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Latest Humble Bundle Comes With Uplink Source Code
SharkLaser writes "The latest Humble Bundle comes with four great indie games from Introversion. Included in the pack are Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON and Multiwinia. Bonus games include Aquaria, Crayon Physics Deluxe and the recently added Dungeons of Dredmor. Introversion also showcases some of their prototypes, like Subversion City Generator which demonstrates procedural generation of complex city environments, and Voxel Tech Demo for showing destroyable environments using voxel technology. Hackers and open source programmers around the world should also celebrate — Introversion will release source code for their games Darwinia, Multiwinia, DEFCON, and most importantly, Uplink, the legendary hacking simulation that is one of a kind."
While it's definitely cool that the Bundle now comes with the code for these game, make sure you read the license for publication of any finished product; while it's understandable that Introversion would want people to pay for the software, the license requires that a developer contact Introversion if they make a port, and they don't allow porting to a multitude of consumer devices (anything nintendo, sony, or microsoft makes) even if the end-user is required to buy the media required to play the game (such that they would need to purchase the full PC version.) So keep this in mind before making a PSP version (like someone did with the Aquaria source released in the first Humble Bundle.) As a modding platform and possibly as a learning tool, providing the source is very nice of Introversion. So, for the most part, kudos to them.
I know that admitting this means I have to turn in my Obscure Indie Game Enthusiast card, but I didn't know about Uplink until yesterday when I bought the newest Humble Bundle. Played it some today. Still amazed that they made the idea work at all, and that it's actually quite a bit of fun.
We all owe a huge debt of gratitude to Introversion for their pioneering work in indie games. I know that their games have a particular flair that doesn't appeal to everyone, but *that's the whole point* of indie games; with enough independent developers, you eventually get something quirky and awesome that fits your particular tastes.
Roguelike Dungeons of Dredmor, if you haven't played it yet, is worth the price of admission. Play it on hardcore mode for a very old-school Nethack experience. (You die, you die. Start over.)
It's a bit biased in favor of wizards, but it has an overall very interesting class generation system and challenging gameplay.
Plus, it's funny. Actually funny. But with good core mechanics beneath it all.
You've been able to buy the Uplink Source code for years, the Uplink Developer CD.
Although I liked playing Uplink, the quote "Uplink, the legendary hacking simulation that is one of its kind." is a bit hyperbolic. Does nobody remember the game Neuromancer (PC/C64) which is I believe one of the first and best hacking games till date?
I've been a long term fan of Introversion since 2002, I even went to their Darwinia launch party at their house, which was awesome. I was so stoked about the Humble IV Bundle that even though I had bought the games twice in the past (disc and steam) I had to buy this too, both to support IV and also Humble (backed by the same people who backed Google so probably don't need that much support!).
/.'ing will bake the bundle sell even more. It was at about $510,000 last night, so will be interesting to see how it goes up after this.
Regards the source. That has been available for about 6 years now on the Uplink dev disc. This costs about £20. I haven't looked into the restrictions on using it but as the previous poster recommends, contact them before doing anything that might piss them off. They're really nice guys and deserve support for making what are, really enjoyable games. Uplink was in the PC Zone top 50 games, and in LXF's top 20 games for scaring the sh1t out of you.
Hopefully this
Is this news, or is this just an advert for the Humble Bundle?
Well obviously it is an advert. It is not particularly newsworthy, because - let's face it - how many of us here are going to do anything with the source code for a game that most of us had not heard of until this bundle. That is not to say that it is a bad thing to advertise the bundle, as it is for charity after all.
That said, I'm afraid I am getting a bit bundled out. This is the seventh Humble Bundle since May last year. Add to that the similar bundles that have sprung up (eg. Indie Royale which isn't for charity and does a different bundle every few weeks) and it seems less like an event and more like a perpetual sale.
The biggest problem is that I find myself second guessing my purchases of indie software via the normal distribution methods because I wonder whether I will be seeing the title in a bundle in the near future. Should I pre-order Trine 2, or wait for the inevitable virtual giveaway one of these bundles?
Will the excess of bundles mean that developers lose more profitable sales? Or do these bundles help by getting indie titles into the hands of people who would normally buy mainstream games, and so not really diminish their usual audience?
advert.
but humble bundle is like charity man!
(it's still an advert if it's charity or not.. and the humble bundle comes so often it's not really an event even..)
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Maybe - or it could be that the submitter is trying to raise awareness of the source code in hopes of seeing more mods appear for Uplink.
Bought.
This trend in the comments to label anything listed on the front page that is for sale anywhere as an "advert" is amusing. Even more amusing is the implication that this a journalistic news site and not just a link aggregator.
No it's not an advert. Well, I'm not directly benefiting from it anyway (except if I get to play some good mods people will make because they saw it!). And after getting called shill thousands of (I can remember at least Microsoft, Steam, [surprisingly] Red Hat, Spotify, Logitech..), this kind of thinking on slashdot gets really old. There's always someone pointing out how this person must be a shill (or that the story is an advert) because he said he likes something.
advert.
but humble bundle is like charity man!
Exactly.
While, marketing an advertising is bad in general - satans spawn, filling the world with bile and garbage, as Bill Hicks characterizes it - unfortunately a good charity should probably play the evil game, none the less.
For example, when Amnesty International does TV ad campaigns they get much more donations. It's stupid and sad, as making ads costs a lot, so it should technically be possible to transfer funds from those who want to contribute to those who need them without marketing, but that's just the way it works in this system - marketing creates demand.
In cases like Amnesty, the ends justify the means. Or do they?
