Linux Live Gaming Project

Fabio writes "The mission of LLGP (Linux Live Game Project) is show to Wintendo users that also Linux can be used to game. And now a new version is out. Features: KDE 3.3 with Plastik theme and Nuvola icons, kernel 2.6.10, Nvidia drivers, TORCS, Wesnoth, SuperTux, TuxRacer and much more! It's based on Knoppix, but contains deep changes in the startup scripts. Now the hardware probing is completely based on hotplug and udev; kudzu was removed. Challenge your friends on LLGP, and convert them to Linux!"

Comments

Convert to Linux in 12 easy steps

[Anonymous Coward]

Speaking of getting Linux more popular (more games...), Finally there's a how-to guide you can get all your friends and neighbors tuned-in to using Linux.

How to convert to Linux in 12 easy steps.

Check it out folks, this is very useful - as we edge ever closer to taking down Micro$loth!!!!

Wrong Games

[Anonymous Coward]

WHen people say that they don't use linux because they cannot game on it, they are not talking about playing tuxracer. They are talking about playing HL2, Doom, the latest RPGs, etc. This distro couldn't be further from what people want.

Re:Wrong Games

[Pxtl]

Yep. Many projects have taken an attempt at this meagre challenge, and they've all sucked. First of all, Super-Tux is an alpha game - their site screenshots still show the tiling grids. Not very impressive.

Want to make Linux Gaming cool? Get some better objectives. I've seen many of these "Linux Game Distros" projects, and they all do the same half-assed crap of grab a bunch've mediocre Linux games and throw them onto the main menu.

Here's my dream project for an Opensource team:
FPS distro. Get one Opensource game that has tons of media available for it. That's pretty much the first 3 Id titles, plus Abuse and a handful of others. Quake and Doom are the only games to have complete media-replacement projects that turn them into standalone games, but I think there are a handful of Quake 2 and Quake 3 TC's that could be converted into standalones with a little trouble. Then, make a multi-CD package out of those games. Include all the major popular mods, models, etc. Second, take some of the configging out - Q3 and Doom were the only Id games that didn't require command-line hacking to get the mods working right.

Did you know that there are Doom Legacy maps reimplementing the Unreal Tournament 2003 gametypes? So you can play CTF Doom and Dom Doom? Very cool.

The key problem with these games, and Cube, is the installation and configging details. Handle that for the users with some nice Python GUI wrappers or something, similar to RedHat's config screens. Doom Legacy has this nicely nipped for Windows.

Now, set up a Gamespy-like GUI-oriented meta-server game-browsing service. That would be the "new feature" your gaming distro brings to the scene.

Then release a game-distro with a real featureset. Also, release win32 bundles of your game distros (like QPack and DPack) so that you can get win32 players playing with your players.

Yes, there are tons of games out there, but only Half-Life gives you tons of mods bundled in with their game package. If a person could order a QPack distro (which uses no Id IP but the GPL'd source data) with Weapons Factory, Slide, and whatever other mods you can get the mod devs to let you grab, then you're golden.

still, that option relies on a) getting permission to redistribute mods from the mod devs and b) what Id's exact license is for the Quake and Doom source.

Alternate plan: go for the oldschool people. Make the Linux Game Console for casual party gamers. There are an innumerate number of players out there who just want to grab a joystick and play Gauntlet again with their buds over a few beers. Just go for these basics: multiple joystick support, good graphics and sound configuration, TV out, and every multiplayer hotseat game you can cram onto the damn thing, even if you have to code them yourself (how freakin' hard would 8-player Spacewar be to make in PyGame?).

No, its not Halo, but neither is Mario Party, and people play the hell out of that.

Re:Wrong Games

[Bill Kendrick]

First of all, Super-Tux is an alpha game - their site screenshots still show the tiling grids. Not very impressive.

What, do you mean this?

That's the freakin' built-in tile editor! SHEESH!

Vendetta

[MouseR]

I've been playing Vendetta (vendetta-online.com) for a while now and it's superb.

I've been playing it on a Mac, but there's also a Linux and Windows version wich is equally beautiful.

No one doubts Linux could be used as a gaming platform. You guys simply have to sell the idea to game developers.

Thats all well and good

[tuxter]

But I want to play half life. I understand that OS projects take a huge deal of time to get off the ground, but lets face facts, PS2/Cube/Xbox/PC are all gaming platforms. Linux is not, it was never designed as a gaming platform and probably never will be as long as video card manufacturers refuse to open source their drivers. What is the point of porting games to a platform if the likelyhood of them working is minimal. I fully support the idea of trying to make linux a gaming platform, and would dearly love to see it. But IMHO it's not going to happen.

Re:Thats all well and good

[WIAKywbfatw]

Windows may not have been designed to be a gaming platform, any more than it was designed to be any other kind of platform, but gaming has been around on PCs since way before Windows was around.

We've evolved past the point where you needed to know how to configure autoexec.bat, config.sys and QEMM to get a DOS-based game to run properly and we've now progressed to the point where you install a game, it self detects your hardware, tells you if it needs updated Windows components (requires DirectX version x, installs that other software once you give it the go-ahead, and is ready to run.

From hours of messing around to a few simple clicks: don't underestimate the amount of credit that sort of simplicity deserves for the PC gaming market being so big today. Even so, that's a heck of a lot more interaction than is involved in getting a PS2 or other console game up and running.

Yet compare that to the situation under Linux. If you're an expert, have plenty of time on your hands and enjoy a challenge then I'm sure you've got no problem trying to get games to work. But if you're not an expert, or don't have the time or don't enjoy hitting your head against a brick wall a few dozen times then Linux is not the gaming platform for you.

so...

