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Indie games can be quite fun for a while and often are cheap (eg Audiosurf is just $10, and Defcon is $15).

Unless, of course, you want it for Mac-- in which case, it's $25. Actually, you can get all three of Introversion's games (Uplink, Darwinia, and Defcon for $33.20 for Windows/Linux, but Ambrosia charges $25-28 each for the OS X versions.

And people wonder why everyone games on Windows.

If you like supporting indie developers that don't piss you off with DRM, it might be worthwhile looking at Multiwinia!
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Nah, it didn't suck at all. It was a lot of fun, actually. I assure you things were not made for the lowest common denominator. It was more games tended to be exclusive to the platform they were written on, though there were some exceptions. You were so resource constrained that bumming every byte of memory was essential. You have single drivers on your system today that would not fit on the entire computer in that era. 64k was a lot of memory, and most systems were in the 16-32k range. Today's USB controller is a more sophisticated computer than the personal computers of the early 80s. :-)

The things that make games better and more sophisticated today have little to do with a single common platform and more to do with the tremendous advances in personal computing hardware over the last quarter century. And really, stretching back, I can only think of about 5 or 6 instruction sets in use for personal computers at the time: 65xx family, Z-80, 8080, 68xx family, 68000, and whatever TI processor was in the TI-99/4.

In those days, it was also possible for 1-3 person teams to make top-tier games, so (IMHO) there was a lot more creativity then. There was a lot of dreck, too, I won't kid you, but that's not changed. To make a AAA title now simply costs millions, because of all that's expected in one: original music, lots of art, amazing particle effects, cut scenes, writing, dialog with voice acting... the list goes on. The best a small group with an innovative idea can hope to do in this day and age is make a good demo and impress a larger house (Narbacular Drop becomes Portal) or maybe if you're very lucky, very good, and work very hard, you get to be someone like Introversion. But if you talk to the guys at Introversion, you find out quickly it's not all autographs and sunglasses for them, and it's a bit more than two or three guys.

Defcon is wonderful, and it's by the same people that do Uplink and Darwinia, and like their other games, comes in Windows, Mac, and Linux versions.

Defcon is wonderful, and it's by the same people that do Uplink and Darwinia, and like their other games, comes in Windows, Mac, and Linux versions.

Defcon is wonderful, and it's by the same people that do Uplink and Darwinia, and like their other games, comes in Windows, Mac, and Linux versions.

Access means they can decrypt them. Given enough cycles, encryption can be broken.

When "enough cycles" is going to take them longer than the heat-death of the universe, I don't care.

Look, I know Uplink makes it look easy. The real world doesn't work that way.

nobody plays Uplink enough these days.

There are some 3D games that run on Linux.

I'm going to mention one that I play myself, Urban Terror (a semi-realistic shooter based on Quake 3).

Sure, it's a few years old. I don't care, it's still just as fun. Occasionally I'll even play some good old "regular" Quake 3.

To be perfectly honest, I don't run UrT or Q3 on Linux myself, I run Mac OS X. The point is, if I ever decided to switch away from Mac OS X to Ubuntu, almost all the games I have on my computer right now would run on Linux as well. Actually, let me go through my Applications folder right now:

• Bridge Construction Set -- yes, it runs on Linux
• DEFCON -- yup. That too.
• Kill Monty -- unfortunately, no. :-( (Then again, that doesn't run on Windows either.)
• Frets On Fire -- yup. It runs on Linux. And way better than on OS X too.
• OpenTTD -- yep. It runs on Linux too.
• IOQuake3 -- sure.
• SNES9x (and by extention, a collection of Super Nintendo games), sure, works on Linux
• Tetrinet Aqua does not run on Linux, but other (and better) Tetrinet clients do.
• The Ur-Quan Masters runs on Linux.
• Uplink runs on Linux.
• And finally, as discussed before, Urban Terror runs on Linux.

So, all the games I actually have on my hard drive and play would run on Linux if I decided to migrate. Except for Kill Monty. (But then again, that doesn't run on Windows either.)

