIYGames for their review of Bridge Construction Set, the "the second game in the hit engineering simulation series" from Chronic Logic and Garage Games. There are Windows and Linux demos available for this title, which lets you "...design and build bridges, and then stress test them [with trains and other vehicles] to see how your creations hold up under pressure", and there's even an independent fansite, BridgeBuilder-Game.com, which bills itself as "the ultimate bridge builder game website", and deals with the original Bridge Builder and Pontifex games, as well as the forthcoming Bridge It!, which sports much more impressive graphics thanks to the Auran Jet 3D engine.

Thanks to DIYGames for their review of Bridge Construction Set, the "the second game in the hit engineering simulation series" from Chronic Logic and Garage Games. There are Windows and Linux demos available for this title, which lets you "...design and build bridges, and then stress test them [with trains and other vehicles] to see how your creations hold up under pressure", and there's even an independent fansite, BridgeBuilder-Game.com, which bills itself as "the ultimate bridge builder game website", and deals with the original Bridge Builder and Pontifex games, as well as the forthcoming Bridge It!, which sports much more impressive graphics thanks to the Auran Jet 3D engine.

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an Adrenaline Vault interview with Michael Michael, one of the two developers at indie game outfit PomPom. They've just had their two good-looking PC shoot-em-up ('shmup') titles, the Robotron-inspired Mutant Storm and the Defender-inspired Space Tripper picked up by indie publisher GarageGames, and talk a little about the idea of "..more single stop online portals for quality independent developers, so that customers who buy a PomPom game and like it can return to the same site for similar titles by other developers, rather than hunting throughout the Internet" - definitely a good idea.

An anonymous reader writes "CNN has a new column up looking at the re-emerging trend of shareware as a means to distribute games. With development prices soaring and space on retail shelves getting scarce, smaller companies like PopCap Games and GarageGames are returning to gaming's roots - and making money in the process."

Bruha writes "This story from Linux Online Gaming points out that ThinkTanks, a 3D tank combat game, is now available for Linux. It can be bought here, and a demo is available. This has to be one of the most entertaining games I've played on Linux in a long time." The site also has a Mac version available, with the developers telling us the Windows version should be out before the end of the week, and this looks like a very neat use of the GarageGames Torque engine to create a good-looking, playable independent game on multiple platforms.

Bruha writes "This story from Linux Online Gaming points out that ThinkTanks, a 3D tank combat game, is now available for Linux. It can be bought here, and a demo is available. This has to be one of the most entertaining games I've played on Linux in a long time." The site also has a Mac version available, with the developers telling us the Windows version should be out before the end of the week, and this looks like a very neat use of the GarageGames Torque engine to create a good-looking, playable independent game on multiple platforms.

Bruha writes "This story from Linux Online Gaming points out that ThinkTanks, a 3D tank combat game, is now available for Linux. It can be bought here, and a demo is available. This has to be one of the most entertaining games I've played on Linux in a long time." The site also has a Mac version available, with the developers telling us the Windows version should be out before the end of the week, and this looks like a very neat use of the GarageGames Torque engine to create a good-looking, playable independent game on multiple platforms.

Naturally, when answering your questions, he boosted his company. (Wouldn't you?) But I assure you, he wrote these answers himself instead of having them laundered by a PR team. Whether or not you agree with Michael and the way he runs Lindows (and used to run MP3.com) you've got to give him credit for speaking more openly than most other modern American CEOs.

1) why oh why?
by Ender Ryan

Why was it decided that Lindows would always run as 'root' by default? That seems like a pretty bad decision to me, and many others as it's the number 1 complaint of many Linux users who would otherwise like to give Lindows a try, but perhaps we should hear why that decision was made.

Is this how Lindows is going to continue to work in the future? I think this is one "feature" of Win9x that would really be better to leave in the past.