[ltwally]

So, judging from this article, we're supposed to convert people to linux for the games?!

"Challenge your friends on LLGP, and convert them to Linux!"

What... was the author of this article making some sort of sick joke? Converting people to linux for the games. Right. What mental asylum did you break out of, pal?

Next thing, this guy will be telling us to steal OSX users 'cause linux is easier to use...

We've got the gaming distros.

[desplesda]

What the community needs in order to show that 'Linux has game' is to have a group create and publish a full game that people would buy in the shops.

We have plenty of 'game distro' CDs that contain Neverball, Wesnoth, SuperTux, et al, but we don't have anything that you could get attached to like people get attached to Half-Life, Deus Ex, Diablo.

Give me a singleplayer game with a plot for Linux! Yes, sir, I am willing to contribute.

Not a winner

[Staplerh]

Hmm, I think Linux should be promoted as much as possible, but this avenue will probably be a dead end. I dug around on the website, and found this list of supported games... admittedly it is the 'old' list, but still apparently rather accurate. Here is the URL: http://tuxgamers.altervista.org/llgp/games-0.0.1.p hp

Now, the simple fact remains that this is insufficient, and Linux can simple not be promoted as a gaming platform at this time. This may be promising news for software developers who may elect to use the Linux platform, but I don't think I'll be able to 'convert my friends to Linux'.

Although, I must admit such samplings as 'Penguin Solitaire', 'Penguin Minesweeper', 'Galaga' and 'Pingus - Enhanced Lemmings' do sound tempting.. especially the last. I just don't see it as a show stopper, or anything special.

Re:And the official Torrent:

[chadw17]

Sorry, didn't make it a link. Here it is in clickably delicious form.
LLGP 0.1 ISO

List of games included in LLGP

[cgenman]

This is from 0.0.1, but the maintainers claim that it basically hasn't changed.

[Damn lameness filter, had to re-write post]

Arcade

imaze, Abuse SDL, Amphetamine, Armagetron, Atomic Tanks, bomberclone, Bugsquish, Bumprace, bzflag, Chromium, Circus Linux, Egoboo, Galaga, gl-117, Heroes (SDL version), KAsteroids, KBounce,KFoulEggs, KGoldrunner, Kolf, KSirtet, KSmileTris, KSnakeRace, KSpaceDuel, KTron, lbreakout2, Mad Bomber, mangopeeler, mangoquest, Neverball, Neverputt, pinball, Powermanga, Starfighter, SuperTux, Thrust, Toppler, Trophy, Tux: A Quest for Herring, Tuxkart, TuxRacer, WING, X Abuse, Xboing, Xbreaky, Xkobo, XKoules, Xracer racing game, XScavenger, Xscorch, XSoldier, ZBlast

Adventures

Falcon's Eye, GGZ, GGZap, Completition Calendar, Fyrdman, Keepalive Control, KGGZ, KTicTacTux, ModSniffer

Board games

XBoard-ICS, Atlantik, GnuChess, GtkAtlantik, KBackgammon, KBlackBox, Kenolaba, KMahjongg, KReversi, KWin4, Muehle, Penguin Taipei, Shisen-Sho, Xboard

Card games

KPoker, Mah-jong, Penguin Canfield, Penguin Freecell, Penguin Golf, Penguin Solitaire, Penguin Thornq, PySol, Solitario, Tenente Skat, Xmahjongg, Xskat

Games for children

Potato guy

Brain-teasers

Codebreaker, Enigma, Gtans, Imemory, MirrorMagic, Penguin Mastermind, Penguin Merlin, Penguin Minesweeper, Penguin Pegged, Xjig

Shooter

Cube

Sport

CannonSmash, Foobiliard

Strategy

Freeciv, GNU Gaming Zone, Pingus - Enhanced Lemmings

Tactics and Strategy

Boson, Katomic, Kbattleship, KJumpingCube, Klickety, KLines, KMines, Konquest, KSokoban, SameGame

Tetris and similar

Cuyo, Frozen-bubble, LTris, Netris , Quadra

Re:Reboot?

[thenefariousone]

Nein! A lot of people on slashdot leave their PCs on all the time.

Regular people shut off their computers once they're done with them. Just like they turn off the light when they leave the room.

They're not running servers. Uptime doesn't mean anything to them.

And those are the people you need - like it or not.

Game Support on Linux is Sub-Par

[Mystic0]

Unfortunatly, while Linux does have support for games such as Doom 3, UT2004, and Half Life 2, the quality of the support is almost always lower.

Here is an example. In both Doom 3 and UT2004, Windows gives you tight integration with the built in editors. In the Linux versions of these, games, however, the editors are both MIA.

In addition, while Cedega boasts a wide range of supported games, the quality of that support is even lower than the native games. For example, to get pixel shader support, you need a Geforce 5 class card or better. In Windows, you only need a Geforce 3 class card or better. And while ATI arguably has some of the best hardware, they also have the worst driver support in Linux . And while people say that they got game X, Y and Z working perfectly under Cedega, it probobly took them X number of hours to configure, hack, and crack the game before it would actually run. (Trust me, I've been there.)

The obvious solution is to dual boot. This becomes a problem, however, for people who can't afford to buy Windows. But then again, if you can't afford Windows, maybe you shouldn't be buying games either. ;)

The bottom line is that we won't get good game support until publishers believe that Linux is a viable consumer market. Furthermore, most developers use DirectX, which is a Windows tehnology, not an open standard.

I enjoy Linux for it's other benifits. I don't mind that it's not the ultimate gaming platform, although it would be nice if it was. I instead enjoy that it has a stable enviorment for me to explore UNIX, program, and explore free software.