The lack of games are not what's keeping me on Mac OS X on my machine.

Oh, and in response to your issue about not being able to flash because you'd need either Windows or DOS -- I give you FreeDOS.

There are some 3D games that run on Linux.

I'm going to mention one that I play myself, Urban Terror (a semi-realistic shooter based on Quake 3).

Sure, it's a few years old. I don't care, it's still just as fun. Occasionally I'll even play some good old "regular" Quake 3.

To be perfectly honest, I don't run UrT or Q3 on Linux myself, I run Mac OS X. The point is, if I ever decided to switch away from Mac OS X to Ubuntu, almost all the games I have on my computer right now would run on Linux as well. Actually, let me go through my Applications folder right now:

• Bridge Construction Set -- yes, it runs on Linux
• DEFCON -- yup. That too.
• Kill Monty -- unfortunately, no. :-( (Then again, that doesn't run on Windows either.)
• Frets On Fire -- yup. It runs on Linux. And way better than on OS X too.
• OpenTTD -- yep. It runs on Linux too.
• IOQuake3 -- sure.
• SNES9x (and by extention, a collection of Super Nintendo games), sure, works on Linux
• Tetrinet Aqua does not run on Linux, but other (and better) Tetrinet clients do.
• The Ur-Quan Masters runs on Linux.
• Uplink runs on Linux.
• And finally, as discussed before, Urban Terror runs on Linux.

So, all the games I actually have on my hard drive and play would run on Linux if I decided to migrate. Except for Kill Monty. (But then again, that doesn't run on Windows either.)

The lack of games are not what's keeping me on Mac OS X on my machine.

Oh, and in response to your issue about not being able to flash because you'd need either Windows or DOS -- I give you FreeDOS.

Here are some of the blogs I read:

Joel on Software
Introversion - an indie games company
The Old New Thing - Raymond Chen of Microsoft
The Daily WTF - how not to code
The Consumerist
FAIL Blog
Not Always Right - for people who [used to] work in retail

In fact, I think I'll go home and play some.

Nope. But they might actually play , because it's a real game, and fun.

http://store.introversion.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=52

They probably just didn't write it on the box. Just because it's not written on the specs doesn't mean it's not supported. It's hard to begrudge a company for going all the way and writing a Linux version and then not buy it for simply failing to call it out on the box.

I know it sounds like a typo, but yes it is called Subversion. It is a bit mysterious at the moment, but from the procedural content generation demostration video they've shown, it certainly looks neat.

Where are the commercial game ports for Linux? No one wants to make them, obviously, save for the FPS crowd (and there's only an Unreal Tournament for Linux because Epic passes the buck to Icculus to get the job done, not because they have the in-house talent to do it themselves). There are a few commercial games for Linux, yes, but only a few, and there's very little variety between them. In the open source world we have a few good games (the majority of them being FPS's, what a surprise), Battle for Wesnoth if you like strategy games (turn based ones, that is). Then we have the unfortunate, ugly ripoffs like "Secret Maryo Chronicles," and other games that look like they were developed for a C64. Plenty of selection, not a lot of quality.

The following publishers develop comemrcial linux games:

http://www.pompomgames.com/
http://www.garagegames.com/
http://www.introversion.co.uk/
http://frictionalgames.com/
http://sillysoft.net/
http://www.basiliskgames.com/
http://www.guildsoftware.com/
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/
http://www.rune-soft.com/
http://grubbygames.com/
http://www.caravelgames.com/
http://www.planewalkergames.com/
http://www.graalonline.com/

There are also the high profile ones such as neverwinter nights, the doom and quake series, unreal, etc.