Robertson

I think the larger issue here is how do you balance security vs. ease of use. We are committed to providing a secure desktop operating system and make policy decisions about how to achieve a secure but usable system. For example, not plugging a computer into the 'Net would make it really secure, but not very usable. We did decide to build in a pre-configured firewall because it's largely an invisible security layer that adds meaningfully security to the desktop but stays out of the users way. Most security compromises are external attacks, not root vs. non-root issues.

Historically, multi-user systems made sense when hardware was expensive because not everyone could afford a computer and you could leverage the cost of expensive machines by creating multiple users and doing time sharing. But times have changed and computers are now ultra-affordable with PCs starting at $200.

So there's less need to share computers and have multi-user accounts with all that overhead and complexity. There aren't “administrators” in many of the homes, businesses and schools we are selling to. These are personal computers where the owner needs to be able to set the clock, change the wallpaper, configure a printer, install a flash drive, or load a new piece of software without bumping into nuances of computer science.

Take a Microsoft Windows XP or Mac OS X machine out of the box and use it and it operates in a similar manner to LindowsOS – the first person to touch it can do whatever they want. If we make Linux harder to use then other operating systems, users will not embrace it. Users just want to get their work done, they don't want to be computer experts and they shouldn't have to be. Of course, if they want to add a default password or setup multiple accounts and restrict access to their own machine, they can of course do it on all of these operating systems, including LindowsOS, even though none default that way.

2) User feedback on Linux-based desktop OS
by prostoalex

Since the Lindows PCs have been selling for a while, your marketing and customer service folks must have gotten some kind of feedback from current or prospective users.

What are the things people ask for? What are some things general users would like to see in Lindows or Linux-based desktop distributions that aren't there yet?

Robertson

When we started Lindows.com we believed that software installation was extremely difficult for most users and the biggest obstacle impeding widespread desktop adoption. So we invested considerable engineering in Click-N-Run http://www.lindows.com/clicknrun, which makes software installation (including downloading, menu items, icons, MIME types, etc.) in LindowsOS a one-click experience. It's far superior to anything Microsoft Windows XP has.

Since then, we've heard from consumers about what they want or think is missing in a desktop operating system. The number one item people thought was missing was virus protection. (This surprised me and wouldn't have been my guess; more on this topic in a later question.)

There are some key areas of hardware support which no desktop has today which users consistently bring up including: USB wireless support, Plug & Play USB drives (flash, hard drive and CD/RW), firewire and ACPI (power management for laptops). We hope to address most of these in our next release of LindowsOS version 4.0 coming shortly.

On the software side, it's amazing how quickly the community is filling application holes and a real testimony to the advances is making. Six to twelve months ago the list of “missing” software applications was different then it is today. For those seeking a Visual Basic-like program, Gambas (www.lindows.com/gambas), has made great strides. GAIM www.lindows.com/gaim has emerged as a solid meta-IM client, etc. The biggest individual holes today are probably an online banking aware personal finance program (ala Quicken) and a web development tool that is tightly integrated for creation and management such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver. (We'll announce an very cool, affordable product available in Click-N-Run next week which addresses the online banking need.) Video games is an entire product category missing for Linux. There are some great new companies like GarageGames (http://www.garagegames.com), but the high profile games are absent. Finally, video streaming is weak on desktop . None of the big three codecs (QuickTime, Real, Windows Media) have shown any real commitment to offering support. I think there's a real opportunity for one company to commit to gain the upper hand on the others with a true cross platform solution.

3) Should Linux Remain a Cult Object for Geeks?
by reallocate

Do you think the hostility toward Lindows that characterizes some members of the "community" can be attributed to their desire that Linux remain a "geeks only" cult object?

Robertson

Linux can literally save consumers billions of dollars on software, so I sure hope we can bring it to the masses – that's really our business.

