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The Best Linux Games of 2001?

Posted by Cliff on from the tis-the-season-form-making-lists dept.

Apostata asks: "As more and more people migrate (or consider migrating) to Linux, I'd like to know what Slashdot readers would vote for as their top picks for Linux-friendly games (either native or commercially ported) for 2001."

24 of 379 comments (clear)

  1. XBill!!! by PeeOnYou2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    XBill for life! Who needs quake 3?

  2. Alpha Centauri by Vicegrip · · Score: 5, Informative

    This game is criminally responsible for the diversions of many many man hours that could have been spent learning useful aspects of Linux and directing them at gaming.

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  3. Emulator by JollyTX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The only way to get decent "real" games at the moment is through emulators. Therefore I recommend Xmame + lots and lots of arcade games! Pang, Twin Cobra, Spy vs Spy.. ;)

    'Course, the KDE games are coming along nicely...

    --
    Can you hear me, Major Tom? I'm not the man they think I am at home...
  4. TuxRacer's always good... by InterruptDescriptorT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    TuxRacer is good on two fronts: they are Linux-friendly and they have an Open Source version (although it is older than the commercial one).

    If I may be slightly off-topic here, I'd like to see more people involved in creating Linux games. Unlike developing for a console, there are plenty of freely available docs and tools to make it happen. Take a look for example at plib, a portable scene graph/geometry/network enabler/GUI/sound library intended for games. It's Open Source, GPLed, has a great, easy-to-understand C++ interface, and is overall a good thing. I've been using it for nearly six months, and I can't believe the ease with which I've been able to create a couple of little games. I'd love to see more Linux-based Open Source games based around plib.

    --
    Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)
  5. The classics are classic for a reason by Syberghost · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Gnomehack.

  6. Everquest... by angst7 · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is absolutley my favorite linux friendly game. It single handedly frustrated me to the point of never wanting to boot into Windoze again.

    :)

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    StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
  7. Easy one by jandrese · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Kohan from Loki is easily the best game I have bought for the past 3 years. Loki's newsgroup is filled with some of the best people from around the world who set up games weekly (or more often) to play online. Kohan is very stable and tons of fun to play, and has easily soaked up more of my time than I really want to admit. Loki even ports the patches so the Linux players can play against the WinSlaves (although there have been a couple of issues with the "sync error" that are mostly cleared up these days).

    If you like RTSes, but hate all of the MM, or are just looking for something that isn't yet another Warcraft clone, then I highly recommend checking out Kohan.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  8. Um, ok by Wind_Walker · · Score: 5, Informative
    For Linux gaming, there's only one place to go: Linux Game Tome. They have good features, good reviews, and an extensive list of the games available for Linux.

    As for the games that were ported over from Windows, Why not just go and check a place like Gamerankings.com and see a good compilation of reviews? All you have to do is check on the games that have been ported to Linux and figure it out from there!

    For my money, though, Xbill is excellent :-)

  9. Descent 3 by lessthan0 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have purchased several Loki games over this year, but Descent 3 is the best! I am on my third run through (with higher difficulty). It is fast, the music is great, and the plot is fun. Nothing says FU like a black shark missile :)

  10. I hate to say it, but... by seebs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only Unix-based games I play much are Angband and pysol. I play Civ III on Windows, because that's where the current patches will be, and I play a few things on MacOS.

    The games that have been ported (with a few exceptions) are almost all shooters - which I simply don't enjoy playing.

    I like RPG's and turn-based strategy, for the most part.

    The commercial offerings just haven't appealed to me much yet.

    --
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  11. Everyone knows the best game ever is: by Jamuraa · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nethack.

    'Nuff said.

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  12. sokoban by ruszka · · Score: 4, Funny

    i got sucked into this damn game to the point where i was dreaming of gems and seeing outlines of gems on my carpets, walls, etc.. :\

  13. Creatures Linux by StarTux · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Has finally arrived, and will begin shipping to destinations just after xmas.

