Slashdot Mirror

"Why not release a product that supports Windows, AND Linux, AND MacOS all in one freaking package?"

Actually, this has already been done. Several month ago "Terminus" was on the shelves (unfortunately not many shelves). It supports the three OS's you mentioned off the same CD. One of the main developers on that project is a good friend of mine and I know they put alot of work into it. It is a real shame that it didn't receive a large acceptance. I personnaly think the game is pretty cool.

Check out the official page or the fan site.

Terminus is a space combat sim featuring newtonian physics, a persistent universe, dynamic economy, a campaign that can be played both in multi- and single player and from 3 differented "perspectives" (Earth Military, Mars Military and pirate/mercenary). Shipping date is June 27th, and it will ship with Windows, Linux (x86 only) and Mac binaries in one box. You can pre-order the game here. More info can be found at the fan site Station Terminus.

The site does not appear to be /.'ed since the main link's domain name loads a site...

I did find another site, however, this isn't a mirror of the listed site, but it seems to be a site for the game. For those who do not know what this is all about check out this link

Now let's not /. the poll there!

Mentioning Myst merely brings back memories of boredom for me. I'd definitely rather play Serious Sam.

The game I'm really waiting for is Terminus, the demo of which is due to be released on Monday, according to Station Terminus

Of course there were the Myst parodies, Mylk and Pyst.

The game is $42, and that gives you both client and server software.
Most of the development was done on the linux platform. There's
a developer journal at Station Terminus that gives lots of this kind of
information.

From Station Terminus's News Page:
System Spec for Linux includes a 3d accelerator with Glide drivers. The Mac spec says OpenGL support, while Windows is Glide or Direct3D. How come no OpenGL for Linux?

Since you pretty much have to split out render, sound and gameplay engines anyway, making them cross platform may be easier than you think. Multiple platforms can also point up platform-specific bugs, shortening debug time (i.e., is it me or DirectDraw? Well, the Linux port is working so it must be either in this module or DirectDraw....). Look at the developer logs at Station Terminus -- they ported to Linux and Mac in a couple of weeks (on a 3 year project - see 7/2). Pennies indeed.

Terminus will ship with Linux (x86), Windows and Mac binaries in the box. (see Station Terminus)

Go to Station Terminus (which was linked in the slashdot story), they have all sorts of info.

The game will run with Glide on Linux and Windows, and with OpenGL on all three platforms. I believe the system requirements are something like a P-200 with a voodoo 1. For hosting, it depends on the number of players, but it sounds like most systems will be able to handle at least 8 or so.

When you're playing freemode or campaign (where the whole solar system is simulated, not the shoot-em-up part) then there's no concept of x humans and y AIs. You simply decide how many humans, and all of the other hundred or so ships get taken over by AI. Somehow it still runs well.

Station Terminus, the main fansite for the game. Read the latest news post here on how to actually get the limited edition, it's not enought to just pre-order it from the store! (you need to send in an email).

a bunch of screenshots at LinuxGames.

ATFW's Terminus databank entry, lots of info. There's some *really* good MP3 tracks from the game there as well.

I pre-ordered my copy last week and I'm already on the first 100 list, can't wait to play it!

Also, what isn't mentioned in the writeup or in the (rather old) preview that was linked to is that this game will ship with binaries for Windows, Linux (x86) and Macintosh in the box.

Some of the main features are a newtonian physics engine, lots of ship customization features, a half dynamic, half scripted campaign mode that can be played in both single and multiplayer; three different careers to choose from,...

here's an excerpt from this page.

The official U.S. retail launch date is June 8th 2000. We were scheduled to ship in May but the date was pushed back to June. Now before any of you come up with a conspiracy theory on this, here's what happened:
Vatical, our publisher, met with many of the major retailers to introduce Terminus to them. It turned out that the decision makers at some of these retailers, including Electronics Boutique, have known about Terminus and have been following the game's progress for more than a year. And let me tell ya, they were pretty psyched to see it nearing completion.
What happened was, when we finally nailed down a solid timeframe for going gold, the retailers came back to Vatical saying that they needed more time to prepare for the launch. So it was decided that the date be pushed back so we can give it a proper retail launch. It's really thrilling to see some of the retailers getting behind the game!