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TransGaming Ports 3 Kohan Titles to Linux
Kohan_Rocks writes: "TransGaming today anounced the opening of their new 'webstore' which includes the brand new port of Three Kohan Titles. Probably equally amazing is the distribution method: All three games are available for download only (finally big name games available for download!). I'll probably buy atleast some of these games even though I have the old Loki version of the original Kohan - Loki's wern't network compatiable with windows, TransGaming's apparantly are (and its just such a cool game)."
"amazing distribution method"
Please please please let this work!? Finally...we have support for "downloadable" big titles....and hopefully the incidence of "warez" (re: all the posts that have probably already been modded offtopic/flamebait above this post) will be low. I hope people realize how important it is to buy this stuff...
When in doubt, parenthesize. At the very least it will let some poor schmuck bounce on the % key in vi. (Larry Wall)
Maybe I'm just wierd, but to my ears "proprietary" is a bad word, especially considering that their "portability solution" is based off the hard work of the Wine crew (go Wine!). This sounds like they've been taken over by the marketroids. Sad, but I hope it won't be too long until WineHQ also has DirectX compatability, even if it is x86 only.
Let's here what the complaints are with this now. You've all complained that there weren't any games, certainly no decent ones. Then there were complaints about availability and distribution. Then, of course, there were the complaints about price.
Well, now they're offering great games, the best distribution channel and a really fair price.
So, what's the bitch about this now? I can't see any.
Will Linux users buy these games and support the company? Will there be a ground swell of interest/sales for these games, causing other companies to look more seriously at games for Linux? Or, will Linux users bitch and moan about some petty detail, not buy the games, cause the company to abandon Linux games completely and doom the entire Linux gaming industry forever.
Only time will tell but, I'm doing my part.
I once bought a vcr that came with a video tape containing the instructions to set up the vcr.. marketing doesnt have to make sense
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I really wish that article submitters would not put ambiguous links in the
article.
Seriously, though, would it be too much effort to say "three Kahn titles: Title 1, Title 2, and Title 3"? As it is, it's annoying because you have no idea where each of the three links points. Come on, editors, you can do better than this.
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It's great to see these ports, but quite frankly I'll be impressed if they sell 2000 copies max.
...
It's been said a zillion times; ports need to be out at the same time, or very, very close to the same time to be viable. And they need to be patched at the same time, or
Loki was a good effort, but even they didn't succeed. It's not because the games got warezed, it's because the games were well past their shelf life when they came out.
You know you're a geek if you've ever replied to a tagline.
You must not play against experienced players.
Havn't you seen the games were a severly disadvantaged (poor starting spot, many nearby monsters, etc...) but experianced player is able to defeat a newbie though careful company management and solid tactics? I'd laugh if I saw an army (6 companies) of skeletons facting off against 3 Grenadier/Channeler/Cleric companies. Despite being more expensive to maintain and numerically superior, the skeletons will loose.
Besides, how radical of a concept are you looking for? A game where you have to kill off your armies to gain strength? Or maybe a game where you start with an army, and they become more effective as you plant more flowers (oops, that's building up), or maybe one where you just get some force and you just attack at random? WarCraft III has some elements of this with the creep hunting, but IMHO it requires too much micromanagement for me to play effectively, at my best I can only beat the computer about 3/4 of the time, and that's pretty sad.
I read the internet for the articles.
I've expressed my frustration with WineX before, and every time I see a headline like this, I feel compelled to speak up.
The people that defend (or, as it more often the case, blindly promote) WineX tend to think that games of any kind, even through Wine, will inevitably help Linux. "Now Windows users can switch!" they chant. Yet, what self-respecting Windows gamer would really leave the relative comfort of Windows (2k|XP) where all of their hardware and games work great just to move to Linux, a system rife with hardware incompatibilities and filled with unfamiliar elements at every turn? There is no unhappy faction of Windows users that chafes so much under the Microsoft yoke that they'll give up everything they have already for freedom (in the sense of GNU). It just isn't going to happen. (Note: WineX itself isn't even completely free, so that's not a very good example of freedom, is it?)
So where does WineX sell? To people who are already Linux users. The people who are already using Linux can use WineX, but then they run a serious risk of killing any chance for a native port. Remember, game companies need a whole lot more than karma and a good warm feeling inside to port a game to your system. They need, in particular, cash. Lots and lots of cash. And they'll most likely take any excuse that sounds resonable to ignore a platform that has marginal (if not improbable) profit potential, like Linux. "Oh, it works under Wine. Go play that, Linux users." Reminds me a bit of a former instructor's description of the selection process for a really good position: They're not looking for reasons to take anyone...they're looking for reasons to eliminate them. And Linux hasn't made good money for anyone yet.
You'll never make your platform legit like that. It didn't work of OS/2. It didn't work for Bleemcast. It hasn't worked for VirtualPC on MacOS. Not once has this kind of compatibility meant more native apps for that platform that tries to leech off its more successful neighbor.
Yes, Loki died. They died for a whole lot of reasons, one of which was that there was no real money in the Linux gaming market. But they at least brought a lot of damn good tools to the community and left them for all to use after they died. Where is Wine getting us? Half-working compatibility with a nigh eight year old system that is probably going to change dramatically (if not completely) in the next revision of Windows.
Welcome to Square One, people.
Sorry for the disjointed ramble.
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
You'd be surprised how easy it is to counter the zombie rush though. I honestly don't see very much rushing in Kohan. Your early militas are strong enough to beat down a zombie company and a half, and the upkeep on any other units prevents them from being used. Additionally, there is a restrictive company limit in the game (that slowly increases as your empire expands), that prevent you from massing a huge army at the very start of the game. Even if you have a ceyah player with 5 zombie companies (starting village upgraded to town and one expansion), by the time those zombies get to you (they have to find you first) 10 minutes or more have passed in the game and you probably have a strong enough army to counter them.
Like all things this isn't absolute, but rushes are very difficult to pull off in Kohan so not many people seem to employ them.
Now if you don'd build up your econ and turtle then you will be defeated. If you are annoyed that you get defeated with this strategy (which works against the computer), then don't come complaining to Slashdot.
Part of the RTS genre is learning good tactics and good strategy.
I read the internet for the articles.