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
Note to self: Do not forget to close tags or click the fucking preview button.
Some of my favourite people are from th US; Vonnegut, Chomsky, Bill Hicks.
Your criticism of my post is well deserved. It does appear that I am judging you and your story, but that was not the intention. I neglected to put something in my message that I had in mind when I hit the reply button. Unfortunately I got sidetracked with the other part about there being too many bundles, and it got omitted.
I do not think that you are a shill. (I wouldn't call anyone that word, for the same reasons that you give.) I do not think that you were wrong to post the story.
However, I do believe that this story is an advertisement; it's just not a paid advertisement. (That was the missing bit.) If you look at the definition of advertisement, it can mean "the action of making generally known; a calling to the attention of the public". That seems to be exactly what is happening here. It is true that this definition could be extended to virtually any story, but I think that it is fair to limit it to those that talk about a product for sale.
I do stand by my statement that this isn't really newsworthy, especially because it is not the first time that they have released the source code for Humble Bundle games. I also stand by my assertion that it was not a "bad thing to advertise the bundle, as it is for charity after all", although the charity part was a bit flippant. Announcing products on Slashdot (even products from Microsoft and Apple) is reasonable because this is the kind of news that is interesting to nerds.
Anyway, I apologise for any implication that you had a vested interest in the Humble Bundle or that money may have changed hands for the story. I am sure that this was what the original Anonymous Coward meant, but it had been my intention to counter it by agreeing, but to a different definition of the word "advert".
Two games in the suite actually require product activation. I was disappointed to find this out, as this was what started me on my migration from Microsoft, oh so long ago.
The two games in question are: Multiwinia and DEFCON.
So don't plan on enjoying these games sans-DRM.
I'm glad that this 'advert' got posted to Slashdot. I wouldn't have been aware of it otherwise and have now given $10 to get these games for my Mac. I used to have Darwinia ages ago, but I think it was just the demo. I've been aware of the other games for some time and will play them when I get around to it. Time to post a link on Facebook and inform my friends as well.
Just on point about Trine 2, I doubt it will make it into a bundle. It may technically still be an Indie company but Frozenbyte struck a deal with real game publisher Atlus regarding Trine 2. I wager that may limit their ability to jump into bed with the Bundle again for that particular game.
I actually examined their music.dat (zip file), investigated the .uni file format, and even found one standalone player that could play those. But I didn't like that, so I checked the strings inside the music files, grabbed the author name, and googled. Karsten Koch: The Blue Valley (main theme, I like this one the most).
a game that most of us had not heard of until this bundle.
Its UPLINK. /.
This is
Maybe you haven't heard of it, that's fine. But don't make assumptions.
Uplink has always been THE ONLY halfway decent hacking game. Hell, it came out in 2001! Uplink is a classic of PC gaming.
GCS/MU/P d- s:- a-- C++++$ UL++ P+ L++ E+ W++ N o K- w--- O M+ V- PS+++ PE Y+ PGP t+ 5- X R++ tv+ b++ DI++ D++ G+ e++ h-
"Will the excess of bundles mean that developers lose more profitable sales? Or do these bundles help by getting indie titles into the hands of people who would normally buy mainstream games, and so not really diminish their usual audience?"
Considering the state of the game industry with heavy handed DRM, the fact that you get a games SOURCE CODE which you can modify/update/change is downright RADICAL in an age of corporate feudalism and creeping fascism. One only has to look at SOPA to see this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Whether or not you get tired of the bundles these are people we should want around and to keep in business. More money = they have more money to invest in making their games better. While not all games on the bundle are good, it's not like gamers have many options for DRM free gaming AND being respected as a gamer and enthusiast (getting the source). So that 10 years down the line on windows 12 the game you bought can stilll be played with some coder just updating the code without any stupid emulation.
Think about all the hoops we have to go through to run old classic games - needing emulators, etc, etc. Wouldn't the world be a wonderful place if customers actually got to OWN what they bought from entertainment software vendors?
I have never agreed with software licensing without any ownership stakes for customers and ability to get souce-code after the sales window of said softwareespecially FOR games. Licensing is one of those big bullshit lies greedy corporatized and indoctrinated bastards believe in and we've seen what that kind of mentality does to our rights and freedoms in society.
I'm amazed at the high average donation this time around. IIRC the last few Humble Bundles I bought into had an average of around $2. At the time of writing the average on this bundle is $3.98. I guess these games offer pretty good value.
Depends on when you buy it in the bundle's lifecycle, too. I know the average for the last Bundle I bought (before this one) was like 4 or 5 when I purchased it. I was glad to drop 10 bucks on it at the time. This one? I had Uplink already, on disk. I'll GLADLY buy it again, get all the other things, and so on. And I got source code? Well freaking awesome. I'd say these Bundles are awesome. They're cheap enough I don't even blink, and they quite often offer much more than one would expect.
I got the one with Baird, Revenge of the Titans, etc in it before this. Just a tonne of fun. I don't play the games every day, but they scratch an itch when I feel like toying with them.
I just re-read my post and realized that it looks like I am suggesting this average is not deserved. I am not. I think it's great to see averages and I was just pointing out that this seems to be the case here.
I'm amazed at the high average donation this time around. IIRC the last few Humble Bundles I bought into had an average of around $2. At the time of writing the average on this bundle is $3.98. I guess these games offer pretty good value.
The higher average price might also be - if you pay more then the (at payment time) average price paid then you get another two games (and so then the average goes up slightly)
The average now is $4.06
both in fullscreen AND in windowed mode the window spans over both monitors, making the game unusable. can i somehow set which resolution to be used in windowed mode or something like this?