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Kohan for Linux Ships
kdgarris writes: "Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns, a real-time strategy game is now available for Linux from Loki. The announcement is not yet on their website, however. A demo was made available earlier this month."
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...were greatly exaggerated, it seems. What a releif!
In spite of the suggestions and all the tests that I have made, I have not cavato a spider from the hole.
Who will be left to play these games when Linux is gone. If you ask me, they should be releasing their games for HP-UX, an advanced platform that will undoubtedly be supported for years to come.
...anyone who really wanted it got the Windows version.
I downloaded the demo on August 10th, so it's been out for quite a while, really.
...and of course, like all of their demos, it installs and plays flawlessly.
I/O Error G-17: Aborting Installation
Loki just "don't get it".
It's about freedom maaaaaan, don't enslave me!
They should open source their products and sell support for them, require freedom!!!
(this post is a joke if someone didn't get that).
I've been playing around with the demo for a while now, and all I can say is, that if you haven't tried it, do it. It's a great game, and I'll buy the Linux version as soon as I see it on the shelf here.
After the last article on /. about Loki being in a bit of a rotten situation, I ordered Descent III and the Demos CD. I must say, I'm really impressed. Not only was the shipping and handling of my order perfect (I live in The Netherlands), but ALL the demos (and of course Descent III) installed and played perfectly (even our Windoze gamers were impressed, not in the least by the ease of install). Kudos to Loki!
Kohan is also available at Tux Games and its a little cheaper as well. Disclaimer: I don't work for them or have any affiliation with them. I just have their site bookmarked.
Just my $0.04 (adjusted for inflation)
Loki makes good games. I like Loki games for Linux. They are fun to play.
I'm no game player (save for Quake) but I'm ordering a copy. Games are what can help drive people to a platform, so I figure it is a great way to do my part to (hopefully) keep Loki alive, as well as to bring another game (and another reason) for somebody to migrate to Linux.
So, now there is a commercial Linux RTS. But what does it help, when it's soo bad?
I've been pleading with Loki (by e-mail; I usually send them a mailbomb or two a month) to PLEASE release a version for SCO Unix or Microsoft XENIX and so far they have FAILED TO DELIVER.
Well, Loki can kiss my hairy beanbag. Fuckin' hypocrites!
What's next? Are they gonna release Halflife too?
Or Diablo? Or Deus Ex?
now that I can no longer use 'gee uhh, Windows crashed' as an excuse to why I suddenly disappeared in a game of Broodwars before getting my ass tromped yet again ;)
But seriously, I've played Starcraft with Wine with fairly decent results... don't see any reason to get this except the usual 'ppl won't make games for linux unless we buy them' (which I admit is true). Usually I play on our Win machine.. it's there, and if we didn't use it for games it would probably feel pretty pointless *G*
'..that kernel panicked like a nun in a crack house!'
The subject says it all really.
Of note: I'm in Australia, and it takes 4-7 days to get stuff shipped here from Loki, using their standard international service. Last stuff I ordered from Loki took 4 days, so I'm hoping I'll have it in about 24-48 hrs.
Loki sent me a note on the afternoon of the 27th (their time, morning of the 28th here) telling me my copy had shipped.
If anyone in Melbourne (Australia) goes to the PC-IT trade show, you can probably get to see the game in action, assuming it turns up in time, on the LUV (Linux Users of Victoria) stand.
So, um, without either graphics or gameplay,
what's left? A cardboard box?
Just a note that I pre-ordered my copy about 2 weeks ago, just after the Chapter 11 thing.
Karma whorin' since 1999
As far as i know Loki is going to port Halflife and counterstrike to linux, the reason is popular demand :) i hope that more games will be ported to linux, for rebooting with windoze to play a game annoys me pretty much
".Sig Stealer" was here
winxp is the shiznit. Now i can have all that gameing goodness on the stability of a win2k box. Oh ya winxp pro with a corporate key is good stuff.
Ya i know once i wanna get my hack on i'll be back to linux in 2 seconds, but this is fun to play with.
This'll give the sailors something to do in those boring hours between journeys then..
I also wasnt aware that there were ships using Linux now.. I guess that erases the following scenario: "Yes.. just one more bomb and we will win the war" "Doh"
On the strength of this piece I went to lokigames.com to get the demo.
/. the bastards...
Their generic installer app is a testament to the way that gaming-related companies can occasionally surpass even the best efforts of absolutely everybody else in terms of making a software task, no matter how essentially complex or problematic, slick, stylish and user-friendly. I went the get the Kohan demo and ended up, by choice rather than coercion, downloading the mpeg preview movie, the Simcity 3000 demo, and a few other things.
Admittedly I'm getting between 36-40kb/sec (thank $DEITY for DSL) without which I might curb my curiosity a tad, but that too can be partially atributed to the sensible automatic choice of planetmirror.com as the closest server.
It's Gnome compliant, of course, and takes my theme just nicely.
Whatever Loki's financial situation is at the moment, the quality of their approach to the installer says a lot about the way they go about their work.
Now go show 'em you care: Download the demos...
You know they call 'em fingers but I've never seen 'em fing. Oh, there they go.
I am a coder and rarely play games and for what I use it for linux is supreme....but I must admit that when I do try to play games on linux it is just a pain in the arse. I really think that the market for linux platform games is limited to Quake and this will not sell many at all.