There are many high quality independant titles such as neverball, you mentioned wesnoth, crimson fields, flight gear, torcs, the spring project, total annihilation 3d, tecnoballZ, powermanga, tile racer, pingus, clonk, freeciv, ultimate stunts, planeshift, scorched3d, VDrift, silvertree (not complete, but being created by the wesnoth guys so likely will not be vapor), ufo: alien invasion, scourge, etc.

http://spring.clan-sy.com/
http://www.wesnoth.org/
http://torcs.sourceforge.net/
http://www.flightgear.org/
https://icculus.org/neverball/
http://ta3d.darkstars.co.uk/
http://linux.tlk.fr/games/
http://tileracer.model-view.com/
http://pingus.seul.org/
http://www.clonk.de/
http://freeciv.wikia.com/
http://www.ultimatestunts.nl/
http://www.planeshift.it/
http://www.scorched3d.co.uk/
http://vdrift.net/
http://www.silvertreerpg.org/
http://ufoai.sourceforge.net/
http://scourge.sourceforge.net/

Many of these are very impressive independently made free games. Perhaps they lack the multi million dollar marketing budget and won't make your geofrce 8800 gtxz 45 x super elite ultra melt, but theya re *fun* games, and they are numerous. Also keep in mind this publisher and free game list is only what I could find in 1 hour of searching.

Then there are freed older commercial games such as warzone 2100, homeworld, descent 1 and 2, doom, quake, etc.

Lets not stop t

Wish I'd been there. I'd have had a (suitably-modded so that the date/time was present-day instead of in the future) game of Uplink running. Wonder how long I could have played the game and had her conviced that what I was doing was real... ("See, here's where I bounce my connection through various proxy servers, just like that Tor talk I saw you at, and here's how quickly they can trace me back, and here's where I erase the logs... oh, those IP addresses bigger than 256? That's just a nonconventional shorthand for IPv6...")

And yeah, MITM (airpwn) + WiFi + Goatse = teh win. Google "airpwn goatse", and you'll see it's already been done, and even at DefCon - where everyone ought to be expecting such shenanigans - it's still comedy gold.

By indie developers they mean people like Introversion, not hobbyists. You will still have to be a real company with real money to get a developer license.

This game takes it the other way round. It takes a movie style interface and give the the impression you are "hacking" into corporate computers. Pretty entertaining (And it has a Linux Version yay)
Main Site:
http://www.introversion.co.uk/uplink/
Review at Home of the Underdogs:
http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=3044

Sim City 3000 (happy penguin pay)
Tremulous: http://tremulous.net/ (Repositories free)
Legends: http://legendsthegame.net/ (download free)
Uplink: http://www.uplink.co.uk/
Darwinia: http://www.darwinia.co.uk/
Defcon: http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/

Don't assume they're all rubbish till you've actually played them. Preferably on Linux. (Except Sim City. Thats rubbish.)

"On the one hand, this means Mac-exclusive games often don't have the vast scope of original PC games. On the other hand, it means there's more room for quirky, off-beat stuff."

This is an obvious fallacy. There's a much larger market on Windows, and therefore more room for quirky stuff. Just because the PC market goes all the way up to huge commercial games costing millions to make doesn't mean it doesn't go all the way down to 1-man-team games. Check out any "indie game" website like gametunnel - dominated by Windows games. Or, better still, forget it and play DEFCON.

I know this is better than average for Slashdot, but still, This mod for DEFCON came out more than a month ago (November 9) Here's the original thread that it debuted in: http://forums.introversion.co.uk/defcon/viewtopic. php?t=3355

I don't think Introversion has had that problem, and DEFCON is more fun than a lot of EA games out there.

Been there, done that.

Uplink is to cracking, what GTA is to car theft. Enough escapism to be fun, enough realism to make you very nervous when you're in the middle of a mission. The game came out in 2001, and was set in 2010. Judging from the headlines on Slashdot, we're about halfway there.

On a more modern note -- a few game-hours after making a mistake, the blank screen in Uplink going completely black, informing me that my machine had been seized by the Feds.

Just like in real life, no warning, no idea what you did wrong nor what you could have done to prevent it (until after the game is over), just *blink*.

Looks like someone's been playing too much DEFCON.