    Get to play with digital DNA and see evolution at work all on your Linux box.

    check ds.creatures.net and also of course www.tuxgames.com

    There is no best one as each Linux game brings soemthing new to Linux, perhaps if enough of these games sell we might see more of each catagory or the same.

    Matt

  14. Tribes2! by tjansen · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tribes2 is really bad for the Linux game market. I can't stop playing it and am simply not interrested in buying any other game since 6 months.

  15. Re:It's all been downhill since by DJerman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, it's been all downhill since Tux Racer

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  16. best == most enjoyment, for me by Ender+Ryan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Hmmm... that's a tough question. There's starting to be quite a number of games that are available for Linux, the ones I've played are...

    1. Unreal Tournament
    2. Quake 3 Arena
    3. Rune
    4. Heavy Metal FAKK2
    5. Soldier of Fortune
    6. Heavy Gear
    7. Postal Plus

    Out of those, the ones I enjoyed the most, in order of how much I enjoyed them...

    1. Unreal Tournament (good lan party fun!)
    2. Soldier of Fortune
    3. Rune / Q3A (can't decide)
    4. Heavy Metal (good, but a bit buggy and quirky)

    I'm really looking forward to RTCW, supposed to be out in January says the guy doing the port.

    After that there doesn't appear to be too much on the horizon, anyone know of any good games coming out for Linux?

    --
    Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
  17. Uplink... by binner1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ok, I really love UT, but when I downloaded the demo for Uplink, my eyes were opened. So simple, yet so elegant. And the price...that's hard to beat.

    I highly recommend Uplink for anyone that is tired of the same old $#!+.

    -Ben

  18. The Sims/Mandrake Gaming!!! by joestar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's incredibly nice... (The Sims for Linux)

  19. Re:I've read all the posts... by jfunk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you like Nethack, check out Falcon's Eye. It's an SDL-based fork of Nethack with an isometric view. The graphics are quite nice and it even has a soundtrack.

    I've wasted a *lot* of time with it.

  20. nethack! by gregor · · Score: 4, Informative

    My favorite game of all time just happens to also by favorite linux game as well! Nethack is a game I can play and replay (unlike Playstation 2 or your latest Windows game), and it still feels fresh after all these years.

    Useful links to learn more:

    http://www.nethack.org [The official Nethack site)

    http://www.nethack.de (A good all around reference)

    http://www.spod-central.org/~psmith/nh/ (the *best* place for spoilers)

    http://nethack.devnull.net (home of the recently mentioned-on-slashdot tourney where some incredible players put up some incredible scores).

    Happy hacking!

  21. Re:from the tis-the-season form-making-lists dept. by MrResistor · · Score: 5, Funny
    Of course you have to fill out the Making Lists Form. Of course, first you have to fill out the Form Request Form in order to request the Making Lists Form. Don't even bother to ask how you get a Form Request Form without first filling out a Form Request Form requesting a Form Request Form...

    Have a nice day, Citizen. The Computer is your friend! :)

    --
    Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
  22. Re:RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTIEN by Cryptnotic · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I must agree. The multiplayer RtCW is quite fast and stable on linux, whereas on WinXP on the same machine (athlon 1.4ghz, ddr, geforce 3), it is glitchy and sometimes slows down for no reason.


    Cryptnotic

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    My other first post is car post.
  23. Re:I like Ultima 7 Black Gate and Serpent Isle by Cryptnotic · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm a big fan of the Exult project. I think they've done a great job on their interpreter for the old DOS games Ultima 7: The Black Gate and Ultima 7: Part 2, The Serpent Isle. They basically re-wrote the entire game engine from reverse engineered data file specs. And the game engine really is better than the original was.


    Probably the only thing left for them to do is a multiplayer game.


    Cryptnotic

    --
    My other first post is car post.
  24. My Personal List... by CrusadeR · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm pretty sure all of the above titles received A-category reviews across the board, so out of those four you should be able to find one you at least like.

    Another note: Linux Game Publishing is shipping a port of Creatures Internet Edition which should reach resellers after Xmas.

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    :wq