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MorphOS is intended for the POP-compliant Pegasos PowerPC board from bPlan. Note that while a Realtek PHYceiver is listed, that's just the PHY; the ethernet controller itself is a Via Rhine derivative embedded in the southbridge. Pictures here. It can also run on classic Amigas with appropriate PowerPC accellerators; NetBSD is also being readied for the bPlan hardware.

AmigaOS 4 is the 'name-brand' product, being produced under contract by Germany's Hyperion Software. It's intended for Eyetech's AmigaOne G3SE and XE products, and Elbox's SharkPPC accellerator in classic hardware with suitable PCI busboards. Hardware dongling of the AmigaOne (with respect to AmigaOS; Linux and *BSD will run unhindered), and continuing intellectual-property disputes may or may not effect the chances of OS4 support for the Pegasos.

All three new PowerPC boards use MAI's PowerPC chipsets, also seen on the Linux-friendly Barbie.

Nor should we forget 'AmigaDE' or 'Amiga-Anywhere,' a crossplatform system based on Tao's Intent runtime + media libs, which is really quite cool even if they've just redesigned their site opaquely. the CEO of Gentoo provides a good writeup here.

hardware pictures are avaiable here
(pictures of a Amiga One board in an expensive Naya atx case)

Some more hardware pics on a dutch page and finally some screenshots of os4
and Hd toolbox

/Weasel

I mostly play native ports. I buy just about every game Loki releases. I'm a sucker. I even bought SiN even thoiugh it won't work with NVidia cards. I also use Transgaming's WineX. It supports quite a few Win32-only games (like Age of Empires). It won't work with DirectX8 games, however, but support is coming.

I used my PC for games about 60% of the time I was in front of it when it had Windows and Linux on it. Now that Windows is gone, I find myself reading Perlmonks or looking at freshmeat stuff more often than I used to. I'm happy I switched.

-B

I have some native games right now from companies like Loki, and Hyperion, and tribsoft, and the native binaries produced by such companies as id software.
But of course nobody using Linux is gaining anything when we emulate windows api's and then spend money on windows games. You _can_ buy so many titles right now, and we want to ruin that with spending money on windows emulation and adding to the windows sales figures!?
I don't believe companies like Loki have to end this way, we can make a difference right now and we certainly aren't going to help through the purchasing of windows games which is what you are doing when you emulate their API's so you can play these things.

I cannot overstate the importance of these two titles for Linux gaming. As most of you know, the expirmental retail Linux release of Quake 3 was, by publishing standards, a failure. Linux Tribes 2 is the most high-profile port since Q3, and rest assured both industry developers and publishers will once again be watching to determine if Linux is worth their time. Furthermore, Loki cannot continue to port titles if the ones they do publish are not purchased; so spread the word (many Linux users were unaware Loki had ported anything beyond Civilization: Call to Power) if you want Linux gaming to be a viable option. It's even more difficult for Linux porters (Loki, Tribsoft, Hyperion) to make a profit on their work considering they have to mark up the retail price to recoup the inherent losses that go with filling a niche market (Win32 titles can sell for much lower due to established publishers, retail chains, customers, etc.)... it's a vicious circle, but the only way to break it is to support what's out there now to forge the foundation for later growth.

In short, holding off Linux game purchases because the releases are not timely (i.e., on par with Windows) or cheap will ensure that they will always be neither.

Btw, as has been stated elsewhere on this story, Linux Tribes 2 is being released only 2 weeks after the Win32 version, which is hardly a significant period of time.

What kind of game are you working on?

I've been playing with SDL on and off for about a year and a half now. Long ago, I wrote a VisualC-SDL intro, and submitted a bug fix. I've worked on BumpRace, and am working on a game that I plan to port from ClanLib to SDL soon, just to chop the dependencies down and ditch C++.

It sounds like you are talking about a home game programming project. If that's the case, then SDL should more than meet your need. In my experience, home game programmers tend to dramatically over-estimate their performance needs. Focus more on making your game do something interesting first.

I don't meant to say SDL doesn't perform well; Hyperion ported Shogo to Linux using SDL (so, yes, companies other than Loki commercially using it), and Loki ported Tribes 2 and a zillion other games to Linux with SDL...