The Borg assimilated my race & all I got was this lousy T-shirt
"freedom"(as in beer) is one thing....but capital is what is gonna keep a great company like Loki alive and the fact that they port windows-made games to Linux (100% internally) and release the source should be appreciated in and of itself(that's true "freedom"). I don't mind shelling out my hard earned sponduli for a quality product. The demo to Kohan was awesome and I'll be ordering my full-version in the next few days. And if it's anything like the demo......i don't mind tellin ya..... I'll be racking up the hours playin online.
Does anyone know if the version Loki is selling will install on Windows as well as Linux with the same CD without downloading additional software?
No text dammit!
In fact, Loki's announcement of support for games has caused me a couple of times already NOT to buy the Windows version and to wait.
You may be happily voting to send your dollars to the Borg, but for all the effort of a little time, you could be gaming on Linux instead of Windows... personally, I'm taking my dollars elsewhere everytime the option avails itself to me.
Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
Will the Linux and Windows versions be compatible multi-player wise?
To chime in, it really is a good game. I can't testify to how "original" the company scheme is but I can't think of any other major RTS' with anything close to it.
The unit autonomy is also nice. You don't have to worry about your troops being too stupid to fight and just standing there as their comrades get cut down. If the ZOCs overlap, they fight. That simple. Cities deploy their militias automatically when under seige. It's all very nice.
It also takes out a lot of the RTS tedium in building. No peons, units automatically heal and replace themselves. There are building decisions and dependencies but you have to actually think and not just mindlessly go up the tech tree.
And the opposing AI ain't half bad either.
The campaign isn't really anything you haven't seen before and is pretty easy as you're given lots of powerful units to start each scenario off with and your heroes accumulate experience through the course of the campaign.
All in all it's a good game.
After reading the descriptions and reviews of Kohan, I've been eagerly awaiting the Linux port. I don't play many games these days, but this one's nice.
I like the demo. Not being expected or able to micromanage or "resource rush" (i.e. produce 100 peasants/workers/whatever then quickly build up a massive army and rush them all over to your opponent) makes the game much more enjoyable for the way I tend to play them.
I do wish there were a little more documentation with the demo, though. While I "get" the 'production ratings' of stone, wood, iron, etc., I DON'T "get" how you tell what your current stockpile is. (i.e. I couldn't see anything happening when I slipped into negative production ratings)...
Presumably the documentation with the full game explains it, so I should see it in a week or so once I've had a chance to order it...
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
Is a "Linux Ship" a boat where everyone rides for free and it never sinks?
I've been wanting Age of Empires on Linux for a while, here's my chance. Kohan is very very similar, which is okay because AOE is a great game. Rock on Loki, my order is on it's way!
there are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
For some reason I had this vision of a big boat.
On board was RMS, ESR, and a few others, all waving their arms and arguing. Oblivious to the boat about to ram the pier.
Kohan is a real time fantasy strategy game with a lot of design enhancements that solve problems that have plagued RTS games. Note: I've only played the Windows version.
It deals with forces on the company level, not individual troops. Most similar games like Warcraft, Age of Empires, etc. would require you to give orders to each individual in a troop, which results in annoying clickfests. In this game, you form companies of seven individual units each (one leader, four front line troops, two specialists) and simply give orders to the companies as a whole. Most of the time you're only dealing with half a dozen companies or so, so unit management is infinitely easier than it has been with any game of this type before.
Also, companies replace their losses on their own over time, including specialists, which takes a lot of the micromanagement out of combat. It also makes the computers tendency to kill your special units a lot less annoying. You won't have to do a minute of furious clicking to replace your losses, you'll just to direct your surviving companies to a safe place to heal.
Finally, they've done away with the most of the annoyance of upgrading bases. You don't have to place individual buildings, you just direct your towns to build whatever improvements you can afford. Again, most micromanagement is removed.
All that being said, Kohan feels a little flat. Most missions aren't really that difficult, and upgrade paths are obvious and rarely diverted from. Visually, the game is lacking, too. For instance, your companies troops form up in hexagons, a formation rarely found on the battle field :)
From a game design viewpoint, though, it's an amazing piece of software. I bet the next true classic of the genre will be the one that shamelessly rips off the good ideas in Kohan and weds it with a more visually appealing combat engine like the one in Age of Empires.
I cannot find a copy of the Press Release on the Loki site, but there is a copy of it here at linuxgames.com.
While I am on the subject, Tux Games is expecting our latest stock of Kohan to arrive with Fed-Ex later today, so order now and you should get it shipped tomorrow morning.
Tux Games. Your complete source for native Linux games.
has status of entered as of 2001-08-30 10:43:51
has status of preauth as of 2001-08-30 10:44:41
has status of approved as of 2001-08-30 10:45:00
has status of postauth as of 2001-08-30 11:08:16
has status of shipped as of 2001-08-30 11:08:44
Loki is doing one hell of a job keeping my business, wish more companies were like this.
there are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots
Under Linux, the card runs flawlessly. If it weren't for Loki's port of Q3, I'd never experience the delights of fragging somebody from halfway around the world.
I'm looking forward to getting Rune as well. I could've bought the Windows version when it came out, but I waited for the Linux port instead.
I hope Loki can get out of their financial problems, the more money they have, hopefully the quicker they can get games out the door, and capture more of the dual boot market.
n/t
Port it to linux, or even better, make someone else do the job for you. The linux community will embrace it and say it's the best thing they have ever played, even though your game actually is a complete rip-off some some other windows only game, only now with outdated graphics and horribly gameplay.
And linux users wonder why the rest of the world laugh at their pathetic attempts to advertise linux as a gaming platform.