Ya, Defcon is a pretty cool game. http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/

http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/downloads/ind ex.html

You've got 20 minutes to buy it at its prelaunch price! (£10, $17.50, 14)

Buy now! http://store.introversion.co.uk/

Oh, I admit that I much prefer to have a physical copy as well. But that is do-able, also. For instance, the games sold by http://www.introversion.co.uk/ are downloadable (well, the Linux ones) and the real version is shipped to you at the same time. This is murder on retailers, though.

They'll have a collective heart attack when they get their hands on Defcon. :-D

But damn it, I want someone to prove me wrong! Write the next awesome game yourself! (I want a version of Global Thermo Nuclear Warfare please)

Boy, do I have good news for you. It's so frikkin' ironic you should mention "Global Thermo Nuclear Warfare". The article is about indie games right? Smalltime game devs? Because of THIS very article I got a bit nostalgic and wanted to check out what Introversion was up to (remember Uplink?). And guess what? they're apparently writing a "Global Thermo Nuclear Warfare"-like game called DefCon. I am NOT shitting you, check this link out. Best of all, they even have a tradition of porting to Linux ;)

Goddamnit, I want a ferrari!! *looks around to see if a ferrari appears*

You lucky bastard.

I have enjoyed lots of games from indie devs lately, and i also bought them all.
http://introversion.co.uk/ have some interesting games, their latest is called Darwinia and is published through Steam, i think they are about to become big, available in both Linux, Mac and Windows. They are also playing with a new game, visit their page!
http://s2games.com/ - these guys have made Savage, an rpg-fps genre with a cool community and great servers with a lot of teamplay and fun. For Linux and Windows. Savage 2 is underway and i have pre-subscribed to get access to the beta-test.

It seems that systems like Steams can help indie devs a lot to get out to people, it certainly helped Introversion a lot.

True. However, there are still a few good game companies out there, doing unique things with gameplay. Introversion, for example. http://www.introversion.co.uk/ Darwinia, Uplink, and now a Global war game, remeniscent of the old movie. Awesome.

http://www.introversion.co.uk/
No innovation from indie games, eh?

It's going to be a great year for PC gaming!

Don't get me wrong, it's good to see new games, but I actually quite like the sequel. If I liked the first game, odds on I'll like the second game too, and that's reassuring. Given the amount of enthusiasm /. has managed to display about GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas, Doom 3, Quake 4 and MGS 4, I don't think I'm alone in this.

Also, how original does a game have to be? I picked up F.E.A.R. recently, and while it was a lot of fun, the graphics were incredibly similar to Half Life 2, and the gameplay not so far removed either. So, it's technically an original game, but isn't so original in reality. Got Vampire Bloodlines too, and couldn't help but be reminded of Deus Ex by the gameplay.

If you want innovation, go look at whatever Nintendo are doing next, it's always interesting (and I'm likely to be picking up a Revolution if only out of curiousity). Or for the PC, Introversion Software is probably a good bet...

In any case since the summary sucked, the anonymous "maker" is Introversion software.

They don't really have much information about DEFCON up yet. But do check out Uplink if DEFCON sounds interesting to you.. It's a cheap game and it works equally well on Linux as Windows.

That link took me to a blog with one comment and no info on it. At best it might have had some info that one of my adblock rules scrapped, but I don't care, I wan't real info, not some 16 year olds opinion on it. For those who are wondering, the real link is Here (http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/)

That link took me to a blog with one comment and no info on it. At best it might have had some info that one of my adblock rules scrapped, but I don't care, I wan't real info, not some 16 year olds opinion on it. For those who are wondering, the real link is Here (http://www.introversion.co.uk/defcon/)

FYI, If you like uplink that much check out their Developer CD here

To summarise the distribution methods which will be available once the Steam version is up and running:

Windows: you can purchase a boxed version which will be sent to you by post at the Introversion online store; alternatively you will be able to buy a download-only version over Steam.

Linux (x86): you can purchase the boxed version (which includes an HTTP download version), again at the Introversion online store. No change here.

Mac: you can download a limited version and purchase a license key at Ambrosia Software's online store. It's effectively the shareware distribution model here - there's no separate demo as far as I'm aware. No change here either.