As for the user community for SDL; it's huge, and quite friendly. There are a lot of projects out there that build on SDL, and there are bindings for Python, Perl, and many other languages. (For casual readers: SDL itself is in C.)

I really don't know what more you could ask for, except for it to become the world standard and have a dedicated hotline for support (DirectX). Other than that, it's all pretty much there.

I can say right now that Tux Games stands against Emulators. While emulators could be good in the short term, and they would certainly give Tux Games a much wider variety of games to sell, and thus more profit, they will kill native Linux apps. Take Loki for example. They produce top quality games for Linux. But these games cost money to port, and they generally are sold for somewhat more than the windows versions (as they are released a little later). What chance would these games have if the windows versions could be bought for 30% less but only ran 10% slower. Loki and tribsoft and Hyperion would all go broke in a month!
Sure, it may be the quick fix, but in the long term it will hurt Linux more than it will help. And dont forget, Emulation only works till the next version comes out. Do we really want to sacrifice platform independance to the whims of microsoft not changing directX? I know I dont.

http://www.hyperion-software.com/_linux/news_00110 4.html

Enjoy!

The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead.

SIN Screenshot

Have a look here for an interesting interviwe with Hyperion Software . They have spent lots of cash on game licences (some costed them 50.000 -100.000 USD) for the new Amiga! Titles include Sin, Shogo, Heretic2, Worms: Armageddon, Freespace: The Great War and many other "Very recent" games soon to be announced!

They also have the rights for an Linux and Mac port of Shogo. They also promise to soon release some info about some Amiga only games.

LithTech/ Linux Press release - Posted 1/19/2000 by Tom Kirkland, WA (January 19, 1999) -

Monolith Productions and Hyperion Software announced today that they have extended an existing licensing agreement to include a port of Monolith's critically acclaimed Shogo: Mobile Armor Division and LithTech 1.0 and 2.0 to the Linux operating system. The Linux port is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2000. Under an initial agreement with Monolith in April, 1999, Hyperion agreed to port Shogo and the LithTech 3D Engine to both the Amiga and Apple Macintosh platforms (http://www.lith.com/corporate/04_28_1 999.html). The existing agreement has now been extended to include Linux for x86 and Power PC processors.

"Porting the LithTech 3D engine to Linux gives licensees and game players one more reason to choose LithTech technology and LithTech-based games" comments Jason Hall, CEO of Monolith Productions. "Our latest agreement with Hyperion continues our quest to provide the highest quality, most versatile 3D engine in the market."

The LithTech 3D Engine, the technology behind Shogo: M.A.D. and upcoming Monolith games Sanity and No One Lives Forever, allows for a full range of cutting edge graphic effects, from spectacular lighting to highly detailed character models. The engine also allows designers to create breath-taking outdoor areas from magnificent mountain ranges to sprawling cities. Current LithTech licensees include Third Law Interactive and New World Computing. Extensive information including FAQ's about LithTech can be found at www.lithtech.com.

Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, inspired by the Japanese "anime" tradition, is an action-packed first-person shooter combining spectacular environments (from neon-lit, futuristic cityscapes to gaping desert ravines and canyons) with a meaningful storyline packed with intriguing characters, plot revelations and huge transforming machines known as mecha.

About Monolith Productions, Inc.
Monolith Productions, Inc., based in Kirkland, WA, is focused on combining uncompromising gaming content with the ultimate in high-end gaming technology. Founded by six game developers in 1995, Monolith's passion for programming resulted in the creation of the LithTech 3D Engine. This proprietary software is used in the creation of Monolith products, such as the well-received Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, and is available for license to the wider development community. For the latest news and information on Monolith and it products, visit their Web site at http://www.lith.com.

About Hyperion Software
Hyperion is a recently established Belgian-German software house dedicated to bringing high-end PC games to PowerPC based Amiga and Mac computers. Individual members of the Hyperion team have been involved in various commercial and non-commercial projects on the Amiga, Mac, Linux and PC platforms. For any information about Hyperion Software, visit their website at http://www.hyperion-software.com