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World of Goo Ported To Linux

christian.einfeldt writes "Lovers of both games and Free Open Source Software will be pleased to see that the popular indie puzzle game World of Goo has been released for Linux. It was designed by a small team of two ex-Electronic Arts developers, Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, who used their entire combined savings of $10,000.00 USD to create the gooey game aimed at guiding goo balls to salvation. The developers built their gooey world with open-source technologies such as Simple DirectMedia Layer, Open Dynamics Engine for physics simulation, and TinyXML for configuration and animation files. Subversion and Mantis Bug Tracker were used for work coordination. Blogger Ken Starks points out that the release of this popular game for Linux could be a big step toward ending the chicken-and-egg problem of a dearth of good games that run natively under Linux."

16 of 223 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Did they actually use all $10K? by LiENUS · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I think the 10K includes developing all versions of the game, it probably included visual studio and the sdk for the Wii.

  2. Re:Did they actually use all $10K? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Funny

    10 grand buys a lot of Cheetos's and Dew...

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  3. Re:Did they actually use all $10K? by Xtravar · · Score: 5, Funny

    From what I understand, it was for therapy to recover from working at EA.

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  4. DRM-Less by Bonker · · Score: 5, Informative

    World of Goo is DRMless. There are no copy protections upon it.

    It's also very worth the $20. There's a level editor and fan-made levels starting to spring up as well, so even after you've exhausted the LENGTHY puzzle challenge, you can play other challenges to your heart's content.

    Go purchase this game.

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    1. Re:DRM-Less by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Edit the preferences file. There is a disclaimer in it that states playing with the resolution might cause your computer to explode.

      I haven't seen it happen yet.

      Meanwhile, I enjoy my World of Goo in glorious 1680x1050.

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    2. Re:DRM-Less by Sibko · · Score: 3, Informative

      As someone who's played it... No. No, it is not worth the $20 they charge for the game.

      Look, it's common courtesy to say such and such is great or fantastic so you don't hurt feelings, but I'm being honest here. This is a glorified flash game with all of about 15 minutes of actual gameplay that is simply repeated over and over.

      It's alright, it's what you might expect from a flash game on Newgrounds or wherever. But it most certainly is not worth $20. Just want to put that out there so people don't buy this expecting something different. [I'd recommend playing the demo first, so you know what you're getting into.]

    3. Re:DRM-Less by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wow, the ministry of truth is out in numbers today. He stated his opinion, so it gets modded down as overrated and gets told it's because he steals so much. I played it, it was fun but it was also fairly repetitative. Doing just a quick search shows that you can get Civilization 4 complete (Civ4, Beyond the Sword and Warlords) for 22$ or Oblivion for 19$. A bit unfair competition maybe against older games that's now in the bargain bin but if you hadn't tried any of them I'd buy either before World of Goo. 20$ is quite okay, but it's nowhere near a bargain and just because it has a native Linux version doesn't make it so either.

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  5. Re:Paypal? by mail2345 · · Score: 5, Funny
  6. Just bought it by Psychotria · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am not particularly interested in the game (I prefer FPS) but it looks like a bit of fun. Even if I do not play it all that much (or at all!), I am happy to give the developers $20 for their effort. In fact, I am pondering buying it TWICE. Games for linux should, in my opinion, be supported. Well done.

  7. Re:Did they actually use all $10K? by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Informative
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  8. Re:Did they actually use all $10K? by Arthurio · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Where I live there's no such thing as 'unpaid overtime'. Instead by law this is the standard: regular overtime means 1.5x regular pay, overtime on weekends and national holidays means 2x regular hourly pay. Unpaid overtime sounds pretty much like slavery to me. I don't understand how this can be acceptable to anyone.

  9. It already ran under Wine by Ed+Avis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's worth noting that the Windows x86 binary runs fine under Wine, and that's how I first played the game before buying it and running it on a Mac. A native Linux release is great news though.

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  10. Re:Lovers of FOSS by ndogg · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yup.

    Games, however, aren't exactly essential qualities of an OS or even to life.

    They're more like artwork, and I am quite willing to pay for good art.

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  11. Re:Doesn't work for *all* Linux users by Haeleth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can see why they wouldn't want to spend a lot of time on it

    Frankly I'm already amazed they bothered to target Linux/x86, which is already an incredibly tiny games market. Linux/PPC is a fraction of the size of that again! There may well not be more than a few dozen people in the world who (a) use Linux/PPC, (b) don't have a single x86 box they can play games on, and (c) are interested in paying for closed-source games.

    but this really looks like nothing more than a cross-compile needed.

    Cross-compilation is not always trivial. And then you need to conduct all the testing, etc. And at the end of all that, you might get a handful of sales at most.

    The simple truth is that no commercial software company is ever going to target desktop Linux on anything but the most common platforms. If you want to use an unusual processor, you're going to have to stick with free software.

  12. One less pirate by meist3r · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, I gotta admit. I belonged to that 90% pirate numbers for the game which I got in a Windoze version and played under WINE as a means of "extended demo". Never really played beyond the third level though because I felt that if I really spend that much time on a game it should run natively. Now that there is a Linux client I'll gladly pay for it even though I'll probably never finish it. Just BECAUSE there is a Linux client made me want to pay for this.

  13. Re:I can't find the Linux version on Steam... by meist3r · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What makes you think there is going to be a Linux steam client?

    The only thing I've heard about it is a nonsense rumour from a valve job advertisement.

    Maybe you should update your facts. The Postal 3 dev listed Linux as a confirmed platform for the Source Engine in 2009. Since I doubt Valve will sell their games without Steam compatibility if they have a native Source engine I'm assuming they will also provide a native Steam client. This not only to me acts as proof that the "nonsense" rumor (actually from a really unsubstantial source: the Valve website!) is actually true and one of the precursors to a Linux port of Steam and the Source games.

    With Source already ported to OpenGL on the PS3 there is further evidence that a port is not only possible but likely. Postal 3 is a confirmed Source engine based game for Linux in 2009. I'm expecting delays but this is as close to a Linux client Valve has ever confessed. They know through their hardware survey and forum participation that their users use WINE and Linux operating systems. They know the direction of the market and know that Steam is the perfect platform to distribute games to alternative OSs. I would actually be more surprised if they hired a Senior Linux Engineer and DIDN'T port Source/Steam.

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