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LGP Announces Two More Titles
dolson writes "Earlier today Linux Game Publishing announced the next two titles that they will be porting to Linux. They are both made by Grim, a Swedish development company, and they are called Ballistics and Bandits: Phoenix Rising. One is a high-speed racing game, and the other is a driving/action game."
What is the best selling linux game of all time and how does that compare to the best selling PC games?
Just curious. I myself bought the Quake 2 games for Linux but that was a couple of years ago. I primarily play console games now.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
On one hand yes. I wish these developers every possible success.
On the other hand. Well, I haven't heard of Grin, or it's games. Sorry. I can't recall seeing anything in a PC Gamer, or a box in a software shop.
There's no planetbandits.
Oh well. I wish everyone involved the best.
YAULSS. Yet Another Useless Linux Slashdot Story
Huh?
I pointed out that there isn't much point to running Quake and whatnot on a server, and he agreed, saying that if Linux ever really makes it to the desktop these companies that were just targeting it in the first place because it was "the next big thing" will revisit it.
I know many people will bemoan the fact that they cannot get some brand new highly known game to run on Linux. The reason why is simple: Economics.
:). And also lets the customer actually have more of a voice...
OTH, having LGP port lesser known games has opened up a whole new world to games I would never have known about, because they don't have the publisher to spam all the well known gaming magazines with reviews etc. Also, not having the huge publisher gives the smaller developer a chance to release the game they want
I'll be getting these games for sure, a little more expensive than the Windows versions, but thats a small price to pay in terms of having to run on an OS I don't like to use.
StarTux
On the Win32 side, Ballistics was one of the first games to use DirectX 8 vertex and pixel shaders, which where introduced with the Geforce3.
Here's a Maximum PC review. It got a 7, with gorgeous graphics but not too much content. Interestingly, it only listed for $30.
I've mirrored the demos of the games here:
Brett Glass to the rescue
When it comes to games, I urge you all to ditch your "only Open-Souce" principles.
The goal of gaming is to have fun. Stop worrying about device drivers, monitor drivers, serial numbers, low ping connectivity, mouse drivers, keyboard configurations, etc. and just play fun, easy-to-use games on a traditional console gaming system.
Gamecube and X-box are the two best choices these days. You can get a Gamecube for $139 (half of a day's salary) and all you do then is simply chuck one of the many amazingly fun games into the device, turn on your TV, and start smiling.
An X-box is as low as $199 and now includes special new controllers and two great games in this starter package. It's a great bargain, and with their new online play, it's better than ever. You can turn everything on and be playing HALO against someone in China and someone in France in less than 15 seconds.
Really cool!
When it comes to games, I don't care if it's Linux or Microsoft or whatever, I just stick to the proven console games that always work since all the hardware's the same. It makes life so much easier.
Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate. Ex-O'Reilly/MIT employee, now a full-time Google employee.
I think Tux Racer is about the coolest game I've ever played. My very favorite course is "Who Says Penguins Can't Fly?" although I have become somewhat partial to "Path of Daggers" lately. Anyone else out there love Tux Racer?
I keep hearing "oh, these games aren't AAA titles, they must suck. Well, some of the most pure fun games I've played are obscure titles like these. They have nice graphics (not bleeding edge, but pretty) and fun gameplay. They not be the deep, sweeping experience of something like HalfLife, but they're still good entertainment. If the price is right, this games might be a good buy.
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
Now I have a healthy collection of Linux games on my box, including a fair number of Loki ports, some of the source code released games (Abuse, Freespace 1 & 2, Aliens vs Predator), and a bunch of improving open source projects, from Vegastrike to Foobillard. And Black & White and the other Windows only games don't provide sufficient allure to make me reach for the reboot.
LGP seems to have the right idea. The games they are porting are good games in their categories and they aren't costing a fortune for the porting rights. They are also managing to get games in more genres than just first person shooters. I hope that LGP hangs around long enough to break even or preferably show a profit. I hope that the Linux desktop market is starting to expand at a sufficient rate that the future for Linux gaming actually exists and that LGP is in a good position to reap the rewards.
Cheers,
Toby Haynes
Anything I post is strictly my own thoughts and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the opinions of IBM.
Ballistics and Bandits are games that take a unique spin to current games. Ballistics could be called the first supersonic racing game, where your insane speed turns a game of reaction into more of a game of pattern. The developers at E3 2001 were able to complete most of the courses at full supersonic speed, where we could barely make it at subsonic speed.
The game is one of the first to introduce pixel shading and other features of the GeForce 3.
Bandits I know less about, sadly. I've been sitting around waiting for word of Grin's ever-in-development game, Vultures. The guys at Grin were nice enough at E3 2001 to give me their concept-art posters they had posted in their booth (Kentia Hall). From what I remember the game has gone under a couple design revisions, but the detail they paid in the rendered weapons and the concept art I have is amazing. It should be a game I wont be able to miss. That is, if it ever does get released.
So what if these arent Popular games? They use cutting edge technology and were probably easy to get a hold of (Grin is full of nice guys), so maybe the lessons learned from porting these games will enable LGP to publish those games you are clamoring for?
Again I'm taken back to my argument that people shouldnt purely deride games. If they are supported through either fans or at least constructive criticism, the whole industry benifits.
--onyx--
Well some of us don't even bother to get Win98 or any other bad operating system...
Single boot - the only way to live!
Just saying it like it are.
I'd be interested in learning the opinions and observations of others. Meanwhile, I shall continue to support the developers of Linux products, as opposed to megacorporate closed-source proprietary/predatory fat cats.
Computer geek peddles bootleg porn from city hall
Try Tux Games. They ship to the US, too.