I attended UCSD and as part of my major I was required to take an assembly language programming class. It was one of the computer science “weeder” classes where 60% of students fail or drop out. I struggled through it with a passing grade and had a great sense of accomplishment. The next year the major requirements were changed alleviating the assembly language requirement. I have to admit I wasn't happy with this decision since it meant that those sharing my degree after me didn't have to go through the same torturous experiment.

Until recently, it was a badge of honor to get a Linux desktop running. LindowsOS makes it possible to install in 3 minutes and have it auto-recognize all your components and then install most software with a single mouse click. Those who went through the “weeder” class path naturally won't be that excited.

4) Wine?
by IamTheRealMike

When you started, you put a lot of effort into Wine, sponsoring things like WineConf. That didn't work out, but Wine improves constantly, as the latest releases of CrossOver and WineX show. Do you think you'll ever return to it someday, or are you disillusioned with the whole thing?

Robertson

We really respect Jeremy White, Codeweavers and the rest of the Wine development team, but we did move away from Wine sometime ago. It was really a financial decision. Here's the analysis we went through. Microsoft makes roughly half of their profits from selling their operating system and half selling their office suite. If LindowsOS users still have to depend on Microsoft's office suite then they will only be able to save money on half of their software purchases. Additionally, they'll still have to deal with restrictive licensing, activation codes, endless security issues and expensive upgrade options. Undoubtedly Microsoft would continue to use their might to bully computer users who use one part of Microsoft's offerings into using the others, like they do now with Microsoft Word costing $349 and Microsoft Office priced at $399. We really need to move to a Microsoft-free computing solution to realize dramatic savings.

We thought it much better to continue to focus on the ease of use, but invest our energies in promoting and polishing native programs rather than legacy Micrsoft Windows based programs. This way we can save consumers considerable money on the OS and the other largest expenditure – the office suite. Another critical development is that the StarOffice/OpenOffice products really made major advances. We can now comfortably endorse and distribute these products.

While we stopped promoting Microsoft Windows program capability, we strongly emphasize file format compatibility which we think is critical. People often have a need to open and edit a doc, xls or ppt file and that's what we give them. By focusing on affordable programs, we can give computer users these capabilities for the lowest price.

5) MP3.com in retrospect
by prostoalex

Looking back at MP3.com, what would you do differently if you were to start the music service business all over?

Do you think MP3.com was a good business idea in the first place? Do you think the sale of the site to Vivendi Universal was a good idea?

Robertson

Our goal at MP3.com was to bring digital music to the masses and I think we made a lasting impact and left the world a better place then we found it. We fought hard in congress, courts and in the business world to make MP3 a universal standard because it was the best thing for music fans who were our ultimate customers. Today MP3 is a universal standard, DRM schemes have been thwarted, portable players are legal, virtually all hardware supports MP3, so consumers are in a relatively good place because they can freely move their music around.

We didn't accomplish everything we wanted to do. We championed the concept of a “Music Service Provider” and backed the concept up with phenomenal technology which would store a user's entire music collection online and zap it to any device via an open API (PC, portable, phone, car, CDR, etc) with a single mouse click. Licensing challenges, restrictive law interpretation, and music industry reluctance to embrace new technology torpedoed our efforts on this front. It's interesting to hear the press gush over Apple's itunes “one click” purchase and load to portable player features – something we had two years ago. I think we laid important groundwork to make this happen, but missed delivering on our entire vision.

I sold MP3.com at a time and price that I thought was good for our shareholders and have no regrets and wouldn't change any decision I made.

6)Wal-Mart
by Znonymous Coward

Microtel and Lindows have put togther some great deals for Wal-mart.com; How are sales going?

Will the Microtel + Lindows PCs ever make it to Wal-Mart store shelves?

Robertson

Sales are strong - we have the best selling products at Walmart.com. I'm confident that success will lead to retail store distribution on retailers' store shelves. We're waiting until our next version (4.0) to distribute LindowsOS in major outlets. The quality needs to be there to satisfy everyday (non-technical) computer users. I can't stress how critically important this is to the success of desktop Linux.