AmigaOS, CP/M, Sinclair Spectrum: it would appear these luddites will have to get stuffed. Sorry. No change here!

To summarise the distribution methods which will be available once the Steam version is up and running:

Windows: you can purchase a boxed version which will be sent to you by post at the Introversion online store; alternatively you will be able to buy a download-only version over Steam.

Linux (x86): you can purchase the boxed version (which includes an HTTP download version), again at the Introversion online store. No change here.

Mac: you can download a limited version and purchase a license key at Ambrosia Software's online store. It's effectively the shareware distribution model here - there's no separate demo as far as I'm aware. No change here either.

AmigaOS, CP/M, Sinclair Spectrum: it would appear these luddites will have to get stuffed. Sorry. No change here!

Dont post here, Contact Introversion!

Those bugs were not only fixed in the first patch, but if you had actually bothered to visit the support forums, send an email to the team or even drop by the IRC channel you could have had it manually fixed.

And as for the mod scene: The Next Game and Stellar Matter should provide you with all the mods you want, and the mod scene continues on IV's mod boards.

So much for your complaints.

• You are buying a CD with Linux and Windows that will be sent via the post.
• Your purchase entitles you to instantly download the LINUX version ONLY.

Which is why it's a good idea for indie developers to know their audience and advertise appropriately. Moonpod, for example, has ads for Starscape (a really nice shoot-em-up/management mix) displayed with gaming related comics like Ctrl+Alt+Del or 8-bit Theater - people who read those comics are likely to be interested in obscure and/or old-school-like games and having the advertisement on the site also serves as some kind of approval by the artists - after all, if they wouldn't like the game they wouldn't advertise it, right? (Actually, concerning how pissy web artists can get I'd figure that the probability of them knowing what games they're advertising for is quite high.)

Independent companies often produce stuff that is in some way superior what you usually get - one example would be Decker (Coral Cache), a graphically unimpressive freeware game for Windows that just happens to be the best simulation of breaking into computers in the Shadowrun world. Please don't click the link unless you really are interested, it's a private site and has a lot of images up front.
However, these innovative or otherwise extremely cool games need to be advertised to the right people. The usual gaming magazine reader will not be interested in games that deviate from the well-known genres like Uplink. But gaming geeks, "real" gamers and the like might want to know about it - which is where specialized advertising comes into play. If a company advertises with the bigger gaming comics it can reach a decent audience that is most likely more interested in their work than the average gamer. If they manage to get mentioned on Penny Arcade it's jackpot... And as Tycho is fond of letting the world know of obscure games he likes just getting PA to notice them might be a way of generating sales.


Indie game companies will always be able to reach an interested audience as long as there are internet celebrities who are willing to display their banner/discuss their latest game. It's not the megabuck business that mainstream gaming is, but there is an ecological niche for games that are just too far out for the regular gamer.

Introversion claim to be "the last of the bedroom programmers".

They've released two games so far, Uplink & Darwinia. I bought 'em both, and thought they were great - definitely not the sort of games a company like EA would release.

For the unitiated, Uplink is a "hacking" game, intended to replicate the experiences of hacking you see in the movies. It's also littered with references to movies, and other computer games (I particularly liek the Frontier-style bulletin boards!) Darwinia is a little harder to classify. It's sort of part RTS, part God Game, tied together with a stylishly done 80's-video-game feel. (That's a rubbish explanation - you'll have to try the demo to see what I mean.)

At the end of the day, I suppose it all comes down to acceptable risks. EA have got so used to raking it in from their annual updates to the NFL, NBA, NHL, FIFA (etc. etc.) series that they can't see the benefit in trying out anything that isn't a sure-fire-money-spinner (read, anything that isn't highly derivative of something they've done before). For the little guys to get noticed, I suppose they have to come up with something new/unconventional.

I know which I'd rather play...

Introversion

Hmm. Great idea. Lets do that.. Oh, wait, we have:
http://store.introversion.co.uk/

NeoThermic