Linux MUST be preinstalled on computers to be a sustainable business. The Microsoft stranglehold on OEMs must be cracked to change the dynamics of the PC business. Until this happens, no desktop Linux company should be considered a viable longterm company.

7) PATENTING ONE-CLICK-INSTALL
by neitzsche

Dear Mr. Robertson,

Could you please update me on your efforts to patent your one-click-software-update solution?

If you are granted such a patent, do you plan on allowing the open source community free (beer/speech/both?) licensing?

Robertson

We don't have a patent on Click-N-Run and have not filed a patent application. I'm not a big believer in method patents. Patents need to be “non-obvious”. I'm not sure “one click anything” is patentable or should be – whether an order process (think Amazon) or software installation routine.

8) Viruses
by minus_273

Not having viruses is one of the upsides of . Why do you sell a virus scanner for Linux?

Shouldn't you be presenting the lack of viruses as one of the reasons to switch?

Robertson

I shared your viewpoint initially, but then we heard from users and discovered something new. What people thought was most lacking from LindowsOS that prevented everyday use was “virus protection”. I was surprised by this result so we talked to users to understand their logic. It turns out that they have been so traumatized by the virus problem on Microsoft Windows that it has shaped their view of the world. Many told us they would NEVER use a personal computer without virus protection because either they had been infected and publicly embarrassed or they knew someone close to them who had. Others said that their corporate policy mandated virus protection or the employee could be disciplined. It's no longer a rational decision, but simply a presupposition to using a computer.

Let me use an analogy. Say someone grew up in the crime-ridden inner city project and then decides to move to the country. No matter how hard that real estate agent tries to use statistics and reasoning to convince them they don't need locks on their doors of the house they're buying, the buyer won't believe it because that's not the world they grew up in. 95% of the world has grown up in a Microsoft virus-infested project. Microsoft has cleverly positioned it as a solely external problem so they don't have to incur the cost to fix it. Bravo to Microsoft for good marketing which has saved them billions in support. Consequently, computer users don't see the root of the problem as shoddy Microsoft programs that if they were to abandon the problem subsides, but rather a fact of life of personal computing. It's a lock on the door they insist on having – regardless of the crime statistics in their area.

So we offer a one-click virus solution powered by Central Command. Virii are a tiny problem today on Linux, but as more desktops migrate it would be foolish to think that it will never be a problem. Just stopping inadvertantly passing on Microsoft Windows vulnerabilities has value to many consumers, as I've attempted to illustrate to many people considering desktop Linux.

9) Click-n-Run vs apt-get
by mahdi13

Lindows is based off of the Debian code and uses apt-get to install software from the Click-n-Run repository. What is in place to keep people from changing the apt-get sources from CnR to the Debian sources and install something like Synaptic (and getting newer, updated packages for free) instead of paying the $99/year (with a few execptions)?

Robertson

It is true that LindowsOS is Debian based, but Click-N-Run is no longer apt-get based. We're now on the third generation of the Click-N-Run architecture and it shares virtually no code with apt-get. As often happens you learn a lot when you do version 1.0. In the first version we learned the limitations of apt-get and were forced to create our own system which would better support personalization, commerce, error handling, and low bandwidth environments. We saw about 60% success rate using the first version of apt-get. Today we achieve over a 90% success rate. And we're able to offer advanced features like Aisles, CNR Express, a full featured commerce engine, and critical features like auto-retry and partial install resume.

LindowsOS users are free to use apt-get or any other feature. We don't remove the command line or limit their ability to install software. They can “open the hood” if they want to. Our goal is to do all the heavy lifting for them for a fair price and build a profitable business. If we can't offer value beyone what they can get from apt-get then they shouldn't give us any money. So that keeps us working hard to offer value.

The Warehouse part of the Click-N-Run (http://lindows.com/warehouse) adds tremendous value as well. Not only do users get an informative graphical representation for many products, but because listings are based on popularity they can get a listing of the most valuable software as measured by the community. We also spend considerable amount of time working on the top 25 programs. We typically customize them to make them work well together and on LindowsOS. Since anyone can browse the information for free, we have even learned that our warehouse is used by many who don't use our products as a resource. We recompile the programs to use the “My Documents” folder by default to resolve one of the common complaints from users that “they can't find their saved files”. That's obviously a simple example, but those are the types of things that make all the pieces work well together for LindowsOS users and will bring desktop to a wider audience.

10) Xbox
by randomErr

What ever possessed you to put up the bounty on the Xbox project?

Robertson

To understand my motivation it's probably important to understand my belief in personal ownership. I believe that if you purchase a product, you should have the right to change it, move it, or alter it for your own personal needs. The seller should have the right to say that you void the warranty or refuse to support it if you change it, but you should still have right as the purchaser to make that choice. This goes for music, software and personal computers. My belief is that as long as consumers have this right, then they'll use that freedom to make choices which steer our society in a generally positive direction. I'd contend we've already witnessed this with MP3.

The Xbox is Microsoft's first attempt at a closed architecture PC. What they learn from the Xbox will be in their next generation closed desktop PC system. Microsoft wants to move to a world where THEY decide what software a computer runs because that will allow them to extract the most money from consumers. They'll position this product with a comforting sounding name like “trustworthy” computing and tout the benefits, but it's really about shifting power over an individual's PC from the buyer to Microsoft. Microsoft will put up a permission gate before any software can be installed which will have a fee associated with it. It will ultimately give Microsoft control over a user's computer. This is why we do not, in any way, limit what software users can install.

I think it's critical that consumers have control over their computers and the ability to decide what software they want to utilize. I look at the Xbox as simply a personal computer. This is why I funded the Xbox reward.

NOTE: I funded it through http://pubsoft.org, Russ Nelson's great concept which I hope catches on.

Consumer freedom is also one of the primary reasons I started Lindows.com. If we can get a substantial number of desktop users we will ensure the longevity of an open architecture PC and ensure that the computing world evolves in a consumer-friendly direction.

Thanks for the opportunity to answer your questions.

JustinMette writes "Are you an independent game developer trying to make it in the industry? If so, you will probably be extremely interested to read about the upcoming IndieGamesCon 2002 hosted by GarageGames. You can read all about the conference in an interview with Jay Moore, GarageGames Marketing Manager. And yes, the conference is sponsored by a Brewery with the official "indie" beer, Spank Dog Ale! "World Domination through Collaboration" (official conference motto), Justin Mette 21-6 Productions Inc."

death00 writes: "GameDev has an interesting story about the success of Garage Games Torque engine (the engine behind Tribes 2). I especially find it interesting to see the number of developers working on high-quality games based on the Torque engine. The basic premise is that Garage Games gives a full license of the Torque engine to a team for a project for $100 USD per developer. The only caveat is that you must publish any finished works through Garage Games. Perhaps id software might consider doing this with the Quake III engine once the Doom III engine comes out. From my understanding, the Quake III engine currently licenses for significantly ($250,000 USD) more than that. Instead of waiting 2 more years and GPL'ing the full source, why not license it for cheap after Doom III comes out, then GPL later?"

Tom writes "After Dynamix went under, Tribes2 was unsupported for a while, then Sierra signed a contract with GarageGames (the company formed by several Ex-Dynamic guys), but only for the Windows version. Those of us who bought the Linux version ported by Loki were left out in the cold -- until today. Linuxgames has the story. Sam Lantinga of SDL fame did the port/patch."

Darren Alcorn writes "It appears that the beta client for the GarageGames Torque engine has been released for Linux. The engine retails at $100 for a team and was seen for Tribes 2, just now with added performance. Games such as Legends will be released on the engine, so it is nice to have the Linux compatibility."